Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-06-14
Antonio S Job
By F. A. Mitchell

Antonio was a mason, but unfortu-
nately was out of work. He was usual-
ly out OF work, for he was in poor
health and could not do as much as
other men. The truth is, he had be-
come so poor that he could not buy
sufficient food to put strength into him.
He also had wife and several chill
dren to provide for.
One evening Antonio was sitting be-
side his door, trying to alleviate his
despondency with his pipe, when a
man came along and, seeing Antonio's
sign "znason," asked him if he would
like job. The stranger was neither
well dressed nor we'll favored. and the
poor man feared that he would not be
paid for his work, but he asked the
nature of the work, whether it reuuir.
ed much strength and what would be
the pay. The stranger replied that an
hour would be required to go and come
to and from the work, a half hour to
do the job, and the pay would be what
he held in his hand. Opening the hand,
Antonio agreed to do the work and
received his pay in advance The
stranger blindfolded him and led him
away. 1t happened that Antonio's son.
Jose, twelve years of age, who had
been apprenticed to a shopkeeper, was
coming home and was astonished to
see his father led along blindfold-
'ed by a stranger. The boy followed
the two for awhile, but finally lost
them in the crowds of people on the
streets.
Jose went home and told his mother
what he had seen. She knew that her
husband had gone to do some work for
a stranger, but nothing more She was
very much worried, but could only
await Antonio's coming home. Jose
ate his supper and went to bed. In
less than two hours after the mason
started to his work he came back and
told this story:
He had been led by his employer to
! a place he knew not where and heard
a door close behind him. Then he de-
scended flight of steps into a cold
atmosphere. The bandage was taken
OH his eyes, and he found himself in
the basement of large building. He
was before brick wall, and on the
hoor We're mason's tools and brick and
| mortar. There was a niche in the
wall and box in the niche. Antonio
was ordered to close the niche with
brick. He did so, leaving the space
closed as part of the wall. When
the work was done Antonio was again
blindfolded, led up a flight of stairs.
conducted by tortuous route to a
point near his home and left standing
there. Taking off the bandage, the
stranger had disappeared, and Antonio
| went home.
Some months after this adventure
Antonio's wife, hearing a knock at her
door, went to see who was there and
| found two nuns. who asked contribu-
| ton to aid in buying communion
service for church. The good woman
produced few copper coins, which she
gave the nuns. She asked what church
they were soliciting for, and when told
she said that she supposed it possessed
a communion service, since it was
very old building. To this they replied
that it had possessed a fine service, but
1t had disappeared. Every effort had
been made to find it, but had failed,
and now the church authorities had or.
dered that money be raised for new
one.
When Antonio returned to his home
that evening and asked his wife for
money to buy loaf of bread-there
was none in the house-she told him
that she had given the only money
they possessed for a new communion
service for church. Antonio asked
some questions about the matter. and
she told him what the nuns had told
her.
An idea popped into Antonio's head.
Might not the box he had walled up
in the niche have contained the lost
service! He remembered that the base
ment in which he had done the work
was very large. Straightway it occur
red to him that it might have been the
basement of church. The box was
large enough to hold a number of
pieces. The air was that of an under
ground place.
Antonio called Jose and told the boy
to lead him over the route he had gone
on the night he had done the work so
far as Jose had kept him in sight.
Jose led him winding route, but the
trend was toward the church that had
lost the communion service.
The next day Antonio went to the
priest who was pastor of the church
and told him his story. The priest took
him down into the basement of the
church, and Antonio found the place
he had walled up. 1t was in a dark
corner where the difference between
new and old brick would not be no.
ticed without artificial light. Then
mason's tools were brought, the wall
that Antonio had put in was demolish-
ed, and the communion service was
found in the hox