Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-06
Uncle Tom Andy Bill
Continued from page 10

feet beneath us for there on the top of the
beautiful white devil We're five iron bound
chests.
Gold, gold gold at last cried Balser
" Last. last. last. la-a-a-a-a-a-aSt, answered
the god WVandOtte WvOlvo.
The refrain was unCanny and almost froZe
my blood The awful word last seemed to
tell me that it was the last of Balser and me.
and my heart almost grew cold with fear at the
thought that we might never get out of the
cave alive, and that this marvellous chamber
would be our last. last. last resting place.
Il was nearly ready to FAINT: but Balsers
excitement gave him strength and borrowed
a little from him for the time being We Toasted
ewes the five chests till full of
them, and then took them down one by one.
We were greatly disappointed in the size
of the chests. for they were not more than
seven or eight inches square, and we could see
that the boards composing them were quite
thick | don't know how large we expected
the chests to be To tell the truth we had no
idea how much space a thousand dollars III
gold would occupy: but these chests were
small we felt confident that altogether they
could not contain half of thousand dollars.
Though were sadly disappointed in the
size of the chests, we lost no time IN opening
them with our pick; and | shall never forget
the sight that greeted our eyes Never before
since has gold looked SO beautiful There
it lay in a great pile of beautiful double eagles.
We opened all the chests and poured the gold
out on the stone floor of the cavern, where we
counted six hundred twenty dollar pieces.
When Balser returned we divided the gold
into equal parts, put 1t into the sacks, which
Balser went after, and leaving the empty chests
behind us. started for the mouth OF the cave.
WE met with no adventure worth mention
w ing on our return trip to Blue River.
II reached home Just after supper time one
evening. hurriedly put up my horse, slipped
into the house without giving warning of my
approach and entered the sitting room. carry
ing my precious sack over my shoulder.
my mother and sisters ran to greet me,
and after kissing them l walked over to father,
who sitting by the fire | shook hands
with him and put the sack down on the floor
beside him. sayng kind of careless like
90 There's present for you. father F.; and he
said kind of careless like
What is it. SON.,
"'Oh nothing much said Just gold
We'll, you should have seen father and
mother and my sisters pounce on that sack
and pour the yellow fellows out the floor,
The girls asked twenty questions at once; but
| said
"'I'll tell YOU the whole story after | have
had some supper, I'm hungry bear
a looked about the room. There were my
three sisters Nan, Betty and Sue. my father
and my mother
Then mother and the girls covered their
faces with their aprons and began to cry.
Presently father from his chair came to
me. and. placing his hand lovingly on my
shoulder. SAID IN q low, lre1nDInS voice
They have taken her from us, son. |
fought them in the courts until | could fight
no more: but the law had its way, and they
took her from us,
Well. the gold turned to ashes for me then
and there and gold has been ashes for me ever
since.
FIVE wears afterward We got letter from
Nab She said she had been forced to
marry man chosen by her people, and that
she was very miserable and unhappy. Soon
after receiving the letter, mother died. and
father did not long survive her. Sue and
Betty got married, and Nan and | lived to-
gether in the old house.
Seven or eight wears after receiving Mab's
letter. a carriage from the town of Blue River
stopped in front of door, and out stepped
Nab with baby girl. Maybe she wasn't well
come. All. what glad day that was!
81 have run away from them ALL said
Nab. They hard cruel people. and my
husband was the worst of all. | could not
endure life with him one day longer; so | took
little Nab and ran away from him, and have
come back to you for protection.
well. | reckon you've come to the right
place said l.
They tried to make her leave us again:
but | kept dozen rifles loaded and notified
her people that there would be a series of
funerals if any of them placed foot my
farm
NAB lived with Nan and me for three
years, and died, leaving us little tour-year-old