The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-05-14

Lie rOOm WAS neatly Iurn1bncu, DuJ lie
refused to have the articles that the
landlord proposed to bring, saying that
the less furniture the better his whim
would be suited. His baggage, con-
sisting of three stout leather trunks,
was moved down stairs, and precisely a
week after he had left home Waring
found himself established in his new
quarters, built to order, in the old
hotel which had been the home of his
ancestors. He found himself, too,
firmly established in the reputation of
being crazy. All the people in the
hotel spoke of him, among themselves,
as the insane Englishman, and people
came from distant parts of the town to
see with their own eyes the building
which this inexplicable lunatic had
caused to be put up. But Waring kept
the peace with every one, and seemed
well enough satisfied with his reputa-
tion for madness.
The method of that madness, how
ever, he was very careful not to reveal.
For his latest researches had convinced
him that his ancestor, who died in the
defense of Calais about three hundred
years before the time of this visit, had
converted his whole fortune, O con-
siderable one for the time, into gold,
and had buried it in the courtyard of
his mansion, the identical hotel in
which Harry was now staying. More
than this: the obscure anagram which
he had found among the genealogical
papers of the British Museum he
thought that he had deciphered. That
anagram defined the precise place in
the courtyard where he should expect
to find the long-hidden treasure. 1t
explained, too, the comparative decay
of the pecuniary fortunes of his family.
Here, without doubt, the morey lay
and it was this that he had come to
seek. If he had not mistaken the ana
gram, here he would find his fortune.
His last hour before leaving home he
had given to an interview with his
brother, in which he explained all his
reasons for thinking that the ancestral
treasure still lay safely buried in Calais.
Arthur Waring had laughed at him.
"Do you think Frenchman would let
gold lie buried right under his nose for
three hundred years ?" said the elder
brother. "He would smell it out the
first year. But go and search. You are
welcome to all you find. I shan't claim
an ounce of it"
1t was q moment OF no little excite
ment to Harry Waring when he found
himself locked in, with his trusty SER
want, Grubbs, over the little spot of
earth where, three hundred years ago,
his fortune had been buried. His
trunks. contained the necessary tools for
removing the floor and excavating the
earth and this the stalwart Gfupps
commenced at once to do,
Great caution was necessary, in order
that the sound of the work should not
disturb the people of the hotel. If
Harry had made true Interpretation
of the old anagram, the treasure lay
under the southern half of his floor.
Little by little the servant pried up the
planks upon that side. Waring bored
minute peeping hole through each of
the four sides of the room, whence he
could watch the courtyard, and dis
cover whether his movements were sus-
pected. So slow was the work, on ac-
count of the noiselessness with which
it had to be carried on, that it was mid
night before the half of the new floor
was torn up, and the solid tiling of the
courtyard exposed again. Grubbs, who
knew what he was expected to find, and
success that would sometimes assert
themselves in his masters mind, was
all for going on with the work. "Loike-
ly enough, sir, we moight get at the
money before morning." said he. But
Harry Waring had not been a student
to no purpose; he knew the risk of
sleeping over freshly uncovered soil,
and he sent Grubbs away to his attic,
telling him that it would be time
enough tomorrow to begin digging.
The next day, as may be supposed,
was an anxious one for Harry Waring.
He took his customary morning walk,
but left Grubbs on guard within the
rest of the time he watched himself,
fearing to leave the room empty lest the
secret should be discovered. The next
night work began as soon as it was
dark and being now in the ground, it
went on much faster than the night be-
fore, because it made less noise. The
hag-stones were pried back without
much difficulty, and Grubs was soon
going through tho earth like mole.
And he found the treasure Packed
in iron boxes, not more than five or six
feet below the level of the courtyard,
lay the golden crowns which Harry
Warnings ancestor had buried there at
the siege of Calais. There was no
question of counting them then; how
to get away with them unnoticed was
the problem. Fortunately there was
an early morning boat to Dover. 1t
would not do to call voiture and leave
suddenly at "A. NJ. But Grubbs volun-
teered to carry the trunks, one by one,
to the landing, where an official would
watch them for a small fee. The three
trunks proved, as. Waring had calcu-
lated beforehand, the most convenient
means of getting away with the money.
A strong man can carry about $4,000
in gold at a load. Grubbs was a giant
and think that the three trunkfuls of
French crowns that he bore successfully
that night to the Calais quay contained
a fortune that was nearer G40, 900 than
any other round number. "It is not
enormous" said Harry, as he saw the
last trunk deposited safely on the quay;
"but it will do for a second son, if ad-
ded to what little he has already. What
pity the family has lain out of the in
terest of it for so long time!"
Harry left his new apartments, fear,
in state of dire confusion. He locked
the door when he went away, Just as
the first sounds of human life began to
stir il The Old building. No one en-
tered it until night, when M. Heritier
became alarmed for his crazy English
man, and began to fear that he had
committed suicide "after the manner
of his countrymen." Getting no an