Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 692

This issue contains the opening chapters of "Redfern, the Secret Service Scout: A Romance of the Rough Southwest" by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, serialized in this 1890 Beadle and Adams weekly publication. The narrative begins on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where schoolchildren ride daily between homes. Young Gray St. John, the industrious son of a widow, rivals wealthy Hugh Hammond for the affections of beautiful fifteen-year-old Ethel Enders, a recent heiress. When Hammond encounters Gray and Ethel returning to school, he provokes a confrontation, ultimately slashing Gray with his whip and forcing a duel. Ethel serves as witness and calls the signals. Hammond shoots Gray, who collapses apparently mortally wounded. However, Ethel discovers Hammond had removed the bullet from Gray's borrowed rifle—a deliberate murder attempt. After alerting the doctor and Gray's mother, Ethel pursues justice by seeking a warrant from Judge Hammond. The melodramatic narrative combines romantic rivalry, honor codes, and criminal conspiracy across its opening installment.