Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 614

1890 · 32 pages

Catalog Note *The Mad Magician* by Capt. Fred. Whittaker, serialized in this 1890 issue of Beadle & Adams' pulp weekly. The adventure unfolds in post–Civil War El Paso, where idle American soldiers—ex-Union and Confederate troops now organized as "Juaristas" against Maximilian's Mexican forces—gather at Don D'Obrino's tavern to witness a traveling magic show. The featured performer, Doctor Satan, a devil-costumed illusionist with pale face, pointed mustache, and black gloves, opens with vanishing acts: a canary disappears from its cage. His grand illusion involves a boy named Albert whom Doctor Satan places in a hypnotic trance, positions on a stool, and dramatically stabs with a sword before the assembled crowd. Colonel Brooke, the regiment's commander, reacts with visible shock upon seeing the boy, suggesting prior connection. The narrative emphasizes sensationalist spectacle and period-typical supernatural credulity among audiences.

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