Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 664

1890 · 16 pages

"The Life Racket at Rattlesnake Ridge" by Philip S. Warne This Western adventure serializes in *Beadle and Adams'* April 15, 1890 issue. Reporter Charley Kenyon, traveling by stagecoach, extracts frontier lore from driver Billy Boston regarding the outlaw Serpent Sam, who reputedly carries live rattlesnakes in his clothing and operates from Rattlesnake Ridge with his daughter, "Black Bess," as bait for victims. Billy recounts rumors of disappeared men lured by the girl's beauty and suggests Sam may be Navajo Nate, a hanged murderer mysteriously resuscitated, who now pursues revenge against those responsible for his execution. Kenyon, determined to investigate and interview Sam despite warnings, represents the Eastern press encountering Western frontier lawlessness where disappearances warrant no official inquiry and reputation governs survival.

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