Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-08-27

would be. A deal of uneasiness we miss,
neighbors, in being poor and lowly, for
what is riches but summit that the moth
and rust doth corrupt and thieves break
through to steal, as the good book saysf''
"Old Neddy didn't intend thieves to
break through, at any rate" said Nico-
demus. GIVE heard it said that yon
Lone Ash farm had more bolts and bars
about it than all the rest of the houses in
the parish put together He used to go
round it every night as soon as it got dark
and fasten everything with his own hands.
When that was done, he used to lock him
self into the little parlor''-
"Aye, said Matthew, interrupting Mic
odemus, with an evident desire to roll
some tidbit Of the story off his own tongue
"Aye, and for what? For the carnal de-
light of counting his gold Used to pile
up the golden soyereigns in fiyes and tens
and twenties and ffties and hundreds!
And they did say that the-well, the old
gentleman-used to come to him and tell
him how to get more gold"
81 know one thing" said Benjamin
Trip, after the silence which followed
Matthew's terrible suggestion, THAT
there room is haunted. If you 60 up there
OH windy night and listen at the win
dow, you can hear old Neddy counting his
gold-clink, clink, olink, 1t goes.
"Aye," said Nicodemus, "I've heard say
80, neighbor. There's curious things, of
course, in life and death, though don't
hold with ghosts in general. However, /
was about to tell our young friend here
that old Neddy got very uneasy about his
money and cast about)for safe keeping
place for it. He wouldn't have aught to
do with banks, because Timothy Green
had put his savings in one that broke and
these safes that rich folk use nowadays to
keep their money in were not in such gen
eral use then. They say that he used to
hide heaps of money about the house in
holes and corners and under the floors,
but at last he hit on curious hiding place
for it, as is now well known to all people
that herea bout do dwell.'
"To be an example unto all, said Mat
thew, "that they might profit thereby and
guard themselves against greed and cupid
ity and the love Of money, which is the
root of all evil, as the good book truly
says"
"You see," continued Nicodemus who
took advantage of Matthew's Interrupt
tions to dip his nose into his pint mug,
'old Neddy had looked about the parish
for likely hiding place, and he found one
in the ohurchyard. How he found it is
more than anybody knows
II know" said Benjamin Trip. "He
was led to it,"
"Neighbor Trip" said Nicodemus,
"means that the evil one pointed it out
to him"
"Cert'n'y," said Benjamin.
"Well, maybe he did. However, old
Neddy must have been spying round the
churchyard and he found hole behind
bed of nettles-the place was kept in poor
order then, being considerably before my
time-and he discovered that that hole led
to an old vault under the chancel Now,
he reckoned. being sharp hand at think
ing that nobody would look for money in
vault, even if they knew the vault was
there
(Which in this case they didn't" said
Matthew.
"And so he carried his money there
golden pounds and silver crowns
"All tied up in little bags" said Benja-
min Tripp same as farmers use to carry
their samples of grain in to market"
"And he piled 'em up on top of old
Squire Topham's coffin, and no doubt
thought they were as safe as if they d been
in the Bank of England
"Safer-much safer," murmured Mat
thew.
"Well," resumed Nicodemus, land SO
they were. But one night when old Neddy
had crept into the vault to look at EN- or
happen to add to his store, the earth and