The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1879-08-28

telling Tor the h0Adte4h t1UAssf The; story
of his long lost sister how - osle sho
was, and how she used 70 Ike the
young men peel apple: lae ono:
and man entered at tie sAlts tiisss| hand
ing him a letter. The letter ~ soon
opened and proved to b. from ~ sister !.
"BRoTHER MEDAD:-H You aro still liv:
ing, give the bearer all the I'D you can in
his present purpose and remember Kary."
Medad could hardly believe his eyes.
"Why, is our Mary still livings"> !.
eyes sir; your sister is still living and.
WE'LL" said the visitor.
"Do tcll2'' calculated the brother Of
Miss F.. "And where is shei''
I'm the West 1ndies," answered the
gentleman, who, I must add was sea-
farlng man, and master of French YES
sci that had lately come into Boston. II
wish 10 know" continued he, ''if there is
stone on your farm, with number
letters engraved upon it,"
"Herc it is, sir" said Medad, pointing
to the hearth.
The gentleman took out a paper on
which similar letters were marked, and
found the inscription to be exactly what
he was seeking.
"Now," said he, "Mr. F., where did
this stone come from?'
Medad sat down and related the whole
history of it so far as he knew, and end
ed by saying that he "guessed' he could
find the very spot from which the stone
was taken. However, they defer ed the
search until the next morning. The WIS.,
itor then desired Medad to enter into an
engagement with him that he would not
only show him the spot from which the
stone was taken, but woulc not hinder or
modest him in removing from his premi-
ses anything he might be able to find be-
low the surface Of the ground, and offered
as a compensation for his forbearance aud
assistance, to crafty any wish that he
might then have. Medad thought it o
very strange proposal, and shrewdly sus-
pccted the gentleman must be in search
of money, and if he were to let good
windfall slip through his fingers, which
might then be lying on his tarm, he would
certainly repent it.
''Tell yc what" said he to the captain,
I'm 60 We halves in what ye'rc looking
after"
mo sir" answered the stranger; ''what-
ever it may bc, it belongs of right to your
sister Or rather to her husband, and neith-
or you or I have any moral claim to it;
SO name the terms and strike the bar
gain"
''But s'posc l don't choose to; and
sposc Id rather make the search on nv
own hook e.
You never would find it, SIR" replied
captain, "if you were to pillow your whole
farm over again and again.
Medad thought about 1t while, and
finally concluded that he would try, at
last, for hc did not relish the idea Of
being outwittcd by skipper.
Accordingly, the next morning they
went into the woods to the place whence
the stone was taken, and Medad began
to dig. After he had thrown up all the
earth which the roots of the tree would
suffer to be removed, he gave up thtrc,
and went to another spot. In this man
ner he spent the whole day with the cap
tain at his side, who felt very confident
that he alone could find the object of
their search.
At night Meelad stole out alone to the
woods, having made his wife hang the
family bible around his neck by a silken
thread, and taking wand Of witch hazel
IN his hand. He CROPPED about the wood
sometime until he thought his stick bent
down to the ground, where he began to
dig again. Presently he took his crowbar,
and strikins into the hole, felt 1t in con-
tact with some large and hard object. He
struck it second time; and just then, as
he said aloud to himself, 81 have it." away
| it rolled, under the ground, with harsh,
rumbling noise; the crowbar was violent
| ly wrenched from his hand, and he found
himself lying ON his back!
He went home, and told the captain if
he would pay off mortgage Of fifty
pounds, now existing against his farm, he
would sign the agreement. He hardly
expected such demand would he acced-
cd to, for he really had no definite con-
ception of any larger sum than the mort
gage against which he had been strue-
| Cling, and which was his measure of ne
buniary magnitude. The captain paid
down the money, however. and Mctlad
signed the bargain.
On the following morning the captain
and Modad repaired to the original site
of the stone, and the former after con-
sulting his memorandum of the inscrip-
ton, walked directly out of the woods in
northerly direction, aud crossed q
small hill, at the foot of which he desired
Mcdad to dig. The search was soon re-
warded by finding large leather bag,
very much rotted, and which, on being
taken, burst asunder, and scattered upon
the ground heap Of gold and sileer
coins.
Medad stood perfectly aghast at TIE sight
OF so much money; and as the captain
told it over, each piece glittering in the
morning sun, and ringing with the sound
OF the true metal, Medad thought it was
rather hard that all this cash should have
lain on his own farm, without his know
ing word about it. However, he had got
the mortgage off his farm, and that was
enough. The captain put up the money
in some small leather bags he had brought
with him, and then told Medad how it had
been secreted there by three men; how the
younger Of them, who remained behind,
was the son of a French planter In the
| 'SoS AANAA0oS 0AAA udu uCC4 l8kGu III Tile
summer nf 1899. ON his voyage to France,
by pirates, with two of his sailors; how
the pirates had been forced to run into
Long Island Sound to quit their vessel
by which means the young man had
made his escape, with large sum of
money, intending to get out of the Eng
fish colonies into Canada; and how when
nc had been obliged to delay, and various
obstacles had arisen, in the difficulty of
communication between the two coun-
tries, and his fears Of being recognized
as Frenchman, he had remained at the
deacen's until he fell in love with Marv.
and persuaded her to run away with him ;
that wars between France and England
had prevented him from making any at
tempt to recover his money until now
and he finished by informing Medad that
his sister and her husband were living in