Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-01-24
DAME URSULA'S GOLD

D11AI1A 01VbOL11 NJ NOLD
Nearly 80 years ago, in the city
New York, not far from what is nov
called the Battery, there stood a squar
and gloomy looking edifice of stone, the
occupied by a rich old dame, Ursul,
Bond, with her granddaughter, Leonora
who was in her seventeenth year, when
one evening in June as she looked froD
the door ere she should bar, bolt and loci
it for the night, frank and manly voic
called out from a near heap Of ole
boards, where the owner of the voc
had been watching for more than al
hour:
Leo"
Hist" whispered the maiden. SIS
you, Walter|'
'Is the coast all clear?" was the re
ply, as a tall and handsome youth of 2:
years showed his activity by gaining thu
side of the maiden by a bound that clear
ed fully ten feet.
why have you come so lateT sh'
asked.
You must let me remain In the hous,
all night. This morning as l was goin;
to my work l passed the open window
of an ale shop, and 1 heard a strang'
voice mention your name. The voice.
in the ale shop were speaking in French
which, you know, have learned b..
night study. Well, l heard enough t.
tell me that the strangers-there wert
two of them-intend to pay Dame Ursu
la a visit some time between midnigh
and dawn and for no good purpose. 81
here / am to act as your defender"
But you should have told the police
bah for the police!" said Waltel
Brandon. "Am 1 not a match for tive
men who speak bad French?"
''But, my dear Walter
But Walter had glided into the hous,
and vanished as quickly as one of those
rats he had mentioned.
Leonora was in great perplexity, yet as
she had boundless faith in the discretion
Of her lover she barred the door and
hastened to her grandmother.
you've been very long In barring the
door," said the old woman, as she closed
her huge ledger, which was to her what
a Bible should have been. 81 thought ]
heard the voice Of that impudent young
carpenter, Walter Brandon"
"Please, grandmother, let me have a
light" said Leonora, who trembled al
the thought Of spending that night il
darkness.
"A light" screamed Dame Ursula, as,
tonished at such sxtravagancs; away
with you: you will be asking for some
thing more to eat next"
That night, as the clock In the hal,
struck z. the dame was aroused from a
golden dream by a sharp pain in hel
neck and a loud oath.
Springing from her bed, she shrieked
for help, and pursued by the ASSASSIN
rushed into the hall. She gained a dis.
this instant her horrors were augmented
BY the report Of q pistol, Immediately
followed By q shrill scream, and then by
another pistol shot, and ere the echo had
died away the assassin burst the old door
from Ito hinges and was in the room. The
horror the dame endured rs she crouched
against the wall, praying that the dark
ness might shield her, curdled her blood
In her veins. But suddenly the assassin
sprung a light At the sight of this man,
instead of orouching in fear or screaming
with terror. the dame sprang to her feet,
saying:
$50 It is you, John Bond, who have re-
turned to murder your wife-coward"
"Hagw hissed the old man-yet he was
much younger than she-"do you think
because the devil lets you live SO long
that you are to live forever? Tell me
where you have hidden your boards, and
those Of your first husband, whom all
men say your poisoned to marry John
Bond"
'"To tell you. ] must leave this room"
said Ursula, as her corpselike visage
grew Hvid with hate and despair.
whittier, treacherous hag~
ITO the cellar, John Bond. Gomez
And stepping boldly by him she went
on along the hall, lighted by the thief s
lantern which be carried.
"If l suspect treachery-if you cry for
help-I will shoot you dead, Ursula
Bond" Ursula led the way.
Lift that trap, John Bond" said she,
pointing to heavy iron ring imbedded
in the foor.
Lift 1t yourself, hag! If your treas.
ures are there, you have made daily prac-
tice Of going down to them"
Ursula grasped the ring with both
hands and stroye to raise it till, growing
impatient, he grasped it himself and rails.
q trapdoor about three feet square. A.
he staggered with the weight Ursula
sprang against him, and he fell headlong
into the aperture.
Let us return to Walter. While Bond
entered the house from the front his ac
complics, a brutal wretch from France,
had gained a noiseless entrance from the
rear. Had Walter been at his post this
would not have happened, but poor Leo
nora, Mortified at the thought Of what
might happen to her lover, bad sought
him instead of her couch.
Not until the sudden fash from the
French burglars lantern streamed across
the room did Walter remember his self
imposed office, and as he sprang to his
feet the burglar, turning to fly, was shot
through the lungs. But as he fell he re
turned the shot, and Walter, with the
thought that his skull was crushed, fell
sepseless. Poor LeonQra bad already
swooned.
When Walter regained his senses, he
found his sweetheart weeping and chat
ing his hands, and he was delighted to
discover that the robbers bullet had only
stunned him. The burglar was dead.
Not six months from that night Walter
became the husband Of the wealthy Leo
nora, who was sole heiress OF Dame Ur.
sula's wealth, much Of which. in gold. was
found secreted about the mansion. The
year following. as Walter was directing
the excavations TOR a new edifce where
the old one had stood, his workmen dis
skeleton.-New York News.