Beadle's Dime New York Library No. 582

This December 1889 issue of Beadle & Adams' story paper features "A Desperate Game," a serial by Jackson Knox (Chapter II). The narrative centers on Avice Hollister, a wealthy twenty-two-year-old New York brunette, who discovers her betrothed cousin Jack Sterling—a banker's clerk aspiring writer—in an intimate embrace with her seamstress, Bertha Forrest. Bertha is the modest daughter of a Gettysburg officer and devotes her military pension to a paralyzed aunt's hospital care. Devastated, Avice undergoes an emotional transformation from anguished to coldly calculating. She observes Sterling is attracted to Bertha, notes that her uncle's secretary Baylis shows ardent interest in the seamstress, and learns that a family heirloom intended as a bridal gift remains missing. The household includes her uncle Henry Hollister, the secretary Baylis, Sterling, domestic servants, and Mrs. Marjoram's detective nephew—a childhood friend called "Rod" or "Joram" who has become a professional investigator.