Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-01-26

gin silver, bat saw IN exact profile OF
the surrounding territory. IL was Wild.
ds.ol.,e spot. by deep ra'ine. through
which the SHOWS Of winter seemed 10 tnd
release In the .pring, rushing down a
eragsy hillside to dark. wide-'ire,ehed
swamp below. Thi, would no, impress
me 30 seriously. were !, no, that once be.
fore a dream Of the same imPor, proved
a startling reality
1--WE eonyered further oa the subject.
and after brsakfa, Mr.. Msekmore took
a pencil. and upon blank leaf Of an old
atlas. he drew picture Of the spot be
had seen in hi. dream; and be pointed
out where. beneath the root. Of an old
,umpy pine tree. be had seen Al out.
cropping Of the preeioa. metal. lie bad
drawn the picture. he told u., 10 show
u. how vivid hi. dream bad been; but
advised u. think no more Of H. Even
were /, possible ,ha, the dream bad sub.
stance. the body Of the mine Vas fir be.
low the surface and. moreover. the Lord
only knew where the spot was located.
even allowing ,ha, such 'Po, existed.
"For once In my life | allowed my
cupidi,y TO ge, the better Of my oui'poken
honesty. allosed the reverend gue',
20 depart. and did no, tell him that i
knew Of ,po, exactly the oiisiaAl Of that
he had pictured. even TO every rock.
shrub. tree and ravine. Aud ,ha, 'po,
wa. upoa the wild 10, which had been
purchased by John Twist. sni which
John Twi,, probably Owned still.
THAT very afternoon with an az and
pick. wen, forth TO the rough eliii'iis
Of the Twi,, lot. knew exactly where
the pictured spo, was 10 be found. and
when | reached IL was more than ever
struck by the fai,hfdlne.s of Mr.. Meek.
more. draft. The accuracy In detail
wa. wondsrfal. Add when reflected
that ,hi. drait had been made BY one
who W. an absolute stranger % the
plaee-mlde from the simple Impressions
Of a dream. /, marvel that was
strongly and strangely imposed !
found the old tree which the reverend
dreamer had designated. aud veni to
work at It's roots.
"And ere long my l.bos were reward.
ed Beneath one Of the main roots !
found lump Of pure whi,s metal {.
large as hens esg; and upin further
ehoppins and digging | found several
more smaller pieces. They hai evidently
been broken from 4 molten mass. and
upon rutbing off the dir, ! found them
all pure and bright.
"Tha, nigh, slep, but little. could
only lie awake and think Of the vas,
wealth ,ha, lay buried in that bleak hill.
side. Ba, what could | do The lot
was not mine. and | should run gres,
risk. IL | troubled another mans property.
And. moreover. II | made far.her exPlor.
a,ioa while the land was no, mine. the
.ecr, nigh, be divulged. and the vast
wealth .n.,ehsd from me. ] must pur.
chase the Twis, lot. and had no doab,
| could buy !, for a mere song.
"On the neIt day rode over to see
my cousin. and when had spoken Of
the Twis, 10, be informed me ,ha, no,
only ,ha, lot. bu, q number Of Others
were Tor sale. They had beea advertised
and were 20 be sold at auction 10 two
weeks. lie called me fool when ] told
him I should bill on the Twi,, lot, but !
told him had looked !, over aud made
up my mind ,ha, my sheep could had
plenty Of grazing there through the sum
mer months lie asked IL already didn {
have all the sheep pasture ! wanted but
l told him he need no, trouble himself.
"DuriEg the mex, two weeks KEEP,
quie, and held my tongue. giving no oP.
portuni,y for my secret to become known.
On the appointed day | wen, over to the
settlement, where the land was TO be
sold. II was to be put up 10 hundred
acre lots. and sold by the orisinal plans
Of the Whitney purchase. 10, number
one va, put up dr,. and sold for one
quarter OF cent al acre.
The nex, 10, was the Twist lot. and
| heard that iron and copper ore had been
discovered upon II. A stranger In jockey
elo,he. started II a, fifty cents an acre.
Another stranger who wore blue frock
and top boots bid seyeniy.hse.
"Then there was more talk about iron
and copper. The man In the jockey sui,
said that he had positive assurance that
pure iron ore had been found in some OF
the gulehes he bid one dollar an
acre. A, this point | entered into the
contest, and bid one dollar and twenty
Eve cents. Up-up-up-twsnty five
cents at time. until I had bid ten dol.
lars an acre. People called me crazy.
Ten dollars an acre was more than the
bes, land 10 the whole county WAS worth.
Ba, held to my bid, and KEEP, my own
counsel.
"And the Twis, 10, VAS knocked down
to me for jus, one thousand dollars. The
terms were cash. | told them to make
out the deed while I went home after the
money. And away rode. emP,ied
my old stocking Of gold and silver, and
found nine hundred and fifty dollars.
borrowed the other ffiy without trouble
at the settlement, and s,raishtwsy pro-
eeeded to the Office Of Squire Simpkins
where the deed had been made. The in'
s,rumsn, was duly signed and sealed. snt
when the squire had assured me that sh'
payment Of the money would make 81
fast and safe. handed him over the gol'
and silver. 'f.ff -.
"I observed that the name Of JohI