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Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 835
This issue features "Dick Doom's Big Haul," a detective serial by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, set in Chicago during the World's Fair era. The narrative follows Dick Doom, a mysterious Man-Hunter who works for the Secret Service, as he investigates the murder of a young woman named Estelle Enders, supposedly committed by fashionable Merton Sanford. Early chapters establish the setup: Sanford threatens a prison guard to facilitate his escape; Nick Norcross, captain of a street gang called the River Rats, agrees with Dick Doom to form the "Boy Ferrets," a paid detective unit of street youths; and Dick Doom, disguised as a clergyman named Parson Richardson, briefs Nick on searching for Sanford's missing valet, believed to be his accomplice in the murder. The plot emphasizes hidden identities, urban intrigue, and detective work.