Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-12-10
m upon small and insignificant OBJ

that. IL was no common one, assure
you. There are not many hiding places
between Mother James four walls"
I felt myself begin to tremble, with
eagerness, of course.
"I wish I had been given the oppor.
tunity," said I-"that is, II anything
was to be found there"
He seemed to be in a sympathetic
mood toward me, or perhaps-and this
is the likelier supposition-he had a
minute of leisure and thought he could
afford to give himself a little quiet
amusement. However that is, he an
swered me by saying:
"The opportunity Is not lost. You
have been in that cabin and have noted,
have no doubt its extreme simplicity.
Yet it contains, or rather did contain
up till last night, distinct evidences Of
more than one Of the crimes which have
been perpetrated in this lane. "
"Goodl And you want me to guess
where you found them? Well, it's not
fair"
"Ah, and why not?''
Because you probably did not find
them on your first attempt. You had
time to look and change your mind and
look again. am asked to guess at once
and without second trial what, war
rant, it took you several trials to deter.
mine"
"Humphp' He could not help but
laugh. "And why do you think 1t took
me several trials?"
because there is more than one
thing in that room made up Of parts.
"Parts?' He attempted to look puz-
zled, but would not have 1t.
'"You know what mean," I de.
clared; $40 parts, 2s, or whatever the
numbers are she 80 constantly mutters. 1"
His admiration was unqualified and
sincere.
"Miss Butterworth, " said he, "you
are woman after my own heart. How
came you to think that her mutterings
had anything to do with hiding
placer"
because it did not have anything to
do with the amount Of money gave
her. When handed her 25 cents, she
cried, Seventy, 90 and now 10p Ten
what? Not 10 cents or $40, but ten"-
"Why do you stop"
II do not want to risk my reputation
on a guess. There is quilt on the bed
made up Of innumerable pieces. There
is q pavement under foot Of neatly laid
brick"-
"And there is Bible on the stand
whose leaves number many over TO-"
"Ah, was it in the Bible you found"-
His smile put mine quite to shame.
II must acknowledge, he cried,
"that 1 looked in the Bible, but I found
nothing there beyond what we all seek
when we open its sacred covers. Shall I
tell my story?"
He was evidently bursting with pride.
You would think that after half CEN
tury of just such successes man would
take his honors more quietly. But
pshawl Human nature is just the same
in the old as in the young. He was no
more tired Of compliment or Of awaken
ing the astonishment Of those he confded
in than if he was out on his first great
case. Of course in presence Of such
weakness I could do nothing less than
give him sympathetic ear. I may be
old myself some day. Besides, his story
was likely to prove more or less inter-
esting.
"Tell your story" repeated. Don't
you see that Iam''-I was going to say
ION pins and needles till hear 1t" but
that is vulgar expression for woman
like myself and might prove I was be-
coming deteriorated by the business into
which I had been pushed more or less
against my will; so I altered the words
happily before they were spoken into
"that I am in state Of the liveliest
curiosity concerning the whole mattera
Tell your story, Of course"
"Well, Miss Butterworth, II do 1t
Is because I know you will appreciate
1t. You, like myself, placed weight up.
ON the numbers she is forever running
over, and you, like myself, have con-
ceived the possibility Of those numbers
having reference to something in the
one room she inhabits. At first glance
the extreme baroness Of the spot SEEM
ed to promise nothing to my curiosity.
I looked at the floor and encountered no
signs Of any disturbance having taken
place in those symT etrically laid bricks
for years. Yet I counted up to 70 one
way and % the Other, and marking the
brick thus selected began to pry 1t out
It came with difficulty and showed me
nothing underneath but green mold and
innumerable frightened insects. Then l
counted the bricks the other way, but
nothing came of it. The floor does not
appear to have been disturbed for years.
Turning my attention away from the
floor, began upon the quilt. This was
a worse job than the other, and it took
me an hour to rip apart the block I set
tied upon as the suspicious one, but it
all came to nothing also There was no
hidden treasure in the quilt Then I
searched the walls, using the measure
ments 70 by %, but no result followed
these endeavors, and-what do you
think did then?"
"You will tell me" " said, "if I give
you one more minute to do it in"
every we'll" /" said he. II see you do
not know, madam. Having searched
below and around me, next turned my
attention overhead. Do you remember
the strings and strings Of dried vegeta-
bles that decorate the beams above2'
II do" said, not stinting any Of
the astonishment really felt
Il 10 4lax,a