The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-03-14
.AFortune Teller
By EMILY DEANE IAlNEs
copyFight 1910. BY American Press
Association

A party Of young people stepped into
tho dingy rooms Of fortune teller 81
San Francisco and asked her to tell
their fortunes.
I'm tired 81 this business. she said
but I would ike to make a little
money for my present needs. / viii
tell you the fortune Of couple whose
life Is more strange than that Of any
one whose fortune have ever told.p
All agreed 70 hear the story, and
finding whatever seats they were able.
they settled down 10 listen. The old
woman began:
TN the early days Of Virginia CITY
there lived there q teamater with Ms
wife, a scotehwoman, who took IN
washing and kept a miners boarding
house. Neither Of the two had ever
had any education. and neither could
read Or write They were lust 8
plain teamster and plain washer
woman.
zone day some men came to tile
teamster and told him they wished to
buy A claim Of a few hundred feet on
Gold hill, bur they hadn't quite enough
money 70 pay Tor H. Had he any
savings, and would he, II be had,
like 70 60 IN with them3 The teamster
talked the matter over with his wife.
and after long discussion they
agreed that they might as well put
what they had In the claim since they
knew Of no way 70 invest It TO get an
interest from H. That was a time
when no one knew what great wealth
there was Ia the ground thereabout
and whatever the couple bought could
be bought for very little money So
they got out their stocking and dump.
ed the bills and gold and silver and
copper coins on the table, counted 1t
and took It to the men who were 20
Ing 10 buy the claim and paid Tor their
share IN 1t.
"By and by the owners began 70 take
gold out Of the mine and the more
they took out the more, II seemed. was
there to take out. Suddenly the team
ster and bis wife found themselves 50
rich that they didn't know what to Dc
with their money. The teamster stop.
ped teaming, and his wife stopped
keeping boarders and taking in wash
ing and set about enjoying their change
Of fortune.
What's the first thing to do, wifeT
asked the teamster
Give a big blowout she answered
so they gave a big blowout at the
International hotel asking everybody
they knew and everybody they didn't
know, and told the landlord not to pay
any attention whatever to what any
thing cost
Then they went away TO Europe Il
see ell the sights there They enjoyed
the Alps pretty wen, for they are
much finer than the Rockies. But n
Rome and Florence and Naples the.
saw q lot Of old buildings not SO much /
use as an adobe shanty and miles Of
paintings Of men and women without
1ly clothes IN. snd they got tired 81 +
e. Then they Went to Egypt, where
there's nothing but sand and obelisk
and mummies, and to Greece, where +
there's a big stone house % high
bill, with the wind blowing through I'll /
They call it the Aeropols. or some I
thing ike that but they didn't see any
comfort IN It. SO they came away.
Next they went to Paris and rod /
~ and down the houlevards and the /
Champs Elizas' and saw shows such /
IS never was seen in a dance house 10 n I
mining town and walked through miles
i pictures in the galleries and past
Indecent statues. From Paris they /
went to London, where they saw a lot
II sights Of old piles Of stones and
iastles hundreds Of years old. But III
London they found the first thing to
really amuse them while they were
gone. That was riding on the busses.
They rode all day and some time late
into the night but they got tired even
Of this and come home thinking that,
after all, there was no place like Ne
vady.
"On the shore Of Washoe lake they
built q big mansion. The site was a
beautiful one. with the wall Of snow
capped sierras behind It and water ia
front. Money was no object Ia its
building It was built 81 quamied
stone and furnished with the costliest
San Francisco could supply. A library
Of books with the name on every vol
ume was one Of the furnishings The
door handles were silver, the table
furnishings the finest to be had at
that place at that time
"The house was big enough for a hum
bred families, but they didn't have
even h single chick of their own, ~
they adopted little girl they named
Persia. But the child sickcned They
loved her dearly 50 dearly that they
would have gladly given All their
wealth to save her, but the Lord
wouldn't take It III exchange, and
Persia died, and that left no one ia
the hig house but themselves.
Next the teamster died and was
buried under the shadow Of the Sierras,
and after her husbands death every
thing seemed to go against the widow
Her fortune was melting away, and
she undertook % save it BY specula-
ton This made matters worse Her
mansion on the lake went with every
thing else, and at last she was as