Evening star., 1909-05-01

begun to bedr-rnOre the pity. Tor "
might have made a fine tree had 1t lived.
out under. the bean bed. I'm going 10
follow it. for It's in the way of future
plowing. I'll just go after this fellow
Ho. I've struck stone. and It'll hurt
stone. either: it's something = some
thing
Hereupon Billy stopped and drew the
soft soil from the object which had re-
an old iron .pot.' And Billy became ex-
cited. Then. hearing his grandmother
voice speaking to him from the kitchen
porch. Billy called to her to come to the
garden at once. Here's an old iron pot.
grandmamma. and I'm sure there's some
mystery connected with its being buried
here. Come and look at it."
Yes. my little excavator OF wonders,
laughed grandmamma. And II there IS
any treasure contained in the pot 1t Is
wouldn't remain and help you with the
work SO as to get it done quickly, and
give you an opportunity to play some to-
day as well as themselves, and they
treasure. But, listen. Billy. something
has just come to my memory. something
] heard long. long ago. but which had
slipped entirely from my mind. III tell
you while you rest bit, for you're pretty
tired"
Billy leaned on the handle Of his spade
while grandmamma told him a bit of
history he had never heard before.
"You see," began grandmamma. in the
days Of 'Forty-nine' one OF the old wagon
routes leading to and from the ROCKY
mountains-and the California gold fields
beyond-ran right across this very farm
we now own At that time this part OF the
country was called the Great Plains. ana
many and many fierce Indian and pale
face conflict has occurred hereabouts. You
see that river down there AFFORDED the
travellers water. and after leaving this very
spot on the plains no water was TO be had
for over 100 miles. So water was carried
from that river-where Jackson and Bert
are now fishing-by the hundreds and
thousands OF weary travellers who were
Drawing privation-death itself-to gain
that land where gold was to be had Tor
three men who had gone to California In
forty-nine, and who had found gold there.
and who had supplied themselves with
several thousand dollars worth OF mug
gets. became homesick for the east. and
leaving their miner comrades in the far
west started on their homeward journey
alone The story has it that they reach
ed this river-some place about that big
bend where you boys fish--when the
hostile Indians, then rowing about In
trophies of war, though how the wild
sayages could call II war. when only
three men were pitted against band of
hundreds, / have never been able to un-
thumbs OF hern. An de little girls pa
was jes bout to fly in a wuzzer passion
when Mr.. Wizzle Wuzzle say: De fac,
sab, dat yo' little girls thumbs is of
an gone. sab, amt no sign dat dey is
gone fo'ever sah.' An wild dat. Mr.
Wizzle wuzze he tell de little girls pa
to jes let her be widout de thumbs, till
she sees what 1t is to be widout thumbs.
an till she's shore she kin have 'em
back agin widout a-suckin' Of EN-. Den.
Mr.. Wizzle Wuzzle he han de little girls
pa sumthin' nuther else, tellin' him dat
II when de new moon come he's shore
an de little girls shore dat dere won't
be no mo- a-suckin' Of thumbs. dat he
kin put little bit Of dat sumthin' nuther
dat he han him on de places whar de
little girls thumbs used to be- an dat
he think evrything will den be bout
right
"And did everything turn out all right.
Aunt Matilda? and did the little girl get