The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-09-28
THE
Bill0p MysteryA
BY JULIAN HAWTHORNE.
Copyright. 1896. by Irving Bachelor
JULIAN HAWTHORNE.

"Oh. land sakes. bless my hear(
quaVered Nancy, who had heard the q
before, but was more scared with evl
repetition. ITO think of my poor, d
Matt all those years! My soul aliver
Il didn't know it was Uncle Matt
that time" continued Tom, giving \
hand to Nellie. to cling to through I
terrOrs of the narrative. "I don
think knew anything till found M
self out In the open air at the mouth
the cave. No boy ever was more frigl&
ened than /, and lived through 1t.
lay awake the rest of the night. in
succession Of cold sweats, wonderful
what 1t all meant, and what / shouldN
do about 1t. The next morning, before
i had made up my mind, was arrested.
| as you remember, and SO was prevented
from doing anything
But / thought it over and over. for
years afterwards, and it gradually be-
came clearer to me. The body must be
that of Uncle Matt. The box of money,
| of course, was his. he kept 1t there for
safety, and perhaps, used to go up
there to count 1t over as folks of his
peculiar temperament are said to en-
joy doing. That evening he disap-
peared, saying he was going to see Cor
win, he must have gone up there to get
the deed for the ten thousand dollars;
but he died while he was up there,
whether by apopleXy, or how, of course
we shall never know. All we do knOwI
is that old Corvin didn't murder him.
From some of the indications there ].
should judge that this secret place was
known to the Billops for may be gen-
| erations back; they made 1t and used II
to keep valuables in, or foi whatever
purpose might arise. The knowledge
of 1t may have been handed down from
fat hat To, 1.,,t nj nj hox iy,.ep
no son, the secret would have died with
him. but for the accident Of my finding
1t out.
Now, when was ready to come back
here, under the name of Morford, and
clean things up, was rather bothered
| how to go to work. l visited th4 tree
again. and found everything juSt as
| before; and noticed, among the things
| up there. an old broken-down accordion,
| and sort of speaking trumpet, that
| puzzled me at first until l concI uded
| they must have been used by tncle
| Matt to make his ghost-manifestd5t 5tions
| with, by way, l suppose, of addit ional
security against having his Aidir
place disturbed. That gave me any1dea
and ! bought new accordion. hal
| learned that Corvin was going I'd fors
close his mortgage; of course | vnjg
| have come out in my own colo lrs
once and paid it off, but had re -
| for waiting to do things in ano.herv
| So the night the money was due.
| the accordion and climbed up III the
| took enough money out of the b11
| lit in a strong paper bag. and n
| fast by a string to the ned of q
jointed fishing-pole had brought
| Then, after playing on the acc
until knew l had caught your
| tion, climbed out of the hole in
of the chamber, and got out on "
and dropped the bag down the
ney After that i said few w
through the old speaking trumpet
settle any scruples of conscience
might feel; stuck the deed where
might find 1t when l took her up
next day, and went home. You
the rest
"Then there were no fairies,
/ Nellie. with sigh.
Not that time, perhaps; bu
| doesn't prove there may not be pl
them when they are needed
you've not told about Pete
Nancy.
"Oh, to be sure! I ran acros!
Peter in New York; he was dying
sumption and hadn't cent in his
! cts. / got him good bed in hosl
| and used to go and see him. One
| he told me the truth about that rol
He had put up the job on me, aS
pressed it, whether with or VIII
, fathers connivance, he didn't say
had put my knife where it was for rhd
| (having first stolen it from mel. and
| had put the money and things in. my
| pocket while we had been in bathing.
He not only told me this. but he in
sisted upon having lawyer up there
| to take down his statement in legal
| form, so that it would be evidence to
| clear me in court. He was very peni.