CONCLUSION.
He whom the postboy had known simply as Old Solitaire tore off the
balance of his disguise, and, rushing to Dix's side, said:
Thank God, my son, for this hour. I will tell you all when we get home.
But now we must look after our prisoners."
"Did you have any trouble in catching them?" asked Mr. Goings.
"None after I had overpowered the guard. You will find him on the shelf
below. When I had secured him, I slipped the rock down over the mouth,
and there they were. They have been doing some tall growling, but they
seem quiet now."
"How had we better get at them?"
"Let all of us get down in front of the place, and when we have moved
the stone enough, tell them to come out one by one. The passage isn't
wide enough to admit of more than one at a time, and I think they are
glad enough to get out by this time."
Acting upon this suggestion, in less than half an hour it had been found
that the imprisoned men were willing to come forth upon the terms
proposed.
Then, the inspector and his men standing in readiness to receive the
outlaws, they were commanded to appear one at a time.
"Attempt to make a rush and we will shoot you down like dogs."
The first man to come forth was Bird Burrnock, and he was followed by
his sons, Hawk and Buzzard.
The appearance of the fourth created a sensation.
It was Jason Warfield!
"I can explain this," he said, with some of his oldtime independence.
"So he can explain," said Mr. Lewis; "but that explanation will send him
to State's prison for life."
Four other men were captured—all of them belonging to the inhabitants of
Blazed Acre.
With what talk and wonder the return to Hollow Tree was made my readers
may imagine.
"I think there will be no more trouble," said Inspector Goings, "though
I can claim small share in the honor of the victory."
During the ride to Daring's Diamond, where the prisoners were to be left
for safe keeping, the wonderful surprises of the recent developments of
affairs were talked over and discussed.
The following facts were then learned by those who had not dreamed of
them before, though I cannot do better than to let Mr. Lewis tell them
in his own words:
"You wonder, my son, more than the others, perhaps, my reason for being
in this disguise. To explain it I must go back to the days when I lived
in Boone Lick, and you were nothing more than a prattling babe.
"There I incurred the lifelong enmity of a numerous family by the name
of Raggles, Nicholas Raggles being at the head of the crowd. In a
hand-to-hand fight with three of them one day I was nearly killed, and
it was years before I fully recovered from the effects of that blow.
"As soon as I was able I removed to Six Roads to live, my old home. You
may judge of my surprise, when I found myself soon afterward followed by
one of my enemies. But he came under another name, and, throwing off the
ways of his father, he aspired to move among the better class of people.
"I hoped he had forgotten, or overlooked, his ill feeling toward me, and
I think I should not have been troubled by him had not the rest of his
relatives come after him, to settle nearby, but under names not their
own. I felt all this boded me ill, so I put myself on my guard.
"I need not tell you now that the first of those to follow me was he you
have known as Jason Warfield. The others were the Burrnocks, of Blazed
Acre.
"But I had no open trouble with them, no doubt partly because they
considered me an imbecile, until you began to carry the mail of the
Kanawha. At almost that very time they planned their systematic scheme
of robbery, aided and abetted by Trencher Raggles, known to you as Jason
Warfield.
"Then it was that I conceived the idea of assuming the disguise of the
hermit, in order to watch over you and to lay some trap whereby I might
bring my enemies to justice. Later I joined them under another disguise
to learn their secrets, but they proved too wily for a long time.
"When this stranger, whom we now know as Mr. Goings, appeared, I was
puzzled, and I stopped him as I did below the Narrows. When you were
beyond hearing, he and I soon came to an understanding, and have worked
together since.
"He sent me the letter I got to-day, apprising me that the time to
strike at the cave had come. To explain how I could get back and forth
so quickly and readily, I would say that I found a passage through the
mountain which served me an admirable purpose.
"With all that I knew of the Raggles, I will confess that I had not had
any suspicions against the postmistress of Greenbrier, but now I believe
her to be connected with the Raggles', if not to be one of them.
"You must pardon me for the way in which I have deceived even you. I
considered it would be safest, though I have often had hard work to keep
from betraying my secret. It is over at last, I am thankful to say, and
I am sure that I am myself as of yore."
"How glad mother will be," Little Snap exclaimed. "I can hardly believe
it all."
