Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 480

1886 · 16 pages

"The Pets of Paddy's Flat" This mining-camp story by Phillips S. Warne follows three adolescent boys—Tom Murphy (Irish), Dick Johnson (African American), and Harry Keene (street-smart New Yorker)—who form "The Three Jolly Pards of Paddy's Flat" to support themselves at their mining settlement. Facing financial need, they organize a minstrel variety show, securing Dinny McGee's dance hall through businesslike negotiation. After a month of rehearsal, they stage their "First Grand Entertainment," featuring tambourine, bones, banjo, singing, dancing, and comedy. Despite initial stage fright and an onstage mishap with a chair, the performance succeeds wildly with an audience of over two hundred miners, generating approximately one hundred five dollars in receipts. The narrative depicts their transition from childhood to young adulthood through this entrepreneurial venture, emphasizing their camaraderie and resourcefulness in a frontier setting.

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