CHAPTER XVII.--ON SECRET SERVICE.
The day and night of rest which Will took, he really needed, for hiscapture, escape and hard work, had indeed been a severe strain upon him.
Captain Daly had picked up a roll of bills, in the Land Sharks' roomswhich some one of them had dropped in their haste to get away, and hehad insisted upon Will's falling heir to the money, though the boy hadurged against it.
There were only about twenty dollars, but it was a large sum to Will,and he handed it over to his mother, so that when he awoke from his longsleep, he found a splendid dinner ready, for Pearl had been to themarket and spent the five-dollar bill given her with no economical hand.The mother and her children greatly enjoyed their dinner, and Will thentold his mother that Captain Daly had said that his pay would be thirtydollars a month to begin with, and all felt cheered at the prospect, andretired with lighter hearts than they had had the past few weeks.
Upon reporting at the office of Captain Daly the next morning, Willreceived a warm welcome from all, and was congratulated over and overagain upon his nerve and the good services he had rendered.
"Now, Will," the captain said, "I find that Mr. Rossmore, a retiredmerchant of Baltimore, lost a son Willie some six years ago, and stilloffers large rewards for his restoration.
"From what you heard from the Land Sharks, you know more than any oneelse about the matter, and the boy is doubtless dead, as they stated,and they evidently murdered him.
"Now I wish you to go to Baltimore with these clothes, the photographsand the ring, and see Mr. Rossmore, telling him all, and directing himto the spot on the prairie, as well as you can, where your friend NightHawk Jerry said the boy was buried.
"Will you go?"
"Certainly, sir, for I am ready to do just what you wish, if you think Iam able to accomplish it."
"You are able to do a man's work, Will, after what you did to extricateyourself from the clutches of those Land Sharks.
"Now I will give you the money for your trip, and you had better get asatchel, a suit of clothes and some other things, and get your mother topack them for you.
"Here are twenty-five dollars to fit you out with, and I'll give you themoney for your trip when you are ready to start.
"And here, my boy, I had almost forgotten to give you your badge ofoffice; it is a gold one, and a present to you by the officers of thisprecinct.
"We would make it a public demonstration, only we do not wish it knownoutside that we have made a new departure and enlisted a boy in theSecret Service force."
As Captain Daly spoke, he pinned under the boy's coat a handsome goldbadge, a shield, upon which was engraven:
"SPECIAL OFFICER of METROPOLITAN SECRET SERVICE."
"I will prove deserving of all your kindness, Captain Daly," said Will,with a choking voice, and he sallied forth to make his purchases.
This done, he took them home, and Mrs. Raymond packed his littlegrip-sack, while Pearl was lost in admiration over the gold badge.
With the shield fastened securely upon his vest, beneath his coat, andhis satchel in his hand, Will bade his mother good-bye and started forthe precinct to get his final orders.
These were given him along with a well-filled purse, and Captain Dalywent with him across the ferry to see him on board the train.
As he took his seat alone in the sleeping car, which the kind-heartedcaptain had provided him with, Will felt his own importance, and hisheart was full of gratitude that he had, by his own acts, become able toearn a support for his mother and sister.
Arriving in Baltimore, he went to the hotel to which Captain Daly haddirected him, and, after breakfast, with the photographs and clothing ofthe kidnapped boy wrapped up in a bundle, he made inquiries as to wherethe home of Mr. Rossmore was, and set out to go there.
He found it without much difficulty, a superb country seat in theoutskirts of the city, and he recognized at a glance the scenes of thephotographs he had with him.
A gardener was at work upon a bed of flowers, and approaching him, Willasked if Mr. Rossmore was at home.
"No, young gentleman, they have gone to their farm for a few weeks onthe eastern shore," was the answer.
At once Will determined to follow them there, and after getting thedirections, he asked: "Has Mr. Rossmore ever heard of his missingchild?"
"No, indeed, not a word, and it's my opinion he never will, as I thinklittle Willie is dead; but master thinks he'll find him yet; but Lordy!you hain't Master Willie, are you, for you do look 'mazing like him."
"My name is Willie, but I am not Mr. Rossmore's son, though others havesaid I look like him."
"You do, for a certainty, sir, and master and his wife will see thelikeness, I'm sure, if you are going there."
"Yes, I am going there, for it is important that I should see them," andbidding the old gardener good-bye, Will returned to the hotel anddiscovered that a boat left the next afternoon for the town nearest theRossmore farm.
So he went down to the wharf and secured his berth, and amused himselflooking about the city until time to go on board the next day.
He had a pleasant state-room, and, as he made himself at home in it, hefelt that he was becoming quite a traveller.
Enjoying the run down the Chesapeake, it was late when he retired, andhe dropped off quickly to sleep, lulled by the motion of the boat.
He was awakened by the hum of voices, and saw a light in his face,strangely like the glare of a bull's-eye lantern.
But he had at once saw that it came through a knot-hole in the partitionbetween his and the next state-room, and within a few feet of him weretwo men, one lying in the berth, the other seated upon a chair, and theywere talking in a low tone.
Without stopping up his ears, Will could not help hearing all they said,and the voice of one seemed familiar.
Putting his eye near the knot-hole, to his surprise he recognized theman in the berth as Night Hawk Jerry.
The face of the other he did not know.
What he heard them say was as follows:
"Well, Nick, we can go and strike old Rossmore for all we can get out ofthe him, after we attend to this farmer on board that I tell you has thecash he got for a boat-load of cattle he took up to the city and sold.
"He stopped at the same hotel with me, and when I told him I was goingdown to see Mr. Rossmore, he told me he lived near him, and directed mehow to get there, while he said he would ask me to ride out with him,only he had come to the village where he boarded the boat on horseback.Now we can get a rig and drive out ahead of the farmer, lay for him onthe road, and just take in his pile, which goes up into the thousands, Iam sure.
"Then we can go to see old Rossmore and see what we can get out of him,under promise of bringing him his boy."
"You think he'll put up anything?" asked the man addressed as Nick.
"Yes, he'll put up something, though he's been very freely bled byfrauds; but, if it had not been for our being taken in by that boyCaptain Cruel picked up in New York and who was, I admit, just thefellow if he had not played us false, we'd have got a clean fiftythousand from Rossmore."
"The boy got your crib raided, you told me?"
"Well he did, and but for our pal who slept in the exit room, waking upas he did, we'd have all been caught, for the boy led the police upon usin an hour after he got away."
"He was a sharp one for a kid."
"Yes Nick he was; but you must go and turn in now, and to-morrow, assoon as the boat lands, we'll hurry ashore and get a waggon to head offthe farmer."
"Good-night, Jerry."
"Good-night, Nick," and the latter personage left the state-room of hisfellow villain, and sought his own quarters, while Will, scarcely havingbreathed as he overheard what was said, placed a pillow against theknot-hole, and tried to go to sleep.
But in vain, for his brain was too full of thoughts, and it was nearlydawn when he at last sank into a deep slumber; b
ut he had formed a plotin his fertile mind to thwart the two rascals in their bold game ofdouble robbery.