The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1881-02-25

"No visitors to-day, Nellie" said
Charles, as he looked out upon the bay,
land we can have q good chance to look
over that curious letter that came with
the deed of the island"
"What do You wish to look ut that for?
Do you expect to find anything moro
than we have already seen?"
"Yes, Nellie. 1 am free to confess
that do. 1t has been on my mind ever
since we came TO our island home. The
first night we slept on the island / had
dream, and in it / saw that letter very
plainly, and something seemed to say,
study that letter; there is more in it than
you seem to see. And have been wait
ing for time when you and could look
at it together.
After breakfast they repaired to the
library and sat down to the table to study
over the letter and see if it contained
more than at first appeared. More than
an hour was spent before anything was
found when Nellie suddenly said:
II have it: read the first letter of each
line: Find my money in the caves"
CuOuSh, Shuhtcoy Oue
there are no caves on this island that i
know of, and l have searched it pretty
thoroughly"
"There must be, for L know Uncle
Eben had lots of money, and no one
knew what he did with it. His son only
had about 500, 900, and he was said to
be worth five times that amount.
"Well, perhaps there is something
more in the paper" said Charles. Lets
there is anything In that" So they
again took the paper and read: AT same
time your husband
Then they stopped and had hearty
laugh over the matter. The island had
certainly been the means of their mar
riage, and if it was true in this respect,
it-might be in the other.
The rain ceased to fall toward night.
and Charles was so impatient to hunt for
the cave that, in spite of the high winds,
he assembled the bluff and began to
search for some signs of the cave. He
found nothing there, however, and re-
turned to the house to get warm and to
think the matter over little. After
half an hour he started out again. This
time he started for the base of the bluff.
Arriving there he began systematic
search, pulling away the bushes and
moving such flat stones as seemed to
cover anything that looked like an open
ing. He finely came to large one, and
weighing perhaps half ton, which
seemed to move as he jumped upon it.
Looking carefully about he found it was
nicely balanced on another rock below,
and he thought it would not be much
work to roll it off, if he had lever.
Remembering large stick. he had seen
on the shore, short distance from where
he was, he started for it. As he jumped
from the rock he saw an iron bar lying
on the ground, partly covered by the
bushes that grew in such profusion
about there. II guess I'm on the right
track now" thought Charles, as he
picked up the bar.
As he expected, the stone moved very
easily, and with little effort he sent it
down from its position into the water.
few feet below, leaving an opening of
about three feet by two. This was the
cave, sure enough, and into the opening
went Charles. 1t was large room, par
TALLY natural and partially cut by man.
The foul air warned Charles not to 90 in
further, and he at once sought the open
air and returned to the house to tell
Nellie what he had found.
Both were very much excited over the
matter and it was as much as Charles
could do to dissuade Nellie from going
back with him to explore the caye-a
thing he proposed to do before he slept.
N,1y l. = 4
much dry wood as he could car
ry, he returned to the cave and
went in. He found the air much
improved, and so did not build his fire.
After careful search he discovered
place in the side of the cave which
looked as if it might be door. Getting
his bar, he soon had large stone re-
moved from the wall. and this disclosed
another large room. A pair of steps led
down somewhere, but Charles could not
see the bottom. The place was damp
and the steps badly rotted, so he did not
attempt the descent. Tying line to
one of his lanterns, he proceeded to
lower it down into the darkness. About
two yards down it suddenly went out. He
drew it up, relighted it, and tried it
again, with the same result.
"Well, there's bad air enough there"
said he to himself as he drew it up
again. He then proceeded to make
large fire in the cave, and when we'll
agoing, he took large burning log and
threw it into the inner cave. It burned
moment and then went out, but long
enough for him to see the size and depth
of the room. 1t seemed about twenty
feet long by fifteen wide, and about
eight feet deep from the door. Another
log was thrown in which burned o little
longer, but it was a fuil hour before he
got good fire and the air of the cave
purified.
He then went back to the house and
got ladder, and with this decended into
the bottom of the cave. Here he found
three large iron boxes. They were not
locked, and opening the boxes he found
what the letter said, the money Closing
the boxes he went back to the house and
told Nellie what he had found. Nothing
more was done that night, but the next
morning both Charles and Nellie went
to the cave and examined their treasures