Other editions of book Wizard Will

Prentiss Ingraham’s Wizard Will, the Wonder Worker; or, The Boy Ferret of New York, a title first published in 1886.This was to be the first of several “Wizard Will” adventures. The young detective never achieved the same fame as some of his contemporaries, but he at least achieved enough notoriety to earn a mention on the first page of Shadow-Catcher, a relatively recent work of juvenile historical fiction.

After a military career that ended with a stint as a colonel in the Confederate Army, Prentiss Ingraham turned to writing, penning hundreds of books over the course of several decades. This charming novel centers on a remarkable young man named Will who has a run-in with a mysterious figure that leads to Will honing his skills as an amateur detective, investigator and go-between. "Wizard Will Wonder-Worker; or, The Boy Ferret of New York" is a romance of mysteries in metropolitan life. Originally published as a dime novel Wizard Will is the first in a series of adventure tales about a boy detective and his enemies the fearsome Land Sharks. This is a wonderful adventure story is sure to please long-time fans and first-time readers alike.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

CHAPTER I.—The Boy Messenger.CHAPTER II.—An Oath to Win, a Vow to Avenge.CHAPTER III.—Tracked to His Lair.CHAPTER IV.—The Meeting.CHAPTER V.—The Boy Protector.CHAPTER VI.—The Reward for a Convict.CHAPTER VII.—The Lost Gold Piece.CHAPTER VIII.—The Dashing Dragoon.CHAPTER IX.—Phantoms of the Past.CHAPTER X.—Deserted.CHAPTER XI.—A Rebuff.CHAPTER XII.—The Boy Captive.CHAPTER XIII.—Put to the Test.CHAPTER XIV.—Will Plays his little Game.CHAPTER XV.—The Boy Guide.CHAPTER XVI.—The Raid.CHAPTER XVII.—On Secret Service.CHAPTER XVIII.—Headed Off.CHAPTER XIX.—Unknown Kindred Ties.CHAPTER XX.—The Grave on the Prairie.CHAPTER XXI.—Retribution at Last.CHAPTER XXII.—Insnared by a Watch.CHAPTER XXIII.—Wizard Will's Luck.CHAPTER XXIV.—Conclusion.

The boy thus intrusted with what was evidently an important note, was an urchin of twelve; but he looked older, and there was that in his bright, handsome face which denoted both courage of a high order and intelligence beyond his years. He was poorly, very poorly clad, but his clothing was clean, and he evidently took pride in appearing at his best. The locality he was in was a hard one, one of the worst localities in the city of New York, and rude, rough characters—men, women and children—were in the streets. But the lad went on his way without noticing any one, and, as though acquainted with his surroundings, turned into a wretched street that was little more than an alleyway. He stopped at a certain number and seized the bell knob, which appeared to belong to a bygone age, and in fact the house was a quaint old structure that had long been the abode of poverty. His three sharp rings, as he had been directed to give, were answered by the door opening, seemingly without human agency, while a gruff voice demanded: "Well, step inside and tell me what you want?"

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.