Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 259

Catalog Note This October 1882 Beadle & Adams dime novel presents "Cutlass and Cross; or, The Ghouls of the Sea" by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, a companion to "The Pirate Priest." The serial follows Bradford Carr, a former tutor falsely convicted of murdering Soule Ravelle through a plot by Chester Granger and his master, Barton Keys. Rescued from execution, Carr assumes priestly garb while commanding a pirate vessel, hunting maritime outlaws. When he captures Granger and forces a confession, Carr learns that Keys—now courting Miss Maud Brandt at the Blue Anchor Inn for her fortune—orchestrated the original murder. Carr plans to sail there with Granger's captured ship to expose Keys, clear his name, and rescue Miss Brandt from an unwanted engagement. The narrative alternates between deck action, cabin confrontations involving cutlasses and crosses, and backstory exposition revealing the complex conspiracy.