Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 75

"Gentleman George; or, Parlor, Prison, Stage and Street," by Albert W. Alken, is the featured serial in this issue. In Chapter II, set in 1852 New York, a mysterious woman in dark dress delivers an infant in a pasteboard box to a wedding reception, then vanishes into the shrubbery. The bridegroom's father coldly orders the servant to take the foundling to the station-house. The concealed woman curses the family's line, invoking divine punishment. The narrative shifts to 1878, where masked river thieves—the "Rats"—board the English ship Golden Dragon while Captain Drummond sleeps. The gang leader, demonstrating thorough intelligence about Drummond's movements, demands a packet of diamond jewelry valued at two thousand dollars intended as a gift for Mrs. Inglis. Despite the captain's defiance, one accomplice locates the sealed packet in his cabin. After the thieves depart with the jewels, Drummond discovers his mate and crew bound, and fires at the vanishing getaway boat.