Wizard Will, the Wonder Worker

As the guide had said there were a number of graves in the vicinity of the tree for several trails led by it, and many a dear one, dying upon the plains had been laid to rest there, where the solitary cottonwood would serve as a monument to their memory.

"Now give me the particulars, boy pard, the time he was buried, his age when he was put here, and I guess I kin pick out his restin' place," said the guide.

Will gave the full particulars, as he knew them, and the guide set to work.

Grave after grave he went to, and left, making some remark at each one.

"This one looks to be about the age you say, boy pard, and it were made as though in a hurry, and with a don't care feelin', and not as them builds a dirt house over them they loves.

"Sergeant, bring yer utensils and dig earth here," said the guide, and he stood over a small grave that indeed did look as though it had been hastily dug and filled in, for others, even those smaller, and evidently with the remains of children in them, were made as though the heart of the diggers had been in the work.

Two soldiers now stepped forward with spades and the work was begun of turning the earth from the grave.

It was not a very long task, and soon the end was reached, the moldering bones of a body were found. Tenderly they were taken out having been wrapped in a blanket, and from a felt hat that had been upon the head, a mass of dark-brown curls were taken.

Mr. Rossmore took the hat and its precious burden tenderly, and asked: "Doctor, this looks like Willie's hair."

"Yes, exactly the shade," was the reply, and the doctor bent over the bones, while all present removed their hats with reverent awe, Will Raymond having unconsciously set the example.

In deathlike silence all stood while the doctor placed the bones together, and said: "This was the body of a child about Willie's age, at the time that our young friend here says they killed him, and it was a boy – yes, here is the left arm, and —it has been broken!"

"Heaven have mercy! it is the body of my poor boy," groaned Mr. Rossmore.

"Yes, Rossmore, it is, and I can swear to it, for here is the broken arm, the fracture being just below the elbow, as was Willie's, while you remember the tooth I took out for him one day?"

"Yes, he would not go to a dentist, but wished you to take it out, so I sent for you."

"He had no other tooth missing, and none here are, you see; but great Heaven!" and the doctor arose to his feet, holding the skull in his hands.

All pressed about him, while he continued, pointing to the skull: "Do you see that fracture?

"It tells the story that he was murdered!"

It was too true, the fractured skull showed where a death-blow had been given the poor boy, but whether by accident or design, who could tell?

As all crowded about the doctor, gazing at the skull, Will Raymond sprang down into the grave and picked up something that had caught his eye in the loose dirt.

"See here!" he called out, and he held up a gold watch and upon the inside case was engraved the name:

"Ed Ellis."

"Mr. Rossmore, that is the name of the man who was with Night Hawk Jerry, whom I shot, and he was one of the kidnappers, and here with your son, for this watch proves it, and it fell out of his pocket when he was burying him," said Will.

"Boy pard, you've got a long head, for the man who laid this boy's remains in thet grave, dropped thet watch," remarked the guide.

"Then it will be a fatal evidence against him, and I will leave nothing undone to hang him," sternly said Mr. Rossmore.

Then the bones were gathered together, and being placed upon one of the pack-animals, the party started on the return to the fort.

Arriving there, the bones were placed in a coffin, and Mr. Rossmore, the doctor and Will Raymond started upon their return East, the grief-stricken father having given the guide and the soldiers a most generous gift as an appreciation of their services.

CHAPTER XXI. – Retribution at Last

IT was at Chicago that Will Raymond parted with Mr. Rossmore and the doctor, for he was anxious to get back to New York, as he knew his mother had not been very well when he left.

In vain did Mr. Rossmore urge him to accept a cheque for a large amount for his most valuable services, for the boy was firm in his refusal, taking only sufficient for his expenses.

Two boxes, one marked for Mrs. Raymond, the other for Pearl, Mr. Rossmore also gave the youth for his mother and sister, and, with the feeling that he had done his duty well, and would win the praise of his chief, Will set out on his return to New York.

It was just supper-time, after an absence of one month, that he knocked at the door of his home, and heard a voice say: "Come in!"

In he walked, and, with a cry of joy, the arms of Mrs. Raymond were about her son, while Pearl clung to his hand in warm welcome.

