Dan, the Newsboy — Conclusion
CHAPTER XLII. CONCLUSION.
Six years rolled by, bringing with them many changes.
The little family on Madison avenue kept together.
Mrs. Vernon was never happier than now.
She had a hearty love for young people, and enjoyed the growth and development of her niece Althea, and Dan, whom she called her nephew and loved no less.
Dan is now a young man.
He completed his preparation for college, and graduated with high honors.
He is no less frank, handsome, and self-reliant than when as a boy he sold papers in front of the Astor House for his mother's support.
He looks forward to a business life, and has accepted an invitation to go abroad to buy goods in London and Paris for his old firm.
He was, in fact, preparing to go when a mysterious letter was put in his hands.
It ran thus: "MR. DANIEL MORDAUNT:--I shall take it as a great favor if you will come to the St. Nicholas Hotel this evening, and inquire for me.
I
am sick, or I would not trouble you.
Do not fail.
I have to speak to you on a matter of great importance.
"JOHN DAVIS."
"John Davis!"
repeated Dan.
"I don't know of any one of that name.
Do you, mother?"
"I cannot think of any one," said Mrs. Mordaunt.
"I hope you won't go, Dan," she added, anxiously; "it may be a trap laid by a wicked and designing man."
"You forget that I am not a boy any longer, mother," said Dan, smiling.
"I think I can defend myself, even if Mr. Davis is a wicked and designing person."
Nevertheless Mrs. Mordaunt saw Dan depart with anxiety.
To her he was still a boy, though in the eyes of others an athletic young man.
On inquiring for Mr. Davis at the hotel, Dan was ushered into a room on the third floor.
Seated in an arm-chair was an elderly man, weak and wasted, apparently in the last stages of consumption.
He eyed Dan eagerly.
"You are Daniel Mordaunt?"
he asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Son of Lawrence Mordaunt?"
"Yes.
Did you know my father?"
The old man sighed.
"It would have been well if he had not known me, for I did him a great wrong."
"You!
--John Davis!"
said Dan, trying to connect the name with his father.
"That is not my real name.
You see before you Robert Hunting, once your father's book-keeper."
Dan's handsome face darkened, and he said, bitterly: "You killed my father!"
"Heaven help me, I fear I did!"
sighed Davis--to call him by his later name.
"The money of which you robbed him caused him to fail, and failure led to his death."
"I have accused myself of this crime oftentimes," moaned Davis.
"Don't think that the money brought happiness, for it did not."
"Where have you been all these years?"
"First, I went to Europe.
There I remained a year.
From Europe I went to Brazil, and engaged in business in Rio Janeiro.
A year since I found my health failing, and have come back to New York to die.
But before I die I want to make what reparation I can."
"You cannot call my father back to me," said Dan, sadly.
"No; but I can restore the money that I stole.
That is the right word--stole.
I hope you and your mother have not suffered?"
"We saw some hard times, but for years we have lived in comfort."
"I am glad of that.
Will you bring a lawyer to me to-morrow evening?
I
want to make restitution.
Then I shall die easier."
"You might keep every dollar if you would bring my father back."
"Would that I could!
I must do what I can."
The next evening Davis transferred to Dan and his mother property amounting to fifty thousand dollars, in payment of what he had taken, with interest, and in less than a month later he died, Dan taking upon himself the charge of the funeral.
His trip to Europe was deferred, and having now capital to contribute, he was taken as junior partner into the firm where he had once filled the position of office-boy.
Tom Carver is down in the world.
His father had failed disastrously, and Tom is glad to accept a minor clerkship from the boy at whom he once sneered.
Julia Rogers has never lost her preference for Dan.
It is whispered that they are engaged, or likely soon to be, and Dan's assiduous attentions to the young lady make the report a plausible one.
John Hartley was sentenced to a term of years in prison.
Harriet Vernon dreaded the day of his release, being well convinced that he would seize the earliest opportunity to renew his persecutions.
She had about made up her mind to buy him off, when she received intelligence that he was carried off by fever, barely a month before the end of his term.
It was a sad end of a bad life, but she could not regret him.
Althea was saved the knowledge of her father's worthlessness.
