Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1875-02-05
see me-" he commenced.

be surprised, though at the same time h
curiosity was visibly excited. tt
Suppose said the widow, castin
down her eyes, mind, am only suppo'
ing a case suppose person should find
pot of gold pieces in their cellar, woul
the law have right to touch it, OF woul
it belong to them?"
| The deacon pricked up his ears. :.
ga pot of gold pieces, widow! Why, I'LL
questionably, the law would have nothin
to do with ito
s'And the one who had formerly owne
j the house couldn't come forward and CLAIM
it, could he, deacon?" inquired the widow
| further, with apparent anxiety.
j mo, madam, unquestionably not. Whel
afthe house was disposed of.everything wen
with it, as a matter of course"
II am glad to hear it, deacon. Yoi
won't think strange of the question; but i
happened to occur to my mind, and
thought that would like to have it salts
fed.''
"Certainly, widow, certainly = said TIN
deacon abstractedly. H
"And, deacon, as you are here, hope
you'll stop to dinner with us. It will b
punctually at twelve"
"Well, no, said the deacon, rising; "I'n
obleeged to ye, but they'll be expecting m,
home.''
cat any rate, deacon, y said the widow
! taking a steaming mince pie from the oven
''you won't object to taking a piece OIL
myself on my mince pies.''
The warm pie sent forth such a delicious
odor that the deacon was sorely tempted
and after saying, ''Well, really" with the
intention of refusing, he finished by say.
ing, ''On the whole, [ guess will, as it
looks so nice''
The widow was really a good cook, and
the deacon ate with much gusto the gen.
erous slice which the widow cut for him.
and after a little more chatting upon i'm
portant subjects, withdrew in some men
tai 'perplexity. il
''Was it possible; thought he. ''that the
widow could really have found a pot of
gold in her cellar She did not say SO, to
be sure; but why should she have shown
so much anxiety to know as to the propri-
etorship of treasures thus found, if she had
not happened upon some To be sure, as
far as his knowledge extended, there was
no one who had occupied the house who
would be in the least likely to lay up such
an amount Of gold but then the house was
one hundred and fifty years old, at the We
~ least, and undoubtedly 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
superstition
II will wait and WATCH" thought the
deacon.
1t SO happened that>deacon Bancroft
was one OF the directors in savings in
stitution, situated in the next town, and
accordingly used to ride over there once OF
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 lit
tie bushes to attend to there.
The request was readily accorded. Al
rived in the village, Mrs. Wells requested
to be set down at the bank.
Ella! hal thought the deacon, "that
means something"
He said nothing, however, but determin-
ed to come back, and find out, .as he could
readily do from the cashier what business
she had with the bank.
The widow tripped into the Office, pre-
tending to look very nonchalant.
''Can you give me small bills for a five
dollar gold piece 7" she enquired.
..With pleasure, y was the reply.
''By the way, said she, 'the bank is in
quite a fourishing condition, is it not %
''None in the State on better footing"
was the prompt response.
'tY on receive deposits. do you not ?''
eyes, madam, we are receiving them
every day.n
''Do you receive as high as-as five
thousand dollars ~
"No,'' said the cashier, Cor rather we do
not allow interest on so large a sum. One
thousand dollars is our limit. Do you
know of any one who"
cts of no consequence" said the wild
ow, hurriedly, II only asked for curiosity.''
By the way, did you say how. much interest
you allowed on such deposits as came
within your limit 20
GIVE per cent, a'am."
ssThank you; only ask for curiosity.
Whatsa beautiful morning it ISL
And the widow tripped lightly out.
Shortly afterwards the deacon entered.
quired. aa
eAbout as usual"
''Had any new deposits lately %
.''None of any magnitude
II brought over a lady this morning,
who seemed to have business with
YOU"
ss..The widow Wells 2"
.sYes.''
'sDo you know" asked the cashier,
.swhether she has had any money left
her lately p H rlt t9
ssNone that | know Of" said the deacon,
pricking up his ears, swhy, did she, depos-
it any ?''
mo, but she inquired whether we re-
ceived deposits as high as five thousand
dollars"
''Indeed!'' circulated the deacon. "Was
that all abe came for9" he inquired mo
ment afterwards.
mo, she exchanged a gold piece for
for small bills =
"Ha!'' pondered the deacon, reflectively,
''Did she give any reason for her inqui-
ries?"
t'No; she said she only ASKED from{f euffl-
csity.?,