Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1917-10-05


and everything that pertained to 1t.
Every morning he devoted an hour to
sitting before the bronze, looking at it
and thinking about It, Perhaps he
fancied that by thus mentally dwelling
upon 1t through some spiritual process
the secret would be impaired to him.
The inscription engaged his attention,
but he could make nothing of 1t. And
vet there must have been an object In
putting 1t there alone, and especially
with the hour and minute Of birth.
One morning Colonel Granville was
sitting, as usual, studying the statue.
The sun spot was crawling slowly over
the wall as 1t had been travelling year
In and year out for 100 years. The
colonel was watching It as he had Of
ten watched 1t before. A third new
idea came to him. Might not this gun
spot have some meanLng2
There seem to be two kinds Of ideas
tn the human brain, those that are
or1ginM or parent IDEAS and those that
are offspring. The present case rs an
Illustration. The conception that tho
sun spot might have some meaning
was In measure original Qhough ev-
erythlng, after all, is but link in an
eternal chain), and 1t suggested anoth-
er idea-via, Might not there be con-
nection between the sun spot and the
date Of birth on the statue2
Colonel Granville sprang from his
chair. He was confident that he had
made an important discovery. What
that discovery would lead to was an
other matter. He had little expecta-
ton that 1t would work out his first
conceptions which had come from the
letter he had read, but he hoped It
might solve the mystery OF the statue
and the date inscribed upon 1t. He
was not long In inferrlng that on the
day, hour aud inmate recorded on the
statue the sun spot would rest on q
part Of the wall which would give
some information or injunction intend
ed by the man who had erected the
statue.
The inscription gave the year, which
could be Of no Importance since the
sun traverses the same apparent path
annuanyj the day, June IT; the hour,
10 O'Clock, and the minute, the TWEEN
ty-dfth. In other words, II this were
tho true explanation, on June II, at
twenty-five minutes after 10 o'clock,
the Iosition of tho sun spot would
mean something 1t could not refer to
10 O'Clock at night for an obvious rea-
son
1t was early In April when Colonel
Granville hit upon this possible ex-
PLANTATION, Nearly two months Of wait
ing would DO necessary before the spot
would reach position corresponding
with the date. The colonel, too impa-
tent to defer investigation for what
seemed to him so long a period, was
eager to get a computer to come and
calculate where the spot would be on
the given day. But he knew Of no one
at hand who would be able to make
the calculation. Besides, he had no
desire to suffer the obloquy such an
act would cast upon him, for when he
stopped to think he was forced to ad-
init that no more chimerical idea could
enter the brain Of man.
SO he was obliged to wait and while
waiting planned an excuse for what
he proposed to do. He determined to
make II hole In the wall where the sun
spot rested on the 18th of June ut
twenty-five minutes past 10 In the
morning and he proposed to tell the
household that he was looking for
convenient location for chimney no
was thinking Of building. Every day
after that the colonel watched the
movement Of the spot with keen inter
est, and at the end OF month he
could calculate pretty nearly where II
would fail on the 18th OF June. How
ever, he waited till the date came
round.
Now, on the 18th of June the sun
stands very high, practically at the
highest point during the year. Con
sequently the spot was ut the lowest
point. In fact, IL rested on the floor.
The colonel bored hole IN the floor
ing, inclining It from the sextant to
the point Of the spots contact, and, in
serting a tube, noted place IN the
cellar where the line of vision pro-
longed would strike. Then one night
when the household wns asleep he
went into the cellar with n lantern, a
pick and Il spade and began to dig.
He had cut through tho cement bot
tom Of the cellar and dug down exact
ly ten feet when he struck masonry.
1t was not very well put together, and
he soon loosened the upper stones,
coming to an open space. In thls was
an iron box or snfe, such as was used
many years ago. A blow Of the pick |
knocked Off the cover, and there lay a |
mass OF gold coins. On the coins lay |
paper, which Colonel Granville read. |
His idea derived from the letter writ
ten by his ancestor was correct. Here |
was n chest containing n mixture Of |
English, Spanish and other gold pieces,
with a will bcqueathlng the treasure to |
found an institution for the ameliora- |
ton Of the negro race.
Colonel Granville replaced the earth |
over the treasure and left II TO think |
out the problem before him. Such n
bequest coming from the original tes-
tator would be absorbed IN legal tech
nicalities. Besides, Granville would
not like the notoriety attached TO bring
ing out 80 many old coins-cOins that
he knew came from the price Of slaves
and probably the loot OF piracy Ho
resolved 10 say nothing about this
strange request, but TO dispose Of It
piecemeal and erect In his own name
the institution for which It was intend
ed This intention he carried out, and
many n negro Is now being educated
with the money derived from the sale
of his ancestors