Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1165

The Rival Lieutenants: A Tale of the Second War with Great Britain

Col. Prentiss Ingraham's serialized novel begins during a December storm in New York City, 1812. A young naval officer, desperate for funds, enters a gambling hall on Park Row. Displaying remarkable luck at roulette, he wins repeatedly on double-o-red and double-o-black before squandering his entire winnings on a final bet, leaving him suicidal. Wandering to the East River docks, he intervenes in an attack on a gentleman, killing two assailants before being rescued himself. The rescued man invites him aboard El Cinto de Acero (The Steel Belt), a Mexican cruiser.

The narrative then shifts backward one year to the Maine coast, where Lord Raphael Vivian and his eighteen-year-old daughter Claudine witness a ship in distress during an autumn gale, surrounded by dangerous reefs. Lord Vivian, an English nobleman who retired to America years prior, is known for his charitable works among local inhabitants. The text becomes illegible regarding Claudine's subsequent role or the ship's fate.