Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-02-07
Arkansas. l have a plant not far from
ono of tho forty-acre tracts

the reflection of young man, who had
plainly been eavesdropping. He got
but one glance, the face vanished and
Mr.. F.'s voice broke the silence.
"Mr. Jones, I have no interest in BIS
land. If had 1 should sell it. l am
bound to say that your offer is munifi-
cent, and l shall persuade B. almost to
the point of coercion to close with 1t.
Now, his nephew Is in the city, and
l may say to you that in few years at
most he will be a beneficiary in re-
ceipts for the land.
II will give you a special note to
him, asking him to use his influence
with his uncle, and here is his photo;
Won can surely find him at the station u
| Jones received the letter and photo
graph and hurried away to the rail-
road station. He looked at the photo
often till it bore a strange meaning.
Yes, there was no mistake, the face on
the card was the one the mirror had
shown him. Here was a mystery that
he could not read, but one that would
unfold itself within few hours.
At 9 the next morning he was ringing
BIS doorbell. He was received with a
bluff hail fellow we'll met" welcome,
briefly stated what he had come for
and made his offer.
WAL now," said Mr.. B. Your offer
leaves me in a quandary. A New York
syndicate has just sent a mining engi-
neer to offer me 100000 for that tract.
| Of course, I prefer to trade with you,
but you must meet that price If we
trade" Just then, the nephew, whom
Jones had been seeking, stepped into
the room to be introduced as the New
York engineer.
Jones saw it all now. The nephew
had listened to the conversation in his
office, had overheard the mention of
s1OO, 900, and jumped to the conclusion
that it was Jones's price. He had
come down on night freight train to
| tell his uncle what to demand.
Pale with indignation, Jones refused
| the proffered hand, and said: Mr.. B.,
you are older than I, but can give you
good advice. Always close promptly
with a good offer BY all means sell
to the New York men," He turned on
his heel and strode out Of the room
| without a word further. Two months
later when Jones's plant had been
| moved, BIS 40 acres was offered for
$1.25 an acre with no takers. 1t finally
| went to the state for taxes" and was
in time donated by a tiehacker hill
| billy"
Among pet frauds" in the Ozarks
| the divining or mineral rod is still do
ing business at the old stand. Those
who believe in it are not usually sub
jects for a big touch, but they yield a
constant harvest for the small CRATER.
AS late as 1907 there was living in
Cleburne county, Ark, fairly pros
porous farmer, who. in addition to
| farming, owned a small store.
| One afternoon a stranger, having the
appearance of a prosperous mechanic,
stopped at the store and asked enter
| talnIlenl LOT lHe llSnl.
AS soon as the arrangements were
complete the host, in the friendly way
of the "Arkansawyer," began to ask
| questions. He remembered at later
date that while his guest answered
volubly he really had told him nothing
definite.
| At last the guest turned questioner.
Had the landlord ever heard Of buried
treasure in that locality? Had any
one ever hunted for treasure near
there? Had he ever seen any stranger
looking or scouting through the hills?
The stranger parted from his host
with hearty good wishes and a cor
dial handshake, and with the insinuat-
ing remark that they would likely meet
again soon, took the road for the west.
| At the first postoffice he mailed dime
| for a copy of the Cherokee Advocate to
be sent to Higden. When he received
it four days later his first act was to
make a map and write description in
Cherokee on parchment that looked
| old
He had no old parchment, but he
| made some. He first wrote out with
the Indian letters the legend and drew
a map with the best Of indelible ink OF
the region where friend lived, then
| saturated the paper with alcohol and
| sweet oil. When the paper was boiled
in weak coffee he had piece of parch-
ment ancient and venerable.
The storekeepers curiousity had fed
upon itself until he could hardly wait
for explanations when next the strang-
er came that way. When appealed to
to tell him as man to man the tender
hearted stranger told what follows:
| Years ago the five civilized tribes
had been moved to the far west. A
few of the Cherokees settled in Arkan-
sas in what are now Conway, Cleburne
and Stone counties. A member of the
tribe known as Choon- stoo-tie had Sc
cretly brought with him 26 two-pound
bars of pure silver.
| Fearing that the soldiers would take
|
in a cavity in the rocks. Just before
they were again removed to their pres
ent location a great cyclone had passed
over. Their chief, who was as poor as
he was powerful, warned them that in
the next removal they must take no
treasure but what was the common
property of the tribe.
| Choon- stoo-tie left his treasure be-
hind, but wrote out a description of its
location that finally passed to his son
and later to his grandson. BY GER
tain stand in" with the grandson the
stranger now had the precious docu-
ment.
| After much persuasion the stranger
agreed to take in his host as an equal
partner, but as 26 pounds of silver
would be burdensome and inconven-
lent the landlord must put up cash
equal to half the value of the find
when they found it,"
| II was q long and tireSOme search