"Oh, brother! how like a man you have grown; but you did not lose your gold badge, did you?" cried Pearl.

"No, sis, I have it safe, and more, for this was a present to me," and he exhibited his watch and chain to the delight of his mother and sister.

"And here is something for you, mother, a present from the same kind gentleman," and when Mrs. Raymond untied a packet he gave her, a pair of superb diamond earrings were revealed.

"Oh, mother!" cried Pearl.

"And this is for you, sis, from the same source."

Pearl opened her box with trembling hands, and took from a velvet case a necklace of pearls.

"Mr. Rossmore was determined to pay me after all," said Will.

"But, my son, tell us about these superb presents," Mrs. Raymond said.

"I will, mother, and it is a long, strange story," and the Boy Detective told the story of his travels.

"We cannot give these presents back, can we, Will, for they ill become Pearl and I in our poverty," said Mrs. Raymond.

"No, mother, for it would deeply offend good Mr. Rossmore, and he was determined to repay me in some way; but I intend to be rich some day, and then your presents won't be amiss; but, mother, did you say that you knew Mr. Rossmore?"

"I said, Will, that I knew a gentleman once of that name," and the woman hastily wiped away a tear.

"But, mother, the strangest of all, and which I forgot to tell you, was the story he told me about his home, and how his wife's cousin and adopted sister had treated the farmer I saved from the robbers.

"And the view of his home was just like the painting you gave Colonel Ivey, and I seemed to recognize it as soon as I saw it, while both the farmer, Mr. Kent Lomax – "

"What name did you say, Will?" and Mrs. Raymond sprang to her feet, white and trembling.

"The name of the farmer, mother, Kent Lomax," said Will, in amazement at his mother's excitement.

"And you have seen that man, Kent Lomax?" again she asked, hoarsely.

"Yes, mother; did you know him?"

Unheeding the question, she said: "Tell me of him."

"Well, mother, he is a tall, handsome man, with a stern face, but a kind one, and he is a rich farmer, living near the home of Mr. Rossmore. He was very good to me, and I felt sorry for him when Mr. Rossmore told me he had been engaged to marry Mrs. Rossmore's sister, a young and beautiful girl, whose home had been at the Mill Farm.

"But there had come a wicked city man down there, and though Mr. Lomax had saved his life, he had made the young lady love him and had run off with her. It was a terrible blow, for the mother of the young lady died of a broken heart – "

"Died!" groaned Mrs. Raymond, and then she said in a voice that was hoarse and quivering: "Go on! what more did you hear, my son?"

"Mr. Rossmore told me that the farmer, Kent Lomax, followed the runaway couple to Philadelphia, and fought a duel with the wicked man who stole his sweetheart, and received a wound that nearly cost him his life; but since then they have never heard of Mrs. Rossmore's sister, or her husband, for he was caught cheating at cards soon after and driven out of the city by those who had been his friends. But I felt so sorry for Mr. Lomax, mother, for he is such a splendid man."

"And the father of this girl who so wickedly fled from her home?" asked Mrs. Raymond in the same hoarse whisper.

"He died some years ago, and was buried in the family burying-ground; but, mother, I have something else to show you, and it is this gold watch, with a small piece of chain attached, which I found in the grave of Willie Rossmore, and it bears the name on it of Ed. Ellis, the man now in prison, and who was the comrade of Night Hawk Jerry."

"Ed. Ellis! let me see the watch!" and Mrs. Raymond grasped it from Will's hand and glanced at the name.

"Yes, Ed Ellis, his friend," she gasped, and as she did so her head fell back, and her lips crimsoned with her life-blood.

"Oh, Pearl! mother has a hemorrhage! Quick! run for Doctor Churchill!" cried Will, supporting his mother in his arms, while his sister bounded away to fetch the physician, whom Mrs. Raymond had been compelled to send for on several occasions.

Pearl soon returned, for fortunately she had met the doctor almost at the door, and under his care the hemorrhage was stayed and Mrs. Raymond was greatly relieved.

"You must keep her very quiet, and watch her carefully, for this has been brought on by some sudden shock," said the doctor to Will, as he departed, promising to send a faithful nurse to take care of the poor invalid.

