Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1858-08-07

y Inc WIDOW tnpped into the office, looKiii
: very nonchalent.
!, Can y u give me small bills for five do
a lar gold piece" she inquired.
: With pleasure" was u9ply.
"By the way" said she, "the bank is i
| quite a tlourishing condition, is it not ?"
S None in the State on better footing,
was the prompt response.
: You receive deposiles, do yoG not p
, Yes, Malam, we are receiving them eve
ry day"
"Do you receive as high as as five thou
sand dollars ?"
NO." said the cashier with some surprise
g" OR rather we don: allow interest on So larg
sum. One thousand dollars is our limit
, Did you know Of any one who"
"ltis one OF 10 consequence said th'
widow, hurriedy /; II only asked for curl
osty. BY the way, did you say how mucl
interest you allowed on such deposits as coins
within your limit ?''
g Five per cent, madam"
"Thank You, only asked for curiosity
What beautiful morning it is %
And the widow tripep lightly out. Short
ly afterwards the deacon entered.
CLOVIS business now, Mr.. Cashier p he
asked.
about as usual
" Had any new deposits lately?
"None of any magnitude"
Il brought over a lady this morning who
seeued to have business with you.''
The Widow Wells?'
eyes"
DO YOU know, asked the cashier" ,"wheth
er 81 has had money left her lately ?"
"None that know of'' said the deacon
pricking up his ears. ''why Did she de
posj any -
''No, but she inquired whether we received
deposits as high as five thousand dollars"
/" Indeed .'caculated y tie deacon. "Was
that all she came for ?" he inquired moment
afterwards.
"No; she exchanged gold piece for some
bills"
LA - pondered the deacon, refectively
''di she give any reason for inquring ?''
"No, she said she only asked from Gu :
rios;ty.''
The deacon left the bank in deep thought.
| He came to the conclusion that this curiosity
only veilcd deeper motive. He no longer
entertained doubt that the widow had
actually found pot of gold in her cellar, and
appearances seemed to indicate that its prob
able value wa, equal to five thousand dollars.
The gold piece which she had exchanged
at the ank appeared to confirm this story.
Il rather think" said the deacon compa
Gently, 81 can see into a milestone about as
FAT as most pcop!c,'-a statement, the lite =
al truth, defy any one to question, thoue n
as to the prime fact of peoples being able TO
see into a milestone at all, doubts have new
and then intru(ed themselves upon my
mind.
Next Sunday the Widow Wells appeared
at church in a new and stylish bonnet which
led to some such remarks as these
How much vanity some people have, to
be sure 2"
How a woman that has to keep boarders
FOR living, can afford to dash out with such
bonnet is more than I can tell | should
think She was old enough to know better.
This last remark was made by lady just
six months younger than the widow. whose
attempts to catch husband had hitherto
proves utterly unavailing.
suppose" c. ntinued the same young
lady, she is trying to catch a second husband
with her fncry; before | would condescend to
such means rd-Td drown myself"
In this last amlablc speech the young lady,
had unwittngly hit upon the true motive -
Deacon Bancroft, and size indu!ged in a cost
ly bonnct.not because she supposed he would
be caught with finery, but because this would
strengthen in his mind the idea that she had
stumbled into hidden wealth.
The widow had calculated shrewdly. and
the display had the effect she anticipated.
Monday afternoon, Deacon Bancroft found
an errand tl.at called him over to the wild
ows. 1t chancod to he about tea time. He
was importuncd TO stay to tea, and, some
what t. her surprise, actually lid.
The polite widow. who knew the dcacon's
weak point brought on one OF her best mince
pies, "A slice of which her guest partook of
with Zcst.
You'll take anot lcr piece, know
she persuasivcly.
g Really am ashamed" said the deacon,
and he passed his plate. The fact is" he
sai1 alphabetically, your pies are so nice
don't know where to stop"
" DO you call these nice" said the widow,
mo.lcstl. I" only call them common. can
make mince pics when set ont to, but this
time ] didn't have such good luck as usu-
ally have
Il shouldn't want any BETTER" said the
deacon emrhatically.
L" Then bope if you like them, you'll drop
in to tea often. We ought to be more neigh
borly, Deacon Bancroft"
Deacon Bancroft assented, and he meant
what he said. The fact is, the deacon began
to think the widow was very charming wo-
man. She was very comclv, and she was
such an excellent cook. Besides, he had no
doubt in his own mind that she wa worth a
considerable sum of money. What objection
could there be to her becoming Mrs. Ban
croft He brought this question before her
one evening. TIE widow flushed, professed
to he greatly surpriSed-in fact she had new,
erthought Of the thing in her life-but, on
the whole, she had thought highly of the
deacon, and to cut short the matter accepted
him.
y month afterwards she was installed as
mistress 0. the dcacon's large house. somewhat
to the surprise Of the village people, who
could not Conceive how she had brought him
over
Some weeks after the ceremony the deacon
ventured to inquire about the pot of gold
which she had found in the cellar.
" Pot OF gold !" she exclaimed in surprise,
Il know of none"
= But" said the deacon disconccrted "you
know you asked me about whether the law
could claim IT,
"Oh. lord deacon, only asked from curi-
osity p
And was that the reason you made in
quries at the bank p
g Certainly. What else could it be ?''
The deacon went on: to the barn, and for
about half an hour sat in silent meditati N.
At the end of that time, he calculated, as
closing consideration, after all she lrakes
good iEince pies y
1t gives me pleasure to state that the union
between the deacon and the widow proved
very hppy one, although to the end of his
life, he never could quite make up his mind
about That Pot of Gold"
PLUTARCH says, in his life of Alexander,
that Babylonans used, during the dog days,