Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 912

This issue of Beadle and Adams' pulp weekly (Vol. XXXVI, No. 98, January 15, 1895) features "Train-Boy Trist's Hot Hustle; or, Bouncing the Broadway Crook," a serialized adventure story by J. C. Cowdrick, author of "Broadway Billy" novels.

The narrative begins when conductor John Lynch detects pickpocket Jason Gorman aboard a Pennsylvania Railroad express near Amboy Junction. Gorman assaults Lynch with a slung-shot before escaping during an emergency train stop. Young Trist Finley, a newsboy for the Union News Company, witnesses the attack and befriends the wounded conductor. Lynch reveals Gorman stole a pocketbook from passenger Sarah Sweetapple, an orphaned heiress traveling to New York. Trist discovers a letter dropped by Gorman—written by Samuel Rushkin from Amsterdam Avenue, discussing Sarah's impending inheritance. Recognizing this as a crime opportunity, Trist resolves to pursue both Gorman and protect the young woman before the Broadway crook can exploit her circumstances.