The Headhunter; or, Mark Magic in the Mines

This issue features "The Head Hunter," a detective serial by Beadle & Adams. The story opens when a mysterious express box containing detective Mark Magic is delivered to a station between Baltimore and Washington. Magic replaces himself with iron ore and departs to investigate the murder of Dick Pullett, whose body was discovered crushed in an abandoned mine pit. Before crossing Deep Run creek via a bridge, Magic encounters an unseen woman who warns him his identity as a detective is known and he faces grave danger from the Pullett brothers, suspected in the crime. Magic attempts to capture her but she vanishes, reissuing her warning from a distance. Inebriated miners then approach the bridge as the narrative breaks off.