Year: 1865

were no stairs. My way up was ny
ladder, standing nearly vertical, ant
through a hole in the floor just large
enough to admit one good sized person
/ shivered ut the sight of the place, tht
night being very cold ; but / found con
ISOLATION when I threw myself upon 6
feather bed, in which became imbed
ded as completely as ifI had fallen into
a bath of oil, and when felt hundred
| weight of clothes, at least, upon me.
had read of q custom in formerltimes OF
smothering mad people between feather
beds, and l thought this might have been
made for that.purpOse,


As soon as l retired 1 heard very ac-
tive conversation going on below IN
which even the silent young lady and my
negro boy participated. /, my mining
traps, my business in that part of the
country, and tn, supposed mineral
wealth in Widow Wormly's field we're
the theme of conversation.


The first thing in the morning Mrs.
Wormly begged of me to examine her
property for minerals before LETT She
said there were valuable gold mines not
far off, that she had the same white
rocks, and much larger ones, on her land
as at the mines, and that strange gen.
tleman, who was travelling that way
some years ago, told her she had gold in
her lot,


She took me to where there was an out
crop of large quartz vein in the talcose
slate formation, and some remarkable
bolders of quartz. The soil, and the py-
rites in the.vein rock and the quarts it.
self, had something of an auriferous ap-
pearance, which is not uncommon along
that mineral belt of country of North
Carolina, lying on the edge of the secon-
Diary and primitive formations. 1 told
Mrs. Wormly her property was certainly
within the gold-bearing region, and had
the same appearance, but that | could
not say whether she had gold vein
worth working or not. l saw she was
excited about it, and l did not wish
either to cast down her hopes or encour-
age them. The pedlar, who was with us
at the time, was scarcely less interested,
though stranger. The idea of gold in
the earth, under the feet and all round,
is wonderfully fascinating, especially to
the ignorant, who know nothing about
the labor and cost of getting it, Nothing
stimulates cupidity, or fills the mind
with exaggerated hope SO much. And so
with these people. have no doubt that
Widow Wormly strained my qualified
remarks to such degree as to imagine
there was untold wealth in her field
She showed this in her anxiety to induce
me to remain, or to come back again to
search for this imagined wealth. left,
however, and never saw Widow Wormly
again


After referring to these circumstances
and comparing remarks with Hatch, in
order to indcntify him, / requested him
to proceed with his story.


Il, sir" he said, was the pedlar you
mention, though am so much changed
in appearance that you would not recOg-
nize me. / had none of these scars then
(pointing to his face). was much bet
ter looking then than am now.


"The morning after you left Widow
Wormly's we talked over what you had
said and the prospects OF gold OH her
property She was firmly persuaded she
had great treasure there, and thought
so too. She told me that some years be-
fore distinguished Englishman-a lord,
as she understood-who was passing by
her house, informed her that there was
immense wealth beneath the quartz
boulder you saw, if any one would dig
deep enough for it. He carried a re-
markable cane or stick, which invariably
pointed to precious metals in the EARTH
just as needle points to magnet -
Taking this fact in consideration Ill con
nection with what you said, felt al In
tense desire to get hold of this property
and become rich.


"Pondering over the matter and know
ing could not purchase the farm OF
mineral right, the thought struck me
that 1 might, perhaps, make match
with one or the other of these lone wo-
men. Accordingly stayed over at the
house, making myself as agreeable and
useful as possible, to mature this idea
and see how the land lay


"The widow was too old, and i could
not persuade myself to fancy her, though
think l would have married her rather
than lose the golden prospect that filled
nv imagination The niece was young
and pretty, and sociable with me, though
she was very shy before you, and l soon
felt my heart warming towards her. The
only drawback with regard to her was
that she did not possess the coveted
treasure. | was consoled over this OBJ
stacle, however, by ascertaining that
Mrs. Wormly had no children and that
this neice was her heiress. / feared that
my age might be Objectionable, for if the
widow was too old for me was certain
" nearly old enough to be the father OF
the niece I resolved to try my luck, and
had the satisfaction to find my advances
were very we'll received. In fact, the
young girl lived in such an insulated
place and manner that man like my.
self, knowing something of the world
and able to say pretty things to her, was
| a sort of new creation-a surprising be-
ing, dropped down to be the mate of a
| lone maiden.


Il made the best use of my time, stay
ing over day after day, and making
myself as useful as possible to both the
aunt and niece. Although commenced
from purely selfish motive / soon learn
ed to love the simple minded Ellen, fol
she was gentle to timidity, and loving
The aunt was pleased with me, and i
she seemed to waver in doubt at first al
to the propriety of any marked atten
tions to her niece, or the fitness OF
match between US, she yielded gradual
ly, giving tacit assent to our growing
| intimacy.


Finally, proposed to marry Ellen
NV heart was so engaged that l wa!
ready to do that if there had been M
| gold mine to induce me. really lovet