Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 63

Beadle's Dime Library, No. 98 *The Winged Whale; Red Rupert of the Gulf* by Albert W. Aiken continues serially in this issue. Chapter I, "The Water Demon," depicts three fishermen—Pablo Domingo, Jose, and Gomez—in Pensacola Bay in 1814 who encounter a mysterious phenomenon. After hearing Diego's account of a strange bluish light and horrible form in Bayou Achee, they investigate. Within the dark inlet, they witness a luminous circle advancing toward them containing a creature resembling a winged whale with fiery eyes that emits flame before vanishing. Chapter II, "The Recognition," shifts to a military ball at Pensacola fort. Spanish officers Don Carlos Alvarado (the commandante) and his son Captain Estevan converse; Estevan expresses bitterness that Isabel Morena, his promised bride and the commandante's ward, refuses to dance with him, claiming prior engagements. His father counsels that Estevan must win Isabel's love through courtship rather than expecting obedience.