Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 244

This issue of Beadle & Adams' weekly features "Merciless Mart, The Man-Tiger of Missouri; or, The Waif of the Flood," a serialized adventure by "Buckskin Sam" (Major Sam S. Hall), author of numerous frontier tales. The narrative opens in 1850s Missouri where Rosa Ashland, a beautiful and refined young woman, encounters Mart Maxwell, a swarthy, well-dressed stranger who professes passionate love. When Rosa reveals she witnessed Maxwell deliberately sabotaging a footbridge to stage a dramatic rescue, she rejects him with contempt. Maxwell's fury intensifies when Colonel Frank Florence intervenes, striking him down. Maxwell swears violent vengeance on both of them, renouncing mercy and transforming his love into murderous hate. The second chapter shifts to spring, depicting the Missouri River's catastrophic flooding as massive ice floes collide and torrential waters devastate the landscape, destroying forests and spreading destruction—presumably setting conditions for the story's title character and the waif of the flood to emerge.