Beadle's Pocket Library No. 231

Sierra Sam, the Detective "Sierra Sam, the Detective: A Tale of Fairy Flats," a Western serial by Edward L. Wheeler, occupies this issue. Chapter I, "The Storm Rider's Pledge," introduces a masked vigilante rescuing a child from a storm and visiting McGurdy's cabin, where the girl's father, White Eagle—a wealthy half-breed with education and honor—lies dying from poisoning administered by a female "doctor" and the McGurdys. White Eagle entrusts his child to the masked stranger along with a mysterious sealed iron box that only the girl can open, containing proof of his marriage to Clio Carlyle, daughter of a Washington government official, and documentation of the child's identity. Chapter II shifts to an old scout named Tree-Toad preventing a young man's suicide by rifle shot, initiating a dialogue about the youth's despair and failed love.