Beadle's Dime Library, No. 864

# Catalog Note: "Gus Wayne's Best Bower" by Wm. H. Manning

This serial tale opens on New York's Black Block, where the protagonist Rockingham Dix, a tall, slender missionary in black clothes, rescues a well-dressed young woman, Norma Rayne, from two drunken ruffians accosting her on the street. Dix brings her to a nearby mission run by the gray-haired Mrs. Ayre. Norma, a guest at the home of retired wharfinger Ezra Pinckney, was delayed returning from a railroad accident. At the mission, Detective James Brown intrudes and accuses Norma of being a former mission child attempting to blackmail his wealthy brother Stephen Brown by falsely claiming to be his daughter. Brown alleges she is a "sharper" seeking money. Norma denies the charges, insisting she merely wants her rightful name, not financial support. Dix defends her against Brown's hostile accusations, questioning the detective's authority to air private grievances at the mission.