Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-11-23
THE DEVIL AND TOM WALKER.
One of Washington Irvlng's PIcasan,

HI DEVIL AND TOM W1LkE R.
One of Washington IrvIna's PIcasan
stories.
A few miles from Boston in Massachu
setts there is deep inlet, winding sew.
eral miles into the interior of the countr,
from Charles Bay, and terminating in =,
thickly wooded swamp or morass.
On one side of this inlet is beautiful
dark grove ON the opposite side the lane
rises abruptly from the waters edge into
high ridge, on which grow few scat.
tered oaks of great age and immense
size.
Under ole of these gigantic trees, &C.
cording to old stories, there WAS great
amount of treasure buried by Kidd the
pirate.
The inlet allowed facility to bring
the money in boat secretly and at night
TO the very foot of the hill the elevation
OF the place permitted good lookout to
be kept that no one was at hand while
the remarkable trees formed good land
marks by which the place might easily
be found again.
The old stories add, moreover, that the
devil presided at the hiding of the money,
and took it under his guardianship but
this, II is well known, he always does with
buried treasure, particularly when it has
been ill-gotton. Be that as 1t may, Kidd
never sreturncd to recover his wealth
being shortly after seized at Boston, sent
out to England, and there hanged for n
pirate.
About the year 1927, Just at the time
that earthquakes were prevalent in New
England, and shook many tall sinners
down upon their knees, there lived near
tins place meagre, misery fellow, OF
the name of Tom Walker. He had Il wife
ms mlserly as himself they were so miscr-
ly that they even conspircd to cheat each
other. Whatever the woman could lay
hands on, she hin away a hen could not
cackle but she was on the alert to secure
tho new-laid egg. Her husband was con-
tinually prying about to detect her &C.
crct boards, and many and fierce were the
conflicts that took place about what ought
to have been common property.
They lived in forlOrn- looking house
that stood alone, and had air of starva-
ton. A few struggling sayin-trees, en-
blems OF .sterility, grew near it no
smoke ever curled from its chimney no
traveller stopped at its door, A misera-
BILE horse, whose ribs were as articulate
MS the bars Of a gridiron, stalked about
field, where thin carpet of moss, scarce
ly covering the ragged beds of pudding
stone, tantalized and baked his hunger {:
and sometimes he would lean his head
over the fence, look piteously at the pass
er-by, and seem to petition deliycrance
from this land of famine.
The house and its inmates had altopetb-
err bad name. Toms wife was tall
termagant, fierce Of temper, loud of
tongue, and strong Of arm. Her voice
was often heard in wordy warfare with
her husband and his face sometimes
showed signs that their conflicts were not
confined to words. No one yentured.
however, to interfere between them. The
lonely wayfarer shrunk within himself at
the horrid clamor and clapper-clawing /;
eyed the den of discord askance and
hurried on his way, rejoicing, if a bachel-
or, in his celibacy.
One day that Tom Walker had been to
distant part of the neighborhood, he
took what he considered q short cut home.
ward, through the swamp. Like most
short cuts, it was an ill-chosen route
The swamp was thickly grown with great
gloomy pines and hemlocks, some OF them
ninety feet high, which made it dark et
MONDAY, and retreat for all the owls of
the neighborhood. 1t was full of pits
and quagmires, partly covered with weeds
and moses, where the green surface often
betrayed the traveller into gulf of black
smothering mud there were also dorl,
and stagnant pools. the abodes of the tad.
pole, the bull-frog, and the water.snake =.
where the trunks Of pines and hemlocks
lay half-drowned, half-rotting, looking
like alligators sleeping in the miro.
Tom had long been picking his wav
cautiously through this treacherous for.
est stepping from tuft to tuft of PUSHES
and roots, which afforded precarious foot.
holds ,mong deep sloughs or pacino
carefully, like cat, along the prostrate
trunks OF trees /; startled now and then
by the sudden screaming of the bittern
or the quacking of wild duck rising on
the wing from some solitary pool A.
length he arrived at n firm piece of rround
which ran out like peninsula into The
deep bosom OF the swamp. ' '''N
1t had been one of the stronpbolds NJ
the Indians during their wars with tho
hrst colonists. Here they had thrown m
KIND OF fort, which they had looked mn,
on as almost impregnabic, and had used
as place OF refuge for their sauaws and
children. Nothing remained Of the old
Indian Tort but few embankments
gradually sinking to the level of the snr'
rounding earth, and already overerown in
part by oaks and other forest trees tho
iolage OF which formed contrast to tho
dark pines and hemlocks of the swami
-, IL was late in the dusk of evening when
Iom Walker reached the old fort. md Lo
paused there awhile to rest himself Ann
one but he would have felt unwilling ~
anger In this lonely, melancholy place
Tor the common people had bad opinion
OF IT, from the stories handed down from
Inc time OF the Indian wars when it was
asserted that the savages held inconta'
lions here, and made sacrifices to the evil
spirit. ~ 'ne e'ii
Tom Walker, however, was not man
TO be troubled with any fears of the kind
;ie reeposed himself for some time on the
Irunk OF a fallen hemlock, listening To The
oodng cry OF the tree-toad, and delvino
with his walking-staff into a monnd of
black mould at his feet.
Unconsciously turning I'D the so;l b;s
'taf struck against something hard He
aked y out Of the vegetable mould. and
o cloven skull, with an Indian toma. !
i y; buried deep in it, lay before him
ne rust on the weapon showed the time i
nat mad elapsed since this death. blow had !
zen given: 1t was dreary memepto Of !
ne fierce struggle that had taken place in :
ms last foothold Of the Indian warriors .
"Humph !" said Tom Walker. M he J.
ave u kick to shake the dirt from it. q