A long and confidential interview ensued between the father and his
two newly-discovered children. It was not easy for Jennie to take in
the fact of her new relations. Such a sudden and surprising revelation
naturally troubled her, and it was only by degrees that the last
lingering doubts faded from her mind.
There was something very gentle and lovable about the old man, and she
felt herself strongly drawn toward him. To Will, also, she had felt
from the first a sense of attraction, which had caused her to like him
despite his rudeness.
Gradually the belief strengthened upon her that this was indeed her
father and her brother, and she grew very happy as she sat listening to
the old man’s story of her past life, and remembrances of their dead
mother.
Only one lingering uneasiness dwelt upon her mind, and that was
dispelled. A ring at the door, an announcement of a gentleman to see
her, and she was ushered into the presence, and clasped in the embrace
of John Elkton.
“Let me congratulate you, dear Jennie,” he said. “I have met Mr.
Leonard. He has told me of the surprising change in your relations. I
am glad to learn that you have found a new father.”
“Is it not strange, John?” she murmured, yielding to his caresses; “and
so sudden. I have hardly got accustomed to the thought yet, though I am
growing to love him. You know all?”
A shadow of doubt as to how he would view her alms-house experience
came upon her.
“I know all,” he replied. “You are from the alms-house and I from the
prison. If there is any disgrace attaches to either of us it is to me.”
“No, indeed, you brave noble fellow,” she cried, warmly kissing him.
“I love you for what you did. Every one will respect you that you were
willing to suffer for your friend.”
“How was it all found out?”
“I discovered it,” she answered.
“You?”
“Yes. On my visit to the prison I learned that Jesse Powers was the man
who gave you the silk.”
“I certainly told you nothing of the kind!” he exclaimed.
“No, but I found it out. I am a better detective than you think,” she
said laughing. “Sit down here and I will tell you all about it.”
John was surprised and laughed at her shrewdness, as she told how she
had arrived at his concealed knowledge, and described her interview
with his false friend.
“I have not been very much deceived in Jesse Powers,” he said. “But
I felt that it was not for me to expose him. I owe him a debt which
honor forced me to repay in the way I did.”
“It was a noble action,” she replied.
A half-hour afterward the two happy lovers sought the presence of the
father and brother, who were still where Jennie had left them.
It was an embarrassing task for Jennie to introduce her lover to a
father who was almost a stranger, although she had felt toward him the
impulses of natural love.
But Will took all the trouble of the introduction off of her hands.
“Ha! I’ve caught you now, Jennie,” he cried, with a quizzical laugh.
“This is the young man that I wanted you to throw overboard. Father,
this is our Jennie’s beau, and a first-rate fellow, you can bet!”
Mr. Somers looked with some doubt from one to the other.
“Will is right,” said Jennie, in a low tone, and deeply blushing. “Mr.
Elkton and I have been engaged for some time. I wish now to present him
to my new father.”
“And I hope he may prove a dutiful son,” said Elkton, as he warmly
grasped Mr. Somers’s extended hand.
“I do not know you,” said the father, with a happy smile, “but I trust
in the choice of my daughter, and in the discretion of Mr. Leonard.”
“And in Mr. Elkton’s face,” cried Will. “That’s a passport to honesty.”
“Thank you,” said John, turning and offering his hand to the impulsive
boy. “You have placed me under obligations to live out the promise of
my face.”
“Told Jennie once I was bound to cut you out,” said Will. “Guess now
though that I’ll let you have her. She’s a good girl. Make much of her.”
“She’s all the world to me,” said John, turning and taking the hand of
the blushing girl.
It was a happy family party which time and fortune had thus reunited,
after a life of many vicissitudes, and it is time we should leave them,
and seek other less happy inmates of our story.
The capture of the burglars was an event which produced a considerable
sensation in police circles, and Mr. Fitler gained great praise for
his shrewdness in working out this case. Of course Will’s share in the
business was credited to him, and quietly accepted.
A complete search of Black-eyed Joe’s domicile brought to light the
fruits of other burglaries. It was evident that the thing had been of
long continuance, the goods being gradually sold as fast as they could
safely be put on the market. The goods had been sold cheap on the
pretense of being smuggled.
The arrest of Augustus Wilson and Jesse Powers was a terrible blow to
their friends. Mr. Leonard particularly was troubled in mind to think
how implicitly he had trusted in this man, how terribly he had been
deceived.
The trial of the burglars came on in good time, and the evidence
against them proved so strong and conclusive that but one verdict was
possible--that of guilty.
