The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-09-24

would enable me to get through to
where the treasure chests were con-
cealed? I observed with Joy that the
mortar between the bricks. from age
and want Of timely repair was nearly
all crumbled and gone; but though
could have drawn few OF the bricks
out Of their places with the aid Of
my hammer, l refrained from doing 30
for fear of the upper bricks falling up
on me, which from their loose appear
ance seemed more than probable.
TO get a couple Of boxes. stand them
on end one upon the other and mount
10 the top. was the work only OF
few minutes. then applied my ham,
mer as q lever to force up one Of the
topmoss bricks. and was surprised to
find that 1t was merely laid in Its place
and not attached In any way to IL
fellows. This was the case with an
other. and yet another. Why. all the
bricks were perfectly loose-merely
piled one upon another as child
builds houses with wooden blocks.
1 removed more than hundred
bricks which formed the upper rows
by simply lifting them one by one and
laying them aside upon the floor.
When q sufficient number had been re-
moved to enable me to see what was
within, l stood my lantern on what
was now the top Of the wall and. with
feelings of intense satisfaction and
delight, beheld several square black
chests at the end of the recess. For
getting in the excitement OF the mo.
ment that the wall with which ! was
dealing was only such in appearance.
/ leaped on to the top Of II. and by
aid Of my hands dropped down on the
inside. pulling q large part OF the
structure inwards with me and dash
ing my lantern to the ground with SO
much force that the glass was broken
and the light extinguished.
Fortunately / was not unprovided
for such an emergency. as. being
smoker. 1t was my custom to carry
matches. l soon extricated my Ian
tern from among the bricks which
had fallen with It. and having relit II,
proceeded to examine my surround
ings. At the end Of the recess stood
the black chests which had noticed
from the outside, orderly disposed in
three rows, three chests In row-one
chest less than l had expected to find.
Looking about me more particularly.
l beheld with dismay the tenth chest
nearly in the middle of the apartment.
with a half-burned candle protrud'ng
from the neck Of bottle and an or.
binary up-to-date box Of matches
standing upon 1t; at sight Of which my
burning hope fell to zero. Having re-
moved the candle and matches. ]
tapped the chest with my hammer; II
was resonant. l lifted 1t; 1t weighed
scarce ten pounds, and the lid fell OH
on to the door. l held my lantern
close and scrutinized 1t eagerly. and
Oh, cruel fate!-it bore every sign OF
having been recently opened; the thick
black paint was grazed In way that
denoted the action Of doub.e-pointed
crowbar as freshly as II the chest had
been forced open an hour ago. stood
Il down, ran to the other chests. and
quickly moved them from where they
stood. Not one of them contained any.
thing, but each Of them bore the same
unmIstakable traces Of recent viola.
,Ion as had observed upon the first
Mad with rage and disappointment.
I quilted the recess in the manner
had entered II, pushing outward LOT
of loose bricks in the act. and was
striding rapidly along the malnway
with intent to 60 1T once to my father
and tell him all, when an object met
nv gaze which arrested my progress
and almost stupefied me with terror.
In a recess near to the door by which
I had entered the crypt crouched the
figure of q man. his back towards me
the better to conceal small lamp
which he carried.
/ was never robust. and my break.
down at this critical tuncture must
In Justice be ascribed TO natural weak
ness rather than to cowardice. My
hrst impulse was to rush at the In
truder and strike him down with my
hammer, but all power Of locomotion
had deserted me. tried to shout for
help, but my tongue refused its office.
md involuntarily relaxing my grasp
of my lantern and weapon, sank in
sensible to the ground.
To no continued