The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1920-11-20


in. which ne might he no more immune
than the rest Of them. The women
wept and the men pleaded and he
finally yielded to their wishes. They
came ike so many depositors in a
bank. He opened mp d memorandum
book. He entered the names and
amounts The darkness Of the eve
ming was growing. His only light was
small candle In a bottle that threw
ftful gIlmner around the room. He
had been schoolmaster before he
had become a priest and the method
zeal habits Of his teaching days chung
to him he had to dot and cross and
to stop frequently TO read a name over
to see If he had spelled it right.
The Treasure Buried
The waiting crowd grew nervous and
restless-Price was at the edge Of
town-he might be at their doors in
few hours. Many of the women,
anxious TO get back to their homes and
little ones, threw their pocketbOoks
on the table, simply saying: Here,
Father DonnelIy, there are so many
dollars there. You know our names
and where we live. Put it away for
US. We must get back home" When
the crowd had finally departed Father
Donnelly said there were bundles of
money left there without any name
attached and impossible of identifica-
ton by memory of the words or faces
of those that had left them. The
reader may Judge what an unbusiness.
like tumble it all was both for people
OF the panic and terror of war and
heads were not cool. It was choice,
they thought, between saving some
thing or losing ALL
When left to himself Father Dom
nelly was shocked by the foolhardiness.
his mind. How would he get the mon
ey out of harms way? Where would
he find secure hiding place? Then
the thought came to him: dead men
rest untouched in the graveyard
viii bury the peoples money In the
cemetery" The cemetery was two
blocks west of his residence on Broad
way. It ran along Pennsylvania ave-
nue. from Twelfth to Eleventh streets
on the east and west about $50 feet
from what is now the west line OF
Jefferson street. The gravedigger
lived near by. Carrying the money In
q large wooden box, Father Donnelly
went In the dead Of night to the sex
tons house, aroused him and told him
to get q wheelbarrow, spade and
broom. Together they entered the
graveyard and soon found plot OF
grass growing In pathway. The sod
was carefully removed, hole dug and
the box buried. Then the sod was re-
placed and the loose dirt carefully
swept away.
Sections Tongue WaGGed.
The next night word came to Fa-
Their Donnelly, that Tom, the old sex
ton, under the influence Of a few
drinks, had divulged the secret to a
crowd in saloon at Main and Eighth
streets. After a hurried consultation
four trusty men, armed with shotguns
and led by Father Donnelly, went to
the cemetery, dug up the treasure
again and buried it 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 prying eyes and no one
to be burdened with the temptation OF
his confidence, dug up the box sec
ond time and gave it 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
/ waged 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
jacent to the battle ground. When
Price retired south the priest returned
to continue his Samaritan work in the
improvised hospitals of the city. II
was month before he was able to
resume his duties in the church again
j When he was able to return to his
own house his first thought was of the
buried treasure He thought it would
be best to transfer the box to his
house and call upon the owners tC
come and get their money. Taking 6
spade he went out under cover %
night and dug in the spot where ht
was sure the box had been hidden.
An hours labor brought nothing Il
light. With anxious forebodings hc
went back and measured the PAGES h
had counted from the angles of the
church and dug agafn-moyed a few
feet further and dug again-then 9
few feet further northward-bu there
was no box. Daylight found him still
| fruitlessly digging. The next nigh
was q repetition OF the previous one
followed by the startling conviction
that he had hidden too well or som,
one had spied too keenly. The boz
xvax r7cvQr fo1lnd