Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 649

This issue of Beadle and Adams' Half Dime Library (December 31, 1880) features "The Bowery Badger; Or, Scooping a Slippery Set" by Jo Pierce, credited as "Of the New York Detective Force."

The story follows Gamin Bob, a sixteen-year-old street orphan operating a peanut stand on the Bowery. While hiding under an abandoned box on a New York pier, Bob overhears two men plotting an insurance fraud scheme. They plan to ship valuable goods from Boston to New York, claim losses through dynamite destruction of the steamship, and pocket two thousand dollars—with five hundred spent on explosives and equipment. The captain, Berkrode, will go down with the vessel. After the conspirators leave, Bob loses track of the man called Hank in a city crowd. Unable to convince skeptical police, Bob visits detective Wrixley's office hoping for assistance. Finding only Detective Stonerod present, Bob distrusts him and instead leaves a sealed letter. Bob contemplates his next move while managing his peanut stand with his partner Stumpy.