Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 896

The Man from Spokane; or, The Dead-Game Detective's Round-up

This serial by Capt. Howard Holmes, published December 1895, opens with William Swift, nicknamed Broncho Bill, arriving at the Cortlandt Street ferry in New York City. Intercepted by Jimsy Curt, a street lounger, he seeks the detective Kent Keen, known as the Dead-Game Detective, for assistance locating an old acquaintance. Swift recounts how, fifteen years earlier in the Western mines, his partner Mohave Merle swindled him out of his mining shares. Ten years ago, Merle—now wealthy and residing in New York—sent a promissory note via a mutual contact promising to repay fifty thousand dollars by October 10th (approaching within days). Swift presents the note and enlists Keen to identify Merle's current identity and location. The chapter concludes with Jimsy reporting that during their walk to a hotel, Swift dramatically threw an abusive Irishman into the street.