The nurse came and in the morning Mrs. Raymond appeared much better; but she was very pale and weak, and her face had become haggard from suffering; but she whispered:

"I must live for you, my children, bitter as life is to me, and I will do so, for you are my all in this world."

With a heart too full to speak Will kissed his mother and went out to report to Captain Daly, the poor woman saying aloud as he left the room: "My punishment is greater than I can bear, for my act, I now know placed my poor mother in her grave, and nearly cost Kent Lomax his life. I knew not of this duel, for he never told me. But I erred, and I have suffered, and now a fearful retribution has come upon me; but, for the sake of my children I will cling to life until they are old enough to do without me," and closing her eyes, while her lips moved as if in prayer, the poor woman sank into a deep slumber.

CHAPTER XXII. – Insnared by a Watch

THE entrance of the Boy Detective into the police precinct caused a sensation, and his hand was grasped in welcome at every step he took.

Captain Daly heard his name called and advanced to the door of his private office to meet him, while he cried: "Welcome back, my Wizard Will, for I received your telegram from Chicago, and you have worked wonders."

"Bravo for Wizard Will!" cried a tall sergeant; while a policeman said:

"The captain has well named the boy, in calling him Wizard Will."

For two hours was Wizard Will, as I must now call him, closeted with Captain Daly, and then the two came out of the private office together.

A carriage was called, and they drove at once to the Tombs. The police captain gained ready admission, and he said to the officer in charge, after he had introduced his young protege: "Wizard Will here wishes a private talk with your prisoner from Maryland, who calls himself Ed Ellis."

The officer bowed assent, and Will was conducted to the cell of Ed Ellis, the man whom he had captured in Maryland, at the time that he had shot Night Hawk Jerry.

"Ho, boy, what do you want here?" gruffly said the prisoner as Will entered and was locked in with him.

"I am here to have a talk with you, Ellis."

"What have you got to say?"

"I wish you to tell me if Night Hawk Jerry really killed little Willie Rossmore, or if he died of exposure and starvation, as he told me was the case?"

"I don't know anything about the kid."

"Did you never see him?"

"No."

"Suppose I tell you that I know something of your past?"

"I don't believe it."

"You are from Philadelphia?"

"Who said so?"

"You had a watch presented to you once."

"Yes, I did, and I lost it."

"Suppose I tell you that I know where it is?"

"I'll bet you don't."

"When did you have it last?"

"It was stolen from me in camp, some six years ago."

Will did not show the slightest sign of having seen that the man made a slip of the tongue, as he asked:

"In a mining-camp, you say?"

"No, in a camp on the prairies."

"Some six years ago, in Nebraska?"

"Yes."

"Ah! you have been West, then?"

The man saw his mistake and recoiled, as he said:

"What if I have?"

"Suppose I tell you I know where your watch is?"

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"I'll bet my life Night Hawk Jerry was the thief that stole it from me, after all, and you found it on his body after you killed him."

"You have the chain that was attached to it?"

"No, I hain't."

"Well, this chain, taken from you in Maryland when you were captured, is it not the same that you had on your watch?" and Will showed a gold chain of a peculiar kind of pattern, that had been taken, with other things, from the prisoner when he was captured.

"No."

"And you think Night Hawk Jerry stole it from you?"

"Yes."

"About six years ago?"

"About that."

"Well, tell me how you lost it."

"I don't know exactly, for I had it one afternoon, and when I went to wind it up that night it was gone."

"This was in Nebraska?"

"Yes."

"And Jerry was with you?"

"Yes."

"Who else?"

"We were with an emigrant train, and going out West to homestead land."

"You had your own waggon and horses?"

"Yes."

"And joined the train on the march?"

"Yes, but we didn't stay long in company with it, as it wasn't going our way."

"Did you remain long in Nebraska?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because we didn't like it there."

"And you returned East?"

"Yes."

"And you became a Baltimore crook?"

"You seem to know."

"And Jerry became a New York crook?"

"As he's dead and not on trial, I may as well say that is about the size of it."

"Yet you said awhile ago you had not known Jerry more than a year?"

"I had forgotten."

"Well, Ellis, I have got your watch!"

"The deuce you have!"

"Yes; and I'll tell you where I found it."

"Where?"

