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Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 608
This issue of *Silent Sam* from June 18, 1890, presents "Following the Invisible Trail," a detective serial by Captain Howard Holmes. The narrative centers on Captain Sam, a sharp-eyed detective known for tracking invisible trails, who operates from a modest Broadway-area apartment. His young assistant Gogol brings him a letter from Major Mascot's house and reports witnessing a dark-eyed woman's face reflected in a mirror, hidden behind curtains. Sam sketches the face from Gogol's description with remarkable accuracy. The story shifts to Captain Holofernes, a wealthy, handsome Cuban-looking man living elegantly in the city, served by his Greek attendant Draco. Holofernes receives an unexpected visitor claiming to be "the man from Moscow"—whom the captain suspects is an impostor despite the Russian's convincing appearance and exact knowledge of their last meeting five years prior.