Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 89

"Pretty Nelly, the Queen of the Isle" by Col. Prentiss Ingraham This serialized story combines maritime adventure with pirate intrigue. It opens with Rafael, a twenty-two-year-old man torn between honor and familial obligation, receiving orders from his father—an aging pirate captain—to pursue a vendetta at sea. Rafael has recently returned from college education in the United States, where he absorbed principles of honor that conflict with his upbringing aboard a corsair vessel. Despite his moral misgivings, he swears to keep an oath and assumes command of a seventy-five-man armed schooner to hunt their enemy. The narrative then shifts to eighteen-year-old Mabel Markham aboard the merchant brig *Sunbeam*, traveling to meet her naval officer father. A pursuing schooner—identified as the notorious "Curse of the Coast" flying a black flag with a red anchor—closes in for attack. Captain Rodney commands the brig; despite flying various flag signals, the buccaneer vessel opens fire. The account breaks as combat appears imminent.