Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1006

About this issue

Charles Morris's serial begins with a spectacular hotel fire in New York. A sharp young street boy nicknamed "Flipper Frank" courageously climbs a burning hotel ladder to retrieve a mahogany casket belonging to a guest who claims fifty thousand dollars were lost. Frank secretes the casket's contents—papers bearing the initials J.P.C.—while turning the empty box over to Tommy Brown at a restaurant. Detective Richard Wister learns from his young assistant Frank that the casket's owner is "the Artful Dodger," a criminal the detective recognizes as John P. Clarkson. Frank believes this fire was a ruse, that Clarkson fabricated his losses to cover some larger scheme. The discovery sets detective Wister and his sharp young operative on what promises to be a significant case. The narrative launches their investigation into Clarkson's activities.