Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 628

This issue of Beadle and Adams's dime novel (No. 628, August 6, 1889) features "The League of the Sworn Seven" by J. C. Cowdrick, author of the Broadway Billy series. The serial follows the street detective Broadway Billy, a glib, talkative boy who finds himself imprisoned in an ornate torture chamber by a mysterious criminal organization. Seven robed figures calling themselves the Sworn Seven—dedicated to eliminating detectives from the city—offer Billy a choice between death and mutilation. Billy, displaying characteristic irreverence, chooses drowning rather than blindness and tonguelessness. The Seven plan to execute him by throwing him into New York Bay within hours, leaving him bound in darkness to await his fate. The story emphasizes Billy's nervousness and wit under extreme duress.