The Water-Hound; or, The Young Thoroughbred

Museum Catalog Entry This issue of Beadle and Adams' Half-Dime Library contains "The Water-Hound: The Young Thoroughbred," a serial adventure tale by Charles Morris, author of previous popular series featuring characters Frank Frazer and Bart Wilson. Set in October in Baltimore, the story opens at Guy's Gardens, a fashionable entertainment venue, where young gentleman Frank Frazer encounters a mysterious veiled woman at a dance. During their waltz, she whispers cryptic warnings about danger and a vendetta, then vanishes. She warns him to avoid Fremont Avenue and speaks of blood-avengers. The woman and unknown assailants subsequently issue warnings to both Frank and his friend Bart. Suspecting retaliation from the Manley family—connected to an old cashier they exposed in Shenandoah Valley—the men are ambushed on Fremont Avenue and fired upon. A week later at a racetrack outside the city, Frank receives another anonymous letter warning of danger at the races. The serial continues with mounting intrigue and threat.