This issue of a pulp weekly from June 28, 1882, features "The Lightning Sport; or, The Bad Men at Slaughter Bar" by William R. Eyster. The serial begins with Harold Varley, a manipulative Englishman with steel-gray eyes, seducing the discontented Mrs. Clarice Bride through sympathy. He persuades her to flee her husband Clinton Bride, claiming western courts will grant her freedom and restore her fortune. Varley's actual target is a secret safe filled with gold hidden in Bride's cellar vault. Mrs. Bride locates the safe and arranges to send her young daughter away with a nurse via steamer. Varley and Bride meet the following night at the mansion to rob the safe. The narrative establishes Varley as a cunning villain exploiting a vain, weak woman, leading toward a crime of theft and abandonment.
About this artifact
- Date
- June 28, 1882
- Rights
- Public domain — free to view, share, and reuse.
- Restoration
- Digitally restored and hosted by comicbooks.com.
Part of our mission to preserve and restore the public-domain heritage of the medium.