Birmingham age-herald., 1895-09-08
THE POT OF GOLD.
To the Age.-HeraId:

 just as readily as if we had been to-
 gether yesterday.
 His name was Jonathan Burton. He
 was 50, and Will and I were IA, but we always called him Johnny, perhaps be- cause we liked the name. or for the sake of convenience I do not know whether he minded it or not; if he did, he was too meek to say so. None of the other boys ever dared be so familiar he would have resented from them, but Johnny anu we were chums.
 He seldom wore a coat, at least l do not reeollect how he appeared in such garment. l remember In blue, cotton shirt, jeans trousers drawn far up apout bis body, brogan shoes and small crush hat: moreover, always a merry twinkle in his blue eyes
 He was shoemaker, and our vocation just then was to watch him Work ana wait until he was ready to go a-fshlng. Angling was his hobby, and l think he was sometimes as impatient as we to be | off but he did not show 1t. His work was never neglected nor any promise unful- filed although there was no competition | in the village.
 Johnny knew nothing of stocks and bonds. but he had his dream of wealth. According to old folk lore, the Indians had buried a pot of gold somewhere In | the mountains not far from the Village. | I do not think anybody believed the ru- nor but tommy. f1c lOOh iOb6 | among the ranges, presumably to dlg | ginseng but really he was searching for | the buried treasure However, nopody | knew this but Will and myself. Not that 1 I believed the story, but l liked going with Johnny and listening to ms esrns He told us one day that he had de- scrption of the place where the treasure was buried. From whom he obtained ms information he did not say, but stated | that the gold was hidden in the center or l the space between two huge pouiaers ol | A. peculiar resemblance Near the spot | was a tall beach tree, in the bark or which was cut the figure of an Indian. He had never mentioned the locality | before. I put no faith in the story, put | to my surprise, Will appeared to De greatly interested. .,.. | When Johnny had finished his descrip- | tion will said he knew where the place | was; once when out hunting ne had mo- | ticed the queer shape of the pouloers | The spot was about eight miles from the | village. .s | what will told him and wanted to go | and look for the treasure that night, put | as he was compelled to attend court at | the county town oh the next oay we l were forced to postpone the trip. Ills 1 description only gave information or the | place and not of it's whereabouts and | before communicating with us Johnny | had feared he would not be able to ma | the locality. The county town was some distance
 from the village, but Johnny returned on | the following noon l was at ms sloP l when he arrived and perceived at | glance that he was in fever of excite | ment and impatteiice. His eyes had lost
 their usual twinkle, but gltttered strangely, and the expression or calm imnerturbation had left his face. l knew 1 that he at least expected to find the gold | We left the village about 10 o'clock that l night. The moon was just full and the
 horses made good speed until we reached | the base of the mountain. VIII was uh- | usually quiet, it seemed to me, but then | we all rode silently, which suited Johnny, | who told us no yarns that night. 1 The route was devious and 1t took some time to reach the crest Of the mountain, where we left the horses. Will said it was some distance to the bouiderS | and we found the way rough and diffi- | cult. TO make matters worse, he lost his | way, and we wandered about at random | so that it was after midnight when we | reached our destination.
 The space between the boulders was i large and very broken and rough. It oc- 1 cured to me that we had huge under | taking on hand if the whole ground had | to be searched but Johnny found the tree | and Indian figures without trouble, meas | ured the ground from the boulders until | he was equidistant therefrom and then began to dig rapidly. I helped him while | VIII looked on.
 | After a great deal of labor, Johnny's | pick struck something which gave forth | a metallic sound, and he uttered a cry | of triumph.
 | We've got hit boys" he exclaimed, and continued to dig until an old iron l pot was exhumed. It was encased in a | tow sack, and after we had dragged it l from the hole, Johnny tore the cloth | away, ran his hand into the pot, and | brought out-a quantity of rocks. | Fooled. Johnny, fooledp'
 Will laughed uproarously.
 I understood the matter at once. The l ground seemed remarkably soft and I knew now that Will had buried the pot | that morning. He had based his joke on the caricature of the Indian, which had 1 been cut in the tree a long time before l I knew well Wills propensity for prac- | tical joking, having experienced the con- sequences of some of them before, but | his mien had been so serious on this oc- | casion I did not suspect him. I learned l afterward that he had really known for l a long time of the place where the gold | was alleged to have been secreted and
 had gone carefully over the ground with l out success.
 1 A wandering Indian had told Will of | the locality, probably well knowing that l If the treasure had ever been there it had long since been removed; but at the time it never struck the boy as peculiar | circumstance that the fellow did not go l after the treasure himself instead of in- l forming him as to his whereabouts | gratis.
 | Will understood it, however, when he | found that he had been sent on a wild | goose chase Having been gulled him. l self, perhaps he was readier to play the l joke on Johnny than he might otherwise | have been. The Indian wandered back | to the village occasionally, and it was | from him, at Wills instigation, that | Johnny obtained the longed for infor- 1 nation as to the pot of gold.
 | I had felt sure the trip would amount | to nothing, so was not surprised at the | outcome. Will was mirthful and Johnny | was mad and disappointed. One of the | illusionS of his life had vanished for the | time.
 l Johnny did not speak to either of Ails | again that night; he believed had been | in the secret too The next morning l when we went around to the shop he was l in his usual good humor, and after Will | had artfully explained the joke and ex- | pressed his regret at Johnny's disap- | ~,.tx,0 faI ,;z