The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-11-25
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Nov, Nicer Alec, as you have be-
haved handsomely toward me, | wish to
treat you equally well. We will go into
partnership over the undertaking;
win find all the money requisite to hire
labor to clear away the wild growth of
the place aud dig up the ground. and
we will share equally of the profits Of
whatever we may find. DO you consent
to ths?"
Sure, the sahib is much too gener-
GUS" replied he.
1T must be our business to keep as
quiet as We possibly can over the mat
ter. once we let IT get wind that we
are seeking for treasure people will
come flocking about us. and it may
end In the government laying claim to
whatever we discover. since the land
Is crown property. Where are we to
get say half dozen good trustv fell
lows, who may be relied upon to keep
their own counsel?"
"If the sahb will leave it to me,
will undertake by tomorrow to find six
such men, who will eat of my chupat-
tees, and swear to secrecy"
Directly after breakfast set out for
the Ram-Bagh, clad in Il suit of khar-
kee and knee boots, useful working
costume in a hot climate.
In due course the half-dozen natives
my servant had hired arrived. They
were stout, likely looking fellows, and
came well armed with shovels and
pickaXes.
We set to work i'm real earnest and
by the hour of noon, when ! called a
matt to rest, the coolies had cleared
away a broad space Of land extending
the whole width of the bagh. The num-
Der of snakes, chiefly Cobras. which
lay hidden in the tall grass, was in
credible
The shape of the Ram-Ba was
nearly square, and my idea was to
start by digging trench about four
feet deep close up against the wall
whence we began cutting down the
growth and work our way from this
turning up the soil till we had covered
the whole length of the garden
Nicer Alec, who was himself the most
enthusiastic among the workers. turned
the coolies to atresh after a short in
terNal and they labored on with but
| little pause until sundown. All was
| now in readiness to begin digging and
! am free To confess ii was with no
small degree of anticipation that, on
| the following morning. | set the ma
tives to work upon the trench | have
| already spoken of.
| The coolies toiled on for several hours
| without lighting upon anything more
| than some fragments of broken pot
terry; then we came to our first find.
| This was neither money nor tcwclry
| but an elephant The animal laid upon
| It's side about yard below the sur
| race. pressed as fiat as board and in
| a wonderfully good state of preserva-
ton.
our roN discovery. made some yards
a way from the spot where we had come
| upon IN" elephant was of more well
c'ne character. 1t consisted of a long
| hcrKed, brown earthenware vase, of
| III" si~c of a large melon.
The neck of it was filled with clay.
| but on handling it the weight Of the
thinG gave us to know that it was full
| or some heavy substance. | took a
| pickaX" from one Of the natives and
| by a cautiously directed blow shatter-
| ed the vase: the river fragments flew
! asundcr and out rolled q mass of gold
! coins.
But during the rest Of the morning
we discovered nothing more. save a
| larg" jadestcnc statue of some ancient
native god, which was so damaged
| that I left it,
a thought came into my head while
the little gang We're taking their mid
daV rest and eating their mcalies un-
der the shadow Of the bagah wall. I
strolled toward the ruins of the tenn
| pie and entered.
| The flags were laid not close toge-
ther, but at intervals of a couple of
inches apart, the intcrstices between
| being filled uD flush with dust.
| In sweeping aside the rubbish | had
taken notice of a long rusty iron
| spike, like ten-pcnny nail. ! picked
| il up and STOPPING down. ran il alonc
the chinks between the tagging of the
| floor.
Out spurted quantity of dirt. scat
tcring itself right and left, and-could
| / believe my eyes"-Gmong the grains
Of dust there relied forth q number of
pearls.
| About twenty | think there were
| None of them were very large or of
! great value, but there could be nc
| shadow of doubt hut that they were
! genuine gems, ana if the floor of the
temple was going to disgorge Jewels
in this manner there might be many
magnificent prizes among them.
| put the pearls | had gathered up
! carefully i'm my coat pocket. stepped
back again into the bagh, and bec',on-
| ed 20 Nicer Alec.
| II have good news to tell YOU" said
] subduing my voice, though excite
ment was now working deeply i'm me:
81 have discovered where the real
treasure of the Ram bagh lies"
1T is beneath the floor of the temple.
Look what ! have just found among the
iagstones there" and, drawing forth
a handful Of pearls, | exposed them
to his view.
We found that the tiles, which were
about two feet square, needed little ef-
fort to raise them; if they had ever
been cemented, the stuff had crumbled
away long ago.
Almost the very first blow Of the
shovels into the Welding ground gave
back sharp, metallic clink.
They began gingerly scrapng away
the soil, and presently uncovered what
| proved to be a most beautiful model OF
a pagoda i'm pure gold, and, rs | after
| ward found of Chinese workmanship
We were three days in lifting all the
tiles and searching the soil underneath.
| one evening, while we We're still work
ing in the garden, my friend the COM
| missioner drove over after dinner 10
visit me at my bungalow. lie present
| ly said: Have you got any treasure
| yet from that dirty cd spOt?'
And then | produced one If the little
golden images and about a dozen coins.
| / set these upon the table baforA him