Beadle's Dime Library No. 866

Catalog Note This installment of the Beadle and Adams dime novel series, issue 166, presents "Spray Sprite, the Sea Witch," featuring the serialized story "Blackbeard's Buried Treasure" by Burke Brentford. Set during the American Revolution in summer 1777, the narrative follows Valentine Venture, a young sailor denied the hand of Mabel Ferris by her father Captain Hiram Ferris until Val can command his own vessel and possess five hundred pounds—a task to be accomplished within one year. Meanwhile, Ferris harbors darker intentions, holding a mortgage on Val's widowed mother's cottage and directing his steward John Gabo to press the debt. Val resolves to become a privateersman to achieve his goals, while the jealous British naval officer Lord Rathspey courts Mabel. Val encounters Caliban Gabo, the deformed son of Ferris's steward, on his departure. The narrative combines romance, maritime adventure, and Revolutionary War patriotism.