Wild West Weekly No. 640

Young Wild West at the Forts This issue contains the opening chapters of "Young Wild West at the Forts; or Outwitting a Russian Captain," written by An Old Scout. The story follows the famous American deadshot Young Wild West and his companions—his sweetheart Arietta Murdock, scout Cheyenne Charlie and his wife Anna, Jim Dart and his sweetheart Eloise Gardner, plus their Chinese driver Hop Wah—as they arrive at the German military headquarters during World War I. Previously, Wild had saved Crown Prince Frederick William's life on the French frontier and gained royal papers permitting him access throughout the German empire. Now at the Vistula River in Poland, the group seeks permission to observe the fighting against the Russians. Frederick William, described as democratically inclined, readily grants them access and accepts their dinner invitation to share venison stew at their camp. The narrative interweaves the war's military details with the Americans' casual frontier mannerisms and the prince's unusual willingness to associate with them as equals.