Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 989

This issue of Beadle and Adams (July 7, 1896) contains "Bicycle Bob, or Shaking Up the Street-Steerers," by J.C. Cowdrick. The story follows Reuben Rockaway, a rural New York farmer and justice of the peace, who arrives in New York City carrying a carpetbag containing valuable documents worth half a million dollars. When he intervenes to prevent a policeman from arresting a young bicyclist for speeding, Rockaway is distracted and a thief steals his bag. The arrested youth is Robert Ransom, nicknamed "Bicycle Bob," a fifteen-year-old messenger and skilled bicyclist whose widowed mother is a dressmaker. After his release, Bob spots the thief carrying the stolen carpetbag and pursues him on his bicycle through city streets, shouting "Stop thief!" The narrative is incomplete in this excerpt, breaking off mid-chase as Bob pursues the fugitive around corners at high speed.