Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1900-09-06

-.-sfcbt 10 the governor and lay our
oorplaint before him. He was agitat-
v-hpn he heard of the ceremony at
~, frontier. and told US that the Bud
sbfsr priest had put into circulation two
INNS which had received the sun god $
,rrse and that these coins would
sfranlate throughout the world, harm
is 10 everybody except the two they
.-,re destined for The instant pos
s,ssiou of either of these by the person
a,rsed would mean immediate destruc-
ton.
.Nor was this all, the coins might not
o,ra 10 US as brass cash they might
come TO us as n kopeck piece, or as a
r,hIe as marks or pfennics, as francs
or rentimes, as anything, wherever it
,rf,rt bc. We should never know
,,heu they were coming; we should
,a.a them in the ordinary way; We
sbould handle them, but only for one
roment, the next moment we should
be dead
one day Tom sent for me, and it was
>, tell me that he was going to be
,,,orripd. This struck me as something
mcmillan. for | had thought Tom Nor
Inn was one of the last men likely to
can in love. The wedding duly came
of everybody was pleased, and Tom
and his bride went away to the south
NJ France. \ few more weeks rolled
nv and Tom returned There was to
he a reception at their London house.
and the invitation which was sent me
was one which could not well refuse.
In the evening had the opportunity
Of chat with Tom. We had gone oui
on the balcony. which overlooked the
Garden, and there | purposely made
reference to the superstition which he
had for the llama's coin,
Perhaps" said l. now that you
have gone unscathed all these years,
YOU are beginning to lose faith in the
potency Of that prophecy
"Wcll, to tell YOU the truth" said
Tom, Il am getting n little shaky
about il. and when one begins to rea
son superstition on any subject is like
" 10 get Knocked out. 1t has struck
me that, after all. it may be but mere
f9olcry.'
We entered the room once more, bur
was dying for smoke, and, making
some excuse, | slipped away to the
smoking room. | had boon sitting there
about five minutes when Tom Morton
came in.
what do YOU Think" he said. "My
wife has got this Mongolan story into
her bead 50 much that she is perfectly
ridiculous She has been telling every
body about il, and, of course, they are
all laughing. and the worst of it all is
that she is laughing with them at me.
But come, come, old fellow. | want to
show YOU something
l rose, threw my cigarette end away
and followed him. We went along the
corridor to the drawing room, which
was crowded, and even as we entered
heard Mrs MortOn's voice.
q really do believe it will be such
FUN. she was saying. Here comes
Tom. and now we viii try. A coin,
if You please, from each of you. Let
4I' SUI ltN many tlt liltlt utlts-
%. Good, Then | want &c coins.
Now Tom" she said, take off that
wretched glove and let us demonstrate
that YOU can touch money with your
uuGloycd hand"
Tom was pale. and ! saw his brow
shining with perspiration. He mutter
ed something but what it was was lost
IN tile laughter and banter which went
around the room. With quick, impul-
SIve movement, he drew off his right
glove.
Well, he said, and ! saw his lips
Wreathe into hard, unmirthful smile,
Il wti take the coins just to show you
Thar / am not afraid"
Then, one by one, his wife counted
ont the coins into his hand. Twenty
We're already there. when, unable to
control the impulse which came over
ue, | started up and cried; drop it,
Tom. Why challenge such thing as
tlatT
He looked at me, and | saw how pale
aud how stern was his face. He said
nothing to me, but merely turned to his
wife with the whisper, go on"
'Iwcnty-one, %. %. 81, %, 20, Or
Iwenty-seven," | cried. "what is
l4at there are only &c people her, there
], mis- But l could get no further
I"4 had staggered back, his body
>aEunkon in size. He fell to the floor
o"athlke silence fell over the as
>'a'Iage, strobe over to my friends
r-'strate form.
I"a was dead and cold, and In his
'-al band there were p coins. l look
=. &c the top one; it was a German
.".e value 20 marks took it to the
"eaE aud gazed upon it. Across the
....e Of Emperor William II saw
~+.a which described a true square,
'-4 Then knew that the llama's curse
"u-th had had effect.--Penny Pic
.0 Magazine.