The Russellville Democrat., 1893-11-09

n the seareh. and az many became oHerded as slAear refusal to conSde ia them this secret. h she nesghb0rhoed there 1 lived . quesr sort of fellow, Ee wAs Absut forty years old, but with long hair { sn2 unshsFsn face. locked t9 be much older. He lived in the woods ln 2 little ! Iox hut, huntad ard Eshed for B living Billie Brxv for that WAS this strange mzn name, beard Albert Ssewart one day boasting thxt If he had the naAmoranda or key to the Maxrell treasure that the three old gray haired men had. that he could soon find #, by mAsh s-nstscal rule that he had learned At college. { Bray also knez all about the rivalry exist- 1 ing be. ween Stewart and BroEn- Ii may also t.e added that his sympsthies were with Jonas Brown; 90, meeting hiu one day, Bray made free to tell him s. and wound up by telling Jonas to leave II all to him. that notwithstanding He BrEv1 wss failure naarrirsonisily ke had rendered aid to others, and had more than once pil0ted yo1ng couples font of the woods. <
 Bray then went home to his little log eatsn in the edge Of 4l- -ze==2s and began loels.-z .ss.sa 0ld fnusty papers. Finally ; nsding blank sheet of paper to an old deed bs tore 1t from the legal instrument. He then cloaed the doors and began writ- ing. When hs had finished 1t he dsmPsnsd the paper, held il to the fire until dry, and then held II to the lamp and burned one corDer of. He fssn passed # through other rnauipuIAfions until 1t had the Gp psaranee of an old worn instrument. He then opened ii and read aa follows.
 Begin al pine tree =, step ten yards due north; said pine tree being nearly south from house No. 4, half mile from Carnega Bluff.
 ssJoHx 4. MUB-9 fTne letters 'srel'' had been burned of asl think this will do. l must now ret ont and do the balance said Bray to hifs1 elf. IL was now about midnight. and going ho the corner of his cabin he .&elee<sd large kettle or pot. He then { went a-ais Suek patch and selecting { cabbage head large enough to fill the pot, { and taking his spade, pot and cabbage passed out through this little clearing into { the woods; nor did he stop until Ae came ! to the old field near the CaT1egz Bluff. | Arriving at the place he could gee the little mound which vas once the dirt chimney to the log cabin, which tradition had ' handed down to us as one of the places of rendezvous of Marrell and his men. Near { tbe little mound of dirt stood the loRe pine, its limbs and leaves making the ' solemn, ghostly and Inournful sound as the | autumn winds passed through it's branches. l From this pine tree Bray stepped of the ! proper distance, as indicated in his old lf9 :! paper, he dug hole and placed the cabbage { in the hole, placing the pot inserted in the ground over the cabbage, and covering il all up, he returned home. Bray l .E @1 obliserate all signs of fresh ] digging in the ground. The morning after ! the rain Billie Bray made it convenient to meet Albert Stewart. Seeing him coming { down the road Bray stopped as if picking up something of the ground, and when ! Albert Stewart came up Bray had the diree- tions or key to the Murren treasure in his hands looking al it. "Can you make any sense out of thisf can [ understand 1t, '' 1 said Bray, handing it to Stewart to read. Steward took it and began reading. Bray watched to see what effect 1t had. From the expression on Stewards face Bray saw it had the desired effect, and 1 turning walked away, remarking 10 Stew art 10 tear 1t up or throw it away when read. Stewart did neither; he placed it in 1 his pocket and hurried to Bettie Jones to 1 tell her how near he was to fortune and 1 fame. The next day Ste xart took Bray : into his confidence and told him he wanted him to assist in the digging at Carnega Bluff.
 1 Bray told his secret to two of his in timate friends, and set the night when the ! treasure would be uuearthed apd he be 1 made rich in the twinkling of an eye. He assured Bray and the two others that he would pay them handsomely.
 Stewart confided his joke to five or six of | Jonas Browns best friends, and they all agreed to secrete themselv near the scene ] of action, with COW beIls, horns and tin pans, with the understanding that when l they saw lantern or torch wave in the | air, they would break to the pot and 1 cabbage. The night came, and Albert ! Stewart, Billie Bray and the two others met at the bluff, thence to the old field where the log cabin once stood. Stewart | stepped to the '.pine tree" which core l sponded with the key. He then stepped of ten steps due north.
 Bray stepped with Stewart to see l that the measurement came out right, at the proper place. They then began digging. | The cool October breezes whistled through the woods close by, but the winds moaned, ] through the branches of the low pine tree. 1 It was an appropriate hour of night sfor ghosts and goblius, and the noise of the wind through the low pine seemed as if 1 trying to impart information to the men digging.
 Every now and then the men would look around, thinking they heard some one. Satisfying themselves that it was only the wind they resumed digging.
 Stewart was very nervous, in fact it was enongh to make him lose his equilibrium when the prospects of fortune was 50 near his grasp.
 After digging for about two minutes a spade struck something hard. Stewart and Bray came near falling to the ground Bray with laughter and Stewart from excitement. A few more spades of dirt was removed and the pot was exposed to full view. Stewart grabbed the pot and raised it from the ground and lo-a cab bage head.
 unobserved by Stewards crowd gave the lantern whirl in the air and here came the crowd from ambush, with the tin pans, horns and bells, running up to the hole They saw the pot and cab bage, they looked at Stewart and then gave yell at the top of their voices. This was too much for Albert Stewart; he fled from them and the next day left the coun- try without SO much as calling to see and bid farewell to pretty Bettie Jones.
 
 Two months later Jonas Brown and Bettie Jones were married and Billie Bray went to live with them.
 The two old gray-haire men came back the next year and searched for the buried treasure, but were not rewarded for tseir asearch, and in the year 1885 made their last visit to this locality, doubtless giving up the hunt in despair and disgust.
 Ten years have gone, long and eventful years aEd many. Mir. and Mrs. Jonas Brown still live near the Carnega Bluff. The story of the cabbage joke" is abont forgotten. Billie Bray has been dead several years and was cared for and buried