Pulp Fiction, 1938 · page 82 of 116
10-Story Detective Magazine Cover — page 82: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Big-House Bait This is a story page from an early-20th-century pulp magazine, featuring the opening of "Big-House Bait" by William A. Langford. The page includes a dramatic illustration showing figures in what appears to be a confrontation scene. The story follows Young Joe, a reformed criminal preparing to marry Mary in Baneville, whose former criminal associates have set a trap for him—apparently involving a dead body. Joe finds himself carrying a handbag after a man drops dead on a late-night street, and must escape while contemplating his new life and Mary's trust in his reformation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Big-House Bait By William A. Langford _— —_— 4 oes i ' NG ted fae Aes Young Joe had been on Straight Street for a year, and was q now going to be married. But his former pals had a different ip idea—an idea of big-house . ait in a corpse trap. OE knew that A | he mustn’t get caught. That was the first thing that banged into his head when the man dropped dead. He had to get away at once. But it all hap- pened so quickly. He was walking down the street, carrying the handbag. It was quite late; past midnight. The street was almost deserted. And Joe was think- ing of Mary. He knew that Mary was expecting him in Baneville. They were going to be married. He was to take the morning train. 80 He was so absorbed with thoughts of Mary, that he didn’t see anyone at first. Mary had given him a year’s grace. He had told her of his past when he’d had a different last name. He had assured her that he had never really hurt anyone; that he never wanted to hurt anyone. And he had figured it all out by him- self that he couldn’t be a crook with- out hurting people sooner or later— even if he only used his guns to throw a scare into the folks he held up. Joe had told her all that. And she had believed him, without much diffi- culty. He was such a gentle-looking fellow, something like a piano-player is supposed to look; mild-mannered comi (@) ‘books