The Falcon Rover

This is a catalog of Beadle and Adams publications from 1886, featuring dime novels and instructional series. The visible issue contains "The Falcon Rover" by James Hungerford, a serialized adventure novel set in 1817 on Maryland's Chesapeake coast. The narrative follows John Alvan Coe, a young planter's son of aesthetic temperament and irresistible curiosity, who witnesses suspicious nighttime activity at a harbor-side storehouse while returning from drum-fishing. Having noticed a graceful brig unloading cargo by moonlight into the store—long rumored to conceal smuggled goods and pirated merchandise—Coe resolves to investigate despite (or because of) his attraction to mystery and danger. He dismisses his companions and prepares to descend toward the shore for closer observation.