English: Upon the threshold of the post-house the young American paused, and, wheeling like a flash upon the foeman who pressed him close, he leveled his revolver and pulled the trigger. Excited as he was, Jack’s aim was true. The deadly tube did not deviate a hair’s breadth from its line. It covered the heart of the onrushing Inca when the lad pressed the trigger.

Mingled with the loud detonation of the weapon, there sounded a terrible yell from the lips of the giant warrior of the ancient race, and the latter fell headlong at Jack’s feet, right across the threshold, as the boy stepped backward to avoid the contact of the falling body. Jack had laid hold of the door, and he meant instantly to close and secure it. But the dead Incan was now in his way. With feelings of despair, the lad seized the giant Inca and sought to remove his dead frame, so that he might close the portal.

But the delay seemed likely to prove fatal to himself. He found the weight of the giant warrior too great for him to move quickly. The other men of the lost city were almost upon him. A spear hurled by one of his pursuers with tremendous force sped by his head as he dodged it. The lad let go of the dead warrior.

Then his revolver exploded again, and another of the followers fell. Jack strove to fire again, but his weapon failed him.

–––––––––

The Lost City of the Andes; or, The Treasure of the Volcano – A Story of Adventures in a Strange Land by Richard R. Montgomery (a pseudonym or "house name") in Pluck and Luck magazine No. 409, April 4, 1906.

This is one of at least three printings of The Lost City of the Andes. The story was originally serialized in the weekly The Boys of New York story paper from September 19 through November 7, 1891, published under the name C. Little. The story was later reprinted in Pluck & Luck no. 1210, August 10, 1921.

The Lost City of the Andes is one of many dime novel and story paper novels confirmed to have been authored by Francis W. Doughty (1850 - 1917), a prolific pulp story author whose work was published under a plethora of pseudonyms. Read a short biography of Doughty at the SF-Encyclopedia web site: www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/doughty_francis_w

Slightly more than 1600 issues of Pluck and Luck magazine were published weekly or bi-weekly from January 1898 until March 1929. Early issues often reprinted stories from Happy Days, Boys of New York, and other serialized Frank Tousey Company publications. Beginning sometime in the mid ‘teens, Pluck and Luck was comprised almost exclusively of reprints of earlier Pluck and Luck stories, with the addition, by the late ‘teens, of short articles about “radio” and other contemporary technology and current events news. Additional information about this publication may be found at the Dime Novels Bibliography web site at DimeNovels.org: dimenovels.org/Item/3141

—————————

And with this volume, alas! I share with you, Dear Reader, the last example in my meager collection of vintage dime novels and pulp magazines. For further elucidation and enlightenment, I refer you to the Flickr photo-stream of J. Lovece, The Steam Man of the West, curator of images wondrous and thrilling from the dime novel / penny dreadful / story paper era:

www.flickr.com/photos/120455372@N04/