Golden Argosy, Vol. VI No. 18

"The Basket of Diamonds; or, Hope Everton's Inheritance" This serial story by Gayle Winterton follows sixteen-year-old Hope Everton, a beautiful young woman living with her widow mother in New York City. When the persistent young roomer Rush Sinnerton forces unwanted attentions on Hope in the street, sixteen-year-old Rowly Parkway intervenes, striking Sinnerton down. Hope takes refuge at Rowly's mother's home. Mrs. Everton responds decisively to the assault on her daughter, evicting Sinnerton from her boarding house immediately. Sinnerton, aware his father holds an eight-thousand-dollar mortgage on the property, threatens to notify his father and appear in New York the following morning. However, Mrs. Everton remains unmoved by this threat, standing firm in her protective resolve. The narrative establishes Hope's inheritance plot through reference to a dying diamond miner and a precious casket, details yet to unfold in subsequent chapters.