The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-07-27

WouIo %. ~ deal Of un0osin0oe W0 mlo2
neighbors, In being poor and Iowix for
what u riches but summit that tbe moth
and rust doth corrupt and thieves break
through 70 steal, AZ the good book ssysf"
"Old Neddy didn't intend thieves -
bresh through, at any rate" ssid Moo
dsmus. "I've heard II ssid that yon
Lone Ash farm had moro bolts and bars
about 10 than all the rest Of tho houses In
tho parish put together. He ussd TO go
sound IL every night ~ soon ~ II got dark
and fastcn everything with his own hands
When that was done, no used to lock him
Dolf into the little parlor'--
"Aye," said Matthew, interrupting Mo
OdeInus, with an evident desire " roll
somo tidbit Of the story of his own tongue.
AYE, and for whatY For the carnal de-
light Of counting hls goldi Used ~ pile
up the golden soycreigns In nvcs and tens
and twonties and hftios and hundrcdsi
And they did say that thc--wyll, the old
northumberland tO come To him and tell
him how To get moro gold"
II know one thing" said Benjamin
Tripp, after tho silence which followed
Matthew's terrible suggestion, THAT
there room IL haunted. II you go up there
OIL windy night and listen at the win
dow, you can hear old Ncddy counting his
gold--clink, clink, clink, IL goes"
AYE" said Nicodemus, "Pye heard say
90, neighbor. There's curious things, Of
course, In life and death, though don't
hold with ghosts I'm 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 I'm ono 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 1t, as is now well known to all people
that herea bout do dwell"
ITO be an example unto all" said Nat
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, az the good book truly
says"
"You sce," 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 q likely hiding place, and he found one
In the cburchyard. How he found IL is
more than anybody knows"
II know" said Benjamin Tripp. "He
was led to It,"
"Neighbor Tripp," said Nicodemus,
"means that the evil one pointed 1t out
to him."
"Cert'n'y," said Benjamin.
swell, maybe he did. However, old
Neddy must have been spying round the
churchyard and he found o hole behind a
bed OF ncttles-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 II they knew the vault was
| there
(which in this case they didn't, said
I Matthew.
And so he carried his money there
| golden pounds and silver crowns
| "AIl 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 doub,
Thought they were as safe as il they d been
In the Bank of England"
oater-luucn SaIer, ulurmureu MAJ
thew.
"Well," resumed Nicodemus, "and SO
they were. But ono night when old Neddy
had crept into the vault to look at 'em OF
happen to add TO his store, the earth and
| the stones fell in, and he was buried
| alive
"a Judgment" said Matthew.
"He must have heard the stones about
to fall, though" continued Nicodemus
"for they found him in this way. Nobody
could make out what had got him, but one
| day old Mrs. Hoppe was poking about that
bed of nettles and she saw human hand
sticking out of tho rubbish against the
cbancel wall So they dug and delved,
and there was old Neddy and his gold OH
the squire's coffin. And / think that's
all, though, Of course, as parson says,
there's a moral In the story"
"Ah, indeed" said Matthew, "and a
very improving one, for he truly carried
his gold to the very gates of death, as the
saying goes, but not u penny beyond 'eml l''
-COlliers Weekly