Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 173

Museum Catalog Note *The Pacific Thoroughbred: A Romance of Needle Bar,* by Albert W. Aiken, is the featured serial in this issue. The story begins in the frontier settlement of Needle Bar, Arizona, a railroad construction town on the Colorado River. A well-dressed gambler named Jason Wentworth arrives by stagecoach with a beautiful young woman, whose mysterious presence excites curiosity among the rough population. After drinking heavily in the saloon, Wentworth is murdered—apparently by garrote—as he walks back to his hotel in the moonlight. The narrative then shifts to describe the town's establishments: the Grand Central Hotel, the keno gambling hall run by "Keno Bill," and the Silver Hell saloon-dance hall operated by the mysterious Charley Yampas. A strange, well-armed stranger in black appears in the keno room, drawing attention from patrons.