The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-08-12

The heavy clouds may be raining.
But with evening comes the light;
Through the dark are lowwinds complaining
Yet the sunrise gilds the height;
And love has his hidden treasure
For the patient and the pure;
And time gives his fullest measure
'To'the workers who endure;
and the word that no law has shaken
Has the future pledge supplied;
Forwe know that when we awaken
We shall be satisfied"
@Atssis. :. ..i.l.Eas.L ~ :. =. -. -. -S
4 STORY OF THE WAR.
A singular story, as one of the thou
sand strange events of the war, comes
from rural town in East Tennessee. II
seems that in the early part of the war
man in the town alluded to, having in
his possession eight hundred dollars in
specie, and fearing the consequences ol
Keeping it by him, or-at least making
this the pretext for his conduct, ap.
preached an honest, we'll meaning wo-
man in the town, the wife of small
shop.keeper, and desired her to take the
money and keep it for him. His reasons
for making the request we're that in war
times it was not prudent for man who
might reasonably be. suspected of owning
suec;a to keep so large an amount in his
possession, while she, in whose honesty
he had; every confidence, could take it,
secrete it in careful place and never BE-
suspected by any one of having it. It
was also imposed by him that she should
never, by any, possibility, let any one
even her own husband-into the secret.
After some hesitation the woman con-
sented to take The money, and entered
faithfully upon the discharge of her un-
dertaking. The; treasure was carefully
concealed, and the secret so sacredly
guarded ON her part, that not even her
husband was aware Of the responsibility
she had assumed.
a. ofew months rolled by, the woman
giving herself no further concern about
the money than occasionally to satisfy
herself that It was safe in the place of
concealment, until one day mana
nejghbor-presented himself to the hon
est woman and told her that he Was an
officer of the Confederate Government
fully authorized and empowered to claim
and seize,in behalf of the Government
all the specie in the land. To make his
pretensions more plausible, he represent.
ed that the Government was in pressing
needo unsboats, and that every dollar
in4ha Goafederacy mnstbe surrendered.
The ouas; officer hinted to the woman
that from the known frugality of herself
and husband-they alone constituting
the family, and besides living within the
bounds Of rigorous economy, boarding
every penny, as is the wont of all shop
keepers of tier class the, husband being
q thrifty German--it was strongly sus.
pected that they had "a large sum of
specie laid away The good woman
trembled violently at heprospect of thus
having to surrender the scanty savings of
many years Of deprivation, toll and
anxiey, not to say the trial OF calamitous
misfortune which at one time had be-
fallen them before settling in the town,
and while Wringipg her hands in despair
her mind was happily relieved BY the
pretended officer himself.
The secret which she had so sacredly
guarded, and the Importance of which
was so seriously impressed upon her by
the only man Interested in the preserga.
tion d. his own money, auds. knoao,a by this
dread officer of the Government. He
quietly told her that he knew she had in
her possession this money. AS an officer
of the Government it was his duty to
demand It, and if she would quietly hand
it oyer,without delay, he would give her
no molestation as to any coin she and
her hnsBAad owned in their own right.
He admittsd that they had met with
misfortune, were now advancing in years.
and he felt that he might in their pecu-
liar case forego the imperative duties of
his Office; but the money she held in
trust-the gold belonging to a man of
wealth, whose duty it was to aid with
every means in his power the Govern.
ment to which, he owed allegiance-this
was altogether different matter. He
did not wish to use force. He hoped not
to have to resort to the disagreeable
necessity of calling upon the military
arm to send file of soldiers to search
her.premises, who might find more than
the object sought; while such proceed
ing would also divulge for the first time
to her husband the fact that she had the
money in her possession. The tortured
woman now began to realize the nature
of her position. While ordinarily she
made no concealments from her husband,
and the couple lived harmoniously and
amicably together, both laboring in their
respective spheres to secure compe-
tency of this worlds goods, yet she had
pledged her word to man to whom she
was Hnder no special obligation, to keep
the secret even from her husband. She
had successfully done.so up to this time
and the pretended Government agent
subtly advised that there was no neces-
sity to mention the matter to her hus.
band then. All trouble could be re-
moved simply by her quiet obedience to
the behest of the Government. He
therefore advised ready compliance,
suggesting that her husband be kept in
ignorance of the matter.
The poor woman, unused to the ways
of the world, and whose fear of losing
the scanty savings of life time had
been wrought to the highest tension by
the interview, in the faint gleam Of hope
to save her own carefully-hoarded treas.
ure, lost sight of what might be the next
false step Of guarding from her husband
q secret involving business transaction,
to her at least, of such import, and
which might seriously embarrass them
both the remainder of their lives.
With trembling hand, and, it must be
admitted, many misgivings as to her
duty, not only in the matter of yet break.
ing the secret to her husband, but also
her obligation to the man whose trustee
she innocently became, and glad to re-
lieye herself of an unwelcome visitor,
she produced the bags of glitte1ing coin
-glittering in double sense, reaecting
not only their precious value in those
days of scarcity and want, but, like the
eves Of the deadly basiltsk, cleaning