She was led to believe that he had died when she was a little girl.
And now the curtain must fall.
Dan, the young detective, has entered upon a career of influence and prosperity.
The hardships of his earlier years contributed to strengthen his character, and give him that self-reliance of which the sons of rich men so often stand in need.
A
similar experience might have benefited Tom Carver, whose lofty anticipations have been succeeded by a very humble reality.
Let those boys who are now passing through the discipline of poverty and privation, take courage and emulate the example of "Dan, the Detective."
THE END.
A.
L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS
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+Bonnie Prince Charlie+: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. The adventures of the son of a Scotch officer in French service.
The boy, brought up by a Glasgow bailie, is arrested for aiding a Jacobite agent, escapes, is wrecked on the French coast, reaches Paris, and serves with the French army at Dettingen.
He kills his father's foe in a duel, and escaping to the coast, shares the adventures of Prince Charlie, but finally settles happily in Scotland.
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The lad's journey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, make up as good a narrative of the kind as we have ever read.
For freshness of treatment and variety of incident Mr. Henty has surpassed himself."
--_Spectator.
_ +With Clive in India+; or, the Beginnings of an Empire.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. The period between the landing of Clive as a young writer in India and the close of his career was critical and eventful in the extreme.
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Young people assuredly will be delighted with the volume."
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_ +The Lion of the North+: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars of Religion.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by JOHN SCHÖNBERG.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. In this story Mr. Henty gives the history of the first part of the Thirty Years' War.
The issue had its importance, which has extended to the present day, as it established religious freedom in Germany.
The army of the chivalrous king of Sweden was largely composed of Scotchmen, and among these was the hero of the story.
"The tale is a clever and instructive piece of history, and as boys may be trusted to read it conscientiously, they can hardly fail to be profited."
--_Times.
_ +The Dragon and the Raven+; or, The Days of King Alfred.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by C. J.
STANILAND, R.
I.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. In this story the author gives an account of the fierce struggle between Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England, and presents a vivid picture of the misery and ruin to which the country was reduced by the ravages of the sea-wolves.
The hero, a young Saxon thane, takes part in all the battles fought by King Alfred.
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"Treated in a manner most attractive to the boyish reader."
--_Athenæum.
_ +The Young Carthaginian+: A Story of the Times of Hannibal.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by C. J.
STANILAND, R.
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12mo, cloth, price . 00. Boys reading the history of the Punic Wars have seldom a keen appreciation of the merits of the contest.
That it was at first a struggle for empire, and afterward for existence on the part of Carthage, that Hannibal was a great and skillful general, that he defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannæ, and all but took Rome, represents pretty nearly the sum total of their knowledge.
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"Well constructed and vividly told.
From first to last nothing stays the interest of the narrative.
It bears us along as on a stream whose current varies in direction, but never loses its force."
--_Saturday Review.
_ +In Freedom's Cause+: A Story of Wallace and Bruce.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. In this story the author relates the stirring tale of the Scottish War of Independence.
The extraordinary valor and personal prowess of Wallace and Bruce rival the deeds of the mythical heroes of chivalry, and indeed at one time Wallace was ranked with these legendary personages.
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"It is written in the author's best style.
Full of the wildest and most remarkable achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a boy, once he has begun it, will not willingly put on one side."
--_The Schoolmaster.
_ +With Lee in Virginia+: A Story of the American Civil War.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. The story of a young Virginian planter, who, after bravely proving his sympathy with the slaves of brutal masters, serves with no less courage and enthusiasm under Lee and Jackson through the most exciting events of the struggle.
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"One of the best stories for lads which Mr. Henty has yet written.
The picture is full of life and color, and the stirring and romantic incidents are skillfully blended with the personal interest and charm of the story."
--_Standard.
_ +By England's Aid+; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604).
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by ALFRED PEARSE, and Maps.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. The story of two English lads who go to Holland as pages in the service of one of "the fighting Veres."
After many adventures by sea and land, one of the lads finds himself on board a Spanish ship at the time of the defeat of the Armada, and escapes only to fall into the hands of the Corsairs.
He is successful in getting back to Spain under the protection of a wealthy merchant, and regains his native country after the capture of Cadiz.
