The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-05-08
UaTBauIEL'S LUCK.
By William Henry Siviter

We boys used to call him Nat, but he said his name was Nathaniel <. Niggler We often asked him what the "S stood for, but he never told us, and gradually we arrived at the conclusion that he did not know himself but had merely added it because it was stylish to have a middle name. Nat lived at May yberry, small Maryland town where he stood behind counter and exchanged dry goods and other commodities for coun- try produce, which latter was shipped to Baltimore, and turned into cash Nat did not own the store. but generously let the proprietor have his valuable ser vices at a fixed weekly stipend
 At Mayberry an enterprising printer had started a weekly paper-a small, sixteen-column affair, four columns to the page-which he filled with the usual assortment of reading matter: poem, three-column story and several smaller articles, all clipped from some New York weekly. Nat was a constant reader of the Mayberry Sentinel, partly because the office of the paper was in the room above the store, and he could get a copy for cigar (which cigar cost Nat no- thing); and partly because he had little else to read
 One day, the S9,t;ael published an in teresting story about poor clerk, who was trying to keep large family on small income, and how hard he found it to make both ends meet year after year. This clerks father-in-law was supposed to have been very rich, and to have hid the money before his death, but none of 1t could be found At length when the poor clerk was reduced to the lowest extremity, and had retired for the night in a perturbed state of mind, the deceased gentleman left his abode in the land of spirits, and presented himself. all ghostly and white, at his son-in-law bedside; and, after waking him from troubled sleep bade him dig in a certain spot in the garden, and then promptly disappeared The clerk thought it merely dream-a very vivid one, though-and tried to forget it. He could not shake off its remembrance, however, so he told his wife, and to- gether they went to the spot named, and dug. They found ten bags of money, each bag containing five thous- and dollars
 This is synopsis of the story which ornamented the first page of the Sentinel on December 20. It made strong inn pression on Mats mind, who read it as piece of news and straightway began to institute parallel between this clerk and himself. They were both in the same business; both married; both had large families q wish to remark, paren- thetically, that numerically Nat s family was not large, but individually it was; in fact, he had only one son, six months old, but Nat considered him equal to any family of ten sons and daughters in Carroll county); both had deceased fathers-in-law; both of these previous to their decease had settled a little house and plot of land on their daugh- ters, and both fathers-in-law were sup posed to have been little cracked in the upper story Nat carried his par allel much further, and arrived at the conclusion that his father-in-law must also have had some treasure in the back yard.
 He read the story to his wife. and asked her what she thought of it.
 |" 1 think it's only q story" replied Selina.
 !" But don't you think your father may have buried some treasure in the gar den?" persisted Nat.
 :" think he never had any to bury; and Selina began to get supper.
 How did he get this house?" asked Nat following her up.
 He bought it, and only finished pay ing for it a year before we were mar ried"
 "Thats no reason why he shouldn [, have made money in the three years following. What was he doing in Balti- more so much during that time?"
 "I don't know" said Mats spouse
 Well Ihave an idea that he was speculating in stocks and bonds, and that he made lots of money and buried it"
 Selina would not believe it, but Nat went to bed that night quite excited, and in exactly the frame of mind to see any stray ghosts which might wander into his chamber. After much tossing