Commerce High School - Commerce Yearbook (Cleveland, OH)

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had heard the night before, and half a dozen mice darted into their holes. I laughed at Tommy’s mistake. I made a rush for the fireplace, which was just as I had seen it in my dream; jerked the iron rod and up came the board. I heard a gasp behind me, and looked back to see Tommy holding his head, and looking scared to death. He came to all of a sudden, and soon was down on the floor with me. Together we pulled at the board next to the opening. Up it came, and I was about to jump in when Tommy caught my arm. “Look here,” he cried. “We’re not going to take any chances with this until we have inspected it.” I looked around the room. On the opposite side of the room was a little cupboard built in the wall. There was a padlock on the door and the key hung on a nail beside it. There were two shelves. On the top one was an old lantern and a gallon can about half full of oil. On the lower shelf a small crowbar, an ax, and a long knife. I filled the lantern and got back to the opening as soon as possible. Tommy was still on his knees, peering down into the black hole. I lowered the lantern into the blackness, and sure enough, about five feet down was a floor. I tested the boards and they were sound, so I caught hold of both sides and lowered myself down. Tommy lowered the lantern after me. On the floor was the same small box which I had seen in my dream. I picked it up, handed it out to Tommy, crawled out in a hurry, and together we inspected its contents. The box contained a bundle of papers tied with a heavy brown cord. I expected to find them written either in Spanish or French, but to my surprise they were in English, and in a good hand. There were three plans, two letters and a diary. The letters were written by a New York attorney, and were of little interest, but the plans and diary held our attention. On the first flyleaf of the book was written: “John Reynolds, January 22, 1885.” I began to read: “January 23—Arrived in this water-soaked section of the universe. “January 24—Got a position as foreman over a gang of laborers. Have a small shack that evidently has been used before, but still it is comfortable. “January 24— Nothing but rain down here. “January 25—Found a small box back of the house; contained some plans which I have not been able to make out. “January 26—Had to go to Colon on business today. “February 2—Returned today and resumed the study of the drawings. “February 3 —I’ve discovered their meaning. One is a drawing of the house, another is of the house and the surrounding land, and the last is of a passage under the house. I found it by testing everything in the plan of the house. The board to which the iron rods in front of the fireplace are fastened comes up with a little pressure. There is a passage under it which I will explore tomorrow. 82

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tried to convince mother of the fact, but she said that I was trying to play hookey,” and I had to go. I told the teacher, and she laughed at me. Well, along about noon she sent a girl to the garret to get some maps, and while the girl was there she dropped a lighted match amongst some papers, and in no time the building, which was a wooden structure, was in ashes. We all got out safely, but this one girl and she sprained an ankle in jumping from an upstairs window. This incident has no direct connection with this story, except to show what happened after one of my dreams, and so it has been with all. It’s down there. I saw it when you lit that last match,” I said, awakening with a start. What are you talking about?” I heard Tommy’s voice say. Go to sleep, I’m tired.” By that time I was wide awake and pretty much excited. “Gee, that seemed real,’ I said, sitting up straight. Shut up,” said the sleepy voice. I won’t,” I returned. I am going back there just as soon as it begins to get light. What time is it?” I had him awake by this time, and he fumbled in his pocket for the little battered time-piece which he always carried. Half past two,” he answered. “What were you talking about just now?” I was dreaming that we were in that little shanty back there, and that you were standing beside the fireplace. You accidentally kicked an iron rod which was stuck up there for an andiron, and when you did the section of the floor to which it was fastened moved easily. You pulled at the rod and the board came up. Underneath it was a hole. You lit a match and the draft coming through the opening put it out. You lit another and held it high enough so that the draft could not reach it. I got down on my knees and could see the bottom about five feet below. The opening was not large enough to admit a person, but on closer inspection I found that the board next to it had been taken up and nailed down many times. One good jerk brought that up, and you were down in no time. You lit another match and you were shielding it with your hands when I saw a small box about two feet away from you. Just then I woke up. I’m going to start back there now.” Huh,” said Tommy in disgust. You expect to go back there and find things just as you have them fixed, do you?” I said no more, but I had my way, and we soon started. The sky in the east was just beginning to streak in red and gold, and the air at that early hour was invigorating. We walked briskly and were there in a short time. When I pushed the door open there was the same sound that we 81

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“February 4—The passage leads into the hill back of the house. In it there is a vein of almost pure gold. “February 5 to IS—It is pretty hard to work all day and dig all night. Built an apparatus for smelting ore. It works very well. “February 16 to 25—I feel as if I were going to have an attack of malaria. Out I still keep on working. Put in a system of sewer pipes for ventilation. “March 7—I had to stay in bed all day today. “March 10—The company’s doctor says I cannot live. If I do not recover I hope some worthy person will find this. I have no relatives, and whoever finds it is sole possessor. They are going to start me for the coast tomorrow. (Signed) “John Reynolds.” My fingers trembled and the book dropped to the floor, and for fully five minutes neither of us said a word. “Do you think it is true,” I said finally, to break the silence. “I don’t know,” he answered, brightening somewhat. “The only way we can find out is to investigate.” With the explanation of the plans in the diary they seemed plausible enough. This time both of us went down. I put the lantern down in the middle of the room and looked around. On the side toward the back of the house, there was an opening just about large enough for a person to squeeze through. I thought then that the system of ventilating which Mr. Reynolds had installed was, however, very efficient, for a gust of air hit my face. I got through and Tommy followed. The passage of the other side was larger, being about six feet high and three feet wide. We hurried along, and after going about fifty feet we felt a draft from above. Through a circular opening in the roof I could just see daylight far above me. Every little way wc came to these openings, which comprised the ventillating system. At last the passage widened into a good-sized room. Here there were several large sticks protruding from the wall, and on closer inspection I found that these had been used for torches. I started around the edge of the rooms, inspecting the walls of the room closely. Sure enough, there was a vein of gold about half-an-inch thick. When I saw it at first my knees began to shake, then I felt a chill pass over me, but by degrees I returned to my normal condition. I continued my course around the room and almost bumped into a furnace arrangement, which I imagined was for smelting, and beside it was a big stack of coal, probably taken from one of the engines on the canal. I had seen enough for a while, and we started back. By this time I was feeling faint from the want of food. I stopped to think. It had been a day and a half since we had eaten. We climbed into the room above and then hunted around the neighborhood, and finally found an orange tree. We ate all we wanted and then went back. Then our first difficulty arose. How were we to get the ore away from 83