Nick Carter Stories No. 160, October 2, 1915: The Yellow Label

In Short

This 1915 pulp periodical miscellany brings together three distinct narratives, capped by a brief digest of weird news trivia. The main feature follows famed detective Nick Carter as he unravels a plot by disguised elites, led by a deceptive clubman, to loot wealthy homes and kidnap a child. The middle tale depicts a crusading photographer and his newspaper editor ally fighting corrupt local officials through exposure and framed evidence. A final domestic mystery centers on an isolated woman guarding her disgraced brother's secret. Together, they form a vivid time capsule of early-twentieth-century American popular fiction.

The Story

The volume opens in New York City with Alfred Knox Atherton, a wealthy and polished bachelor member of the exclusive Marmawell Club. Unknown to his peers, Atherton leads a gang of elite masked looters, including the society lawyer Frank Kinsley, the well-known scientist Professor Tufts, and fellow clubman Jack Frost. Max Berne, a cardroom waiter who is secretly a clever rogue himself, detects Atherton's duplicity through instinct. Max trails the gang to the Berkshire estate of Francis Massey, where the thieves break in to steal the family jewels deposited in a study safe. When Massey interrupts the burglary and draws a gun, Max fires from his hideout outside the window, shooting Massey’s wrist to allow the gang to escape.

Max later confronts Atherton at his Park Avenue apartment, armed with a revolver, and demands a partnership in exchange for his silence and his act of saving them. Atherton accepts Max, along with Max's sharp-witted wife Elaine and their associate "the Count." The criminal syndicate then targets Tommy Pyle, the five-year-old grandson of the uncouth "Pink Pellets" medicine millionaire Enoch Pyle. To bypass the boy’s heavy security and steel-lined shutters, Elaine disguises herself as Mrs. Brook-White, the region's elite social leader whom the status-hungry Pyles desperately wish to entertain. Elaine visits the Pyle estate, charms the elderly couple, and tricks them into letting young Tommy take a short joyride down the driveway in her luxury automobile. Once at the gate, the Count accelerates at top speed, leaving the horrified grandparents behind as Elaine blows them a mocking kiss.

The narrative then shifts abruptly to the town of Oldham, where a crusade rages between local politicians and the Bulletin, a newspaper employing the elusive "Camera Chap," Frank Hawley. Guided by publisher Fred Carroll, Hawley snaps clandestine photos of Chief of Police Hodgins and his corrupt officers, publishing them despite a newly passed anti-camera law. Desperate to ruin Carroll, Hodgins and Mayor Henkle frame the publisher for an explosive package sent to their mouthpiece organ, the Chronicle. Hawley and the New York attorney Horatio Hands investigate the physical evidence, tracing the bomb's components back to a staged frame-up involving an alarm clock and an attempted purchase of dynamite by a political rival's son.

The issue closes with the quiet mystery of Eudora Leroy, a Louisianian widow living in secluded isolation at Southbridge's reputedly haunted Locust Cottage. A local bank cashier falls for her, only to discover that her extreme privacy hides her troubled younger brother, Albert, whom she has spent her life trying to shield from criminal influences and bad companions.

How It Unfolds

The cardroom clue Max Berne, a suave cardroom waiter at the Marmawell Club, uses his keen instincts to observe the suspicious behaviors of prominent members Alfred Knox Atherton and Jack Frost.

The midnight burglary Max shadows Atherton’s masked ring of high-society thieves to the country estate of Francis Massey, where he intervenes in a gunfight to secure the gang's escape.

The blackmail proposal Armed with a handgun, Max confronts Atherton in his Park Avenue bachelor pad and successfully bargains for a cut of the gang’s future syndicate profits.

The deceptive visit Elaine Berne impersonates high-society matriarch Mrs. Brook-White to gain entry into the home of the uneducated, status-seeking millionaire Enoch Pyle.

The getaway at the gate After offering young Tommy Pyle a brief ride down the driveway, Elaine and her accomplice driver accelerate onto the main road, snatching the boy for ransom.

The anti-camera feud In Oldham, the elusive photographer Hawley dodges police traps to publish photos exposing Chief Hodgins' corrupt police force in the local Bulletin.

The bomb frame-up Chief Hodgins arrests publisher Fred Carroll after a bomb destroys the Chronicle office, using a forged wrapper and a cut-up supply box to manufacture evidence.

The jeweler's lead Lawyer Horatio Hands and Hawley track down key physical clues, proving that an antagonist bought an alarm clock and tried to buy dynamite to set up Carroll.

The secret at Locust Cottage Cashier narrator visits the secluded widow Eudora Leroy, discovering her mysterious lifestyle stems from protecting her reckless, reformed brother from a toxic past acquaintance.

The People

• Alfred Knox Atherton: A wealthy, handsome bachelor and Marmawell Club favorite who secretly plans high-stakes burglaries and abductions. He seeks to exploit society's vulnerabilities for immense financial gain.
• Max Berne: A multilingual, perceptive club waiter and self-described rogue. Driven by ambition and financial self-interest, he blackmails his way into Atherton's crime ring.
• Elaine Berne: Max's cynical yet resourceful wife. She uses her acting ability and refined manners to deceive social aspirants like the Pyles.
• Frank Hawley: Known as the "Camera Chap," he is a daring photojournalist committed to exposing public corruption in Oldham while evading illegal arrests.
• Chief Hodgins: The vengeful, politically minded head of the Oldham police department who manufactures evidence to protect his job and destroy his media critics.
• Horatio Hands: A pink-whiskered, highly capable New York attorney hired to defend the Bulletin staff from rigged local charges.
• Eudora Leroy: A devoted, weary Southern heiress who sacrifices her personal reputation to shield her troubled brother from criminal influences.

In Its Own Voice

“You know the old saying, ‘set a thief to catch a thief.’ It must have been that. Being a rogue myself, I instinctively spotted a fellow rogue when I saw him.”

Max Berne explains to his wife how his own criminal background enabled him to recognize the hidden motives of the wealthy club members.

“He was an extremely conscientious man. In fact, his conscience was a great trouble to him, for he was exceedingly fond of getting the best end of a bargain always, and it seems very unfortunate for such a man to have a conscience.”

The cashier describes Captain Fox, the owner of Locust Cottage, highlighting the awkward conflict between greed and morality.

What It's Really About

Underneath its breathless pulp action, the collection probes the hypocrisy of social status and institutional authority. Atherton’s gang proves that high-society prestige, legal expertise, and scientific acclaim can easily mask organized criminality. The Oldham newspaper storyline turns a lens on press freedom, showing how those in power manipulate laws and fabricate evidence to suppress embarrassing truths. In the final story, moral duty collides with social isolation, showing how family loyalty can force innocent people to live on the margins of society. The book repeatedly questions whether real integrity ever aligns with public reputation.

Why Read It Today

This issue offers readers a vivid window into the early twentieth-century American pulp landscape. The storytelling moves along at a crisp pace, filled with clever disguises, early automotive chases, and vintage investigative techniques. Readers who enjoy classic detective serials, historical melodrama, or retro crime fiction will appreciate its straightforward structure and colorful character archetypes.

The prose reflects its era directly, featuring period slang, dramatic plot turns, and dated cultural assumptions. The jump between the Nick Carter mastermind plot, the small-town newspaper saga, and the brief curiosities section gives the text an engaging, varied structure. It stands as an entertaining artifact of cheap serialized fiction that once entertained thousands of readers every week.