Beadle's Pocket Library No. 88

Deadwood Dick in Leadville This weekly serial by Edward L. Wheeler presents "A Strange Stroke for Liberty," a frontier adventure combining mining disputes and outlaw encounters. The narrative opens during a mountain snowstorm when a mysterious traveler reaches the Wild-cat mine and witnesses two men—a bearded elder and a younger employee—quarrel over alleged theft. Their knife-fight escalates when the younger man shoots the miner dead, claiming the mine as his own. The action shifts to spring, introducing English tourists—Sir Noel Farnsworth, his mother Lady Farnsworth, his brother Chandos, and sister Lady Belle—traveling by stage from Webster to Leadville under driver Jack Fargett's guidance. Fargett warns them of notorious road-agents, particularly Deadwood Dick and Captain Hawk, who prey on travelers. As predicted, Deadwood Dick and his masked gang appear on the trail, forcing the stage to halt.