Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1895-01-03

4 E~fIED&
beating; for there, under that
shelving rock. was a small opening.
and at the end of : narrow passage
he found heavy door. Pressing
against it with MI his might, the
bolts gave way, and it fell in with
. crash. Taking aat his tinder-
box, he lighted the candle which he
always carried, and entered. The
cave was fashioned by nature or art
into large room. Scattered about
it were articles Of wearing apparel,
and bed-clothes which fell into
| pieces ut q lie was trembl-
ing so that he could no longer
stand. Suppose. after oil, the rob-
bors had removed the money before
their capture. The very tbought
was such sgony that he comnaunced
to crawl around on his hands and
knees to end the suspense, when,
peering into corner, he discerned
the outlines of box.
Tearing of the lid with the i'm
petuosity Of q madman, his eyes
fell on the coveted gold. He took
it mp by the handful, rubbing it up
and down his arms, and over his
face and neck, as though laving in
it. He would have liked to eat it
and drink it, had it been possible.
The sputtering of his candle re-
called him TO himself and, hastily
throwing the treasure in his strong
oak flower basket, he placed over
its top some earth and ferns, and
hurrying home, concealed it in bis
cabin.
PART II.
Honesty was the one part Of Ro-
meo's nature uncontaminated by
his life in the swamp, which prob
ably was more the result of n lack
OF temptation than any inherent
strength Of resistance. This char
acteristic asserted itself on the eve
of his departure--his running away.
Should his present master be COM
pensated for his loss?
He had no idea of the value of
gold, for even in his palmiess days
his wealth did not rise above frac-
tional currency. In his supreme
ignorance his every step was taken
baltingly, ~ one CROPPING lirs the
dark. Selecting one Of the largest
rieces of coin, he asked his mistress
if she would change it for him. ?
"Why, Romeo, this is q Spanish
doubloon," she exclaimed /; "where
did you get it?"
'Foun' it on de creek, he replied
with facile duplicity.
She gave him it's value in silver
nearly sixteen dollars, and he re-
turned to his cabin to complete his
preparations, dazed by the amount
Of his riches. Clumsily, and with
many mistakes, he counted gold to
the amount of $3.50 (the price he
put upon himself), and placing it
in an old hat. he slipped into the
house after the family were asleep,
and set it by his masters bedside.
Then, with his money and few
extra clothes in a rough sack on
his back, he started for his old
home, through the dark, forbidding
forest, with no other guide than the
north star. All night he travelled,
avoiding the road for fear Of de-
lection, and when daylight came,
he called of stiff and sore, TO sleep
like some. wild animal on q bed of
leaves. After he had advanced suf-
ficiently far so that he no longer
feared meeting q familiar face, he
discontinued night travel, and kept
to the public road. Often he lost
his bearings, and had to retrace his
steps. Again, swollen bridge
less creek, or q continuous rain,
would detain bim in some inpro-
vised shelter for days. His food
consisted of wild fruits, and what
he could beg from chance settlers.
AT isst, weak and worn, he reached
Lookout Mountain, from whose
summit he was told could be seen
seven States. Standing on the
point, his eager eyes swept the ho-
rizon--there were mountains every
where, north, south, east, west
how was he ever to fad the one he
was seskingF While wrestling with
this dilemma. he saw approaching
him lady in deep rnourning. So
absorbed was she in her own sad