The reading room
Buffalo Bill #9
The issue features a story titled "The Grim Hand of Death" in which Buffalo Bill encounters a conflict involving Russian fur traders and Aleut Indians in the Northwest. The Aleut construct massive sea-going canoes to fight the Russians who are hunting sea otters, and the story depicts a naval battle between the two forces. Bill becomes entangled in the conflict and faces a deadly encounter with a sacred snake in a pit, from which he narrowly escapes by outshooting the serpent and securing a poisonless land-crawler. The narrative also weaves in a subplot involving an ancient Aztec treasure map and papyrus, with Bill pursuing the location of buried Aztec riches in Mexico, ultimately relying on medicine and quick reflexes to overcome various perils.