Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1869-12-25

lglance and said, Bswarei"o H,
then stepped aside and set down hi
lantern, and signalled me to do tn,
same, after which he confronted me
with his keen, black, glistening eye
searching my face as II to read tn,
Utmost rccesses Of my soul, and said
"John Sylvester can you keep Sc.
|cret?" I replied, "I think I can
"will you do lt?" said he. I again
replied, THAT I would, provided
my honor was not compromised. y
He then added, at Is we'll"
He then stationed himself imme.
diately underneath the Deaths
Head, stopped down and began Ia
scrape away the light loose sand
from under his feet, with the palm
Of his hand, the depth Of which, moi
being over two or three inches, he
soon unveiled q neatly polished cross,
or rather crucif1c, in length abou,
three feet, the transverse being about
two feet, and revealed TO my aston.
ished gaze, figures, emblems, cryptic
graphs, and hieroglyphics. He then
sat down on rude stone near by,
while I stood looking on the cabalis-
tic figures In wonder, and ave; the
entire work having been chlselied oui
BY the hand Of genius, and amer hav-
Ing been 70 wrought, the entire char.
actcrs were painted In scarlet, max.
Ing the exact impression a. II painted
In blood. The first thing 20 chIselled
and painted on the crucifix Of stone,
was q human skull, emblematio ol
mortality, and on the transverse por.
ton were these enigmatical figures
and letters: gag y
"27x 5uA6S98 S46 fifty 1901 fsom
160 c841Sg Of $50 2kull, io815 f7f199l
69g3992 1921, 1894 S4gl3 1911 2Jxl99l
f991 4oSlh l573ly 89g3892 w92l bS29 Of
wsll. MSy 1915, A. D., l760."
After standing and gazing in pro.
'ouno astonisnment for about ten
minutes, Ciaioorne asked me II un
oe.s'ooo OF couid' read the above
en'es . candio'y confessed to him
that I could not, for 1t was "a blank
70 meas ~ ~ "sd poen written In He
brew and Greek. Spanish and Mexi.
.
Gun In'Aeo. ne tnen gave mo tht
'o,iowans rscitai'oa Y ,al19suaoas
Ai'er Paftng with you at the
mouth Oh tne cave; on the nrst day
VI Decemoer' ls4A' determined moi
70 w"' uhsia the expiration OF the
time agreed upon between N, but
snas ! wouid psy this cave an annual
v.n. 'or the purpose o. bringing IT.
hidueh mysteries TO light. IL 1t hat
any more IMAM those already rsvealed
Uunne ons OF my annual visiea
tnirs IL was on the Let OF December
1904. siter becoming very weary By
walking sat down ON this yer,
stone on which l am now sitting.
usually carried light walking-sticl
In my hand, especially during tn,
hours devoted to explorations, ant
with this l incidentally began trac
Ing my name In the sand at my feet
I noticed that my stick glided yer,
smoothly through the sand, meetin,
with no resistance at It's base, NOR,
like ones writing his name upon Ice
where there Is q light covering o
snow, than anything else. This ex
cited my curiosity, and got dowr
upon my hands and knees, CLEARED
away the sand, and found this ston,
with the hieroglyphic inscription
upon II, just as you see Il now.
was dumbfounded, and would hav,
been speechless, even had there heer
one present to whom I might speak
As'soon rs I could collect my scat
tered senses 1 took out my pencil ant
q piece Of paper, andtracel the char
acters "vcr6atim ct Hteratun,p ana
started Immediately for GAINESVILLE
to engage the literary talent Of Alr
g., a noted man in science, to hell
me decipher the riddle. When ar
rived In the city Of Ciarksville
could not find Mr.. g., he was "no'
est fnvenfsss," as the lawyers woult
say; 80 resolved TO anglioise. ant
bring to light this enigma myself
alone and unaided. Was I not al
educated man? Did ! not have, ans
yet have In my pocket, certificates
and diplomas from tho highes
schools and colleges In Kentucky
Then why should I desire help
Why cntrust that to another which
could perform mysslfs II coult
solve this inscription, I believed thai
| It would lead me to wonderful re