A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1881 — all 16 pages of painted-cover fiction magazines that launched science fiction, horror, and hardboiled crime, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.

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A complete issue · 16 pages · 1881

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 213

1881 · Free to read

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About this issue

This serial by Edward L. Wheeler (author of the "Deadwood Dick" novels) presents an adventure romance set at Atlantic City. Fritz Snyder, a German-accented young ventriloquist, defends an unaccompanied woman named Madge Thurston from drunken roughnecks aboard a Philadelphia ferry-boat. He becomes curious about her mysterious purpose at the shore and follows her to the Brighton Hotel. That evening, a well-dressed stranger summons Fritz as a witness to a secret marriage ceremony in an ocean cave—Madge marries a man identified as Major Paul Atkins. The narrative emphasizes Fritz's detective instincts and ventriloquism skills (demonstrated when he impersonates voices to disturb spiritualist passengers on the excursion train), suggesting he will play a crucial role unraveling the mystery surrounding this hasty union.

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