Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 903

This issue of a pulp magazine features "Billy Blue Blazes, The Dodger of the Docks; or, The Double Detective," by Ben D. Halliday. The adventure begins when Billy, a scrappy young man lounging on West Street near the docks, spots smoke and investigates. He discovers a three-masted schooner ablaze and hears cries from the water. He rescues a Black man named George Washington Calhoun, a woman named Mrs. Rawlins, and her child from drowning. Mrs. Rawlins reveals her brother, Captain Simon Beebe, deliberately set the fire to kill them. She insists Billy keep her survival secret, fearing the captain. Billy agrees and brings them to shelter at the home of Old King Coal, an eccentric coal merchant, where they can dry off and hide.