Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-02-14

the war. He had some quartz crystal
from Roam Mountain. bring that much. 4
! third mountalneer was called in conSulta-
| ton len dollars was q lot of money.
The third man had been a traveller. regu-
lar globe trotter. He went to Asheyille
four times a year, and he had been TO
Washington
Walking around the lump, he gazed at
It from every side, touched it with his toe.
spat on it. and breathed heavily.
Hit air with nuthin' er hit air with
pile, said ne. Hit air nuthin' but
brass, er hit air" He looked around
on the other two with queer expression
''goold."
Eff hit air brass he drew clasp knife
and scraped the dull metal till a new sur
face gllttered vinegar Il rust hit. Eff
hit air goold hit won't
He poured some vinegar from Jug
which was brought him upon the fresh
facing of the lump. The three men hung
over II lntently. Five, ten. fifteen minutes
passed, and still the metal shone clear and
untarnished.
Hits gooldl'
And I've heered goold was with more n
800 a pound, " said the second.
What a - fool I've been, groaned
the owner of the cabin. For two years
We worked, an wealth | never dreamed
of kckin' under my feet. -
Il claims third, broke in the assayer
''1e d never knowed what it was but for
me-
An a third for me-" said the other
The owner of the gold gave sullen as
! sent. They obtained pair of steelyaris
and weighed the gold. 1t turned the scale
at over 100 pounds avoirdupoiS. and they
| roughly estimated it to be worth S25. 900
over $1,000 apiece. That night all three
sat up and watched the treasure, unable to
sleep from excitement and thoroughly sus-
picious of each other. The next day they
rolled it securely in a cloth and started for
Asheville afoot. with the gold Slung to
| pole. and carried between the two.
1t was the devils gold At the first
| stopping place the Irishman,and the second
mountaineer.conspired to kill the third and
| he was shot dead from behind. Hastily
| the murderers faced each other in the road.
Suspicion reused in each breast saw treach-
! cry III the others glance
| Here. said one, forcing an uneasy
laugh, there only one way to settle this.
Let's divide the gold and each go his
way"
Agreed said the other.
The lump was laid in the roadway and
| chopped in two with a Ratchet.
Take your choice. - said one. As the
other bent to lift his half his companion
split the head of the stopping man with
MS Ratchet. The gold was his With
blind faulty he dragged the second victim
to the side of the road, lifted the blood
stained treasure and went on. At Ashe-
vile he took it to the bank and had it
shipped to the United States mint. In
less 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 year. The witch
gold fortune never crossed his hands, re-
manning, believe, in the Federal treasury
for lack of ownership.
The region where the lump was found
has been secured foot by foot, but not an
other lump like that has ever been discov-
cred in that or any other section in Ameri-
ca. 1t is said that few weeks ago an
English company, which is working the
! Nacoochee mine in Georgia. took ont Il
nugget weighing 300 pennyweights. yet
the North Carolina lump weighed over
| 800 ounces.