The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-09-02


After the investigation he felt cal1ner
and went TO bed for the night.
The next morning, contrary to his
usual neatness, no left the broom In its
corner and tho room continued to pre-
sent very dilapidnted appearance. In
the afternoon after returning from class
he seated himself in his chair and gazed
listlessly at the heap of rubbish on the
floor. STOPPING forward he took up q
bit of broken plastering and slowly
picked it to pieces, thinking of Mary
and wondering if the DAY would ever
brighten.
He had been pursuing this aimless &C.
cupation for some time when suddenly
he observed that the face of the pieco
which he held in his hand was less dis
colored than that which surrounded the
edge Of the broken patch. He drew his
chair closer to the wall, and on examin-
ing found that hole had once been
made through the lathing about a foot
square. The pieces had afterward been
spliced and new coat of plastering
overlaid. His curiosity was now excited
to know the object Of the opening, so he
brought hammer from a chest and pro-
ceeded to draw the nails. After remov-
ing the pieces he reached in and began
to explore. There was nothing to be
found, however, SO he washed his hands
and began to clear away the debris.
AS he was about to replace the pieces
OF lath no thought he saw string hang
ing down into the cavity. He reached
his hand again into the opening, took
hold OF the filaInent and pulled, but it
promptly broke. He examined the
fibers and discovered that it was an old
piece of silk cord, now extremely rotten
and discolored. He became more curl
Gus and resolved to trace the mystery to
its source. He reached his hand into
the cavity as fur SIS he could, following
the cord. Again he pulled, and this
time it resisted and he felt something
at the other end move slightly. He
gave stronger pull, but the cord broke,
this time at its point of attachment.
He improvised hook by driving a
nail into the end of piece of board.
and with this succeeded in drawing
something toward him. Finally he was
able to reach the object. He drew it in
front of the opening, and with both
hands lifted an old mahogany box out
upon the floor. For some time he sat
staring at it in curious suspense.
well. you are a queer fish in queer
waters" said Severn to himself with
suppressed excitement. II guess you
must have lost your bearings or YOU
would never have been swallowed by
this shark Of wall. I'll find out what's
inside Of you ut any rate" and taking
up hammer he struck the old lock a
heavy blow. He struck it again and
again. but finally it broke and the lid
flew open.
Severn drew back in establishment and
wonder, for his eyes rested upon O large
leathern bag. and beside it were two
bars OF gold. With trembling hands he
loosened the strings of tho sack and
opened it to find it full of gold coins.
There were several compartments IN the
chest In one he found sparkling row
Of rings. and as he held them up to tn.
light he saw by their brilliancy that
they were diamonds Of rare value. He
found some papers that purported pos
session OF large amount of English
property in one Cyrus Holloway, great
grandfather Of the present landlord.
There was an inventory Of the contents
OF the box, and the amount counted ND
into the hundreds Of thousands.
He was overw helmed by the disoov-
cry and sat down to collect his thoughts
He remembered now of having once
heard that MIR. Holloway had come of
wealthy ancestry, but that during tho
Revolutionary war the largest part oe
the property had been lost, and that the
fortune of the present MIR. Holloway
was mostly of his own acquisition.
There could be no doubt but that the
box belonged by right to his landlord,
but the temptation was terrible. There
was no chance OF discovery if he kept it
himself, and besides it could add no
material happiness to its legitimate
owner, for he already had sufficiency.
TO Severn it represented all the CON-
forts of life. He could pay all his debts.
free his fathers farm from the mortgage.
complete his education and afterward
provide home for Mary.
The perspiretion stood in beads on
his forehead as he struggled against the
temper. Finally he rose and with com
pressed lips donned his hat, and locking
the door behind him he turned his steps
toward Mr.. Holloway's.
"Of course it's mine. every cent of
it" said Mr.. Holloway. when an hour
later he stood before the opened box.
His eyes CLEANED with satisfaction as
he beheld the contents. He tucked the
box under his coat and, left the house
with an admonition to Severn to keep
quiet for few weeks.
Severn felt intensely relieved. ~
have been saved from worse fate than
poverty" he thought as he sat down to