pulps
Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 890
Buffalo Bill's Life-Stake This serialized western novella by Col. Prentiss Ingraham (author of Buffalo Bill novels) centers on the legendary frontier scout facing mortal danger. Division Chief Alf Slade warns Buffalo Bill that an outlaw gang called the Black Phantoms, led by Captain Kit, has sworn to kill him within thirty days. The outlaws also threaten Hart Rathburn and Scott Kane—the "Star Riders of the Trail"—who refuse to surrender despite repeated ambushes. Hart Rathburn reveals his motivation for coming West: his stepfather squandered the family fortune and poisoned his sister Rita. The scoundrel's fugitive son, Burton Bradford, now hides somewhere on the Overland trail. Rathburn's sister is traveling west to locate Bradford and force him to sign legal documents necessary for selling valuable inherited land. Buffalo Bill and Scott Kane pledge to assist in finding the villain.