“I will go down there this very day,” said Kent as soon as he finished reading the paragraph. So saying, he started out of Winchester. He made his horse walk briskly until he reached Brookland. He stopped there a short while. William consented to accompany him on his long and tedious journey, so they rode briskly away. Willie knew exactly where Mr. Brown, the “esteemed citizen,” lived, so he acted as Kent’s guide.

It was a clear day and comparatively a cool one. The two rode along very briskly. It was only nine o’clock when they started, and they expected to reach the termination of their journey by three o’clock in the afternoon. A fine day, two brisk horses, and a comparatively good road to rid[e] on: what needed they to fear?

“This is the hollow you found cousin Albert in,” said William as they rode along through Ash Hollow. “Where was he laying when you found him?”

“He was laying down beside that large oak tree yonder,” answered Kent.

“Well, Mr. Kent, we have got a good long ride before us,” said William. “We must make our noble steeds move along pretty fast, or we will be late getting to the residence of the ‘esteemed citizen.’”

“Yes, we must move along fast,” said Kent. “I must settle this business and go home. I want to start when you start. When do you start? Have you fixed upon a certain day?”

“You mean all of us, including the Walters, Armsteads, Sowers, and my aunt, Mrs. King?” inquired William.

“Yes, I mean all of you New Englanders,” said Kent. “When are you going to start?”

“We have decided to start Monday morning,” said William. “I hope you will be ready to start at the same time. Let[’s] see, this is the 29th of September. We start on the second of October. Kent, I am going to make you a present of five thousand dollars in gold when I get to Boston and get settled. You have done me a great kindness. You have restored me to my right and real parents. I shall always be grateful for your kindness. I shall always be your friend.”

“I am glad to have you as my friend,” said Kent. “But I ask no reward for my services. I only did my duty, and I was a long while doing that. I ask no recompense for my services. So don’t say anything more about it. I have only done my duty.”

“I will have my way in this, Mr. Kent,” said William. “I will give you the money whether you ask it or not.”

“Well, have it your way,” consented Kent. “But I ask nothing of you. I was sent here to capture the intended assassin of Mattie Sowers. I have done so. I was also told by the chief to watch out for Fred Lambert. I did so, and I have trapped both he and his daughter. I get a regular salary from headquarters as I have been in the service for a good many years. Sowers will have me to pay if I choose to charge him for my services, but I guess I’ll not charge him anything.”

“Well, I am just as happy as man can be, since I have been restored to my parents,” said William.

“Parents are always what is wanted, to bring pure happiness,” responded Kent. “By the way, William, the place where you are going to live in Boston is the finest part of the city. Commercial Street is unrivaled, both for business and the neatness of its buildings. Where are you going to live when you get married? I suppose you will take a bridal trip to Europe?”

“I expect I will,” said William, smiling. “When I return, I shall buy one of the finest mansion[s] the city of Boston affords.”

“If it does not afford a mansion fine enough, I suppose you will build one,” said Kent half-mischievously.

“I will indeed,” said William, determined to be as sarcastic as Kent.

They rode along, talking as they rode. At twelve o’clock, they stopped by the roadside and rested their horses while they ate a luncheon. They did not forget their horses, so they let them graze a little along the road as there was good grass.

After refreshing themselves and letting their horses graze awhile, they resumed their journey. Their journey lay over hills and hollows, and after three hours’ more of brisk riding, they “drew up” before the door of the “esteemed citizen.” Mr. Brown came out to see what they wanted. He was a portly, florid-faced gentleman, and he walked with a dignified step.

“Pleasant evening, gentlemen,” said Mr. Brown with a polite bow.

“Pleasant evening, sir,” said Kent and William. “I came on business, Mr. Brown,” said Kent as he took the Winchester Times from his pocket and pointed to the notice of the man and woman being found.

“Are you their relatives or friends?” inquired Mr. Brown, after reading the notice.

“We are not relatives of those persons,” said William. “But we must bear no malice toward the dead. Therefore we are friends.”

“Well, you came too late to see them,” asserted Mr. Brown. “They are buried now in the village graveyard.”

“We must see them. It is my duty,” said Kent imperatively.

“I tell you they have been buried nearly a week! You cannot see them.”

“I insist,” asserted Kent. “They must be dug up—taken out of the ground. The man must, if not the woman. It is my duty.” Kent put powerful emphasis on the last four words.

“If you must, and it is your duty,” assented Mr. Brown, “I will go with you at once, for I want to be there when they are taken up. Great consternation was caused here when they bounced up and floated along in the water. My boy came near being frightened to death. We were all feeling pretty cheap. I will go with you at once.”

“In order to convince you that it is my duty to have those bodies taken up,” said Kent, “I will show you this.” As Kent spoke, he displayed his shining badge. Mr. Brown glanced at it, paled, and seemed to be in a greater hurry than ever.

“All right, sir. Your request shall be complied with at once,” said Mr. Brown. “Come, Dick, hurry up with my horse!”

“All right, Massa,” came from the stable.

In a few minutes they were off for the graveyard. They soon arrived there. Mr. Brown summoned the sexton who lived hard by.

