BEADLE'S

No. 21.

The Choicest Works of the Most Popular Authors.

SYBIL CHASE;

OR,

THE VALLEY RANCHE.

BY MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS.

Author of "Malaeska," "Fashion and Famine," Etc., Etc.

New-York and London:
BEADLE AND COMPANY, 141 WILLIAM ST. N. Y.
A. Williams & Co., 100 Wash. St., Boston

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1861,
by Beadle and Company, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States,
for the Southern District of New York.

AN ENTICING STORY.

Beadle's Dime Novels Number 22.

Will Issue Wednesday, May First,

THE MAID OF ESOPUS;

OR, THE

TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS

OF THE REVOLUTION.

BY N. C. IRON.

The era of the American Revolution is so fraught with romance that it ever will prove a chosen one to novelists. In this present instance the author has selected unusually stirring historic incidents, around whose facts he has woven a most beautiful and enticing story of love, devotion and patriotism. Such tales fire the love of our country in the hearts of all, old and young; while they fill, in the highest degree, the love for romance, which all persons possess. The "Maid of Esopus" is a purely historical fiction, written with a thorough knowledge of the men and women of those times which truly tried and tempered souls, and embodies all the interest which attaches to that most eventful era. It will be found not only unexceptionable as a novel, but unusually good in its literary merits, as well as intensely exciting and absorbing in its narrative. It will become a household favorite.

For Sale by all News Dealers.

BEADLE AND COMPANY, Publishers,  
141 William St., New York.

THE VALLEY RANCHE.

SYBIL CHASE;

OR,

THE VALLEY RANCHE.

A TALE OF CALIFORNIA LIFE.

BY MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS.

NEW YORK AND LONDON:
BEADLE AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS,

141 William St., Corner of Fulton, N. Y.
44 Paternoster Row, London.

Entered according to Act of Congress, In the Year 1861, by
BEADLE AND COMPANY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.

THE VALLEY RANCHE.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. THE BRIDLE-PATH.
CHAPTER II. A FACE FROM THE PAST.
CHAPTER III. HUSBAND AND WIFE.
CHAPTER IV. TWO CONFEDERATES, IN COUNCIL.
CHAPTER V. A SHORT RIDE AND A LONG WALK.
CHAPTER VI. THE WELCOME THAT AWAITS RALPH HINCHLEY.
CHAPTER VII. ARRIVAL OF THE GUEST.
CHAPTER VIII. THE GAMBLER'S FATE.
CHAPTER IX. A CANTER AND A FALL.
CHAPTER X. THE GAME AT CHESS.
CHAPTER XI. THE FEMALE IAGO.
CHAPTER XII. MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.
CHAPTER XIII. HIGHCLIFF.
CHAPTER XIV. THE JAIL.
CHAPTER XV. THE DUEL.
CHAPTER XVI. THE BATTERY.
CHAPTER XVII. THE VALLEY RANCHE.

CHAPTER I.

THE BRIDLE-PATH.

A small valley cutting through a range of mountains in California—a green oasis that looked strange and picturesque in the midst of that savage scenery. The cliffs rose in a solid wall on one side to the height of many hundred feet. Dwarfed fir-trees and dead cedars were scattered along the summit, stretching up their gaunt limbs and adding to the lonely grandeur of the scene. Great masses of broken rocks, which, in some conflict of the elements, had been wrenched from their bed, projected from the rifted precipices and lay in great moss-covered