Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1858-03-10

house couldn't come forward and claim it.,
could he, deacon 2" inquired the widow, fur
ther, with apparent anxiety.
sSNS, madam, unqueStionably not. When
the house was disposed of, everything went
with it, as matter of course.''
81 am glad to hear it, deacon. You won't
think strange of the question, but it happened
to occur to my mind, and l thought would
like to have it satisfied"
ssCertdnly, widow, certainly said the dea-
con, abstractedly.
s.And, deacon. as you are here, hope you
viii stop to dinner with us. 1t will be ready
punctually, at twelve"
swell, no." said the deacon, rising ssI'm
obleeged to ye, but they'll be expecting ME
home.''
s'At any rate, deacon,3 said the widow, ta-
king steaming mince pie from the oven,
'.you won't object to taking piece of my
mince-pe. You must know, l rather pride
myself on my mince-f Pies
The warm pie sent forth such delicious
odor that the deacon was sorely tempted, and
after saying, ssWell, really,'' with the inten-
tion of refusing, he finished by saying, son
the whole, guess | will, as it looks SO NICE"
The widow was really good cook, and the
deacon ate with much susto the generous slice
which the widow cut for him, and after a lit
tie more chatting upon uDimportant subjects,
withdrew in some mental perpleXity.
'sWas it possible thought he, ssthat the
in her cellar She did not say so, to be sure,
but why should she have shown so much ankle
ty to know as to the propretorship of treasure
thus found; if she had not happened upon
some !'' To be sure, so far as his knowledge
extended, there was no one who occupied the
house who would be in the least likely to lay
up such amount of gold; but then the
house was one hundred and fifty years old, at
least, and undoubtedly had had many occu-
pants of which he knew nothing. 1t might
be, after all. The widows earnest desire to
have him think it was only curiosity, likewise
gave additional probability to the supposition.
81 will wait and watch tho't the deacon.
1t so happened that Deacon Bancroft was
one of the Directors in Savings Institution,
situated in the next town, and accordingly
used to ride over there once or twice month,
to attend meetings of the Board.
On the next occasion of this kind, the Wild
ow Wells sent over to know If he would carry
her over with him, as she had little business
to attend to there
The request was readily accorded. Arri-
wing in the village, Mrs. Wells requested to be
set down at the Bank.
.:Hal ha 20 thought the deacon; e'that means
something
He said nothing, however, but determined
to come back, and find out, as he could, read1-
ly, from the cashier, what business she had at
the bank.
The widow tripped into the office, pretend
ing to look very nonchalant.
'.Can you give me small bills for five dol
lar gold piece ~ she enquired.
ssWith pleasure" was the reply.
"By the way,'' said she, ''the bank is in
quite fourishing condition, is it not!
ssNone in the State on a better footing,
was the prompt response.
ssYou receive deposits, do you not ~
.:Yes, madam, we are receiving them every
day.
ssDo you receive as high as-five thousand
dollars 2''
s.No.'' said the cashier, with some surprise,
s.or rather we do not allow interest on so large
sum. One thousand dollars is our limit
Did you know of any one who"
sit is OF no consequence said the widow,
hurriedy [ only asked for curiosity by
the way, did you say how much interst you
allowed on such deposits as came within Your
limits 20
ssFive per cent. ma 'am.'
s.Thank you, 1 only asked for curiosity.
" hat a beautiful morning it is -.
And the widow tripplcd lightly out. Short
" afterwards the deacon entered.
SLOWS business, Mr.. Cashier = he inqui-
red.
sAbout as usual.n
s.Had any new deposits lately II
e.None of any magnitude"
esI brought over lady, this morning, who
eemed to have business with you'
ssThe Widow Wells 20
sYes.''
ssDo You know,'' asked the cashier. s.wheth-
| er she had any money left her, lately ~
ssNone that know OFF, said the deacon.
prickng up his ears. s.Why Did she de-
| posit any ~
eNo; but she enquired whether we recelv-
ed deposits as high as five thousand dollars"
"Indeed!'' calculated the deacon. 'tWas
that all she came for ~ he inquired, moment
afterwards.
eNo, she exchanged gold piece for small
| bills.''
ssHa,'' pondered the deacon, refectively.
| s.Did she give any reason for her inquiries ~
ssNo she said she only asked from curios-
! ity.:'
| The deacon left the bank in deep thought.
He came to the conclusion that this sscuriosi-
| ty', ouly yelled a deeper motive. He no Ion
| ger entertained doubt that the widow had
| actually found pot of gold in her cellar, and
| appearances seemed to indicate that Its value
was at least equal to five thousand dollars.
| The gold piece which she had exchanged at
| the bank appeared to confirm this story.
81 rather Think said the deacon, compla-
Gently. - 81 can see into milestone about as
| far as most people, "a statement the literal
truth of which | defy any one to question,
though as to the prime fact of peoples being
able to see into milestone at all, doubts have
now and then intruded themselves upon my
mind.
The next Sunday the Widow Wells appear
| ed at church in new and stylish bonnet,
I which led to some remarks like these
| ssUow much vanity some people have to be
sure!" .5.
for a living can afford to dash ont with such a
bonnet is more than l can tell L should
think she was old enough to know better"
This last remark was made by ayoung lady
inst six months younger than the widow,