Evening star., 1896-12-26

debris. 1t was safe-so was his Secretion
1t need not, perhaps, be stated here that
Johnny had told the truth and had honest
ly found the gold! But where-yes, that
was his own secret, And now, Johnny,
with the instinct of all young animals, dis
missed the whole subject from his mind,
and. reclining comfortably upon his arm.
fell into an interesting study of the habits
of the red ant as exempliffed in a crack
of the adobe wall, and with the aid of a
burnt match succeeded in diverting for the
rest of the afternoon the attention of a
whole laborious colony.
The next morning. however, brought trou-
BILE to him in the curiosity of his sisters,
heightened by their belief that he could at
any moment be taken on to prison-which
was their understanding of their mothers s
story. / grieve to say that to them this in
vested him with a certain romantic hero
ism, from the qualification of which the
hero himself was not exempt. Neverthe-
less. he successfully evaded their ques-
tioning. and on broader impersonal grounds.
AS girls, 1t was none of their business! He
wasn't a-goin' to tell them his secrets!
And what did they know about gold, any
way? They couldn't tell 1t from brass!
The attitude of his mother was, however,
still perplexing. She was no longer active:
ly indignant, but treated him with a mys-
terious reserve that was the more appall-
ing. The fact was that she no longer be-
lieved in his theftIndeed, she had never
seriously accepted it-but his strange reti-
cence and secretiveness piqued her curiosi-
ty, and even made her a little afraid of
him. The capacity for keeping a secret
she believed was manlike, and reminded
her-for no reason In the world-of Jim
Medliker, her husband whom she feared.
Well. she would let them fight 1t out be-
tween them. More than that, she was
finally obliged to sink her reserve In en-
ploying him in the necessary Chores for
the house, and he was sent on an errand to
the country store at the crossroads. But
he first extracted his gold flake from the
wall and put 1t in his pocket.
On arriving at the store 1t was plain even
to his boyish perceptions that the minister
had circulated his miserable story. Two or
three Of the customers spoke to each other
In whisper, and looked at him. More
than that, when he began his homeward
journey he saw that two of the loungers
were evidently following him. Half in tim
idity and half in boyish mischief he once
.snatched a fearful Joy in observing their
equal divergence. AS he passed Mr.. Sta
pies house he saw that reverend gentle
man sneak out Of his back gate. and. with
out seeing the two others, join in the inquis-
itorial procession. But the events of the
past day had had their quickening effect
upon Johnnys intellect. A brilliantly
wicked thought struck him. AS lie was
passing perfectly bare spot on the road
he managed, without being noticed, TO cast
his glittering flake of gold on the sterile
ground al the other side of the road, where
the minister's path would lie. Then, at a
himself in the brush. The Rev. Mr.. Staples
hurried forward as he lost sigha of the 10y
in the sweep of the road, but halted sud
denly Johnnys heart leaped The r,inis-
ter looked around him, stopped, picked up
the pieces of gold, thrust 1t hurriedly in his
waiscoat pocket, and continued his way
When he reached the turn of the road, be-
fore passing it he availed himself of his
solitude to pause and again examine the
treasure. and again return IL to his rocket
But, to Johnny's surprise, he here turned
back, walked quickly to the spot where he
had found it, carefully examined the To-
cality, kicking the loose soil and stones
around with his feet until he had appar-
emily satisfied himself that there was nc
| more, and no gold-bearing indications in
the SOIL AT this moment, however, the two
other inquisitors came in sight and Mr.
Staples turned quickly and hurried on Be.
fore he had passed the brush where Johnny
was concealed the two men overlook him
and exchanged greetings. They both spoke
or Johnny and his crime. Of having fol
| lowed him with view of finding out where
| he went 10 procure his gold, and of his
having again evaded them. Mr.. Staples
agreed with their purpose. but. to Johnny's
Intense astonishment. said nothing about
| his own fnd! When they had passed on the
boy slipped from his place of concealment
and followed them at a distance until his
own house came in view. Here the two
men diverged, but the minister confinle
on toward the other store" and post offics
on the main road.
He would have told his mother what he
had seen. and his surprise that the minis.
| Ter mad not spoken of finding the gold Il
by his mothers attitude toward him, which
was clearly the same as the minister's and
second. by the knowledge that she would
have condemned his dropping the gold IN
the minister's path. though he knew moi