"It had a piece of chain to it, a link of the very chain I hold here of yours."

"Yes, I remember now; I had the old chain fixed over."

"And, Ellis, I found your watch in the grave of the little boy you murdered!"

The man gave a cry in spite of himself, and became livid, while Wizard Will held up the watch, all covered with dirt as it was, and said:

"Here is the watch, and I took out of the grave of Willie Rossmore; and in burying him, it rolled out of your pocket and fell there.

"And more, the boy's skull was crushed in by a blow you gave him – "

"No – no! Jerry gave him that blow," cried the man in quivering tones.

"Jerry is not here to deny it, and you have confessed to having been there with him, while this watch tells the story that you at least buried him, and you and Night Hawk were the ones who kidnapped him; so I tell you, Ellis, you are the murderer of Willie Rossmore."

"If I've got to swing, boy, you'll not be there to see me die!" was the savage threat of the man, and he sprang like a tiger at Wizard Will.

But the boy stooped quickly and avoided him, while the door was thrown open and Captain Daly sprang in and seized him, followed by the officer in charge of the prisoner.

"No, my man, you can commit no more murders in the short time you have to live, for a jury will soon send you to the gallows," said Captain Daly, and with Wizard Will he left the cell, while the officer of the prison remarked:

"We heard all he said, Wizard Will, and a stenographer took it down, so he is doomed; and the watch insnared him, for without it he could not have been tried for anything but highway robbery; now it will be for murder, as well."

CHAPTER XXIII. – Wizard Will's Luck

AS soon as he left the cell of Ellis, the kidnapper of Willie Rossmore, Wizard Will went directly home, for he was anxious about his mother.

But he was delighted to find her much better, though weak, and the iron will of the unfortunate woman was doing much to build her up again, after her determination not to give up and leave her children alone in the world.

"Mother, Captain Daly has increased my pay to fifty dollars a month, so we will move to a pleasant little cottage out on Long Island, which belongs to him, and there is no rent to pay, and it is furnished, and has five acres of land, with a fine garden, a cow, and a horse and buggy.

"Then there are plenty of flowers, and chickens, and though the cottage has but five rooms in it, it must be a lovely place, for the captain's brother lived there until a few days ago, when he went West, and left it to him," and Will's enthusiastic description of the little home got Mrs. Raymond quite excited over it, while Pearl was wild with joy.

"And you say there is no rent to pay, Will?" asked his mother.

"The captain said he was just going to arrange with a man living near there, to give him the use of the horse, cow and garden, to take care of the place, while he'll give it to us if we go there to live, and he can get me a pass on the railroad, so that will cost nothing, and it is not half an hour's run to the station where our home is, so you must cheer up, mother, for life is getting brighter for us."

"But are there any schools, my son?"

"Yes, mother! one only a hundred yards away, where Pearl can go; and the captain is good enough to say I can have two hours each day to study here in town, while he'll not put me on night work if it can be avoided, and only on special detective service then."

"That is most kind of him, Will, and I must see him and thank him."

"And mother," proceeded Will, whose enthusiasm increased as he continued to enumerate, "Captain Daly says I'll have a chance to earn special fees if I am successful in my work, so that we need not stint ourselves in living, and I suggested an idea to him that he was delighted with, and said I might carry it out."

"What was that, my son?"

"Well, you know that I am pretty well acquainted with New York, and I said I would like to form a league of 'Boy Detectives,' for I feel that I could do a great deal of good with them, and he said he thought so too, and I should be captain."

"Ah! my son, I fear you are taking a very heavy weight upon your young shoulders."

"I can stand it, mother."

"You've always said, mother, that brother had an old head on young shoulders; but he's got broad shoulders, too, and can stand it," Pearl remarked in her quaint way, for she would wager her life upon her brother being able to do anything that a man could accomplish.

"Well, Will, you are the bread-winner of our home now, and the head, young as you are, and I will not be the one to put a straw in your way against success, for you seem to have a real talent for detective work."

"Thank you, mother, and they have dubbed me, on the force, Wizard Will, as they say I have done wonders as a Boy Detective."

