Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 400

# Museum Catalog Note

This issue contains "Wrinkles, the Night-Watch Detective," a serialized narrative beginning with an office confrontation in Philadelphia. Lawyer Trimbal Thackera, a wealthy stockbroker and speculator, receives a letter from Louis Lawton, a young ash-cartman who has been courting Thackera's daughter Theodora after rescuing her from drowning. Thackera summons Lawton intending to intimidate him into ceasing his attentions, deeming him socially unfit despite his honesty and intelligence. Lawton responds with a spirited defense of working men's dignity and social rights. The confrontation escalates into violence when Thackera refuses to retract an insult, and Lawton strikes him down, leaving the broker unconscious before departing. The narrative indicates further complications will ensue from this encounter. A second chapter begins introducing additional characters and plot elements.