Beadle's Pocket Library No. 50

Museum Catalog Description *Single Hand; or, A Life for a Life* by W. J. Hamilton begins during a devastating Texas norther that traps two men—nineteen-year-old Ned Clayton and the rougher ranger Jack Evans—sheltering behind rocks on the plains. As the violent windstorm rages, driving herds of buffalo, deer, and wild mustangs before it, a beautiful young girl on an uncontrolled black mustang passes through their line of sight. Unable to help during the storm, the men pursue her trail once it clears. The mustang plunges into Deep Gulch, a forty-foot ravine. Clayton descends via rope and discovers the horse killed on impact, but finds the girl unconscious but alive, caught in the upper branches of a pine tree. He secures her with rope and pulls her to safety above. Evans revives her with whisky and water while Clayton fetches fresh water, and she regains consciousness.