Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 386

This weekly pulp magazine from Beadle and Adams (1884) features "Captain Cutlass, the Ocean Spider; or, The Buccaneer's Girl Foe," a serial adventure by T. C. Harbaugh set in late-eighteenth-century Caribbean waters. The story opens aboard the Spanish merchant vessel Red Mogul in the dangerous Gulf of Darien. Lieutenant Roland Manton, an American officer, and Fairweather Tom, a Yankee sailor, spot a mysterious light while on watch. Investigating, they discover a corpse lashed to a mast on an empty raft—evidence of pirate brutality. Captain Fortuno, the ship's Spanish captain, suspects Captain Cutlass, the notorious buccaneer. A beautiful American passenger, Lona Seward, traveling to Cartagena, witnesses the grim discovery and reveals she's been troubled by premonitions about her best friend falling into Cutlass's hands. The crew retrieves the body, which becomes central to the unfolding narrative of piracy, vengeance, and maritime adventure.