Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 290

1883 · 16 pages

This Beadle and Adams dime novel, "Little Foxfire, the Boy Spy; or, Old Caleb Arbuckle, Mountain Detective," by Oll Coomes, centers on frontier action in Arkansas Valley, Colorado. The narrative begins with miners Mahlon Jayne and Jack Miles pursued by Native Americans; they take refuge in a natural depression but are ultimately killed in combat. A young red-haired boy, Jim Rassells (nicknamed "Little Foxfire"), emerges from a canyon, attempts to help the miners fight, but survives buried under collapsing earth when the Indians attack. The second chapter shifts three years forward to introduce Old Caleb Arbuckle, a wild-horse hunter camping with physician Dr. Fred Dumont near the Republican River. Arbuckle seeks to capture a legendary black stallion allegedly seen wearing saddle marks, called "Black Beauty," running with a wild mustang herd. The narrative builds toward a horse-hunting chase after Dumont spots the herd nearby.

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