Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-04-02
The Bars of Gold.

Away down upon the coast of Maine
there is little hamlet which bears the
name Of Gray Craig. \ few hOuses-hard-
Iy more than dozen-nestle under the lea
of the dark storm worn rocks, looking much
like So many nests Of sea-birds, and the
dwellers therein are much like their feath-
cred neighbOrs whose homes are near by.
When the weather is fair they are siOut
skimming over the face of the water in pur-
suit Of food: hut let the storm arise, and
their frlil boats are turned homeward, their
sails trimmed. to catch the freshenlng
breeze, and they seem to run race with
their felthered friends to see which shall
first gain place of safety in the little cove
under the shelter Of the great rocks.
\ few summers ago | spent couple of
weeks at Gray Craig, and made the ac-
guaintance of every soul in the hamlet.
They were friends good and true, and |
hardly know when or where | have spent Il
happier season.
From the old fishermen | have heard
many stories Of the danger of the lives they
led They were full Of them, and nothing
delighted them more than to sit and tell
them on a stormy day, when il was impOs-
sible for them to be upon the ocean, and
when the thunder of the surf upon the shore
shook the solid rocks upon which their
cabins stood
One of these old fellows bore the name of
Tom Hains, and he was as full of stories as
the waters were of fish.
''Did YOU know that Captain Kidd buried
his gold not hundred rods from where we
are sitting now I" he said TO me, one day.
assured him that was not aware of the
fact. although knew that there was hard
" hamlet along the coast that did not
lay claim to some legend of this sort.
.'But this IS true" he said. ''For
have seen the bars of gold myself. When
l was boy'I often heard the story that
Kidd buried one lot of his gold somewhere
in these parts. The old people firmly be-
lieved this, and they told us youngsters 50
often that we came to be Of the same mind
Time and again, | remember, that ! and
Joe Kirby, chum of mine, hunted for the
treasure. Whenever we had chance we
improved it in this way. When the water
was so rough that we could not go out, we
would take our spades and picks and DIG
among the rocks and sand in all sorts OF
places where we could imagine that Kidd
might have hidden away his yellow blood
stained gold. But we never found any
thing in the shape of treasure, although we
dug until there was dozen spots about
here which looked like so many rabbit war
rens. The gold never turned up, and at
last Joe and gave it up as bad bargain,
convinced at last as many had told us be-
fore, that we should never make a living
in this way.
Il had not hunted for gold for nigh on
to ten wears. and the thought of Kidd
and his treasure but seldom troubled me,
when one night had a dream that haunted
me all the next day. | could not get If out
| of my mind for five minutes at time.
The dream run in this way: | thought
that was down on the shore of the ocean.
on the summit of a great cliff where | had
been hundreds of times. | seemed TO be on
the very edge and it almost made me dizzy
to look down into the boiling water below.
Down over the face of the cliff i had al
ways thought that it was impossible to go,
but now something seemed to impel me tC
do so, and saw that there was fcothOld
to be obtained there, way down to the very
edge of the white capped waves Down
this something forced me, and at last
| stood on little belt of sand which now,
as the tide was out, was left bare between
the water and the rock. Then | saw Close
beside me the dark entrance to cavern
which was revealed plainly now, hui
through which the ocean poured with r1isl
and roar when the tide was coming in.
'The same power which seemed to have
forced me down over the cliff against my
will now urged me into the aperture, and
stood at length in spacious cavern, ano
saw before me the outlines OF a big iror
chest, bound with great hoops of the SAINT
material.
II knew at once that here was the golC
Kidd had left behind him, and for which
had sought 80 long, and eagerly | tried t.
/ burst the iron bands that held down the lie
of the chest. But could not do it, and il
my struggle awoke, and found that it wa
only dream.
Sand all through that day tried to sc