Beadle's Dime Library, No. 640

The Evil Spirit of the Deep, by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, is a serial adventure story set in early American naval history. The narrative follows Commodore Harold Hartwell, a high-ranking naval officer haunted by past crimes: he stole a pirate treasure meant for Captain Claude Cassiday's family, who had rescued him years earlier. Hartwell's ambitious wife obtained the fortune herself before drowning at sea, leaving their daughter Celeste vastly wealthy. The plot intensifies when young Claude Cassiday Jr., Cassiday's son and former forced buccaneer, rescues Celeste from kidnappers aboard a Boston-bound packet schooner during a hurricane. The young sailor's heroism embarrasses Hartwell, who secretly wronged the Cassiday family. Celeste befriends the poor, honorable young man and urges her father to help him, unaware Hartwell's guilt makes this restitution deeply personal. The story explores themes of conscience, redemption, and retribution across generations.