The Union Square Baggage Boy

# "The Union Square Baggage Boy: Kris Chatterbox, the Pavement Guide" by Jo Pierce

This serial installment, from Beadle and Adams' weekly dime novel publication (No. 864), follows young Kris Chatterbox, a New York baggage agent, who befriends George Stoughton, a fourteen-year-old traveler arriving at Grand Central Depot. George has come to New York seeking his uncle, Union Dickinson, after learning from his dying guardian, Stephen Matlock, that he was abandoned as an infant and placed in Matlock's care by a mysterious man named Albert Grafton. Kris takes George to his family home on Twelfth Street, where George reveals his circumstances. The narrative establishes a mystery involving George's concealed parentage, Grafton's involvement, and Dickinson's potential connection to his past. Kris warns George against approaching his uncle unprotected, suspecting danger lurks in uncovering such secrets.