"A good job of work has been done," said Mr. Goings. "By the way, Dix,
had you missed the postmaster of Hollow Tree?"
"I did when I came back from the cave. I had not before."
"He has gone on ahead of us under an escort, though I do not believe we
shall prove anything against him. He was more of a tool in the hands of
our political friend ahead. His audience will be somewhat surprised, I
anticipate. Fool! he might have succeeded had he followed the right
road."
The surprise at Six Roads was only equaled by the joy of those most
interested in the events as our party reached that place.
Mr. Rimmon was on hand to welcome our hero, and none showed greater
pleasure outside of those at home.
Here were many tears of joy wept that night, and as long as they lived,
the family would never forget that occasion.
And now, with a few words of explanation, we must bid them farewell.
Old Solitaire's part has, no doubt, been sufficiently described. It will
be remembered that he appeared only in the afternoons, and immediately
after Little Snap passed him he would cross the mountain to be on the
watch on the other side.
Ab Raggles, though a cousin to Bird, was not in sympathy with the other,
and he afterward, with such help as was given him for the part he acted
in the capture, became quite a respectable citizen. In regard to the
postboy's adventure the night he came over the mountain on horseback, he
was thrown from Jack's back by a wire having been stung across the path
by the Burrnocks.
She who was known as Budd Grass confessed to the entire plot of the
Raggles' of whom she proved to be a sister. She had stolen all of the
mail, and either put it into Little Snap's saddle pocket when he was not
looking, or secreted it in the tree where Shag once found it.
She, with her relatives, had to pay the penalty of wrongdoing.
Trencher Raggles, alias Jason Warfield, received the severest punishment
of them all, though he was more talented and had higher aspirations than
the others. His downfall was a startling surprise to the citizens of Six
Roads.
The Clavertons and Morton Meiggs, who had been tools of his, disappeared
soon after his arrest.
As Mr. Goings had said, nothing could be proved against Dan Shag, so he
was allowed his freedom, though he was postmaster of Hollow Tree no
longer. In fact, that office was discontinued at once, and to-day not a
house stands where once existed Blazed Acre "City."
It was found that the Burrnocks had caused the breakage in the dam of
Tripping Waters, and in that awful undertaking Pewee lost his life. The
note found by Little Snap in his pocket was written by Jason Warfield.
Of course, the stories told of Mr. Rimmon were false, and he remained
the postboy's friend as long as he lived.
Marion Calvert obtained the office of congressman, and he served his
constituents with entire satisfaction.
Mr. Lewis had fully recovered from his sufferings, and he led a useful
life.
Little Snap finished his term of carrying the mail without further
trouble. Here I wish to say that Warfield's conduct toward him had been
about what might have been expected of a man in his situation. He had
pretended to help him for the name of it, while at the same time he was
plotting against him. I will say this in his favor, which he claimed at
his trial, that he would have been a different man had it not been for
his relatives dragging him down. They knew his secret, and were
continually threatening to expose him if he did not help them in their
unlawful work.
When he finished carrying the mail our hero was assisted to a more
congenial occupation by Mr. Calvert, and eventually became an honored
citizen of the Old Dominion, though he never did her a better service
than when he was known as Little Snap, the Postboy.
THE END.
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Kit Carey's Protégé Lieut. Lounsberry.
Land of Mystery Edward S. Ellis.
Last Chance Mine Lieut. James K. Orton.
Lieut. Carey's Luck Lieut. Lounsberry.
Little Snap, the Postboy Victor St. Clair.
Mark Dale's Stage Venture Arthur M. Winfield.
Mark Stanton Horatio Alger, Jr.
Midshipman Merrill Henry Harrison Lewis.
My Mysterious Fortune Matthew White, Jr.
Mystery of a Diamond Frank H. Converse.
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New York Boy Horatio Alger, Jr.
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That Treasure Frank H. Converse.
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Tom Tracy Horatio Alger, Jr.
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Voyage to the Gold Coast Frank H. Converse.
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Zip, the Acrobat Victor St. Clair.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber's Note
The original spelling and punctuation has been retained.
Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.
Italicized words and phrases in the text version are presented by
surrounding the text with underscores.
End of Project Gutenberg's Little Snap The Postboy, by Victor St. Clair