The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1881-01-30

concerning us, until we were out Of sight and
hearing, and then went into guzsling down
more of the Teuton's egg-nogg which he had
plentifully prepared that morning.
We assembled the mountain. Tom was
confident of Immediately finding the locality
Of the mysterious stone, As Is usual in such
cases he did not. vainly and fretfully he
hunted round for two long hours. A shout
from him at length announced that he had
discovered IL.
fastened to the spot. Yes, sure enough,
there 1t was. A stone, in shape like the
common tombstone, about three feet in
height, and few inches below the arched
cut top was a smooth round hole about two
inches in diameter.
With eager hearts we at once set TO work
with our tools. The stone Was set full three
feet in the earth. We dug below H.. 1t was
evident that beyond that depth the earth had
not been disturbed, still we kept OH, viewing
with the deepest interest every boulder i'm
bedded in the earth, until u was dislodged.
Not until we had cleared away smooth
surface Oh the ledge beneath did we sus-
pend our efforts. There could be no use in
going any further. No treasure was there.
And when this became apparent to our
| minds, we sat down OH the edge Of the hole,
wiped the Precipitation from our faces, and
gazed not at each other but into the pit the
result Of our spasmodic labors.
The country owes me for another days
work." said Tom.
| sauhtered around The spot, examining
the pieces ofquartz, ONE alter another, which
lay thickly scattered about, gradually push
ing my way Through the chapparal and in
cfeasing the distance from the unproductive
| hole. What another stone, in size, shape,
| and color like the first, and a similar hole
nan thu tOpt n yv tudaod
l called to Tom and he came tearing
through the bushes.
Here is another one Of your tombstones, y
said i.
Ut must be family graveyard, laid out
IN magnlhoemt distances, ne rephcd.
", cou,se tne nrst Impulse was 10 Sc, 10
WORK an" uproo' ,his monument, as we hau
aone inc other nue a"yusht was aireaoy
laIuihs' anu We SCI o"' vi our way hoi"e-
war;
| we 'ook ashor' Gu. Gu. .hro"gh Ine cnappa,al,
whlen srew very .h,oh snereapou.. ana
scarce nao'We Proceeoeu h''y yaras iuf'her'
wneh ION CRIED o"t, =,
Ahotnsf stone, py an tha az. heavenly =
| les, .htre was anotner, uiherihg III hoth-
ing from the o'her ,wo' we were more puz-
z,eI .ha an, ever; ana !. was WIN reluctance
we r iei' ,he spo' auu proceeoeu home"aro'
/
menus was on a nttie Dench, or plateau,
ABOUT two.,hlrus up tne slue Oh tne mountain.
oh Two siues 'he pialea9 was bounded oy
| Perpehuicuiar walls Oh granite. All the
| s.ohes eo.'aiheu the siiooth rouiu hoie,
apou. SIX inches from the Top, ana an cut
IRON species Oh Sandstone peculiar 10 the
valley Oh tne ean joaquin, aoont twehty-hve
miles peiow us, put no such iedge was TO be
found immediately IN our neighborhood.
There was but one subject for conversation
with us that evening; and the visit of a
neighbor, SO agreeable at other times, was
now looked upon as an intrusion, Tor we had
no laea Oh making inns mat'er puplic until
aiter iurther lhVestigatioh.
But what was to be done The first sug-
gestion was to dig under the stones. Yet it
could not be that there was treasure under
all three. We're they boundary marks No.
| What object could any one have in estab-
fishing lines OF demonstration ON that sterile
mountain One we had that day certainly
proved not to be grave. Those holes.
What could they signify? An idea almost
rejected at first, flashed across me.
Tom,' said I, 81 want the entire SUI
perintendence of that job tomorrow
Toms assent was easily procured. Indeed,
he never opposed my plans, although
confess at different times he had broached
and put into operation some egregiously alb
surd ideas.
We took our way to the scene of our labors
the next morning, carrying in addition to the
pick and shovel ball Of Irvine and couple
of hatchets.
| Arriving on the spot, We proceeded to
clear away the chapparral between the three
stones. 1t grew very dense, and the task oc-
cupied us several hnnrs Whom. the work
was completed we found them to be just one
hundred ieet apart. one hundred feet
ahead OF the last arose the perpendicular
wall Oh rock previously referred to.
l suggested that we should clear a patti
from the last stone to the face of the cliff
Here Tom, who had worked all along with
out venturing word OF remonstrance or sug-
gestion, now turned and inquired with an
air which showed that all this proceeding
was blind enough to him:
!" Well, don't see the point at ALL"
| III fall to-day, you shall have the boss
ing OF the job tomorrow. My idea of the
manner IN which this treasure, If treasure
there be, Is concealed, may be wild, absurd
foolish, but l never can rest until have
tried IT,
All right, replied Tom, " go ahead.
won't say word"
we cut lane about three feet in width tt
the base OF the Gill: The stone first dug W
| "asrepiaceu as nearly rs Posslple III lts iorinel
position. Tying the cord to apeg at its foot
l passed 1t through the hole in the first
stone, thence through the second and third
drawing it tight in such manner that il
should not come in contact with the surface
OF either OF the stones, the line was then car
ried forward TO the cliff.
But our lane had been cut by eye measufe
ment, and the cord made us aware that 1t de
waited several feet from straight line
Another hour was spent In cutting brush, and
again we stretched the cord. Stretched
through the three holes 1t was evident tina
1t formed an exact line to the cliff, as straight
as could be indicated by any compass.
At the very point ranging with the tire,
orifces expected to find a mark of som,
kind. found it.
Firmly driven in crevice of the rock wa,
an iron spike, about three feet from tn,
ground, and rusted with age. Here it was