Stephen H. Branch's Alligator, Vol. 1 no. 06, May 29, 1858

In 1841 a young lawyer‑in‑training finds himself waiting in a modest Fulton Street office when an orphaned boy appears, his family gone and his only living relative an itinerant actress. Moved by the youth’s loneliness, the narrator offers free tutoring in English and Latin, opening a doorway to learning that the boy has never known. Their bond deepens as they share meals, outings to Flushing and Albany, and the quiet companionship of two other strangers who are likewise adrift in the city.

The mentor soon discovers that the boy’s gratitude is shadowed by desperation; a stolen dinner at the Astor House triggers a fierce rebuke and a warning that a life of theft could end on a scaffold. Even as the boy weeps and vows reform, he slips back into crime, only to be released when the accusing gentleman disappears. The narrator’s efforts to secure honest work for the boy clash with the boy’s precarious circumstances, leaving a fragile hope that steadfast guidance might yet steer him away from ruin.