Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 474 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

CHAPTER IV. THE YOUNG DETECTIVE AT HOME, Upon the shores of Long Island Sound, and back on the hillside, fronting’ the high- road, awelt the hero of my romance e@, “atthe time this story sg This hero was a boy of fifteen, well-grown aot his age, and verging upon $i ixteen, he ye t | seemed older, from the rodk of calm dignity and bold resolution that dwelt in his face. His home was a cosey cottage, surrounded by tastefully laid out grounds, with parterres of flowers, a vegetable garden, stable in the rear, and a couple of acres grazing land for the cows. It was a pleasant, comfortable, homelike working place, and one would expect only hap- piness to dwell there, Upon the small front piazza sat three persons, the occupants, excepting an old negro and his | wife who dwelt ina cabin on the hill, and did the chores about the place, from c ooking to look- ing after the horse and c ows. The view spread out before the three persons was one of rare beauty, for the slope to the water’s edge was gradual, a white beach ran along the shore, and in a small inlet lay at an- chor a cat-rig ‘boat, while a skiff and rowing shell had been drawn up beyond tide water mark, The broad expanse of waters stretched out be- youd, with the distant Connecticut shore, and many sails were visible, some beading for the great c ity, a few miles aw ay, and others steering up the Sound. Ilere and there a steamer cut its way along through the fleet of sailing vessels, and altogether the scene was one, of rare > be ‘auty. It was a Sabbath day, and the tolling of the church bells in several neighboring villages, reached the ears of the mother and her two children who sat upon the cottage piazza. The former was a® women who was perhaps thirty-five, and yet hardly locking that age, for her face was very beautiful, refined, and ‘yet SO very, very It seemed a face that reflected a heart full of sorrow, and the faint smile hovering about the | I not recognized bim when he came home with lips seemed to have been called there to hide the | tears within the ange tender eyes. She was plainly, but neatly dressed, wore no jewelry, other than. a gold ring, the pledg e of | while Will said, thoughtfully: matrimony, and seemed to be lost in painful reverie, as though looking back into a dreary ' as ug] past, The boy, her son and my hero, is a handsome, | gentleman’s son ae ht, and yet he will talk in his features stamped with | his slangy way, as t fearless-faced lad character beyond his years, and he appears,to be one whom a person would trust as they might a man. He is dressed in a suit of dark, blue, wears a black slouch:hat,.and his carriage and general rance are’such that he might be taken for a cola or middy. He wears a handsome watch and chain, for he has just glanced at it to see the time, and a seal ring: with a'stran nee device. cut thereon encircle the little-finger of his left hand. The third person upon the piazza was a youn girl verging upon thirteen years of age, an strangely like her mother, only her face is a sunshiny one, and her hair is golden. Her form is petite, very exacts Msn her manner very fascinating for one At last the mother spoke, an Fi Sagat ‘* Will, my son, it grieves me to feel th that you lead the dangerous life you do.” ‘‘ Tt is not as dangerous as you think, mother, for I seldom run great risks, and I know of no other career that could bring us the comforts we have,” answered the youth. : True, and we owe it all to you, Will, to your nerve and enet ‘BY: for we were poor indeed until ou became a detective. ‘‘ Just to think how we lived in that fearful tenement, until the day you were selected by as. outlaw leader as one to use in making for himself and: band.” Yes, mother; and I could have one VEO as im wished—-deceived poor ol Ross- more into believing I was his lost son, avian. the reward, and we could have had ample means; but instead, I played into their hands, escaped from them, led the, police ‘upon : their ‘den, and Captain Daly has made me a special detective officer, and.to-lay I havea gallant band of Boy Ferrets, and we will yet become known as the captors of. Elegant Ed and his Land Sharks.” ‘ But you run such fearful risks, Will!” “Not half as great as you believe, mother and for your sake and Pearl’s I am most careful of myself.” _ “Yt is a great pleasure to have you with us, | that Iam a special officer and will be on the | f Flora, the Flower Girl. as you are this Sabbath Day, for you hardly ever more than sleep at home,” ‘*My work demands my time, mother, and I fear I shall be much away the coming week, SO do not wait supper for me if I am not out on the five-thirty train any afternoon this week, ay do not get enxious if I do not come by nine, s I shall have to remain all night.” athe are very busy then, brother?” asked | Pearl. ‘Yes, for the Land Sharks must be run to | earth, and since Constable Ross let that pre- tended preacher and book-agent escape, after I had taken him to the jail, the band know now been guilty of some crime, ‘* Will you not tell Pearl and me why it is, mother, you wish to hide from bim, why you left that noble man, when we were ail so happy at his home?” ‘* My son, never ask me, for I have the best of reasons, yet reasons which neither you nor Pearl should know. ‘1 wish you still toavoid Colonel _Ivey—” ‘** He has gone to Europe.” ‘Thank God!” ‘He went after he called at the Police Station and tried to make Foxey take a big reward for what we did for him, ‘‘The old servants told him that I was there, but he could find out nothing from Foxey, and so tried to pay him; but, as I said, Foxey re- fused pay, bat acc epted a loan, and with it bought t 16 yacht we used, and which by Cap- tain. Daly’s permission now belongs to our De- ee lookout. ‘“*In fact, I half-believe he was sent here by Elegant Ed to find out all about me, and if he | | had been held, as Constable Ross should have | bad, him, we could doubtless have gained much information of value, for he looked to me like one who would confess anything to save him- self,” on the water. ‘*They must be a bad lot indeed, my son, ‘“We have named the yacht the Sea Ferret these criminals whom you call Land Sharks, for | and she’s a beauty, mother, and