Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 788

DICK DOOM, A MAN OF MANY MASKS This serial installment features detective Dick Doom (real name possibly Dixie Gray), a young, unusually attractive agent working in secret service who accepts two cases: the recapture of Valentine Gibson, a murderer escaped from New Orleans prison weeks before his scheduled hanging, and a jewelry robbery involving wealthy Bostonians. Gibson escaped through an elaborate hoax involving a false clergyman—Dick deduces a woman masterminded the plot. In Boston, Dick meets Mrs. Van Vechten of an old aristocratic family whose household harbors a mysterious absent son. The Vans Vechtens recently returned from Mexico, where bandits robbed them; two horsemen rescued them and may connect to the jewelry theft. Written by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, this crime-mystery serial combines detective investigation with dramatic intrigue across multiple cities.