Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 445

# Museum Catalog Note

Red Rolfe's Pigeon by T. C. Harbaugh (author of frontier and detective serials) is a detective mystery serialized in Beadle and Adams' weekly publication. The story concerns three young detectives—Archy Ray, Fred Martin, and Fred Webb, operating as "Archy Ray & Co."—who investigate New York crime. They intercept a cryptic personal advertisement from Red Rolfe, a notorious ex-convict, mentioning a "pigeon" arriving August 20th, and deduce it signals a confidence scheme. While Ray shadows Rolfe on the Bowery, he encounters pawnbroker Pet Levi, who has accepted a diamond ring and pocketbook from a young man named Simon Lang, who claims to have found them at Desbrosses Ferry. The pocketbook belongs to a woman named Mabel Marshall from New Jersey, with a memorandum noting her August 20th arrival in New York. Meanwhile, Simon spends his pawn money at variety theaters, boasting of his "diamond mine" to companions, unaware a round-shouldered stranger is tracking him. The stranger confronts Simon in his room, demanding the pawn-ticket.