Wizard Will, the Wonder Worker

CHAPTER XIX. – Unknown Kindred Ties

LITTLE dreaming that he was approaching the home of his mother, her birth-place, and that of her mother before her, the home from which she had fled that, to her, fatal Christmas eve, Will Raymond drove up to the hitching-rock and sprang out of his buggy.

A gentleman sat upon the piazza, smoking a cigar and reading a paper, but arose at his approach.

"Good-morning, young gentleman," he said pleasantly, and then his eyes became riveted upon Will's face. He was a man of fifty perhaps, with noble countenance, tinged with sadness, and a look of anxiety.

"My boy, who are you?" he said, quickly, before Will could speak.

"Is this Mr. Rossmore?" asked Will.

"Yes, my son."

"My name is Will Raymond, sir, and I am a special officer of the New York Secret Service, sent to see you upon a matter of interest to you."

"About my lost boy? Quick! tell me if you have any news of him whom I must say you most closely resemble, and – "

"I do resemble your son, sir, and so much so that a gang of scoundrels were to use me as a foil to make money out of you."

"But you are not my boy? He would be about your age, and look like you, I think," and Mr. Rossmore was greatly excited.

"No, Mr. Rossmore, I am not your son; but I have come to tell you all I know of him, and I am sorry to say that you must give up all hope of ever seeing him alive."

"No! no! no! I cannot, I cannot!" and Mr. Rossmore listened to the whole story that Will had to tell, from his meeting with the man who had sent him on the errand, to his killing Night Hawk by the roadside.

"And, Mr. Rossmore," continued Will, "when I escaped from the den of the Land Sharks, I brought with me the clothes, which they said your boy had on when stolen, and his ring, and they were to bring them with me, to prove that I was your Willie.

"I will get them," and going out to the buggy he returned with his satchel, and the clothing and ring were exhibited.

"My poor, poor boy! these are indeed his little suit and ring; how well I remember them; but, my noble boy, I must see the grave that they say he was buried in on the prairie, before I give up all hope. If it contains the remains of a small child, I can but believe, and besides, Willie had his left arm broken when a baby, by falling from the lap of his nurse, and this will identify the bones as his.

"Oh, may heaven's anger fall on those who murdered my little boy!" and Mr. Rossmore bowed his head with grief, just as a lady, whose locks were prematurely grey from sorrow and suspense, came out upon the piazza.

"Husband, I have heard all, and I believe at last that our boy, our little Willie, is dead," she said, and turning to Will, she greeted him most kindly, while she too was struck by the likeness of the young detective to her son.

"Have you parents, my boy, and a home, for gladly would I give you one," she said to Will.

"Yes, my noble boy, come to us and be our son," cried Mr. Rossmore.

"I have a mother and sister living in New York, and I am their only support, and I must return to them, though I thank you most kindly for your good offer to me," said Will, touched by the grief and generosity of Mr. Rossmore and his wife.

"Well, my boy, I would not rob your mother of you for worlds, but you must let me help you, and if ever you need a friend come to us, for we live all alone here, and are strangely restless since the loss of my boy.

"We have travelled abroad, but came back soon to our Baltimore home, and then we have come here, for this place was the home of my wife's cousin and adopted sister, whose fate is a mystery to us, and a sad one, for she ran away from home one night, fifteen years ago, leaving behind her that noble man, you saved from robbery, Kent Lomax, to whom she was engaged.

"She deserted him for a villain, a man whose life Kent Lomax had saved, and she fled with the rascal to Philadelphia, and was followed there. Kent Lomax tried to avenge the double wrong, for the poor girl's mother died from the shock, and the villain shot him, and for months he lay at the point of death, and, when he recovered all trace of the man was lost.

"Years after her father died, and my wife here now has the estate, which will be hers unless her adopted sister returns to claim it, or her children do, if she has any; otherwise Mrs. Rossmore is the next heir.

"So you see, wherever we go, we have sad memories to confront us; but here both of us are well, and more content than elsewhere, so we often come; but I am detaining you with family history, when you are anxious to return to the scene of your affray down the road, and I will accompany you.

"Wife, please send the carriage after me," and so saying Mr. Rossmore got into the buggy with Will and drove back to where Kent Lomax had been left with the dead man and the bound prisoner.

On the way Mr. Rossmore asked: "My son, do you think you could find the grave of my little Will, from the description you had of it?"

"I think so, sir."

"Will you go West with me and find out?"

"If I can get permission, sir."

"Well, you can telegraph what you have done to your chief, and ask permission to go with me, and I will have my family physician accompany us, for he set Willie's arm when it was broken, and could tell if it was my child in the grave.

"But we will talk more of this, for there is farmer Lomax," and a moment after they drove up to the spot where Kent Lomax stood, while coming in view at the same time were a number of persons on horseback and in buggies.

