The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1878-12-01

next morning, Il wan you 70 stop al
Elder Willis as you gdo school, anc
ask him ifhe will callto see me il
the course Of the morning or after
noon, just US he finds Utmost conyen
lent"
Elder Willis was a little surprised
at this summons. However, about
eleven o'clock he callodin. The wild
ow had got on. the dinner, and had
leisure to sit down. She appeared
a little embarrassed. ,si
Freddy told me. that you would
like to see me-" he commenced,
"Yes, Elder, l should, But / am
very much afraid you, will think
strange, at least, Of what l have tc
say to you" .
The elder very politely promised
not to be surprised, 9ough at the
same time his curiosity was yisibly
excited.
Suppose" said theS widow, cast.
ing down her eyes-amind, l was
only supposing " casd suppose a
person would find a pat gold pieces
in their cellar, would the law have a
right to it, or would ~ belong to
them" 80 It =.
The elder pricked up his ears.
"a pot of gold pieces, widow?-
Why, unquestiohablSfhe law would
have nothing. tod it!Sl
"And the one who had formerly
owned the. house couldnlt COME for
ward and claim it, could he, elder?'
inquired the widow, further, with
apparent anxiety. i.
"No, madam, unqpestionably not;
when the house was disp1sed ofevery-
thing went with it, as 4 matter Of
course"
~ am glad to hear il elder. You
won't think strange of!the question,
but it happened to occdI in my mind,
and | thought l would IKE tOhaveit
satisfied"
Certainly, widow, cetlainly," said
the elder, abstractedlys
"And elder, as ySu are here, Ihopc
you will stop to dinner Nth us. 1t
will be ready punctgally fat twelve"
"Well, no, said the oder rising,
"I'm Obliged to ye, but sbsy'll be ex-
pecting me, home,"'
AT any rate, eldes saidthe wild
ow, taking a piece Of canning mince
pie from theoven. W. ( nhieet 70
taking u piece of mlnce-pie. You
must know that l pride myself on
my mince' pies"
The warm pie sent forth a delicious
odor, that the elder was sorely temp
ted, and after saying "well, really
with the intention of refusing, he
finished by saying, "on the whole, l
guess 1 will, as it looks so nice"
The widow was really good cook,
and the elder ate with much gusto
the generous piece which the widow
had cut for him, and after a little
chatting upon unimportant subjects,
withdrew in some mental perplexi-
ty.
"Was it possible, thought he, chat
the widow could really have found a
pot of gold in her cellarH She did
not say so, to be sure, but why should
she have shown so much anxiety as
to the proprietorship of the treasure
thus found, if she had not happened
upon some?" To be sure, so far as
his knowledge extended, there was
no one who would be likely to lay up
such an amount Of gold; but then
the house was one hundred and fifty
years old, at the very least, and had
had many occupants of which he
knew nothing, 1t might be, after
all. The widows earnest desire to
have him think it was only curiosi-
ty, likewise added additional proba-
bility to the supposition. 81 will
wait and watch" thought the elder.
1t so happened that Elder Willis
was one Of the directors in n 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 Ames sent over to know
if he could carry her over with him,
us she had u little business to attend
to there. Tho request was readily