With this verdict our story ends, so far as these characters are
concerned. Severe sentences, ranging from six to twelve years at
solitary imprisonment, were given by the judge, and they sunk from the
surface of the living world into the slow death of a prison-cell.
All went well with those without.
Mr. Somers and his regained family were as happy as family could be,
and Mr. Leonard was fully forgiven by Jennie for his somewhat selfish
course in relation to herself and her lover.
This lover’s attentions were more pressing than ever, and it was
not long before a marriage ceremony broke the quiet of the Somers
household, and Jennie again changed her name to Elkton.
Will gave up his position in the store to ragged Joe, whom Mr. Leonard
accepted at his strong solicitation. He had a better opinion of street
boys, too, than he had formerly entertained.
Will proved as energetic a student as he had been in his former
avocations, and made immense progress under his tutor, and at the
schools which he afterward attended.
His school intercourse, too, brushed off the rudeness of his demeanor
and gave his manners a new polish; a result greatly assisted by the
example and lessons of his sister, who did her best to make a gentleman
of her roughly-trained brother.
Fortunately Will had good sense enough to perceive the value of her
advice, and to profit by it. On leaving school he went into the same
business in which he had received a partial training under Mr. Leonard,
and by his energy and business ability soon made himself independent of
his father’s assistance.
No one would now recognize in William Somers, the successful merchant,
him whom we have so far known as Willful Will the street boy.
THE END.
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=11 Ralph Roy=, the Boy Buccaneer. By Col. Prentiss Ingraham.
=12 Nick o’ the Night=; or, The Boy Spy of ’76. By T. C. Harbaugh.
=13 Yellowstone Jack.= By Joseph E. Badger, Jr.
=14 Wild Ivan=, the Boy Claude Duval. By Edward L. Wheeler.
=15 Diamond Dirk.= By Col. Ingraham.
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=27 Glass-Eye=, the Great Shot of the West. By Capt. J. F. C. Adams.
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=39 Deadly Eye=, the Unknown Scout. By Buffalo Bill.
=40 Nick Whiffles’s Pet.= By Capt. J. F. C. Adams.
=41 Deadwood Dick’s Eagles.= By Edward L. Wheeler.
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=43 Old Hickory.= By Harry St. George.
=44 The White Indian.= By Capt. J. F. C. Adams.
=45 Buckhorn Bill.= By E. L. Wheeler.
=46 The Shadow Ship.= By Col. Prentiss Ingraham.
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=49 Hurricane Bill.= By J. E. Badger, Jr.
=50 Single Hand.= By W. J. Hamilton.
=51 Patent-leather Joe.= By P. S. Warne.
=52 The Border Robin Hood.= By Buffalo Bill.
=53 Gold Rifle, the Sharpshooter.= By Edward L. Wheeler.
=54 Old Zip’s Cabin.= By Captain J. F. C. Adams.
=55 Delaware Dick=, the Young Ranger Spy. By Oll Coomes.
=56 Mad Tom Western.= By W. J. Hamilton.
=57 Deadwood Dick on Deck.= By E. L. Wheeler.
=58 Hawkeye Harry.= By Oll Coomes.
=59 The Boy Duelist.= By Col. Prentiss Ingraham.
=60 Abe Colt=, the Crow-Killer. By A. W. Aiken.
=61 Corduroy Charlie=, the Boy Bravo. By Ed. L. Wheeler.
=62 Will Somers=, the Boy Detective. By Charles Morris.
=63 Sol Ginger=, the Giant Trapper. By A. W. Aiken.
=64 Rosebud Rob.= By E. L. Wheeler.
=65 Lightning Joe=, the Terror of the Prairie. By Capt. J. F. C. Adams.
=66 Kit Harefoot=, the Wood-Hawk. By T. C. Harbaugh.
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Transcriber’s Notes:
Earlier, and somewhat longer, versions of this story appeared as
follows: 1) Charles Morris, “The Gamin Detective; or, Willful Will, the
Boy Clerk; A Story of the Centennial City,” _New York Saturday Journal,
A Home Weekly_, vol. 8, nos. 365-373, March 10, 1877 through May 5,
1877; 2) Charles Morris, “Will Somers, the Boy Detective,” _Beadle’s
Half Dime Library_, vol. V, no. 118, October 28, 1879.
Punctuation has been made consistent.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have
been corrected.
End of Project Gutenberg's Will Somers, the Boy Detective, by Charles Morris