The National tribune., 1883-09-20
CAPT. KIDD'S MONEY,
One of the Many FruitleSS Searches
After 1t.
by Colonel Thomas ". Knor.1

|
| traditions about treasure buried by Captain
| Kidd and other freebooters of his time. The
| spots where the treasures were buried were
usually revealed in dreams; the happy dreamer
| confded the secret to friend or two and they
| arranged to secure it whenever the time should
be favorable. But it always happened that
| something went wrong, and the treasure van
| ished from sight or touch generally at the mo-
ment when il was just within grasp.
| One of my neighbors was a firm believer in
| the existence of the hidden wealth of the pi-
rates. He often dreamed where it was to be
found and on several occasions he devoted an
entire night to digging. Once he took me into
| his confidence and told how | could become
the possessor of "Kidd's money" provided L
would follow certain rules, in which he believed
| thoroughly.
First off," said he, "you must dream where
the money is, and be able to find the spot you
dream about. Then, if you've got the nerve to
go alone, you have better chance of getting
| the money, as there won't be so much HkelI-
hood that anybody IL break the SPELL"
| asked what he meant by the suggestion,
and he explained as follows:
"All this money of Kidd and the other pi-
rates is guarded by spirits, and if you break
the spell you can't get it. In the first place.
you must dig on night when there isn't any
moon; the moonlight is part OF the spell, and
no money can be got when it is shining. Then
when you've begun to dig you mustn't speak;
| if you do, the treasure sinks down. and you
are thrown out of the place with your eyes
full of dirt. The spirits watch the money, and
If you don't open your mouth you'll get it-if
it's there"
was somewhat doubtful about the matter,
and he proceeded to convince me of the cor
rectness of what he had told me.
About two years ago." he continued,
dreamed three or four nights running where
there was chest full of Kidd's money,
about half mile back of Fosters Cove.
The spot was shown so clear that | went
and picked it out, and then l told Sam Fow
Ter about it, and he agreed to go and dig
| with me, and share the money. | marked
| the place with a stake so as to find it IN the
| night, and one night when there wasn't
any moon, and the clouds made it almost
pitch dark, we went there and dug. We hadn't
thrown up dozen shovefuls when the air
| was full of kissing noises, and there were voices
calling US all sorts of names. We kept on with
| out saying a word, and soon we hit the top of a
chest or, anyway, something that sounded hol-
low. When we struck it there was more noise
| than ever, and the spirits not only made tre
mendous racket, but kept knocking us from
side to side. We'd got the top of the chest al
most uncovered as well as we could make out
| in the dark, and was just laying down my
shovel, and reaching for the pickaXe to bust it
| in, when / was knocked clean from one side of
the hole to the other. | forgot myself, and
hollered out, and in less than a second we We're
sprawling on the ground outside, the hole was
all filed up and the chest gone, and when |
felt round for the stake | couldn't find it. We
went home feeling mean enough. Next day
| went back and looked at the place. and there
wasn't a sign of the stake nor of our digging,
and the whole spot was so changed that it
wasn't like what saw in my dream"
This story and others like it had such an eff
| feet on my mind that |, too, dreamed of Kidd's
4 t1aac hp Qraa was ed had
no difficulty in discovering the spot. 1t was
certainly good one for the purpose-about ten
| yards to the north of large stump on the edge
of bit of woodland. .and just such place as an
| intelligent pirate ought to select.
hadn't the nerve" to go there alone on a
moonless night to recover the treasure; be-
| sides, / wasn't greedy, and had decided will
| lingness under the circumstances to share my
future wealth with others. Under pledge of
secrecy, | confided the story to two of my
school-mates; one consented to join in the en-
terprise, but the other declared decided dis
like for it, and refused to go. As had secured
one companion, was Indifferent to his objec-
| tions, and continued with my plans.
/ marked the spot with two stakes about four
| feet apart, and it was arranged that we should
dig between the stakes. We selected a night
| when there was no moon, and settled upon a
place where we were to meet. During the day
preceding the great occasion we conveyed two
also an empty meal sack in which to bring away
| the money.
We went to bed at the usual hour, and then
escaped by the back windows to proceed on our
search for wealth. My companion Charley,
slept on the ground-foor Of his fathers house.
and therefore had less difficulty than | in get
| ting out as my bed was on the second story.
But with the aid of a short rope and two or
three nails in the side of the house, | was
quickly and noiselessly ON the ground, and
able to get back again by the same means
Charley had been waiting a few minutes
when | reached our rendezvous. We hastily
secured our tools, not forgetting the bag and
proceeded, with some unsteadiness of step, to
the treasure ground. The truth is that just
then did not altogether like the affair, and
no more did Charley; but neither was willing
to back out, and SO we went on. The night
was cloudy, but without rain, and we could
see only short distance around us. We knew
well enough how to find the old stump, and
once ar 1T, there was no trouble In finding my
stakes. 1t was agreed that we were not tospeak
after reaching the stump, and so the commence
ment of our trench-work was made in silence.
The spirits did not disturb us for the first
quarter of an hour. Just as was congratulate
ing myself with the thought that perhaps we
had taken then unawares and might get the
money and be off before they found us, there
was loud hiss close to my ear. 1t startled me
| a good deal, and had the same effect on Charley,
as we dropped our shovels, and struck our heads
against each other III STOPPING to pick them up
Then there were more Kisses, followed by NUT
terings and threats, of which / could not make
out any ineligible words. We worked like
beavers, and kept perfect silence in spite of the
temptation to speak; as matter of precaution
we had each fastened a handkerchief tightly
across the others mouth when we reached the
, stump, as we thought it would be q discourage
ment to conversation. 1t was lucky we did so,
as both admitted afterward that we should have
been certain to say something when the first
, hiss sounded in our ears fthe handkerchief had
!; not stopped our utterance.
The noises went on for perhaps another quar-
!, ter Of an hour. By this time we had made a
, hole more than yard square and about two
feet deep, and | began to feel that we ought to
be near the treasure. / had previously con-
cluded that no good and honest pirate would
bury money more than three feet below the
surface; he would naturally think of the diff
Guilty of'digging it up when he came to get it,
. and would probably be in hurry, owing to the
fear of discovery by the kings men, thought
l heard hollow sound beneath me- I had
been told that when the lid of the chest was
broken the power of the guardian spirits was
gone, and there was no further danger of their
interference. Determined to secure the treas
ure, extended my hand to the spot where we
! placed the pickaxe when we began working
, with the shovels.
1t was gone, and SO was the meal sack which
was to contain the money!
| turned tn If Ghar1av had ta1yap he