Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 552

1888 · 16 pages

This issue features "The Ring Detective's Transformation: A Tale of Wild Life Under the Canvas in the Far West" by David Druid. The narrative opens with the arrival of the consolidated circus of Wilkins and West in the mining town of Sunrise City, Colorado. Hard Fist Bill, a burly local miner, enthusiastically announces the show's arrival. Circus manager Ross Wilkins hires a mysterious athlete named Ariel, who performs extraordinary contortionist and trapeze feats. Wilkins then encounters Sam Sanborn, a private detective known as "Shadow Sam," who warns him that assassins are pursuing both him and his child star performer, Petite Julie, a rider orphaned young and raised within the circus. Shadow Sam refuses to divulge the assassins' identities but demands Petite Julie be smuggled away immediately. The story explores mysteries surrounding the girl's origins while establishing a menacing plot against her life.

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