Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-03-12
nine years before, I had no fear that any

one would know me, and, as a matter of
fact, no one did. Within an hour of nv
arrival, however, some of the townspeo-
pie who were gathered in the taproom be-
gan discussing the Hiltons, and I was as
tonished and aggrieved that reports of me
had been received from time to time and
that 1t was known / had been sent to prison
for felony. They did not know / had been
pardoned out nor that l had resolved TO
lead a better life, n they spoke SO much
to my dctriment that l was cut to the
quick. l learned from their conversation
that the old house had been empty for
years, and they predicted that the last of
the Hiltons would hardly care to ever
show his face again in Wentworth to find
u buyer.
Next day after my arrival l strolled
about the town and finally entered my
grounds and walked about, and then en-
tered the old house. Windows were bro
ken, doors gone and the roof leaking in q
dozen places. The place was simply an old
ruin. As l wandered through the rooms
the thought of that strange clause in the
will flashed across my mind. 1t had been
dismissed from my mind when l left Vent
worth, nor had it come up again in all the
years l had roamed about. l could not re-
call the wording of 1t now. l only remem-
bered that I was to stand at the foot of the
cellar stairs and count something, and that
one, two and three were somehow mixed
together. / started to descend to the cellar,
but the stairs had rotted away. As I
moved about / also heard some animals
stirring down there, and fearing l might
get into trouble l left the house and the
grounds. When l made inquiries in the
town, l found that the old solicitor had
been dead for years and that his papers and
accounts had been transferred to a firm
living In u town ten miles away. I de-
cided to go and see them and claim my
own, but there was no hurry about it. All
that afternoon and evening l kept trying
to remember the cellar-whether it was
one open space or divided. This thing
preying on my mind naturally brought
about the dream which followed. l dream
ed that the cellar was one large room and
that the floor above was supported by three
brick pillars. The words in the will also
stood out clearly-''count one and three
and take two" l woke while yet dream
ing, and leaping out of bed wrote down
the words. When morning came, / decided
OH an investigation of the cellar, and
about midafternoon revisited the house. l
gained entrance to the CELLAR by an outside
passage and after driving out a dog who
had taken up his quarters there l located
the spot where the foot of the stairs had
been. The cellar was one large room, and
the floor was supported by three pillars,
just as l had dreamed. 1t was a distance
of about 40 feet across the cellar, and pillar
No. 2 was exactly in the center opposite
the stairs. Count one and three and take
two" Two was tho center pillar, of course,
but why take it? 1t looked exactly like
the other pillars. 1t was there to support
the center beam Oh the floor, as any one
could see, and where was the mystery in
that? l looked it over with great care, but
could see nothing different from the 9TH
ers. The architect had planned it, and the
same hand had built the three and used
bricks from the Same lot. l was provoked
with my father for writing the words and
with myself for attaching any significance
to them, and after awhile climbed out of
the cellar and went walking in the town..
I tried to dismiss the whole affair from my
mind, but it chung to me, and an hour
after dinner I was back in the cellar. If
there was any mystery about the pillar, 1
could solve it only by attacking the bricks.
After h~esitating for long time l looked
about and CHANGED upon a portion of an
iron bar, and, removing my coat, I began
work. After a few bricks had been loosen
ed the rest was easy enough. The pillar
was Z feet high and 2 feet square and was
perfectly solid until / was within two feet
Of the bolt nm. Then l found a hollow,
and this hollow was covered by a sheet of
tin. When reached this point, 1 wal 90
excited that I had to stop work and sit
down for awhile, and it was well that
things happened thus. While I was rest
ing l heard people moving about outside
and caught enough Of their conversation
to know that I had been seen prowling
around and had aroused suspicion. After
the people had departed / pulled away the
cover and there was the reasure which
had been left to the last of the Hiltons.
The receptacle was full of ~gold-every
pound of it in yellow metal. My GRANDPA
ther had resorted to usury and half starved |
himself to leave 1t to my father, and my |
father had pinched and saved for a life
time to leave it to me. l took the money,
piece by piece, and counted it into my hat,
and when the hat was full I carried it out
among the s%hrubbery and emptied it's con-
tents on the ground. There was 412, 900
there-912, 600 and something over, and
some of tho pieces must have been saved
up for over 100 years. That evening l
u cart for a couple of days, and, hav-
ing possessed myself of a strong leather
bag, I transferred the gold from the gar
den to the cart and drove to Shropshire
and put 1t in q safe place. Later on /
hunted up the solicitors who had the will,
and In due time and without returning to
I came into my own and dis
posed of the house and lands for a small
Some one who visited the house dis
the work I had done there, and the
amount Of money I took away has been
.variously estimated at from Ell, 900 to ESQ.,
600. 1t has been asserted that I also Sc
many articles of iewelry, but I have
given you The true particulars. At first
were mystiled as to my identity.
When they came to know that the stranger
was the last of the Hiltons, they had it
that I escaped from prison and was a more
desperate wretch than ever. That you may
do me justice I will say that for years I
have lived an honest, upright life, min
Cling with the best OF my fellow men on
equal terms, and though the race will die
with me the last Of the Hiltons will die
with many friends to mourn his loss.
Berlin's Numerous Divorces.
1t Is a fact relatively little known that
In the matter Of divorces, beats all