Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-24

Grrta and her mother found il very
bard to make the little farm support
them
One dav Cir,.tas mother tai On
sick. and the doctor said she had worked
too hard. 50 Greta tucd ~ do All the
work herself
But the garden did not do well and
the cow died and when winter came
thev were 81 poor they had t0 sell many
things they przed
M the old silver that hal belonged
To Greta's grandmother and the fcw
pieces of lcwelrv they possessed went
to huv food
One dav, near the end Of winter,
,rcta sand 10 her mother. Nc have
nv the silver cross that belonged 10
andmother left, and ] am afraid that
III have 10 he sold before long
Nc must never part with that IN
less We arc starving SAID her mother
1t was gwen 10 my grandmother hy
her grandfather, who was a very queer
old man. | have heard my mother say
He Was thought to he very rCh.
but when he died no money could he
found. but this silver cross he gave
to my mother one day and told her
never to part with Il for If was \ charm
and would hring good luck
The charm must have worn AWAY
hv this tune. replied Greta. for IT
has not brought luck IL US and | fear
If will bring us httlc non, p Is We scliit still
1t viii have to 90, am sure
Greta was holding the cross ~ her
hand and suddenly she dropped IT on the
floor When she picked i up she found
it had been bent by the fall
oh dear, ! am afraid il will not
bring as much now. she said, IS she
tined to twist the little ring a. the ton
INTO place again
As she did this 10 her surprise tho
top came of and inside she saw a slip
of paper
found inside the cross There Is writ
ing on IT, too she SAID
With trembling fingers Great IN
folded the scrap of paper. which sepa-
rated As she she did SO. II was 50 old but
she managed 10 read IN faint letters
these words Take out the big round
stone in the kitchen wall; it Is All for YOU
granddaughter
What can it mean. moi her. asked
Greta. looking AT the wall AS she spoke.
There Is no big round stone IN this
wall. Do YOU think II means IN our
Kitchen wall?
1t must. SAID her mother.
This is where my mother lived and her
grandfather lived here. TOO. but the
stones are very old and may he worn
with age We must look, for ] am sure
IL means something
Several stones had to be taken from
the. old wall around the fireplace be-
fore they were rewarded. but at last
the man who was dong the work said
Here Is a space, do you think this
is what YOU are looking for
Greta reached in her hand and felt
something cold and hard II was an
IRON box so heavy She could not lift it.,
and the workman had to take away
more stones before the box could be
rakcn out
The key was in the lock. but when
they turned it off it snapped and Greta
had to wait for the box TO be broken
open. though il seemed to her ages
before the lid was lifted II really was
only q very little while. for the work
man was as ANXIOUS rs anyone to see
what was in the big rusty box
And what do you think they found?
Gold CONS enough TO make Greta and
he. mother comfortable for tie rest
Of their life.
The first thing Greta did after the
excitement was over was to buy back
the things she had sold that belonged
TO her grandmother and the silver cross
which brought to them their good
fortune was hung on a piece Of velvet
and framed
Greta told her children and grand
children the story Of the lucky cross
many times long years after. and on
the stone IN the kitchenwull which
had held the secret so many years was
chlseled a cross which time would not
wear away