Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 852

This issue contains "Pete Parrot, the Boss Masher from Mashersville" by E. L. Wheeler, author of Deadwood Dick novels. Set in Devil's Gulch, Nevada, the narrative opens at Samuel Sage's daughter's lavish wedding. Pete Parrot, a gaunt six-and-a-half-foot tall man with striking red whiskers and a large gray parrot named Poll perched on his shoulder, rescues Happy Harry Harris from a knife attack by bully Black Ben. Despite lacking proper attire, Pete vows to crash the wedding. Chapter Two introduces Magic Mose, a young magician hired by Sage, who performs sleight-of-hand tricks, then humiliates Shorty Sage by producing a toad from his hat and withdrawing absurd items—baby stockings, whisky flasks, and gold coins—from Samuel Sage's silk hat. When Sage summons Mexican workers to expel the magician, the text breaks off as Pete Parrot intervenes with his revolvers.