Ragged Dick series

After spending much of his life as a self-reliant boot-black on the streets of late-1860's New York, genial, fifteen-year-old Dick Hunter finds it hard to adjust to his new job and improved social status, especially when jealous enemies frame him for theft.

After leaving the ill-tempered woman with whom he lives, ten-year-old matchboy Mark Manton meets a man who recognizes something of himself in the young orphan and helps him rise above his lowly circumstances.

Now working in a brokerage firm, Rufus lives in a nice house with his sister Rose, but when their abusive stepfather tracks them down, both children take unusual measures to protect themselves.