Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 841

Messenger Max, Detective: A Story of Brooklyn by Marmaduke Dey depicts a young District Telegraph messenger boy who becomes entangled in a robbery scheme. Sixteen-year-old Maxwell "Max" Merry is hired to fetch elderly Mr. Mordaunt on the pretext of a family emergency, only to discover he has been manipulated into delivering the old man to criminals. After Mr. Mordaunt is bound and gagged in a rented room, Max is abducted and taken to Mordaunt's residence, where two thieves—a large brutish man and a more nervous accomplice called Tom—break into a cabinet and steal gold, bank-notes, and securities from the home. The story combines detective mystery with crime elements, establishing Max as an intelligent observer who carefully studies his captors' characteristics and mannerisms.