Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 261

This issue of the New-York Boy serial features "Fergus Fearnaught: The New York Boy" by George L. Aiken, subtitled "A Story of the Byways and Thoroughfares by Daylight and Gaslight." The narrative opens with the eponymous protagonist, a distinctive auburn-haired street boy, standing on bootblacks' boxes at Chatham and William streets for a shoe shine. A well-dressed man named Rufus Glendenning observes Fergus intently and hires lawyer Pickles to investigate the boy's background, sensing a mysterious resemblance. After Fergus insults Pickles, the lawyer agrees to shadow him. Fergus subsequently defeats the bully Rowdy Rube in combat, then intervenes when an Italian padrone beats the street musician Ben Gummy, nearly stabbing Fergus before being stopped by Clinton De Witt Stuyvesant, a well-bred boy of sixteen who rescues him with his walking cane. The two form an acquaintance.