Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 587

"The Bad Man of White Hoss" by Unknown Author This Western serial installment opens with Dayton Snare arriving by stagecoat White Hoss, a mining camp hotel and gambling establishment. After settling in, Snare enters the saloon where a boastful prospector named Tough Tom is silenced at gunpoint by the bartender. A dark-clothed stranger named Bryton Gaines then approaches Snare's table and reveals his true identity: Ralph Roberts, Snare's former friend from Amesburg, Massachusetts, twenty years past. Roberts accuses Snare of orchestrating bank thefts and framing him. Snare denies guilt, claiming Roberts himself committed the crimes. Roberts explains his subsequent exile, his love for Vivian Parks (whom Snare married), and how Vivian died under tragic circumstances—drowned in Boston Harbor after Snare drove her from their home. Roberts vows vengeance for Vivian's death. The narrative promises conflict between these long-separated antagonists.