The Argosy, Vol. 23

This is the beginning of "Gabriel's Appointment," a serialized novel in the January 1877 issue of Belgravia. The narrative follows Alice Kerr, a seventeen-year-old English girl traveling from Paris to London by rail. At the crowded Station du Nord, she is pickpocketed and nearly assaulted before a gentleman named Gabriel Bruce intervenes. Bruce, along with two companions—Joel and Martin—takes responsibility for her journey. Alice reveals she is the daughter of an artist and carries her father's unpublished drawings to London, where she hopes to establish herself as an artist. During the journey, Alice notices Martin watching a mysterious infirm passenger with suspicion. The excerpt establishes Bruce's protective generosity and Alice's artistic ambitions while introducing intrigue surrounding the third passenger's identity and purpose.