Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1889-11-06
THE DEVILS GOLD.
The Story Of the Biggest Lump Of the
MetuI Erer Found ia dmericd.

as the Rhinegold's
A poor and ignorant Irshman, living in
the mountains. solitary and lonely, propped
open the door of his cabin with lump of
metal. He had found it sticking our from
water. washed gully and carried it home
as cdrio,ity Though no larger than IA
small cymling, it WAS a wrighty lug fnr
mile. 1t WIS Gull yellow, irregu ar in
,hape, and pieces of stone were imbedded
in it. For over two years a fortune lay upon
the floor of his hOvel while he t0iled early
aud late, making little whisky and digging
ginseng root to earn "A scanty living. com
panion mountaineer, who had known more
If the outside world, thought this strange
stone might be sold at A>heville as curl
nsly for lot of money-SlO perhaps This
was in the flush days before the war. He
had seen quartz crystal from Roam mountain
bring that much. 4 third mountaineer was
called in consultation. Ten dollars was a
lot of money The third man had been
traveller. regular globe trotter. lie went
To A,hevlle four times year, aud he had
been clear to Washington.
Walking around the lump, he gazed at
it from every side, touched it with hi, toe,
,pat on it aud breathed heavily.
''IIit are wuth nuthin'. or hit air wuth
pile" said he "lIit air nothin but brass,
er hi. air" He looked around on the
other two with aqucer expression-"goo'd."
"Ef hit air brass" drew clasp knife
md scraped the dull m tai until new sur
face glittercd-"viuegar' rust hit. Ef hit
re gold hit won't"
lIepoured some vinegar from a jug which
va, brought him upon the fresh facing of
the lump. The three men hung o, er it in
tently Five ten, fifteen minutes passed
aud still the metal shone clear aud untar-
lished.
Hits goold~
"Aud I've heerd god was wuth more'n
800 pound, said the second.
"What a - fool I've been" groaned
he owner Of the cabin. For two years
I've worked, an wealth never dreamed of
Sickin' under my feet -
81 claim, third" broke in the assayer
.'Ye'd never knowed what it was but for me. J"
AN third for me. said the other
The owner Of the gold gave a sullen rs
sent. They obtained pair Of ~teeyards
md weighed the gold It turned the scales
1t over 100 pounds avoirIupoi-, and they
rnughly estimated it 10 be worth S2j 600
rver IS, 600 apiece. That night all three sat
mp and watched the treasure unable to sleep
rom excitement and thoroughly suspicion-
of each other The next day they rolled it
,ecurely in cloth and started for ASheviIle
foot. with the gold slung to a pole, and car
ried between two
II WAS the DEVILS gold. At the first halt
ing place the Iri>hman and the second
mountainerr conspred to kill the third, and
he wa, shot dead from behind. Hastily
throwing his body into cump OF bushes
he murderers faced each other in the road
Suspicion reused in each breast saw treach-
cry in the Others glance
Here" said one, forcing an uneasy laugh.
there. only one way to settle this Let's
livide the gold and each 60 his way"
agreed" said the other.
The lump was laid in the roadway and
/ ..t........J -. ...c ,,.itb a Iatohaf
Take your choice" SAID one. As the
other bent to lift his half his companion
.pit the head Of the STOPPING man with a
hatchet. The gold was his With blind
faulty he dragged the second victim to the
side Of the road, lifted the bood-siaincd
| treasure, and went on. At A-heville he
rook IT 10 the bank and had it shipped to
! the United States mint. Ia les than "A
week, and before any return could be made
| from the mint, the bodies Of the murdered
men had been discovered and the crime
traced directly home The miserable wretch
was placed in Jail, and there he died within
wear. The witch gold fortune never
crossed his hands. remaining, | believe in
the Federal Treasury for lack Of ownership
The region where the lump was found has
been secured foot by foot, but not another
lump like that has ever been discovered in
hat or anv other section Of America. IL is
said that a few weeks ago an English COM
panv. which j. working the Nacoochee mine
in Georgia, took out nugget weighing
300 p-nnyweighls. yet the North Carolina
lump weighed over 800 ounces.