Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 482

Museum Catalog Note This serial by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, titled "The Deep," begins aboard a lifeboat in the Atlantic following a hurricane-wrecked brig bound for Havana. The five survivors—an American Cuban planter Senor Rudolph, his daughter Victorine, her maid Liza (described as a quadroon), and two Spanish seamen—face dwindling provisions. The seamen plot murder for plunder, but Victorine spots a mysterious armed schooner and signals it, thwarting the conspiracy. The vessel's captain, Frank Belmont, an American commanding a Mexican cruiser, rescues them. He falls in love with Victorine during the voyage and declares his intentions. Months later, when Belmont returns to claim her as his bride, he learns Senor Rudolph has died and Victorine has married another man, Rodriguez. The narrative combines shipwreck adventure with romantic melodrama and tropical intrigue.