The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-07-09

/ July 3, 1902, was an exceedingly not
day; the sun In all its glory beat dow1,
on the head Of Bob Fennell. who. perched
| on the woodshed, was lost In deep
! thought. These thoughts must have been
something grave, otherwise Bob would
| have been with the boys who had gone
! up the road to swim, instead OF being on
the shed by himself.
Bob was thinking how he would BIO
| able to get the necessary money to pur-
j chase fireworks with which to cele-
/ brato that day so dear to the hearts Of
| every true American That day when
I that little crowd of men gathered about
the table in house in Philadelphia to
sign their name to THAT Declaration which
meant either life or death for them.
1 Bob knew that his mother could not
! give the necessary money to him, as his
I father had Just died not more than two
months ago., and she sewed to try to
pay off some OF the debts which his
father had contracted and to support him
and herself. #
! At last a brilliant idea struck him; he
remembered what JohnAie Green had
/ told him about CORVALLIS and his army
when passing through their village had
found himself surrounded by the Arnerl-
cans: lie ordered his men to take the
] gold that they had with them and put It
in the old cave in Barry's Hill, ten PAGES
I from the turnpike. Johnnie also said that
his grandmother told him that on tho
eve OF every Fourth of July tho spirits
OF the men that died during the battle
i that took place after they had hidden
| the gold, came back to Barry's Hill and
took a handful Of their money aud
! sprnklcd 1t on the turnpike. And she
said that everybody that went to the
turnpike at midnight on July Sd could
find the gold sprinkled around on the
4 ground.
So Bob resolved to so there that night,
and with the money he found to buy
fireworks for himself and give the rest
to his mother.
1 At last he heard his mother call him to
supper, and as he slid down off the shed
he saw large black thunder clouds bank
4! ing up In the west. After supper -
started to rain, and by the time he was
ready to go to bed one of the worst
storms OF the year was in progress.
/ But Bob determined to carry out his
resolution; 10 o'clock struck; then II, and
at half-past Bob silently put on his coat
and hat, raised the window. and got out
| on the shed; then he jumped to the
i ground. and having got his old lantern
out the barn. he hurried in the direction
Of BarIy's Hill. The vivid flashes Of
lightning helped to light up his path and
kept him from stumbling over tho OBJ
/; structons along. the way. After walking
for about ten minutes, he saw two dark
forms Of men loom up in the distance;
so he determined to mako a short cut
through the bushes and catch up to the
/ men and SEQ IL they were going after
gold also lie hurried through the bushes
until he was about twenty feet from tho
men, They soon came by, and he heard
/ one say to the other: II say, Bill, let's
1 wait here for a while; it's too early yet
tile passenger train don't got here till
! half-past 70. and besides If we put those
] logs on the track and turn the signal to
All Right Ahead. somebody might SEQ
tho logs and fix the signal to Danger"
i Just as YOU say, PAL responded the
other. i am with you. any way you
care to do"
When Bob heard this his blood ran cold.
4 He remembered having heard his mother
say to Jim Reardons that she hoped no
/ accident would happen to the train that
j night, as there would be an exceedingly
large crowd Of people bound for the DIFF
| ferent summer resorts.
Presently tho men got up and walked
4 In tho direction OF the railroad. Bob
followed, concealed in{the bushes. After
ten minutes walk they came to the rail-
road. and Immediately rolled two hugo
logs on tho traGk. Then they tied tho
signal light down and hurried up the
road, Hardly had they left when Boo
heard the loud shrlek of the approaching
4 locomotive. In an instant he was hard
at work tugging at the logs In an effort
to get them off the track. binding that
4 he was unable to do this he hurried to
the signal, but to his horror no found it
securely tied with heavy wire. Now he
could hear tho stroke OF the piston on
the train plainly; his heart Beat like a
trip hammer; his brain was in a whirl;
and In this state he fell on his knees and
prayed to Him who watches over us
both day and night to give him an idea
how to save tho fast approaching train.
Hardly had no arisen when an idea
struck him. He reached for his lantern,
hurrledly lit it. tied his rel bundann
handkerchief around II. hooked It. TO the
other lantern, and then fell in dead
faint
When Bob came down to breakfast
next morning no saw n stranger at the
I table, who, at sight OF Bob. sprang up
and caught him In his arms and thanked
him again and agaln for his brave deed
Then Bob told his mother the way he did
1t up to the time he tainted, and then he
Il said oll wac dark untIl ha "a ma IA hia