Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1886-06-05
9 passed his dime in such watery re-


he passed his time in such watery re
Igions.
TT was purely by accident" said tn,
iold man, "that mortals found out thr
secret of the dropped silver, and this l.
how it happened. Ono moonlight nigh
many long year after came, or wal
put here, a silver shilling came to my
fquarters and at once started up. JUS
as my head emerged from the water
saw two men on the bridge, both in.
tently peering In the water, and heard
one say 70 the other by George, Jack,
that shilling went overheard As be
said this both saw ms, and I don't
think ever heard louder yells, or saw
swifter running. They certainly left
| without being told. called after them
that the dropping Of the silver in the
water was the cause of my unlocked for
appearance, and that they or any Of
their friends could cause repetition by
dropping 3 piece Of silver In this stream
at IL O'Clock on any of the three nights
just before full NOON, or on the three
Immediately following, and not to be
afraid, as / would not nor could not
harm them. l guess they heard what
said, but they did not stop. They must
have heard me and told others, for on
many occasions after, when the mo n
was favorable, money came down freely
ana l rs freely came up, but never
could get any of my visitors to remain
long enough to exchange words. NV
appearance seemed to DO signal for al
to leave, and they never failed to do il
and quickly.
"As to how like my home and pass
my time beneath the waters, "contin ued
the old man, cat first l felt kind of
funny, surrounded by fishes and other
Inhabitants OF the water, and L guess
having me there was quite as droll to
| them. But when / became acquainted
| with their customs and learned their
Language sufficiently we'll to explain to
them the cause of my being with them
| they treated me ever 80 kindly, and We
get along as we'll as could bs expected
under the circumstances. We have
various amusements, plenty to eat, aud
that we have enough to drink goes with
out the tellinR-but no Apple Jack.
zone more question:" ] said, as he
paused. "Whar. becomes of all the
silver that ia dropped into the water"
CAB, that is droll," said the old man,
with cnuckle, 'I don't think you
could ever guess how the silver pieces
are utilized down below. You think,
doubtless, there eau be no demand for
current specie in the water, ana, 80 far,
you are right. But, bless you, nothing
ia ever lost In this world, and the fishes
appropriate and use all the silver that
drops here for rubbing their scales.
They are vain little creatures, and
greatly admire the silvery tinge 1t ina
parts to them OF course the lustrs it
gives their scales wears of in time, and
"a they have recourse to the silver 80
often it soon becomes thin and brittle.
heard them lamenting the scarcity of
this beautiher not long ago, but the
piece you have furnished them Tonight
Will delight and satisfy them for some
time TO come"
odd man" said, laughing, you're
a brick! give you credit for the big
gest fish story ever heard"
"You think it sounds improbable"
he retained, quickly, "but to me it
seems much more reasonable and mat
ter of-fsct than the wonderful telegraph
story you vouch for and expect me to-
believe"
''Do you know, I" Gust as he said
this chicken crowed) "must bid you
good bye, for daylight approaches, -
and before could repeat his good bye
a commotion in the water, followed by
rapidly rising bubbles, was all that was
left to show where the old man had
been sitting regretted ever so much
that the Growing of the chicken pre-
vented me hearing the remainder of his
"Do you know L" question, and 1 re-
turned at once to the house, more than
we'll pleased with the success of my
visit.
threw myself into the easy chair to
cogitate on the old mans affairs, and /
suppose fell asleep, for in little while
Art returned from the party, and his
coming into the library awakened me.
l went to my home the next day with
out saying one word of my adventure
to Art
Some incredulops persons to whom /
afterward told the story were silly
enough to smile and to say that / did
not make the visit to the bridge, but
had merely fallen asleep in my chair
and dreamed it all.
Long ago realizing the impossibility
|of convincing doubling Thomases, 1
did not humor their well-known pro-
pensities by condescendlng to argue
with them, but have truthfully written
my story for the public, feeling well
assured its decision will render me full
Justice.