"It is an admirable book for youngsters.
It overflows with stirring incident and exciting adventure, and the color of the era and of the scene are finely reproduced.
The illustrations add to its attractiveness."
--_Boston Gazette.
_ +By Right of Conquest+; or, With Cortez in Mexico.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by W. S.
STACEY, and Two Maps.
12mo, cloth, price . 50. The conquest of Mexico by a small band of resolute men under the magnificent leadership of Cortez is always rightly ranked among the most romantic and daring exploits in history.
With this as the groundwork of his story Mr. Henty has interwoven the adventures of an English youth, Roger Hawkshaw, the sole survivor of the good ship Swan, which had sailed from a Devon port to challenge the mercantile supremacy of the Spaniards in the New World.
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At last by a ruse he obtains the protection of the Spaniards, and after the fall of Mexico he succeeds in regaining his native shore, with a fortune and a charming Aztec bride.
"'By Right of Conquest' is the nearest approach to a perfectly successful historical tale that Mr. Henty has yet published."
--_Academy.
_ +In the Reign of Terror+: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by J. SCHÖNBERG.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. Harry Sandwith, a Westminster boy, becomes a resident at the chateau of a French marquis, and after various adventures accompanies the family to Paris at the crisis of the Revolution.
Imprisonment and death reduce their number, and the hero finds himself beset by perils with the three young daughters of the house in his charge.
After hairbreadth escapes they reach Nantes.
There the girls are condemned to death in the coffin-ships, but are saved by the unfailing courage of their boy protector.
"Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr. Henty's record.
His adventures will delight boys by the audacity and peril they depict....
The story is one of Mr. Henty's best."
--_Saturday Review.
_ +With Wolfe in Canada+; or, The Winning of a Continent.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. In the present volume Mr. Henty gives an account of the struggle between Britain and France for supremacy in the North American continent.
On the issue of this war depended not only the destinies of North America, but to a large extent those of the mother countries themselves.
The fall of Quebec decided that the Anglo-Saxon race should predominate in the New World; that Britain, and not France, should take the lead among the nations of Europe; and that English and American commerce, the English language, and English literature, should spread right round the globe.
"It is not only a lesson in history as instructively as it is graphically told, but also a deeply interesting and often thrilling tale of adventure and peril by flood and field."
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_ +True to the Old Flag+: A Tale of the American War of Independence.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. In this story the author has gone to the accounts of officers who took part in the conflict, and lads will find that in no war in which American and British soldiers have been engaged did they behave with greater courage and good conduct.
The historical portion of the book being accompanied with numerous thrilling adventures with the redskins on the shores of Lake Huron, a story of exciting interest is interwoven with the general narrative and carried through the book.
"Does justice to the pluck and determination of the British soldiers during the unfortunate struggle against American emancipation.
The son of an American loyalist, who remains true to our flag, falls among the hostile redskins in that very Huron country which has been endeared to us by the exploits of Hawkeye and Chingachgook."
--_The Times.
_ +The Lion of St. Mark+: A Tale of Venice in the Fourteenth Century.
By G. A.
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With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. A story of Venice at a period when her strength and splendor were put to the severest tests.
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"Every boy should read 'The Lion of St. Mark.'
Mr. Henty has never produced a story more delightful, more wholesome, or more vivacious."
--_Saturday Review.
_ +A Final Reckoning+: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia.
By G. A.
HENTY.
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12mo, cloth, price . 00. The hero, a young English lad, after rather a stormy boyhood, emigrates to Australia, and gets employment as an officer in the mounted police.
A
few years of active work on the frontier, where he has many a brush with both natives and bushrangers, gain him promotion to a captaincy, and he eventually settles down to the peaceful life of a squatter.
"Mr. Henty has never published a more readable, a more carefully constructed, or a better written story than this."
--_Spectator.
_ +Under Drake's Flag+: A Tale of the Spanish Main.
By G. A.
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With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. A story of the days when England and Spain struggled for the supremacy of the sea.
The heroes sail as lads with Drake in the Pacific expedition, and in his great voyage of circumnavigation.
