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ON SECRET SERVICE. 45
CHAPTER, XVII—On Secret SEkvice.
“ea3 .
HE day and night of rest which Will took, be really needed, for
\ hiscapture, escape and hard work, had indeed been a severe
strain upon him.
Captain Daly had picked up oroll of bills, inthe Land Sharks’
rooms which some one of them had dropped in their haste to get away,
and he had insisted upon Will’s falling heir to the money, though tle
boy had urged 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 long sleep, he found a splendid dinner ready, for Pear}
had been to the market and spent the five-dollar bill given her
with no economical hand. ‘Tke mother and her children greatly
enjoyed their dinner, and Will then told his mother that Captain
Daly had said that bis pay would be thirty dollars a month to
hegin with, and all felt cheered at the prospect, and retired witb
lighter hearts than they had had the past few weeks.
Upon reporting at the office of Captain Daly the next morning,
Will received a warm welcome from all, and was congratulated over
and over again upon his nerve. and the good services he had rendered.
“Now, Will,” the captain said, ‘‘I find that Mr. Rossmore, a
retired merchant of Baltimore, lost a son Willie some six years ago,
and still offers large rewards for his restoration.
“From what you heard from the Land Sharks, you know more
than any one else 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 photo-
graphs and the ring, and see Mr. Rossmore, telling him all, and
directing him to the spot on the prairie, as wellas youcan, where your
friend Night Hawk Jerry said the boy was buried.
“Will you go?”
“Certainly, sir, for I am ready to do just what you wish, if you
think I am able to accomplish it.” .
“You are able to do a man’s work, Will, after what you did ta
extricate yourself from the clutches of those Land Sharks.
“Now I will give you the money for your trip, and you had better:
get a satchel, a suit of clothes and some other things, and get your
mother to pack them for you. . .
‘Here are twenty-five dollars to fit you out with, and I’ll give you
the money for your trip when you are ready to start.
“* And here, my boy, I had almost forgotten to give you your badgz
of office; itis a gold one, and apresent to you by the officers of this
precinct. . Loe
‘We would make it a public demonstration, only we do not wish it
known outside that we have made a new departure and enlisted a boy
in the Secret Service force.”
As Captain Daly spoke, he pinned under the boy’s coat a handsome
gold badge, a shield, upon which was engraven:
‘