Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1017

This issue contains the serial "Detective Matt's Man-Hunt: Downing the Desperate Dozen" by Ned St. Meyer. The story follows seventeen-year-old Matt Morrison, a boy from Idaho seeking his father's murderer. Matt arrives in Danville after discovering a letter on his father's body naming several outlaws, including one near Danville. At the tavern, Matt befriends the proprietor and watches for suspects. The stage brings a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl, Stella Dinsmore, and her cold guardian, Gregory Dinsmore. When Dinsmore rudely interrupts Matt's conversation with Stella, Matt confronts him about the insult, displaying his revolver. The narrative establishes Matt's purpose: to find and bring to justice the men who murdered his father during a robbery in Idaho.