The Literary echo, and Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1851-1854, 1853-05-05
Grlfftr0.
A STORY OF OLDEN TINES.
BY WASHINGTON IRVING.

y IeW nllIeS from DOSton, III nldS
sachusetts, there is deep inlet, winding
several miles into the interior of the
country, from Charles Bay, and tcrmin-
ating in tlickly wood d swamp, or
morass On one side of this inlet is a
beautiful dark grove; on the opposite
side, the land rises abruptly from the
waters edge, into a high ridge, on which
grow few scattered oaks OF great age
and immense size. 1t was under one Of
these gigantic trees, according, to old
stories, that Kidd, the pirate, buried his
treasures. The inlet allowed a facility
to bring the money in boat, secretly
and at night, to the very foot OF the bill
The elevation Of the place permitted a
Il good look out to be kept that no one
was at hand, while the remarkable trees
formed good landmarks by which the
place might easily be found again The
old stories add, moreover, that the devil
presided at the hiding of the money, and
took it under his guardianship; but this,
it is well known, he always does with
buried treasure, particularly when it has
been ill-gottcn. BE that as it may,
Kidd never returned to recover his
wealth being shortly after seized at
Boston, and sent out to England, and
there hanged for Il pirate
About the year 1927, just at the time
when earthquakes were prevalent in
New England, ard shook many tall
sinners down upon their knees, there
lived near this place II rneagre, misrrly
fellow of the name of Tom Walker.
He had a wife as miserly as himself; /;
they were so miseIly that they even
conspired to cheat each other. What
ever the woman could lay her hands on,
she Ind away; hn uld not cacklc
but she was on the alert to secure the
new laid egg. Her husband was con-
Itinually prylng about to detect her
.ecret boards, and many and fierce were
the conflicts that took place about what
ought to have been common property
They lived in Il forIorn looking house,
that stood alone, and had an air of
starvation A few struggling savin trees,
enblems OF sterlllty, grew near it, no
smoke ever curled from its chimny !;
no traveller ever stopped at its door. A
miserable horse, whose ribs were as
articulate as the bars of the gridiron,
st lked about field, where thin carpet
of moss, scarce covering the ragged beds
OF pudding stone, tautalized and baulked
his hunger and sometimes he would
lean his head over the fence, look pit
eously at the passer by, and seem to
petition his dellverance from the land of
famine The house and its inmates had
altogether bad nam Toms wife was
IL tall termagant, fierce of temper, loud
OF tongue, and strong of arm Her voice
was often heard in wordy warfare with
her husband, and his face sometimes
showed signs that their conflicts were not
con6ned to words. No one ventured,
however, to interfere between them /;
the lonely wayfarer shrunk within him
self at the horrld clamor and clapper-
clawing, eyed the DIN of discordance,
and hurried on his way, ii bachelor,
rejoicing in his celibacy
One day that Tom Walker had been
to distant part of the neighborhood, he
took what be considered a short cut
homewards, through a swamp. Like
most short cuts, it was an ill-chosen
route. The swamp was thickly grown
with great gloomy pines aud hemlocks,
some of them ninety feet high, which
made it dark at MONDAY, and retreat
for all the owls of the neighborhood
II was full of pits and quagmires, partly
covered with weeds and MOSES, where
the green surface often betrayed the
traveller into gulf of black, smothering
mud; there was also dark and stag
nant pools, the abodes of the tadpole,
the bull-frog and the water-snake, and
whore the trunks Of pines and hemlocks