Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 926

Museum Catalog Note This issue of the Beadle and Adams weekly pulp publication (No. 926, 1895) features "New York Nat and the Traitor Ferre; or, The Girl Mascot's Best Score," a serial by Col. Prentiss Ingraham. The adventure tale follows Nat, a young secret service detective who delays in a small town upon learning of a condemned prisoner, Trent Trevor, facing execution for murder. Through investigation, Nat discovers Trevor is being hanged for a crime he did not commit—the death of a jail keeper. A key revelation emerges: Nat's sister Olive, a former street singer turned "Mascot Queen," witnessed the real perpetrators of an earlier pawnbroker robbery and murder, and believes Trevor innocent. Trevor refuses to divulge the true killer's identity despite his impending execution, claiming other lives depend on his silence. Nat pledges to clear Trevor's name and expose the judicial wrongdoing. The narrative emphasizes themes of injustice, loyalty, and vigilante justice through Nat's secret organization, the "Unknown Ferrets."