The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1914-04-11
Tried the Numbsrs Carefully, FIrt
Right Then Left: f7-2e-eAO.
The Heavy Door Opened.

The Heavy Door Opened.
the resolute steel door would not open,
though he tried every combination
that came into his mind. mo use,"
he said disgustedly. "One must have
the right numbers"
Then he lifted his fretted frame and
smote his grimy hands together. "Con.
found IT," he said with short laugh.
Here l am. q bankrupt, with all this
outut-ciear to the very finger-bowls--
handed to me on silver tray, and I'm
mad az scat because I can't open the
first locked thing find!"
He ran upstairs and donned q rough
corduroy Jacket and high leather leg
gings. Were going to climb the hill
today. Chum," he announced, "and no
more moccaslns need apply"
In the lower hail. however. he sud.
denly stopped stock-still. "The slip OF
paper that was In the china dog!" he
exclaimed. What Q chump I am not
to have thought OF IT," He found H.
I'm It's pigeonhole. and. kneeling down
before the safe. tried the numbers
carefully. first right, then left: IL.
2S-94-0. The heavy door opened.
II was right" he exulted. IT'S the
plate" He drew 1t out. piece by piece.
Each was bagged In dark-red Canton
flannel. He broke the tape Of one bag
and exposed great silver pitcher
tarnished purple-blue like q ravens
wing-then a tea-service. Each piece,
large and small, was marked with the
greyhound rampant and the motto
And to think" he said. "that my
greatgreat-grandfather buried you
with his own hands under the stables
when Tarleton's raiders swept the val
ley before the surrender at Yorktown!
Only walt till Aunt Daphne gets you
polished up. and on the sideboard!
You're the one thing the place has
needed"
.
With the dog for comrade he ira
versed the garden and plunged across
the valley below. humming as he went.
The place was pathless and over
grown with paw-paw bushes and sassa-
fras. Great trees stood so thickly
In places as to make twilight and the
SUMMER spots were masses OF pink
laurel. poison-ivy. flaming purple rho
dodendron and wine-red tendrils of in
terbraided briers. This was the for
est land OF whose possibilities he had
thought. In the heart OF the woods he
came upon a great limb that had been
wrenched OF by storm. The broken
wood was OF a deep rich brown. shading
TO black. He broke OF his song, snap.
ped q twig and smelled IT, Its sharp
acrid odor was unmistakable. He sud
denly remembered the walnut tree at
Rosewood and what Shirley had said I.
II know q girl who had two In her
yard. and she went to Europe on
them"
He looked about him; as far as he
could see the trees reared, hardy and
perfect. untouched for a generation.
lie selected one OF medium size and
pulling q creeper. measured It's cir
conference and gaging this measure
with his eye. made q penciled calcula.
tion on the back OF an envelope.
Great Scott" he said jubilantly to
the dog: that would cut enough TO
wainscot the Damory Court library
aud build twenty sideboards!"
He sat down on q mossed boulder
breathless. his eyes sparkling. He had
thought himself alLlost a beggar and
here In his hand was small fortune!
Talk about engagement rings" he
muttered. why. u dozen of these
ought 10 buy a whole tiara!"
Al length he rose and climbed on
presently turning at a right-angle to
Insect the strip to Its boundary before
ne paused TO rest. I'm no timber
cruiser" he said to himself as nc
wiped his brow. but calculate there
are all OF three hundred trees bic
enough 20 cut. Why. suppose they are
worth on an average only hundred
apiece. That would make-Good