River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-04-23
THE OAKS SECRET.
Private Brashwell Makes Restora-
ton and Wins a Prize.

IL NA1Ah ~ AJ1ASAt1L IL
/ Private Brashwell Makes Restora-
ton and Wins a Prize.
II was when Sherman was marching
4 through Georgia" A house which
seemed, from its outward appearance,
| to have been closed and barrica6led for
defense, or deserted altogether, was
surrounded by perhaps dozen soldiers.
Get an AK. cried one, land wei
break in the doors"
lie had scarcely ceased speaking be
fore dozen blows shivered the panels
of the oal1en door and made an en-
trance for the crowd and one after
another they iled in.
The house had indeed been deserted
by its former occupants. Much of the
furniture had been removed-certainly
all the silver plate and other valuables.
for nothing of that character was visi-
BILE. The men searched every room in
the house. but found nothing to inter
est them until they reached the cellar.
Here we are cried one, wine in
abundance; the rarest brands, I'll
wager"
If wine was their object. they had
accomplished it with little trouble.
| The cellar was stocked with it; there
was enough and to spare. Bottle after
bottle was handed out, until at last the
/ cellar was rifled of its store.
The men held high carousal in the
spacious dining hall. They drank long
and deeply. and what they could not
consume or take away with them they
destroyed ON the spot Then they went
reeling on their way.
/ 1t had been proposed to burn the
house, but this proposition, for some
reason, was overruled by one of the
/ partv--the youngest of them all.
No, he said, why should we burn
/ it? 1t has afforded us pleasant enter
/ tainment, and besides it may be some
/ poor fellows home who has lost every
thing else :
1t was a little strange that this young
man slipped away from his reeling com
panions On the way to camp and re-
turned TO the house they had deserted
But they would not have thought it
strange could they have OWNED his OBJ
ject.
He retraced his steps In through
the shattered door he passed and de-
seconded to the cellar. \ light dis
closed the fact that in one corner a
block of the stone floor had been re-
moved and replaced again, evidently in
hurry, for at one end it protruded
above the level of the floor. His keen
eye had detected this, while his com
panions were making merry over the
wine, and it had excited his curiosity
and suspicion.
With the assistance of an ak he sue
ceeded in removing the stone. The
earth beneath it bore evidence of hav-
ing been recently disturbed was
soft and fresh. There was a spade in
the cellar. He seized it and went to
work.
lie did not work long before he dis
covered a small iron box-small, but
heavy. 1t required some strength to
lift it-but once out in the light with it
there was no doubt in the young mans
mind that it contained valuable treas
ure, for did not the gold rattle as he
lifted it?
Would he open it there? No! His
companions might miss him and return
He resolved TO be more secret
With some difficulty he lifted the box
and placed it on his shoulder, then,
taking the AK also, he passed out of the
house and into the wood beyond.
Twilight was coming on, and with it
the heralds of a storm-low. rumbling
thunder and dark clouds glooming in
the north Into the wood the thief
staggered with his heavy burden-into
the shadow and the silence, whore he
and his secret would be safe.
Thief 1t is bitter, burning word.
He seemed to hear it at every step. The
wind seemed to hiss it in his ear; the
thunder roarcd it to the world: the sky
scowled az him through the trees and
sent its blacklist shadows to hide his
crime from sight.
Thief -
At The base of a great, towering oak
he threw his burden down. 1T is a
lic,' ne cried, looking around the place
as if expecting an audience and in an
swer to an accusation It's lie. /
never was thief! Aus fair in war;
Then he knelt down and pried the
iron I'D open WIN an aA.
Gold, sure enough gold and silver
That amounted to thousands of dollars.
Into the glittering mass he thrust his
hand the hand of thief
"A curse upon it, he cried, throwing
/ back the coin and spurning the box
with his foot IN bury it here. =
In the gloom, which was fast deepen
ing into darkest night, he dug a grave
for the ill-gotten gold and buried it
i deep. He dared not touch it then-his
conscience, his honor, his honesty
gained the mastery for the time.
He turned to go, but he had not re-
4 treated twenty yards when his eyes
4 were blinded by keen flash Of light
+ followed by deafening peal of thun-
/ der. A limb from the oak, where he
I had hid the treasure, came crashing
\ down. lie turned and saw that light
ming had struck the tree and ringed a
track around it.
u shall know that tree again. he
said ''and remember this scene-this
incident forever
And then he passed ont Of the wood.
out of the wood and out OF Georgia
passed on with the victorious army,
fighting the battles of the union, until
peace was declared and victors ard
vanquished laid down their arms and
sought their longforsaken ZONES
But the secret of that treasure, hid
den in the Georgia woods, weighed
heavily upon the soldiers mind. Near
w two years had passed since he had
seen that thunder blasted tree where he
had left a fortune Had anyone dis
covered it? 1t was possible But per-
haps they had not. The oak might
still be guarding its secret faithfully.
He resolved to return to Georgia. IL
the gold was there, and the rightful
owner could be found, he would return
it to him. If no one could prove clear
title to it. why-it would be his.
So. with these thoughts he returned
to the scenes he remembered 50 we'll
returned to find the old house standing.
as on the day when his reckless com
panions forced an entrance and
caroused within its walls. In the
neighborhood he obtained the informa-
ton that the house was owned by Col.
Broadwel1. a veteran of the Mexican
was, a widower, who lived there with
his only daughter; that he had also
lived there during the war, and was
now great Y reduced in circumstances.