Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 675

This issue of the *Beadle and Adams* weekly (No. 675, July 1, 1890) features the first installment of "Broadway Billy's Best; or, Beating San Francisco's Finest" by J.C. Cowdrick, author of the Broadway Billy novels. The serial follows the street urchin detective Broadway Billy, who awakens in a San Francisco hotel to discover his thin companion Skinny has vanished from a locked room. After fruitless searching, Billy finds a note in Skinny's distinctive handwriting claiming he fell from the window and is waiting on Dupont Street. However, Billy and a mysterious gentleman observer—who identifies himself as Detective Dalworth of the police—suspect inconsistencies in the letter's writing and capitalization. Suspicion deepens when they learn that Dan Bingham ("Sharkey Dan"), a criminal Billy previously helped capture, has escaped custody. Detective Dalworth joins Billy's investigation as the mystery deepens.