The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1909-04-29
"I learned later that legend in |


received one night in the woods dug
up a kettleful OF gold coin of an an
cient miptage and that he struck it,
drew it out and skipped away with it
before his companion got back with
another shovel for which he had
been sent. So it wasn't any wonder
these fellows didn't want to take any
chances with each other.
"A few minutes later we heard
somebody running through the
woods. The newcomer was woman.
She stopped at the edge of the hole
and screamed:
"'You all's made a mistake. Stop!
Stop
The men looked up with express
sions Of surprise and asked her what
she meant.
"'Job Sales she shouted, I
knowed you'd make a fool Of yer
self if you didn't let me come along
and 1 toll you so, didn't 1? Well,-
she was out of breath and spoke with
dificulty-'well, the spirit tol' me in
dream you was in wrong place,
an then it woke me up so I could
come an stop you. The spirit knock
ed six times on tn floor, and that to
me six was right. Did you count six
steps?'
NO, he counted five,' volunteered
one of them. That's right, too
eyer Jest as big fool as Job
Sales, every bit,' scoffed the woman.
Don you know it's long after mid
night and this is tn sixth of the
month";
Damn you, Sales shouted the
other man. You amt got no sense ;
"'You saw me count five,' retorted
Sales with great heat. It's as much
your fault as mine
Here, Job interrupted the wo-
man authoritatively, stop that row.
ing, and you, too, Birch. You all
amt goin' to get nothin' by fghtin.'
If you all got the message clear to-
night get to work right. What did
the spirit tell you al?'
"The three men, who had climbed
out of the hole, all tried to explain
at once about Larry's damn and the
falling branch pointing toward the
river dam, and Mrs. Sales was sure
that it was an unusually good spirit
to be so specific, and then to tell her
about the mistake her fool husband
had made so she could correct It be-
fore it was too late-for no message
of one night is good for the next.
So going back to the branch with
the lantern and counting off six PAGES
in slightly different direction, for
Mrs. Sales showed them that they
hadn't read the pointing of the
branch correctly either, the men got
to work digging again.
"They dug faster than before for
they were sdrer now that they were
over the right spot, and Mrs. Sales
stayed there urging them on. Once
she fell onto her knees beside the Ian
tern and prayed loud and long, be-
seeching the Lords guidance Of the
shovels and especially Job Sales.
That selfish plea made the others mad
and there would have been fight II
Sales hadn't obeyed their orders and
compelled his old woman as they
called her, to amend her suppltcation
by recanting her special appeal for
her man.
"Pretty soon we heard rooster
crow, and we were mighty glad, I
can tell you. It was getting tiresome
watching those men shoveling and
sweating and praying and quarreling.
It was touching, too, for they were 80
much in earnest.
/, Daylight was just beginning to
show when they gave up the job,
climbed out of the second deep hole
and concealed the shovels in the
brush near our tree. They were q
sad faced lot as they walked off, but
they didn't look ashamed over their
performance. They seemed to think
they had had done something very
proper and probably felt just as Mrs.
Sales did when she said:
"'If you-all hadn't made that mis-
take you'd a. found it all right That
was the last thing we heard.
"When they were out Of sight we
got down and looked into the holes.
Larry jumped down into the second
one dug. He could just reach the
upper edge of it when he stood on the
bottom.
emo, there wasn't anything in it
but dirt and some stones-just like