Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 330

This 1885 Beadle dime novel installment presents "Cop Colt, the Quaker City Detective," featuring the opening of a serialized story by Charles Morris titled "A Hound on the Wolves' Track." The narrative begins at Eastern Penitentiary in Philadelphia, where Dorsey Hamilton is discharged after serving five years for a crime he believes he did not commit, driven by schemes of revenge. A court messenger arrives with a retaining order fifteen minutes too late. Pursuing Hamilton through Philadelphia streets, the messenger and officer Joe pursue the fugitive, eventually confronting him on Carleton Street. When they attempt forced arrest, Hamilton strikes the officer and escapes into a sympathetic resident's house. Judge Norwood subsequently rebukes the officers for overstepping legal authority, noting Hamilton was lawfully discharged and warning them against false arrest charges. The narrative establishes themes of wrongful imprisonment, pursuit, and legal transgression.