Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-05-27
DAILY SHORT STORY
Where the Finger Pointed.
IOriginaI-I


the very day of the sale. To add to
his distress he loved a younger daugh-
ter of Lord Montague. a neighboring
landowner.
Verne was sitting in 4 room that had
been occupied ever since the house
was built three centuries before for a
library. The shelves were filled with
books made when the printing press
was a novelty. On one side of large
bay window stood revolving geo.
graphical globe; opposite it n statue of
a Sir Hugh Verne who had been dead
100 years. He had been nriserly, and
under his regime the estate had in
creased - -ulue, but at his death the
funds h. vas supposed to have ac-
cumuIated did not appear. He had
during his later days erected the statue
of himself i'll his library, directing that
no other monument to his memory be
placed. The forefinger of the right
hand of the statue pointed directly 10
the globe. One Of his descendants.
thinking that the finger indicated q
place where some of his missing wealth
was hidden. had had the globe taken
apart; but, finding nothing of value, it
had been restored. The present Sir
Hugh's father, Sir Thomas Verne, had
opened the wall back of the globe at
point in line with the finger, but he,
too. had been disappointed. He had
found the estate impoverished by his
predecessor and had brooded over the
misfortune he saw surely coming fer
his son. From the sons boyhood he
had heard his father debating as to
the meaning of the pointing finger. and
believed he had some reason for sur
missing that it referred to hidden
money.
Sir Hugh sat gloomily looking at the
statue. thinking of the family tradi-
ton. 1t was an hour before noon, and
the day was the Dist of September.
Neither the hour nor the date made
any impression on the young baron,
except that the date was present in
his mind as the day previous to the
sale Nevertheless an idea occurred to
him, an idea which came down through
thousands of years. He had read that
when the great pyramid of Cheops was
built to entomb king an inclined pas
sage was left, through which star at
the vernal equinox would shine in
upon the mummy. Sir Hugh noticed
that the sun was shining in through
the bay window upon the statue. The
shadow of the index finger lay upon
the wall midway between the ceiling
and the floor The young man noticed
the shadow and kept his eye upon it
as it slowly sank toward the floor,
moving Mt the same time toward the
east. Why the pyramid of Cheops en-
tered his head and why he made a
mental connection between it and the
shadow he could not tell. He after
ward tried to trace the steps leading
him TO his idea, but failed. Neverthe
less it came to him that il it was not
now the vernal it was the autumnal
equinox. Then, suddenly, the bell on
the town clock struck the hour of
noon.
His idea had been born.
Rising, he seized an antique dagger
hanging from Il mantel and hacked
cross upon the point covered by the
shadow of the index finger.
That afternoon he darkened the
room. locked the doors. and. with set
CT masOn's tools. began to make hole
in the wall where he had carved the
cross. The plaster was soon scraped
away. and behind it was n stone differ
ing from its neighbors in its shape,
which was an octagon. On the stone
from each of the right angles had been
cut cross lines, and their intersection
lay exactly at the spot where the
shadow point had lain that day at
noon. The stone was imbedded in an
inch of mortar which was easily
Clipped away and the stone removed,
leaving an ori6ce into which the baron
could hold a candle and see what lay
beyond What he did see was vault
heaped with gold sovereigns. On the
back of the stone was cut in rude let
ters-doubtless by the man who had
deposited it there-theSe words:
No fool shall inherit my savings If any
of nv descendants has the wit to find
this gold he will have the good sense to
use it to the advantage of the estate.
Wondering how this vault could have
remained so long unknown, the baron
examined its surroundings and found
that it had been a space left unused by
the architect who had built the house.
That evening a mason was called in
TO enlarge the orifce, and by midnight
the baron began to count his newly
found treasure, separating the sover-
eigns into heaps of fl 900 each. making
exactly fifty heaps, without a sover-
eign over or short. The next morning
the sun was not high in the sky before
his solicitors had paid off the incum-
brances on the estate, and there was
no sale. Indeed. instead of parting
with the home of his ancestors, while
his solicitors were paying off the debts
Sir Hugh was experimenting a corps
of assistants he had called in TO make
hurried preparations for the celebra-
ton OF his coming of age. The neigh
boring gentry were astonished at see
ing messengers dash up to their places
to leave invitations from Sir Hugh
Verne for grand ball in the evening.
No more brilliant assembly had oc-
CURED in the neighborhood in years