Hercules and the constable rode in advance, and as they rode up and dismounted, Kent Lomax introduced Will to the officer of the law, and his story was again told, the coroner standing near with a jury which he had selected from the crowd.

All gazed upon Will as a hero; but the boy shrank from observation, and remarked to Kent Lomax. "I hate notoriety that comes from taking the life of a human being, villain though he was."

"That is the proper spirit, my lad; but the coroner wishes to ask you a few questions, and then I would like to have you go home with me as my guest, while I also desire to compensate you is some way for your services to me."

"Thank you, sir, but I am paid for my duty, and can accept no other reward, while I am to go back with Mr. Rossmore."

So it was settled, and as Mr. Rossmore's carriage drove up, Will got into it with his host, and drove away, followed by Kent Lomax on horseback, while Hercules returned to town with the buggy and two horses of the robbers, along with those who had come out to the scene upon learning what had occurred.

That Hercules had fared well at the hands of Will, Mr. Rossmore and Kent Lomax was evident by the happy look upon his honest face, and the words: "I wish dere'd be a robber-killin' ebery day, and Sunday too, and dis nigger'd get rich."

At a place where the roads branched off Kent Lomax bade them good-bye, grasping Will's hand warmly, and saying: "You know my name and address, my boy, and if you ever need a friend don't hesitate to call on me, for I have no kindred that are dear to me and I am rich and would be glad to serve you – so command me."

Thus they parted, the man who had been engaged to his mother – the man whom she deserted to marry the man who had so cruelly treated her.

Neither knew what they were to each other, and yet each seemed drawn toward the other. Nor did Will suspect for an instant; an hour afterward, that he was eating dinner beneath the roof where his mother had been born, and that Mrs. Rossmore was his own aunt.

That night Mr. Rossmore and Will took the boat to Baltimore, and having sent from the village a long and explicit dispatch to Captain Daly, an answer was found awaiting them upon their arrival at the hotel in the city the following day.

The answer read:

"New York Police Dep't.

"Special Officer, Will Raymond: —

"Your telegram most satisfactory, and will get requisition for Night Hawk's comrade and have him brought here.

"You have acted as I knew you would in everything, and the chief joins me in congratulations upon your pluck and detective skill.

"You have full permission to go West with Mr. Rossmore, and your leave is unlimited. Success to you.

Daly."

That night the Westward bound through Express on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad carried Mr. Rossmore, his family physician, and Will Raymond, the Boy Detective, and their destination was the North Platte river in Nebraska.

CHAPTER XX. – The Grave on the Prairie

IT was toward sunset, one pleasant afternoon, some ten days after the visit of the Boy Detective to the eastern shore of Maryland, that a party of horsemen were visible driving over a Nebraska prairie.

The party had left Fort McPherson on the Platte, whose commander had kindly sent an officer and soldiers, under a skilful guide, with Mr. Rossmore, as an escort.

Will had told the buckskin guide just what he had heard the Land Sharks say regarding the spot where they had buried Willie Rossmore, and the plainsman had expressed himself as acquainted with the Lone Tree, while he also said that there were fully a dozen graves about it.

Soon the tree, standing alone on the prairie, and upon the bank of a small stream, loomed up in the distance.

"There's the Lone Tree," said the guide, "and we'll reach thar jist about dark."

All eyes were turned upon the distant and solitary cottonwood tree, standing like a giant sentinel upon the prairie, and the horses were urged on at a more rapid pace.

But the shadows of night fell before the tree was reached, and it was decided to go into camp and make a search in the morning.

One of the pack-horses carried some pine-knots, and a fire was soon kindled, while another carried some canvas flies which were stretched as a shelter.

There were ample provisions with them, with plenty of game shot during the day's ride, and soon a most tempting supper was spread out before the hungry party.

As for Will Raymond, it was to him a most enjoyable expedition, for he had often read of a wild life upon the plains, and with the buckskin-clad guide, the soldier escort, and the knowledge that there was danger of an attack by Indians, he was charmed.

After the supper was dispatched, sentinels were placed out upon the prairie, at some distance, the horses were staked out within the circle formed by the four guards, and the rest of the party sought the shelter of the tent flies to sleep. No, not all, for Mr. Rossmore was too deeply moved by the belief that he was near the grave of his long-lost child, and he paced to and fro, beneath the solitary tree, his thoughts busy with his grief.

Then there was another that did not care to sleep, and that was Will Raymond.

The surroundings, the wildness of the scene, the prairie, the soldiers, all impressed him, and he strolled about the camp, while as the moon arose he walked out to a sentinel on duty and had a long talk with him.

At last, as midnight came, and the sentinels were relieved by others, he went to the shelter, wrapped himself in his blanket, and soon sank to sleep.

The sun was rising when he awoke, and Mr. Rossmore, who lay near him, had just got up from his blanket couch. The guide already had breakfast ready, and when it was over, the search for the grave began.

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.