Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 521

1887 · 16 pages

"The Gold Gang of Gotham" by T. C. Harbaugh This serialized detective story begins in Battery Park where Angus Brandon, a destitute stranger, meets Dodger Dick, a street-smart wharf boy. Brandon recounts his ruin: arriving in New York three months prior with a fortune, he befriended Elroy Surface and Daniel Despard, who manipulated him into opening his uncle's safe. Ten thousand dollars vanished; though Brandon recovered papers to cover the loss, he was disowned. Since then, blackmailers have bled him dry. Dick, who works as an informal detective and helper to police, takes interest in Brandon's story and brings him to Nell's boarding house, where Newspaper Nell (an eighteen-year-old paper vendor and waitress) serves them. When Dan Despard enters the dining room, Brandon recognizes him. Dick reveals he has been tracking Despard for ten days regarding a burglary involving important papers and money stolen from a wealthy uptown house. Dick follows Despard and a mysterious woman in a carriage, arranging to meet Brandon later. The narrative establishes the mystery underlying the "Gold Gang."

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