Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-08-26

| Aftoi the investigation ho felt calmer
| and went TO bed for tho night.
The next morning, contrary to hrs
usual neatnoss. ho left the broom il its
| corner and tho room continued 10 pro-
sent q very dilapldsted aDpearanca. In
the afternoon after returning from class
he seated himself Ina his chair and gazcd
listlessly at the heap Of rubbish on the
floor. STOPPING forward he took mp u
Dlt OF broken pIastering ana Slowly
picked IL to pieces. thinking Of Mary
and wondering If the day would ever
brighten,
He had been pursuing this aimless oc-
cupation for some time when suddenly
no observed that the face Of the piece
which he held In his hand was loss die
oolored than that which surrounded the
edge Of the broken patch. He drew his
chair closer TO tho wall. and on exarnin-
ing found that Q hole had once been
mado through tho lathing about q foo;
square The pieces had afterwaTd been
spliced and q new coat Of plasterfng
overlaid. His curiosity was now excited
to know tho object OF the opening. NO he
brought "a hammer from a chest and pro
ceedcd to draw the nails. After remov-
ing the pieces no reached In and began
10 explore. There was nothing 10 b.
found, however. 10 he washed his hands
and began 70 clear away the debris-
Az he was about 10 replace the pieces
Of lath he thought he saw string hang-
Ing down into tho cavity. He reached
his hand again into the opening, took
hold Of the flament and pulled. but 1t
promptly broke. He examined tho
fibors and discovered that IL was an old
piece Of silk cord, now extremely rotten
and discolored He became more curl
ous and resolved 30 trace the mystery to
It's source. Lie reached his hand into
the cavity ~ far M be could, following
tho cord. Again he pulled. and this
time II resisted and he felt something
al the other end move slightly. He
gave q stronger pull, but the cord broke,
this time at its point Of attachment
he improvised hook by driving q
nnil 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 II 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 IL in curious suspense.
"Well. you are queer fish In queer
vaters,' SAID Severn to himself with
suppressed excitement. II guess you
must have lost your bearings OF you
would never have been swallowed by
this shark OF wall III find ont what's
inside OF you at any rate" and taking
up hammer no struck the old lock q
heavy blow. He struck 1t again and
again, but finally 1t broke and the lid
few open
Severn drew back In astonishment and
wonder, for his eyes rested upon large
hathern bag. and beside 1t were two
bars Of gold With trembling hands he
loosened the strings Of the sack and
opened II 10 find 1t full Of gold coins.
There were several compartments IN the
chest. In one he found n sparkling row
Of rings. and as he held them up to the
hight he saw by their brillmncy that
they were diamonds Of rare value. He
found some papers that purported pos
session Of a 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 up
into the hundreds Of Thousands.
He was overw helmed by the discov-
cry and sat down to collect his thoughts
He remembered now Of having once
heard that Mr.. Holloway had come Of
wealthy ancestry. but that during the
Revolutionary war the largest part Of
the property had been Lost, and that the
fortune Of the present Mr.. Holloway
was mostly Of his own acquisition
There could DO no doubt but that the
box belonged by right 10 his landlord,
but the temptation was terrible. There
was no chance Of discovery II he kept 1t
himself, and besides 1t could add no
material happiness 10 its legitimate
owner, for he already had sufficiency.
To Severn 1t represented all the com
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 perspiration stood In beads on
his forehead az he struggled against the
tempter. Finally he rose and with CON-
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
1t. said Mr.. Holloway. when an hour
later he stood before the opened box
His eyes CLEANED with satisfaction az
he beheld the contents. He tucked the
box under his coat and left the house
with an admonition 10 Severn to keep
quiet for few weeks.
Severn felt intensely relieved. 81
have been saved from a worse fate than
poverty" he thought as he sat down to
his books.
That evening Mr.. Holloway's agent
called 70 announce that Severn would
10 allowed time on his loan and that no
might have much better room in one
Of his new houses, with unlimited time
for the payment Of rent
Severn was overjoyed; no sent the
money 70 his mother, moved into his
new quarters and afterward, by mys-
terious good luck, secured lucrative
work, by means Of which he completed
his course In college very comfortably
On the day Of graduation Mr.. Holloway
met him at the door Of tho church, and
after grunting him congratnlation in
vited him to call tho next morning ut