Beadle's Pocket Library No. 411

New York Jack's Mettle: Old Traps and His Drums This serialized adventure by Barry Ringgold concerns sixteen-year-old Jack Jones and a stolen fortune. When robber Sam Cone seizes a sachet containing nearly a million dollars from Jack's invalid uncle Mr. Benton in San Francisco, Cone leaps into an ascending balloon. Jack pursues, clinging to the balloon car despite Cone's knife threats. After a violent struggle, Jack subdues Cone with his pistol and secures him with rope, aided by Grace Gordon, the balloon operator's niece, whom Jack had befriended. Aloft and unable to control the balloon's valve, Jack and Grace drift northeastward toward the Sierra Nevada. Meanwhile, eight confederates of Cone, discovering their comrade has absconded with the entire treasure, begin pursuit. They waylay Professor Gordon, Grace's uncle, forcing him to guide them. Their two confederates sent ahead in a carriage are found dead and scalped—killed by Native Americans who stole the horse.