New York Bill, the Dodger

# Catalog Note

This issue contains the opening chapters of "New York Bill, the Dodger; or, Two Boys Who Were Bounced," by Edward Willett. The serial follows two orphaned boys—Sim Brattle, abandoned by his uncle on a westbound train, and Bill Yards, who has escaped from a philanthropic placement scheme. When their train derails in Illinois, killing and injuring numerous passengers, the boys demonstrate quick thinking and courage by rescuing a woman and her daughter, Amy Ames, from a burning car. After the disaster, they reach St. Louis, where Sim retrieves a leather satchel containing iron castings belonging to an elderly man named Cornelius Corum, who promises but fails to deliver a monetary reward. The resourceful boys obtain free breakfast using a fabricated hardship story. The narrative blends adventure, melodrama, and street-smart humor in a tale of survival and orphan independence.