Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 565

# Museum Catalog Note: "A Tale of Border Mystery" and "Sweetheart Number Thirteen"

This May 22, 1838 issue of Beadle and Adams' Weekly presents Colonel Prentiss Ingraham's serial "A Tale of Border Mystery," featuring the rescue of young Mabel Manners from a drowning in a western river by the mysterious Kent Kingdon. The opening chapters reveal that Kingdon had previously killed Mabel's brother Horace in a duel. Through retrospective narration, the conflict originates three years earlier at an eastern college where Kent Kingdon, a wealthy Texas cattleman's son and known duelist, publicly humiliates his fellow student Horace Manners by displaying a photograph of Mabel—labeled "Sweetheart No. 13"—in an album, claiming her as a former lover. Horace, engaged to Mabel and unaware of any prior relationship, demands satisfaction. Despite Horace's trust in Mabel's denials, the two meet for a sword duel under moonlight. The installment terminates as the blades clash. The narrative combines western action, college melodrama, and romantic betrayal.