Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 754

# The Villainy That Did Not Pay

By T. C. Harbaugh, a prolific dime-novel author, this serial follows a criminal conspiracy in New York. Two rascals, Simon Slyboots and Reck Sloper, conspire with Captain Ortiz (formerly Pedron Jarillo) of the ship Centipede to ensure that young Tom Wagner, heir to the dying Napoleon Gregg's half-million-dollar estate, does not survive his grandfather. If Tom dies first, the fortune passes to Captain Ortiz per the will. The conspirators have secured Tom's trust through Slyboots's manipulation, then lure and imprison him. Meanwhile, Billy Winks, a young detective, independently shadows these criminals while Timothy Turk, Tom's eccentric uncle, pursues his own investigation. Mother Magog, a large woman harboring secrets about the villains, counsels the Captain on managing his co-conspirators' inevitable blackmail attempts.