The historical portion of the story is absolutely to be relied upon, but this will perhaps be less attractive than the great variety of exciting adventure through which the young heroes pass in the course of their voyages.
"A book of adventure, where the hero meets with experience enough, one would think, to turn his hair gray."
--_Harper's Monthly Magazine.
_ +By Sheer Pluck+: A Tale of the Ashanti War.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. The author has woven, in a tale of thrilling interest, all the details of the Ashanti campaign, of which he was himself a witness.
His hero, after many exciting adventures in the interior, is detained a prisoner by the king just before the outbreak of the war, but escapes, and accompanies the English expedition on their march to Coomassie.
"Mr. Henty keeps up his reputation as a writer of boys' stories.
'By Sheer Pluck' will be eagerly read."
--_Athenæum.
_ +By Pike and Dyke+: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by MAYNARD BROWN, and 4 Maps.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. In this story Mr. Henty traces the adventures and brave deeds of an English boy in the household of the ablest man of his age--William the Silent.
Edward Martin, the son of an English sea-captain, enters the service of the Prince as a volunteer, and is employed by him in many dangerous and responsible missions, in the discharge of which he passes through the great sieges of the time.
He ultimately settles down as Sir Edward Martin.
"Boys with a turn for historical research will be enchanted with the book, while the rest who only care for adventure will be students in spite of themselves."
--_St.
James' Gazette.
_ +St. George for England+: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. No portion of English history is more crowded with great events than that of the reign of Edward III.
Cressy and Poitiers; the destruction of the Spanish fleet; the plague of the Black Death; the Jacquerie rising;
these are treated by the author in "St. George for England."
The hero of the story, although of good family, begins life as a London apprentice, but after countless adventures and perils becomes by valor and good conduct the squire, and at last the trusted friend of the Black Prince.
"Mr. Henty has developed for himself a type of historical novel for boys which bids fair to supplement, on their behalf, the historical labors of Sir Walter Scott in the land of fiction."
--_The Standard.
_ +Captain Kidd's Gold+: The True Story of an Adventurous Sailor Boy.
By JAMES FRANKLIN FITTS.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. There is something fascinating to the average youth in the very idea of buried treasure.
A vision arises before his eyes of swarthy Portuguese and Spanish rascals, with black beards and gleaming eyes--sinister-looking fellows who once on a time haunted the Spanish Main, sneaking out from some hidden creek in their long, low schooner, of picaroonish rake and sheer, to attack an unsuspecting trading craft.
There were many famous sea rovers in their day, but none more celebrated than Capt. Kidd.
Perhaps the most fascinating tale of all is Mr. Fitts' true story of an adventurous American boy, who receives from his dying father an ancient bit of vellum, which the latter obtained in a curious way.
The document bears obscure directions purporting to locate a certain island in the Bahama group, and a considerable treasure buried there by two of Kidd's crew.
The hero of this book, Paul Jones Garry, is an ambitious, persevering lad, of salt-water New England ancestry, and his efforts to reach the island and secure the money form one of the most absorbing tales for our youth that has come from the press.
+Captain Bayley's Heir+: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California.
By G.
A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by H. M. PAGET.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. A frank, manly lad and his cousin are rivals in the heirship of a considerable property.
The former falls into a trap laid by the latter, and while under a false accusation of theft foolishly leaves England for America.
He works his passage before the mast, joins a small band of hunters, crosses a tract of country infested with Indians to the Californian gold diggings, and is successful both as digger and trader.
"Mr. Henty is careful to mingle instruction with entertainment; and the humorous touches, especially in the sketch of John Holl, the Westminster dustman, Dickens himself could hardly have excelled."
--_Christian Leader.
_ +For Name and Fame+; or, Through Afghan Passes.
By G. A.
HENTY.
With full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price . 00. An interesting story of the last war in Afghanistan.
The hero, after being wrecked and going through many stirring adventures among the Malays, finds his way to Calcutta and enlists in a regiment proceeding to join the army at the Afghan passes.
He accompanies the force under General Roberts to the Peiwar Kotal, is wounded, taken prisoner, carried to Cabul, whence he is transferred to Candahar, and takes part in the final defeat of the army of Ayoub Khan.
