Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 617

# "Grip-Sack Sid's Even-Up" by Joseph E. Badger Jr.

This adventure serial follows Sidney Harper, a traveling salesman (or "drummer") for "THE HOUSE," a company dealing in general merchandise. Held up on a mountain road by masked bandits led by the mysterious Captain Chameleon and his lieutenant Lizard, Harper is taken captive. Despite his perilous situation, Harper maintains his salesman's patter, attempting to convert his captors into customers even as guns are trained on him. When Chameleon demands twenty thousand dollars that Harper allegedly possesses, Harper denies having any such sum. The bandit chief threatens to shoot him if he doesn't produce the money within a count of ten. Harper, bemused and bewildered rather than terrified, continues his comedic sales pitch throughout the ordeal, ultimately asking for an order form and pen rather than yielding to threats.