Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 492

About this issue

This 1886 Beadle and Adams pulp weekly, edited by George C. Jenks, contains the serialized story "Git Thar Owney's Pledge." The narrative opens on a foggy East River at midnight, where two river thieves, Jim Riggan and "Ugly" Bill Sharpe, row a black yawl toward the anchored yacht Siren. Their mission involves stealing a silver vase—a yachting trophy worth approximately $200 in precious metal—and retrieving a photograph from the sleeping owner, a young man named Norman. As Riggan infiltrates the cabin and pilfers a pocket-book containing the photograph and currency, an unexpected observer arrives: a young member of the Secret River Police called "Git Thar Owney." When Riggan attempts to silence the awakening Norman with a handy billy (a lead-weighted weapon), Git Thar Owney intervenes, disarming the thief and saving Norman's life. The narrative is crime/adventure fiction centered on river piracy and law enforcement in New York.