Budd Boyd's Triumph; or, The Boy-Firm of Fox Island

by William P. Chipman

From that hour Brill had a hold upon him, and led him from one crime to another until the series of crimes for which he and his companions had now been arrested.

There was a particularity of detail throughout the whole confession that evinced its truth, and with the document in his pocket Mr. Johnson took the first train for Boston, to place in the hands of the Governor and his Council, the matter of Henry Boyd's pardon for a crime he had never committed; while Budd drove off home, to immediately write and send to his father a letter giving a full account of the events that had transpired in the last few days, and setting forth the prospect of his--the father's--release, as soon as the legal steps necessary for it could be complied with.

As we shall now lose sight of Bagsley in our story, it may be stated here that he and his companions in crime were duly arraigned for the burglary of Clapp & St. John's jewelry store, at the November term of the superior court, and knowing that the evidence of their guilt was absolute, they thought it wiser to plead guilty and throw themselves upon the mercy of the Court. The other charges were not brought up against them, but they were known, and without doubt had much to do with the heavy sentence that was pronounced upon them, namely--ten years each at hard labor in the State Penitentiary.

The reward offered for their arrest and conviction was in due time paid over to Mr. Avery and the two lads. Mr. Avery, finding the part he had played in the affair had obtained for him a popularity that was destined to give him the office of County Sheriff at the next election, magnanimously insisted that the hundred dollars paid the captain of the tug should come out of his portion of the reward alone; so that the young firm received an even thousand dollars as their compensation for the trying experiences they had undergone in discovering and bringing to justice the gang of criminals.

But a full month before this money was paid over, an event happened that to Budd at least far transcended any amount of pecuniary gain. It was the reception, through the post-office, of a large official document from the Governor of Massachusetts, announcing the full pardon and ordering the immediate release of Henry Boyd. Along with it came a personal note from the Governor pleasantly suggesting that the son, who had so thoroughly believed in and worked for the establishment of the father's innocence, should be the one to first carry the good news to the pardoned man.

[CHAPTER XXI.--FATHER AND SON.]

The weeks that had elapsed between the confession of Bagsley and the reception of the important document from the Governor of Massachusetts had hung heavily on Budd's hands. He chafed under the legal technicalities that seemed to be constantly arising to delay a result that he knew was inevitable, and which he thought ought to come immediately. Still his hope sustained him, and with his partner he attended strictly to the work in which they were engaged.

Business, too, accumulated upon their hands. The notoriety they had achieved in capturing the burglars had made it quite the thing to patronize the young firm, and from every side there poured into them an increase of trade. The summer hotels along the bay found it quite to their interest to announce that the fish upon their tables came directly from the pounds of Boyd & Floyd. Sailing and fishing-parties sought eagerly for the services of the lads and their sloop Sea Witch, that had such a romantic history. So night and day the young firm were busy, and their bank account grew apace.

But there was another work during these weeks that claimed Budd's attention. Believing that his father would prefer to come back to the island with him, and make a temporary home there until their plans for the future could be arranged, he spent all his spare moments in making his island home more attractive.

Mr. Johnson had on the day he had accompanied the lad up to the county jail returned to him the five hundred dollars he had paid that gentleman the previous March, and, along with that sum, its accumulated interest. A portion of this money Budd now spent for carpets and furniture.