The Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird Tales

Gerrard Street Mystery and Other Weird Tales by John Charles Dent (Toronto, 1888).

This collection contains four mysterious and supernatural stories, compiled from pieces originally published in periodicals. "The Gerrard Street Mystery" features William Francis Furlong, a Montreal commission merchant, recounting strange circumstances from his Toronto youth. Orphaned as a boy, Furlong was raised by his uncle Richard Yardington, a prosperous merchant on Gerrard Street. Furlong became engaged to his cousin Alice Playter, also raised in the household. When a family friend returns from Melbourne with business opportunities, the young Furlong departs Australia-bound with £500 capital and his own savings, leaving Alice behind. The contents page lists two additional stories: "Sagtooth Simage" and "The Haunted House on Duchess Street," though their plots remain partially obscured by OCR degradation. A biographical prefatory sketch characterizes Dent as a Canadian historian and journalist known for works on Canadian public figures and the Rebellion of 1837–38, praised for making history readable through engaging narrative technique.