Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 145

Captain Ferret, the New York Detective; or, Boss Bob's Boss Job by Edward L. Wheeler

This dime novel follows two parallel storylines. In the prologue, a dying mother entrusts her six-month-old daughter to a French woman named Felice, but a grave-robber disguised as a physician offers payment to have the child drowned in the Delaware River.

In the main narrative, "Boss Bob," a resourceful Philadelphia bootblack, encounters the Frenchwoman fleeing at dawn and follows her to the river docks. Witnessing her attempt to set a boat carrying the baby adrift, Bob pursues and rescues the infant from the Delaware. When he returns the boats to the wharf, he faces the boat owner's accusations of theft. The serialized narrative sets up the appearance of Detective Captain Ferret, who will presumably unravel the mystery surrounding the abandoned child.