Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Nev. County, Ark.) 1885-1???, 1891-05-07
THE OAKS SECRET.

1t was when Sherman was "march.
ing through Georgia. A house
which seemed, from its outward ap.
pearance, to have been closed and
barricaded for defense, or deserted
altogether, was surrounded by per
haps a dozen soldiers.
''Get an Az" cried one, land we
will break in the doors"
He had scarcely ceased speaking
before q dozen blows shivered the
panels of the oaken door and made
an entrance for the crowd and one
after another they filed in.
The house had indeed been desert
ed by its former occupants. Much
of the furniture had been removed
certainly all the silver plate and 9TH
er valuables, for nothing of that
character was visible. The men
searched every room in the house.
but found nothing to interest 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 af-
ter 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 ovcrruled by one of the
party-the youngest of them all.
NO" he said, why should we
burn it? 1t has afforded us pleas
ant entertainment, and besides it
may be some poor fellows home who
has lost everything else.
1t was a little strange that this
young man slipped away from his
rccling companions on the way to
camp and returned to the house they
had deserted.
But they would not have thought
1t strange could they have OWNED
his object,
He retraced his steps. In through
the shattered door he passed and de-
scended to the cellar. A 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 protrud-
ed above the level of the floor. His
keen eve had detected this, while his
companions were making merry over
the wine, and it had excited his Gu
riosity and suspicion.
With the assistance of an AK he
succeeded in removing the stone.
The earth beneath it bore evidence
of having been recently disturbed
it was soft and fresh, There was a
spade in the cellar. He seized it and
went to work.
He did not work long before he
discovered 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 treasure, 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 Sc
cret. With some difficulty he lifted
the box aud placed it on his shout
der, 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 storm-low, rum
bli, . thunder and dark clouds gloom
ing in the north. Into the wood the
thief staggered with his heavy bur
den-into the shadow and the silence
where he and his secret would be
safe,
"Thief!" 1t is bitter, burning
word. lie seemed to hear it at every
step. rhc wind seemed TO hiss it in
bis ear; the thunder roared it to the
worid the sky scowled at him
through the trees and sent its black