Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 89

# Catalog Description

"Island Jim: The Pet of the Family" by Bracebridge Hemyng, serialized in this Half-Dime Library issue (1879), is a domestic tragedy. Sixteen-year-old Dick Dimity of Jersey City, spoiled and mischievous, torments his neighbor Mr. Mandragon—hanging his wife's cat and shooting putty pellets at him. When Mandragon complains, Dick's father resolves to send him to boarding school. Rather than submit, Dick runs away toward the Black Hills with friend Tommy Bennet, carrying only two dollars. Tommy abandons the journey after hardship; Dick persists alone through rain and mud. Meanwhile, the news of Dick's flight causes his mother, already in delicate health, to suffer fits and die. Dick remains unaware of the catastrophic consequence of his defiance, sheltering in a barn as night falls.