“What in the world do you want to take them poor critters up for?” inquired the sexton excitedly. “Poor things, they have had tossin’ enough in the water. Now they ought to be lef’ alone. They are where the wicked cease to trouble and the weary are at rest. Let ’em rest.”

“Come, my man,” said Kent. “We didn’t send for you to preach a funeral, but to open a grave. Be quick now and open it. Explanations can be made afterwards. Give me the shovel, I was once a sexton myself. I can soon finish this unpleasant work.” So saying, Kent took the shovel and worked away as fast as he could.

The grave was soon opened and an unpleasant odor came out, but Kent was not a man that would shrink from duty.

He opened the coffin and viewed the remains.

“Come here, William,” said he. “Look at the body. You will swear it is the body of Wilson Reed, alias Fred Lambert?”

“I will,” said William. “Anyone can see that is the body of Wilson, my pretended father. Close the coffin and have it lowered, for it is horrible. Poor fellow, he was always good and kind to me.”

“Lower the body,” said Kent as soon as he had closed and fastened the coffin. “Now for the explanation,” said Kent. “That is the remains of one of the most notorious highwaymen that ever infested the fastnesses^[1] of Massachusetts.”

“He was?” inquired Mr. Brown. “Well, who is the girl? Are you not going to take her up to see if you can identify her?”

“The girl is his daughter,” said Kent. “We will not take her up. Just give me her description; I will know then what to do.” Mr. Brown gave an accurate description of the girl. He also referred to another notice in the Times, a notice Kent had not seen. “I am satisfied,” said Kent. “I will tell you something more about the man before I go away,” added he, as they rode back to the residence of the esteemed citizen.

“You will stay at my house till morning, will you?” inquired the hospitable Mr. Brown. “It is too late for you to start home this afternoon. Just come to my house and make yourself at home while you are there. We don’t often see detectives in this part of the country. You can start home early in the morning if you are in a hurry. If not, why, stay until next week. By the way, we have had plenty of rain lately. The river has been very high.”

Kent and William was [sic] pleased with the hospitable way in which they were treated. When the morning came, their host called them so as they could start on their homeward journey early. They started at five in the morning and reached Brookland at two. They were both very tired so they took a nap pretty soon after they arrived. Only a short nap, though, for there was a great deal of work to do, baggage to be attended to, business to settle, and so on. They were to start their journey east on Monday morning. All of their business was to be finished Saturday evening. All was finished and all the New Englanders were ready for their journey.

Sunday came. William was then staying at the hotel with his parents. The sabbath day passed quietly away and Monday came bright and clear. Brookland was to be deserted that day. At ten o’clock all of our Brookland friends were seated in the cars. Mrs. King, Mr. Beverly and family, and all of our characters were seated in the cars. The train started on its journey. We will see how our young men are getting along. Hugh Walters asked Miss Dora Beverly the privilege of taking a seat by her side. She of course granted that privilege. Soon, an interesting conversation took place. Hugh could hold out no longer, so he said in a low pleading voice: “Miss Beverly, will you grant me the privilege of visiting you as a suitor for your hand when you reach your Eastern house?”

“Yes sir,” said Dora, while her cheeks were suffused with blushes. Then they began their courtship. We will also visit Albert as he sits by the side of Annie Walters. He too is thinking of “Love in a cottage.”^[2] He, in his timid bashful way, asked Miss Annie to allow him the privilege of visiting her at her residence as a lover!

She grants him that privilege, and he can hardly restrain himself from pressing her to his heart in the presence of her parents. However, he controls his feelings, but his heart feels “big.” He feels like pouring forth words of love in the ear of her [sic] who has granted him the privilege of visiting her as a lover.

The train flies on, carrying them to their destinations. The conductor cries out: “Harpers Ferry!” and all get out and “change” cars. Then the cars start again. On, on, on, they speed. But nothing attracts “Al’s” attention but the sweet melodious voice of Annie Walters. He loves her. There is not the least doubt about that. He was once a trifling revengeful man; now he was a kind, forgiving, gentle man. He might have always been a vagabond had he not caught sight of this face and realized its beauty and innocence. After realizing the beauty and innocence of the face of Annie Walters, Albert King determined to change his course of life. He did so, and he was not sorry for it, for hadn’t she accepted him as a suitor for her heart and hand? Of course she had.

Well, the weary travel days went slowly by. Never were days spent happier than those were to Albert. He had known no better days. Dr. Maltby was still living in anticipation of wedding Jennie Baker. Mrs. Sowers, and also Mrs. King, took all their colored people with them. So none of the “New Englanders” were left behind.

Arriving at New York, our friends took the steamer Narraganset[t] for Boston.

“We are near the end of our journey,” said William. “We will be in port by tomorrow morning. Ella, are you getting tired of traveling?” inquired William, addressing his lady-love.

“Well, I had as leave stop awhile as we have been traveling for some time now,” answered Ella. “We are to land at the foot of Commercial Street,^[3] are we?”

“That is the place,” said William.

So, the boat plowed on through the briny waters. Our friends had had very nice weather to travel in. The day drew to a close. Our friends went to their “bunks” to dream of the city they expected to see on the following morning.

After a peaceful sleep of considerable duration, our friends were waked suddenly by the Captain calling out that the boat was at the landing.

They needed no second calling; all got out of their bunks at once.