Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-09-03
Mr.. Trout and the Gypsy.

cnnrcn member ana one Of the most
successful men in his county. He has
several farms. and lives OH Que on the
line of the Virginia and Tennessee
Railroad, close to Salem Post. Office, and
near the Roanoke river. Yesterday,
accompanied by Detective John Ween,
OF Hlchmond. and Chief of Police
Donovan, Of Newark. he visited Brook
lyn and identified Matilda Worton. the
gypsy fortune-teller, who is in Ray
mond-street jail on II charge OF robbing
William Jessop, of Princeton. Indiana,
OF S2,2oO, as the woman who, three
years ago, robbed him OF u package
containing $lJ. 900 in greenbacks, leav.
Ing in its stead II similar package that
contained strips Of newspaper cut into
the shape of bank-notes. Mr.. Trout is
about fifty years of age, has blue eyes
and u sunburnt beard, and seems more
like an OHIO farmer than Virginia
planter. Mr.. Trout laughed heartily
at his own fOolishuess in treating with
a gypsy fortune-teler az he told the
following story:
In February, 1875, I received a
postal-carI sigLei DIR. Il. Worton, in.
forming me that there was u natural
deposit OF silver upon my farm. 1 paid
no attention to the card, but afterward
l received one or two more cards to the
same effect. l thought that they were
sent with some design, and l did not
give them serious attention. In 1876,
Mrs. Worton, the gypsy woman. called
on me aud said that she had come to
tell me OF a fortune that lay almost
within my grasp. She said that close
to my house there was deposit of sill
yer containing about a million dollars,
that the mass of it was in II crude state,
but that large amount of the metal
had already been mined. The silver,
she said, was first discovered many
years ago by two Indian chiefs named
Curry and Mesh, who, on shifting their
habi,ation, buried their fortunes there
and put a spell over the mine, which it
required superhumau gift to break.
The hiding-place was sealed by SO.
cret, and she alone could charm 1t away
and open the mine for my benefit.
told her that if sho could show
me where the mine was, l would give
her one-half the proceeds, but she said
she needed u package of $4,000 to ham
die, always in my presence. SO that
she could work out the secret.
didn't have so much money at hand.
and l told her that | could not get it.
She came to see me q number of times,
and assured me that the knowledge of
tue existence of this buried treasure
was all that brous ht herself and hus-
band to Roanoke county, and that air.
Worton's horse'trading and her fortune
telling we're simply a blind for their
real mission, namely, to unfold tv me
the silver mine and to get their reward.
AT length she said that she could ex-
tract the secret of the hiding-place OF
the mine if sue could handle $40 600,
but she promised that the money should
never 60 out of my sight. AT length |
got the $40 600 together in bank notes,
aud the gypsy began her nominations.
She counted the money, sprinkled it
with earth, muttered over it, and said
prayers without number.
when she hal finished she we at
away, leaving the money in my hands,
tied up in brown paper, and as she
cautioned me not to touch it for fear I
would undo her work. put it up and
kept it intact until she returned again.
She pal! me several visits, and each
time took out the money, examined it
and prayed over it. held it
for II time while she prayed, and then
she held it and prayed. This was done
several times. At length, on May Z,
1877. sho said that all of her plans were
WORK ing SO we'll that in one more visit
she would charm away the spell that
bound the secret of the mine, anel
would, she thought, be able to lead me-
to it. OF course, 1 did not be-
lieve any of the nonsense about the secret
spells. or the charms or anything like
that. but l wanted to know about the
treasure if it was there. and was will
ing TO vllow her to 60 on with her NUT
terings aud prayers, If in the end she
disclosed to me- what she promised.
She aga ain took the money, examined
1t, blew upon it, turned it over and
prayed over it. She then asked me to
count the money, so that l could see
that it WAS all there.
"'I don't want you to think, she
said to me, that l would steal any of
it said: Ii you took that money
oE loOlcu ue L WOuiu hili you. saw
that all my money was in tAe package,
just as l had given it to her, aud thea
she carefully tied it up and put string
about it. Now she said, the spell
is broken, and in one more visit it will
be cast aside. Then will take you to
the mine and show you that all We have
promised will come true, and that you
will find yourself the richest man in
Virginia. But she added, mo one
must touch this package, or open it,
until l return again, for if it is opened
our charm over the secret will be
broken, and we will never recover it,
I promised that would lock it up aud
permit no one to touch it, but she said
that she wanted mo to swear to it upon
the Bible. turned to get the Bible,
and the money was hardly out of my
sig.t moment. 1 turned again, and
she had the package extended toward
me. l swore upon the Bible that l
would not open it or allow any one else
to do so. and took the package. Iwrote
ID. d. Trout upon the back, and made
marks upon it wherever there was Il
fold of the paper, so that l could tel
if anyone disturbed it. Then put it
away.
Il,