some time q I have heard that to become one of the band one | will come home in her, with my Boy Detective must be a murderer,” said Mrs. Raymond. crew, and will give y ou and Pearl a ee. sail up ** Yes, mother, th. y are held together by the | the Sound.” secrets they know regarding each other; but, I ‘* But, how will Foxey pay back the loan te feel that I have a clew to find their haunt, and | Colonel Tv ey?” [ will follow it up to-morrow when I go to the ‘‘Oh, we keep a fund in the League just for city.” that, obtained from rewards and fees, each bo ‘*What has become of your friend, Foxey, contr ibuting so much from his share, and it will Will?” grow rapidly, for we are so glad to have a vessel belonging to us, we wish her paid for as soon‘as: possible, ‘* And you like this life of a detective?” asked the mother, sadly. ‘* Mother, I have a liking for it, yes; and the men of the force say I possess a talent for 1t: still, had it been that Colonel Ivey was to have remained my step-father, I would much rather have carried out bis desire and entered Wests Point or the Naval School.” ‘*T only wish that you could do so, my son, and, if Captain Daly would only procure an appointment for you, I would gladly sell the diamonds Mr. Rossmore sent me in return for your great services to him, to live on while you were receiving your tuition. ““They would bring enough to support Pearl and myself for several years, while what I could earn by ory paintings and fancy work, would go far toward giving your sister a good education.’ ‘* Mother, is he not a strange boy?” asked Will Raymond, with sudden eagerness. He struck me as being a manly little fellow the time you had him here with you, and € have noticed him with pity when I saw him about. the village and knew that he was. called The Vagabond and the Waif; but he had much that was good in him, poor boy that he was, when he sprung into the water and rescued Pearl, the day the steamer’s gang-plank slipped and threw her overboard.” ‘Yes, brother; and who had saved my life none of us knew in the darknéss, for 1 alone saw bis face, and he would never have told had bi the night you captured the robbers on the ill, and I shall never forget him,” and tears came into the beautiful eyes of the young girl, ‘* Foxey seems to tr png make himself appear as possible; he is a strange one, for | eard him use language as good as any ‘* No, no, mother; neither Pearl nor m a9 should be fitted for grand places in life, wit money to uphold them. “Vou are not in good health, and it is my have 1ey do in the slums. ‘*He is as strong as a lion, is a thorough young sailor, knows New York perfectly, and, until I met him, had drifted about this village, a mere outcast and vagabond. boy. ‘He has pride, and Iam sure a better educa- tion than I ave, and yet he will not tell me a word about himself, ‘*He is honest, too, mother, and I have made duty and pleasure to support you and m little sister, and, if fortune favors me, Pearl shall be well educated, while if I win riches, so much the better for us all. ‘‘But I must not aim too __ | the mark, but be content wit now, and miss my present lot, and make you as happy as I can. ‘‘Now let us go for a short row upon the wa- him my second in command of the Boy Detec- | ters,” and a short while after the three were: tives’ e, while he refused to.accept a. pres- gliding over the rippling waters, the strong the | arms of the young detective sending the boat ent from Colonel Ivey after we had captur three robbers who meant to sack his home, and yet borrowed from the colonel enough money to purchase the yacht we went in afler those pirates.” ‘“‘He is, indeed, a strange boy, Will; but I have to thank you, my son, for kee ing in the background as you did, though the leader, and not letting Colonel Ivey feel that he owed all to you,” and Mrs. Raymond’s voice quivered as she spoke, other?” ** ‘Yes, my son.” % Why i is it that you left Colonel Ivey as you did, for he certainly was a good, devoted hus- band, and neither Pearl nor myself could love our own father more than we did him.” ‘*T cannot tell you my reasons, Will,” low reply. ‘‘ It seems so strange, for from the day that he saw me searching for the gold-piece I had lost, and ore he had found, he seemed so good to uS & ‘‘ He came to our humble home with me, and you seemed to like him so much; then he asked you to marry him, and we were ‘all. so happy in is New York home. and in the summer at his villa of Soldiers’ Retreat on the Jersey shores. ‘¢ But, while he was gone West on business, you left him, and took Pearl and me with you; ut you gave us no reason, and back to our for- mer life of poverty we came, until I got this position through the kindness of Captain Ryan Daly, of the police. ow, mother, I know that Colonel Ivey has sought us far and wide, and yet I, to obey you, swiftly along. CHAPTER V. THE FLOWER GIRL. In a pleasant little’ flower store, on one of the fashionable up-town streets of New York City, sat a young girl the morning after the day that presents my hero to the reader. It is a cosey little shop, hardly more than ten feet wide, with glass cases upon one side, filled with various designs for making up bouquets, and upon the other side is a counter, with vases: of flowers upon it. At the end, near the window, sits the single occupant of the shop, the young girl alluded to, In the rear is a little room, used as a sitting room; and opening further back into the hot-- house is a stout door. It is a pretty little shop, and its fair mistress: is a very pretty little girl. She is dressed in blue Jersey, that is most be- coming to her fair complexion, a dark skirt, wears a silk kerchief about her neck, and in her golden hair nestle several exquisite roses. She appears scarcely more than sixteen, and her lovely face, graceful form and sweet smile was the the young gentlemen. Presently a customer enters, and she looks up from her writing at the desk near the window. rised tone. ‘* Ah, captain!” she said in asu an myself,” ws Yes, Flora. it is none other t was tsp rep! he an “é sed you were in Philadelphia, sir?” turned, “Sor wea but I have just re atid your: ~ €omicbooks when I see him, hide quickly, as though I had tectives’ League, as there is plenty for us to do must win her many customers, especially among ~ = ' -