Beadle's Pocket Library No. 61

This issue of *Beadle's Half-Dime Library* (Vol. 5, No. 98, 1885) features "Corduroy Charlie, the Boy Bravo" by Edward L. Wheeler, subtitled "Deadwood Dick's Last Act." The narrative opens in the Black Hills mining region near Quartz City during a stormy night. A muscular, corduroy-clad youth arrives by stage wagon with a Chinaman driver and an Indian attendant guarding a mysterious canvas-covered wagon. At the tavern called "The Big Schooner," Charlie encounters ruffians led by the bullwhacker McTurk, who attempt to bully him but allow him passage into the establishment. Inside, a grand masked ball is underway. A masked woman invites Charlie to dance; during their waltz, McTurk strikes Charlie, claiming the woman is "his property." Charlie demands satisfaction, and the two men move to the street for a duel. The text ends as they take positions thirty paces apart, both armed with Smith & Wesson revolvers, with McTurk appearing drunk and shaky-handed compared to Charlie's steady composure.