Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 932

This issue features the opening chapters of "New York Nat's Drop into the Dungeon," by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, a detective adventure serial. The story follows New York Nat, captain of the "Unknown Ferrets"—a secret band of reformed boy criminals working as covert law enforcers. A former band member named Sykes, exiled to China three years earlier after attempting betrayal, has returned to New York seeking revenge and wealth. Sykes shadows New York Nat to the Ferrets' headquarters, a brownstone mansion housing the band's operations. Inside, Nat confronts a prisoner named Rip, offering him exile to Australia with payment rather than execution for his treachery. Recognizing Sykes during his departure, Nat pursues him. Sykes escapes via cab, then undergoes elaborate disguise as an Italian fruit peddler to establish surveillance of the Ferrets' residence, planning to betray them to authorities for profit.