Beadle's Pocket Library No. 340

# Tim, the Tramp

"Tim, the Tramp," by Charles Morris, serialized in this 1890 Beadle and Adams dime novel, opens with the discovery of a starving vagrant boy on a roadside. Farmer Jeremiah Wilson and his sympathetic wife rescue the half-frozen child during a March cold snap. The boy, who identifies himself as Billy Bubble (derived from his former master's harsh nicknames for him), recalls a brutal past of tramping with a man called "Master Tim" who beat and kicked him regularly before abandoning him. The Wilsons take Billy to their farm, providing food and clothing. While farmer Wilson proves stern and suspicious about Billy's vagabond background, Mrs. Wilson shows maternal kindness. Billy's story unfolds through interrogation, revealing deprivation, abuse, and a transient life of begging and peddling—yet the boy claims personal honesty despite his circumstances. The narrative establishes the orphaned boy's redemptive potential as he enters agricultural service.