Beadle's Dime Library, No. 442

The Gunsmiths of World's End by William H. Manning continues in this 1887 issue of *Wild West Walt, the Mountain Veteran*. The narrative opens in dangerous terrain when Black Hills Ben Todd saves Claudia Bennington, daughter of Major Bennington, from a Sioux sniper. The party—including scout Todd, guide Long Dave Cobb, Pawnee tracker Windfoot, and Claudia—ventures deep into hostile Sioux territory on a rescue mission. Claudia's fiancé Edgar Wheaton lies condemned for murder, and only Dunstan Hughes, whom Claudia has seen before, can prove his innocence. They must find Hughes before September twelfth. The narrative then shifts to Wild West Walt, an elderly veteran borderman camping in a mountain pocket, whose horse alerts him to approaching riders. Walt observes the Bennington party and becomes instantly captivated by Claudia's unexpected presence, unable to believe a white woman ventures into such remote territory.