Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 987

About this issue

This 1896 pulp serial by Jo Pierce, author of street-tales featuring characters like "Five Points Phil," depicts a mystery-crime narrative in urban New York. "The Detective's Blind: The Story of the Seagrief Racket" opens with protagonist Isaac Ogden barricading himself in his room, fearful of unnamed dangers. His relatives Irad and Anna Russell plot against him, executing some violent action during the night—suggested through Amy Dunn's discovery of bloodstains in Ogden's room. The Russells subsequently claim Ogden departed for Albany. The narrative then shifts to introduce Paul, a fifteen-year-old street youth dwelling at the North River piers, self-styled "Wharf-rat Paul," who observes suspicious figures near the waterfront and suspects one man of contemplating suicide. The story establishes a detective mystery involving potential crime, murder concealment, and street-level urban observation.