Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 854

Uncle Sam's Detective in Chicago This 1893 Beadle and Adams dime novel by George C. Jenks presents "Uncle Sam's Detective in Chicago; or The Country Postmaster Among Bunco-Men," subtitled "A Story of the Underground Counterfeiters' Den." Inspector John Gripp of the Secret Service assigns young detective Ralph Rapier—nicknamed "Ready" for his perpetual alertness—to investigate counterfeit ten-dollar bills flooding Chicago's World's Fair grounds. Gripp suspects Smasher Jim (James Wilkins), recently released from Columbus Penitentiary, operates the counterfeiting operation. On the train to Chicago, Rapier recognizes a suspicious passenger matching Smasher's description. When the man abandons his berth during a night stop, Rapier pursues. After leaping from the moving train, he encounters Smasher wielding a bowie-knife in darkness, barely deflecting a lethal blow before his quarry vanishes.