Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 212

This weekly story paper from August 1881 presents "Dashing Dave, the Dandy Detective; or, The League of the Secret Brotherhood" by Charles Morris. The narrative opens in suburban Philadelphia with a well-dressed gentleman, David Darnly, walking with a beautiful woman named Lucille Ernestine. During their conversation, she gives him a mysterious golden ring bearing a strange device, warning him it may save his life as he pursues a perilous search. When a detective attempts to arrest them both as accessories in the abduction of Clarence Thorndike, the officer is suddenly attacked by a gang of armed men who seize both Darnly and the terrified Lucille, forcing them into a carriage and escaping into darkness. The second chapter reveals the detective, Tom Parsons, recovering from his head wound at the Philadelphia police station, where he and Lieutenant Hill discuss their failed operation. Parsons is sent to inform Mr. Allen Thorndike—whose son Clarence has been kidnapped—of the capture, finding the grief-stricken family at their mansion.