Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 477

# The Washington Spotter by T. C. Harbaugh

This serial follows Capital Ben, a sixteen-year-old boy detective in Washington, uncovering a criminal scheme. While hiding beneath an office sofa, Ben overhears Jerry Jasper, a claim-agent, and Buck Bronson plotting to kidnap a man arriving from Baltimore, extracting fifty thousand dollars initially and "ten times that sum" afterward. The target is connected to Florence Worcester, a wealthy young woman Bronson intends to marry for her fortune. Learning of an accident involving Florence and her mother, Ben consults a city directory and begins surveillance on Fourteenth Street. When Bronson arrives at the Worcester house to press Florence for an answer to his courtship proposal, Ben positions himself in the shadows to monitor the situation. The narrative emphasizes Ben's quick thinking and determination to thwart Bronson's criminal enterprise.