Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 655

This issue of Beadle's Dime Novels contains "Plucky Paul, the Boy Speculator; or, Going for Old Slink" by Charles Morris. The serial follows eighteen-year-old Roger Wilton, whose impoverished widow mother faces eviction by the ruthless moneylender Simon Slink over two weeks' overdue rent. With only an hour before the deadline, Roger seeks aid from his mother's old friend John Burnaud at 65 Commerce Street. When Roger fails to return in time, Slink arrives with a constable and evicts the family, seizing their meager furniture including the late husband's walnut writing-desk. Unknown to Slink, papers hidden within the desk's broken frame contain what the widow mystically predicts will become his undoing. The narrative emphasizes Roger's determination and resourcefulness against the predatory capitalism represented by Slink.