Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 598

This 1889 Beadle and Adams dime novel presents the opening chapter of "Flute, the Singer Detective" by George C. Jenks. The story begins at New York's Euterpia Theater during a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado." When the regular tenor falls ill, Arthur Graham—nicknamed "Flute" for his voice—a young stagehand with amateur operatic experience, volunteers to sing Nanki-Poo. His performance succeeds brilliantly. However, Graham recognizes among the cast Norman Roundel, an actor with suspicious white hair, and realizes Roundel and tenor Ezra Piper are conspiring criminals. The two plot to eliminate Graham by loosening a stage trap to make him fall. A young woman named Blanche Rogers, a chorus girl who overhears their scheme, intervenes and pushes Piper through the trap instead. Roundel, standing below, collides with the falling Piper. Graham carries the unconscious Blanche to safety while the opera continues. The conspirators escape the stage, discovering their plot has been thwarted.