"You have, indeed, my son, and in a few days I'll be able to move out to the cottage, and you can then devote yourself wholly to your new career;" and, with the firm resolve to bury her bitter past at once, and forgetting self, to live wholly for her children, the noble, though sorrow-haunted woman, improved steadily each day, and one pleasant morning Captain Ryan Daly, the good-hearted officer, called for the trio in a carriage and drove them out to the cottage, which he playfully called Wizard Hall.

It was a charming little cottage, with large trees upon one side, a lawn sloping down to an inlet of the Long Island Sound, a vegetable garden, a stable, a meadow lot, in which an Alderney cow was grazing, a henery, with a large number of choice fowls, and beds of flowers that at once caught the eye of Pearl.

The place was in perfect condition, the garden flourishing, the house well and completely furnished, and the store-room and cellar well stocked, while the coal-bin and wood-shed were filled, the captain remarking that his brother had been a most liberal provider, and telling the story without a flush on his honest face, for he had placed all there himself.

"I shall soon get well here, Captain Daly, and I know not how to thank you for all your kindness," said Mrs. Raymond, the tears coming into her beautiful eyes.

"It is a kindness for me, madam, to have the place occupied by good tenants, and I must tell you that in yonder little cabin on the hill lives an old negro and his wife, who will do odds and ends for you when you need them for very small pay."

"Now, Wizard Will, I shall give you a week's leave to get settled in your new home, and then you can set to work raising your League of Boy Detectives, whom I shall put great faith in," and, promising to come out and dine some Sunday with them, the noble-hearted police captain – whose daily intercourse was with criminals, who was hourly amid desperate and tragic scenes, whose will was iron, whose nature knew no fear, but who had the heart of a woman for deeds of kindness – took his leave and returned to the city, leaving the mother and her children to make themselves perfectly at home in Wizard Hall.

CHAPTER XXIV. – Conclusion

AFTER a happy week spent at his little home on the Sound, Wizard Will returned to his duties in town. He had made friends with the old negro and negress in the cabin on the hill near the cottage, and had found them most willing to do all in their power to help his mother, and had secretly made an arrangement with them to look after matters in his absence, the old man to look after the horse, and his wife to milk the cow.

He had also ingeniously attached a wire from the cottage to the cabin, with a bell at the latter, so that his mother could call for aid if she needed it.

With country air, pretty scenery, pleasant quarters, fresh milk and vegetables, and no worry about their daily bread, Mrs. Raymond rapidly improved in health, and life became worth the living for her, as she strove hard to shut out the past.

Pearl started to school and made friends, and some kind-hearted neighbours called upon the new-comers, so that the mother and daughter were not wholly alone, while Wizard Will, when at home, gave them many a pleasant drive about the country, and row or sail upon the Sound.

But Will did not neglect his work in the city, and, setting to work with energy and skill, he formed his League of Boy Detectives, and it was but a very short while before the police force recognized their ability and acknowledged it, treating their young captain with as much respect as they did their own commanders.

In due time Ed Ellis the kidnapper and murderer was tried, found guilty upon the testimony of Wizard Will and executed.

Mr. Rossmore came on to the trial, and urged Wizard Will once more to become his adopted son, but Mrs. Raymond would not hear of it, and also declined positively to allow her son to bring the kind-hearted gentleman out to see her, as he wished to do.

Will felt hurt at this, especially as his mother gave no other reason for her strange conduct than that she would not see any strangers.

With deep regret at Will's refusal to go with him Mr. Rossmore returned to his home in Maryland, and the boy settled himself to hard work to win greater fame in the career which he had drifted into by accident.

Though he had several times seen Colonel Ivey in the street he had avoided him, as his mother had earnestly requested him to do, and the gallant soldier little dreamed that the name his eyes fell upon now and then in the papers as Wizard Will, was the one whose three-dollar gold-piece he had found on Thanksgiving morning, and still wore as a charm upon his watch-chain, while he deeply mourned for the woman he had learned to love, and the children who had crept into his heart as though they were his own flesh and blood.

One of the first duties that the brave young officer set for himself to accomplish with his juvenile band of Secret Service scouts was the running to earth of the "Land Sharks," and how he accomplished the giant task is written in the Police History of New York City, wherein no name stands out in bolder relief than that of Wizard Will, the Boy Ferret of New York.