Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 871

1894 · 16 pages

Museum Catalog Note This issue contains "The Unknown Ferret's Arizona Ally" by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, beginning a serialized detective narrative. The story opens in New York City where a young man named New York Nat witnesses a murder attempt—three men throw a drunk man off a pier. Nat dives in and rescues him, then follows the conspirators. The narrative introduces the "Boy Police League," a secret band of youths aged twelve to twenty from various walks of life (messenger boys, clerks, bootblacks, newsboys) who operate from a haunted mansion. Led by Nat as captain and a masked female member called "the Queen," they investigate crimes—counterfeiting, kidnapping, and grave-robbing—while remaining unknown to official police. They send anonymous tips to the Secret Service chief and accumulate reward money, intending eventually to prove their value and gain legitimate police positions.

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