Beadle's Dime Library No. 958

Round-About-Town Sport; or, The Lawyer Detective's Tangle

This serial detective story by J. C. Cowdrick, published March 3, 1897, follows a lawyer-detective investigating mysterious events in New York City. The narrative opens with a clandestine exhumation at Greenwood Cemetery, where a shadower observes three men disinterring the body of Philip Kassinger and removing internal organs before reburying it. The watcher, Hugh Austin, later learns the victim's name and resolves to consult his associate John. The second chapter shifts to domestic conflict, depicting the confrontation between guardian Gower Terwilliger and his ward Mildred Daniels over her forced marriage to Theodore Peyterson. Mildred refuses, declaring her true affection lies with William Gerredson and her guardian's scheme to exploit her late mother's estate. The plot involves contested inheritances, arranged marriages, and hidden connections to the murdered Kassinger.