The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1893-03-25

ground thrust my arm Into the hol
up to the very shoulder.
"And now comes the strangost par
Of the whole story. As true as yo
live, Fremont, I felt the hard. col
corner OF metallic box far in unde
that great bowlder In the old Yves
pasture.
| "'What did you do nextT aske
Fremont, with q good deal more In
terest than he had yet exhibited.
II neither did nor said anything
I was very peculiar child. ant
somehow or other / felt afraid. di,
not know but might have found
CONN or something OF that sort, an,
so 1 called Mabel and hastily left thu
place. ! presume II was more thar
half o dozen years before ! ever ven
tured near 'thN part Of the pastur,
again.
"The first time heard tho story o.
great-grsndmother Hackett's buried
treasure this adventure OF my child
hood came back to me with startling
distinctness. There certainly was a
oxupon the premises, and buried
under q great stone, just as the old
lady.had always declared in her raw
ings. i had not q doubt then that
there was @ good deal more Of truth
In them than people were disposed to
admit. and that myself had acct
dentally stumbled upon the long-con-
cealed wealth.
with q beating heart hurried
out into the old West pasture in
search OF the Golfer, but alas! / was
doomed to disappointment. could
not remember in what portion OF it
the rock was situated, nor even how
it looked.
There were acres Of land that all
appeared just alike. and were oil
thickly strewn with huge boulders;
and In the years that had elapsed
thick scrub pines had grown up and
covered the ground so completely
that in places it was almost impossi-
BILE to find ones way through them.
The stone ! sought was still more cf-
fectually concealed by the great, rank
ferns that filled every crevice be-
tween the roots OF the trees, and
buried the earth in thick layer OF
green and feathery fronds. Seek as l
would the stone was not to be found.
and to this day l have never been
able to locate it."
'.All your Imagination, Ella" re-
joined her husband, "You must have
felt square corner of the rock, that
was all. No one would have been so
foolish as to conceal treasure cas-
ket in such an unheard-of place."
Ella Lincoln only shook her head,
She was far from being convinced,
but she would not argue the matter
further, and the pressure of many
cares soon drove it entirely from the
minds of both.
The weeks rolled by and one more
month would witness the foreclosure
of the mortgage and transform the
once happy Lincoln family into so
many paupers. Only Eve days and
$4,000 worth OF insurance policies
must be forfeited for the lack OF
single payment.
it is too late" groaned the unhappy
man. 1.-The price Of my life would
place Ella and the baby in possession
OF comparative wealth. As for me,
am only useless burden and shall be
for long time to come. Oh, il
could only die now!" And then a
dark, dishonorable thought crept into
the desperate brain Of the despairing
man.
".If could only die" can"
But how? Self-destruction would
also forfeit the policies, and so the
sacrifice OF his life would be all in
vain. Could not the manner in which
he came to his death be effectually
concealed?
Slowly the dark plan grew and
took shape in his mind. An acct
dental death would draw the insur-
ance just the same. Could it not be
made to seem an accidentp
81 am going out cunning. Ella,
said he to his young wife the next
day. IL can manage to get around
considerably now, and il l can only
shoot something we will be sure OF at
least one more good dinner before we
are turned out to perish in the high
way"
Again and again did Fremont Lin
coin kiss the sweet face Of the uncon-
scious little one that lay in the cradle,
and his parting embrace to his wife
was given with all the impassioned
energy Of despair. She little knew
that 1t was destined to be their last
parting upon earth.
Slowly and painfully the feeble and
emaciated man drew himself over the
fence, and disappeared from the low
ing gaze Of his wife among the thick
growth Of pines in old West pasture.
Neither heart nor foot faltered, and
yet his dark purpose Of self-destruc-
ton was firm and unchanged. FIRE.
mont Lincoln was going to his death,
and he knew 1t.
1T is for Ella and the baby" he
muttercd. as he pressed forward rs