Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1920-06-17

heads were not cool. 1t was u choice,
they thought, between saving some
thing or losing all.

he find a secure hiding place? Then
the thought came to him: Dead men
rest untouched In the graveyard-l
will bury the peoples money In the
cemetery" The cemetery was two
blocks west of his residence on Broad.
way. 1t ran along Pennsylvania ave
nue. from Twelfth to Eleventh streets
on the east and west about l50 feet
from what is now the west line or
Jefferson street. The gravedigger
lived near by. Carrying the money In
a large wooden box, Father Donnelly
went in the dead of night to the sex
tons house. aroused him and told him
to get wheelbarrOw, spade and
broom. Together they entered the
graveyard and soon found a plot OF
grass growing In a pathway. The sod
was carefully removed, a hole dug and
the box buried. Then the sod was re-
placed and the loose dirt carefully
swept away.
Sections Tongue Wagaed.
The next night word came to Fla.
Their Donnelly, that Tom, the old sex
ton, under the influence of a few
drinks, had divulged the secret to u
crowd IN n saloon at Main ana Eighth
streets, After O hurried consultation
four truSty men. armed with shotguns
and led by Father Donnelly, went to
the cemetery, dug up the treasure
again and buried II anew back of the
little brick church. After the guard
retired the priest began worrying
about the security of his new hiding
place and before daylight he went
alone, with no pryipg eyes apd no one
TO be burdened with the temptation OF
his confidence, dug up the box sec
ond time and gave 1t another burial
in remote spot some distance north
Of its second hiding place, pacing the
distance between them and marking
down as he thought the accurate meas
urements and landmarks Of the new
depository.
The battle of WeStpOrt came on.
The three days that the battle was
wnged from the Kansas state line
through Westport toward what is now
Swope park were busy days for Fa-
Their Donnelly. His good offices as
priest and nurse were In constant de
mand The dead and dying filled the
homes all along the country side adj
j?cent to the battle ground. When
Price retired south the priest returned
to continue his Samaritan work in tho
improvised hospitals Of the city. II
was q month before he was able to
resume his duties in the church again
When he was able to return to his
own house his first thought was OF the
buried treasure. He thought II would
he best to transfer the box to his
house and call upon the owners to
come and get their money. Taking a
spade he went out under cover Ut
night and dug in the spot where he
was sure the box had been hidden.
An hours labor brought nothing to
light. with anxious fOrebodingS he
went back and measured the PAGES he
had counted from the angles OF the
church and dug again-mOved few
feet further and dug again-then a
few feet further nOrthward-but there
was no box. Daylight found him still
fruitlessly digging The next night
was a repetition of the previous one.
followed by the startling conviction
that he had hidden too well or some
one had spied too keenly. The box
was never found.
Father Donnelly when he had aban-
doned all hope of recovering the buried
money, went to friendly banker,
made an estimate of the sums that had
been placed In his hands and Dor.
rowed the money necessary to repay
them, giving IA mortgage on some farm
lands as security. AS the claims were
presented he paid them off.
Ten years afterward Father Don
nelly was stricken with fever. There
was no hospital here then and no pro-
fassional nurses. He was cared for
by his aged sister and twO-nieces In
his home and the good sisters of ST.
Teresa's academy lent their aid. One
hight he seemed much improved and
his relatives and the sisters felt that
he could pass the night without at
tendance He had told them so and
begged them to go to their homes.
Early the next morning the sisters
went to his door, found 1t open and
the patient gone. An alarm was
spread and. after some time spent In
anxious research the venerable priest
was found, in spare attire, digging In
the graveyard. In his delirium he had
fancied that the lost treasure had been
moved back to Its first hiding place.
few years again and Father Don
nelly was himself carried to the Gene
terry and like his wooden box and its
enforced trust, some time later he was
taken up and buried In another grave
in the basement of the new cathedral.
where, "after life's ftful fever he
sleeps WELL"
To the last days of his life the
buried treasure was OH his mind. Its
disappearance was mystery that has
never been explained. Whether In
the excitement of the times he had
forgotten the real hiding place or
whether some one else had discovered
It and removed the box during his
absence was never known. If 1t still
remained In the earth perhaps by this
time 1t has moldered Into dust or per-
haps some digger's spadeful of dirt
will payaal tho sacraf