Beadle's Pocket Library No. 244

Merle Monte's Disguise This 1888 pulp serial by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham follows Basil Branch, a mysterious gambler in New Orleans who loses heavily at cards. A sea officer, Eduardo Valero, seeks him out with a letter from Captain Brandt—revealed to be the pirate chief Brandt the Buccaneer. Valero proposes that Branch help recruit a crew to seize Valero's ship, the Montezuma brig, which carries the injured Brandt. Branch agrees, viewing the piracy venture as profitable. The narrative then reveals Branch's past: his grandfather, an English nobleman's heir, was forced to fake his death, emigrate with his beloved bride, and vow eternal silence about his identity—a vow passed to Branch's father and demanded of Branch himself. When Branch's dying father insists he take the oath, Branch refuses, and the text suggests he murders his father to prevent disinheritance.