The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1872-06-19

about eleven O'Clock he called in.-
The widow had got on the dinner
and had time to sit down She ap
peared embarrassed
Harry told me you would like IL
see me,n he commenced
.'Yes, Deacon Bancroft, ! do; but
Pm very much afraid you will think
strange of it-at least of what / have
to say to you
The deacon very politely promised
not to be surprised, though at the
same time his curiosity was visibly
excited. -h
Suppose, said the widow, cast
ing down her eyes-"mind am only
supposing a ease-suppose person
should find pot of gold pieces in
their cellar, would the law have a
right to touch it, or would it belong
to them!" - ...-r .t.r -rr
The deacon pricked up his ears.
"A pot of gold pieces, widow =
Why, unquestionably, the law would
have nothing to do with it,"
"And the one who had formerly
owned the house couldn't come for
ward and claim it, could he, deacon?'
inquired the widow, further, with ap-
parent anxiety.
"No, madam, unquestionably not.
When the house was disposed of,
everything went with it, as a matter
of course. y-a
Il am glad to hear it, deacon. You
won't think strange of the question,
but it happened to occur to my mind,
and / thought / would like TO have it
satisfied" -...,
Certainly, widow, certainly" said
the deacon, abstractedly.
"And, deacon, as you are here, |
hope ycu1l stop to dinner with US
1t will be ready punctually at
twelve" 80.
well, no." said the deacon, rising,
lin oblceged to to ye, but they'll be
expecting me at home"
WAS it possible" thought he,
.'that the widow could really have
found a pot of'gold in her cellar 2
She did not say so, to be sure, but
why should she have shown so much
concern to know as to the proprietor
ship of treasure thus found, if she
had not happened upon some" To
he sure, so far as knowledge extended
there was no one who would be in
the least likely to likely to lay up
such an amount of gold; but then
the house was one hundred and fifty
wears old, at the very least, and un-
doubtedly had many occupants 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.
Il will wait and watch" thought
the deacon.
AT any rate, Deacon" said the
widow, taking steaming mincc-pic out
of the oven, you won't object to taxi
ing piece of my mince-pie, you must
know rather pride myself on my
mince pies
The warm pie sent forth such an
odor that the deacon was sorely
tempted, and after saying, "Well,
really" with the intention of refusing
he finished by saying, ''On the whole,
think | will, as they look so very
nice.r
The widow was really good cook,
and the deacon ate with much gusto
the generous slice which the widow
cut for him, and after a little more
chatting upon some unimportant sub
jects, withdrew in some mental per-
plexity.
1t SO happened that Deacon Ban
croft was one of the directors in a
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 Widow Wells sent over to know
if he could carry her over with him,
as she had little business to attend
to there.
The request was readily accorded
Arrived in the village, Mrs. Wells re-
quested to be set down at the bank.
"Ha! ha!" thought the deacon,
that means something"
He said nothing, however, but de-
termined to come back and find out,
as he readily could from the cashier,
what business she had with the
bank.
The widow tripped lightly into the
Office, pretending to look very nom
chalant.
"Can YOU give ME small bills for
five dollar gold piece ?" she inquired
with pleasure" was the reply.
"By the way" said she, "the bank
is in quite aourishing condition, is it
not?"
"None in the State on better foot
ing" was the prompt response.
You receive deposits, do you?"
"Yes, madam, we are receiving
them every day"
"Do you receive as high as--as FIVE
thousand dollars?"
NO" said the cashier, with some
surprise; ''or rather we do not allow
interest on 40 large sum. One
thousand dollars is our limit. Did
you know of any one who--"l
at is of no consequence, said the
widow, hurriedly; Il only asked out
of curiosity. BY the way, did you
say how much interest you allowed
on such deposits as came within your
limit"
Five per cent, ma'am."
Thank you; / only asked for curl
osity What beautiful morning it
is"
And the widow tripped lightly out.
Shortly afterwards the deacon en-
tered.
"How's business, Mr.. Cashier?"
he enquired.
About as usual"
"Have had you any new deposits
lately?n
"NOne of any magnitude.
II brought over a lady, this morn
ing, who seemed to have business
IL .,z,,