Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-02-08


day Of Idas decision He sined alone that
night, as usual, and shortly after dinner some
waits camo to the house, and began to sing
their cheerful carols outside. The carols did
not chime in at all well with his condition Of
mind, and he sent five shillings out to them,
with a request that they would 60 away, az
he had a headache.
Accordingly they went, and shortly after
their departure the great gale, for which
that night is still famous, began to rise.
Then he fell to pacing up and down tho
quaint old oak paneled parlor, thinking until
his brain ached. The hour was at hand--the
evil was upon him and her whom he loved.
Was there no way out of it-no possible wayi
Alas there was but one way, and that
golden one; but where was the money to
come froml He had it not, and as land
stood it was impossible to raise it, All il
only that great treasure which old Sir James
do la Mole had hid away and died rather
than reveal could be brought to light now,
in the hour of his houses sorest need! But
the treasure was very mythical, and if it had
ever really existed, it was not now to be
found. He went to his dispatch box and
took from it the copy he had made OF tho
entry in the Bible, which had been in Sir
James pocket when lie was murdered in the
u.
strange one. Why did the brave old man
wish that his bible should be sent to his son,
and why did he write that somewhat pecu-
liar message in it,
Suppose that Ida was right and that it
contained cipher or cryptograph which
would give a claw to the whereabouts of the
treasure If So, it was obvious that it would
be one Of the simplest nature. A man con-
fined by himself in 4 dungeon and under inn
mediate sentence of death would not have been
likely to pause to invent anything conplicat-
Sd II would, indeed, be curious that he should
have invented anything at all under such
circumstances, and when he could have so
little hope that the riddle would be solved
But, on the other hand his position was DIES
pcrate; lie was quite surrounded by foes;
thoro was no chance Of his being able to con-
vey the secret in any other way, and lie
might have dOno so.
Harold placed the piece of paper upon the
mantelpeco and, sitting down in an arm
chair opposite, began to contemplate it earn
estly, as indeed lie had often done before In
case the reader should not remember its
exact wording, it is repeated here. 1t ran;
do not grieve for me, Edward, my son,
that am thus suddenly and wiCkedly dOno
to death by rebel murderers for naught
happeneth but according to Gods will. And
now farewell, Edward, till we shall meet in
heaven Nv money have hid and Oh nc.
count thereof ] die unto this world, knowing
that not one piece shall Cromwell touch. To
whom God shall appoint shall all my treas
ure be, for uaught can | communicate"
Wen, Harold stared and stared at this iu-
scription. He read it forward, backward,
crossways and in every other way, but alb
EOlnfplV I la 81
with misery Of mind and the pursuit Of a
futile occupation, he dropped off sound asleep
III his chair. That happened about a quar-
ter to IL o'clock, The next thing that he
knew was that he suddenly woke up; woke
up completely, passing rs quickly from
condition Of deep sleep to one of wakefUlnes5
ms though he had never shut his eyes. uo
used TO say afterward that lie felt rs though
somebody had come and aroused him; it was
not like a natural waking Indeed, so I'M
accustomed was the sensation. chat for mo-
meut the idea flashed through ais brain that
IL had died in his sleep and was now awaken
iGS to new state OF existence
This soon passed, however Evidently he
must have slept some time, for the lamp was
out and the fire dying. He got up and hunted
about in the dark for some matches, which
at last he found. He struck light, stand
ing exactly opposite to the bit Of paper
with the copy Of Sir James de la Molle's dy
ing message on it. This message was neatly
copied long ways upon half sheet Of large
writing paper, such as the squire generally
used. lis first line ran as it was copied.
'Do not gIioye for me, Edward my son,
that am thus suddenly and wickedly done"
Now, as tie match burned up, by some
CUTiDUS cllpta cCuuppta1 I,rpb4blU with tla