Ellenville High School - Shawangan Yearbook (Ellenville, NY)

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gf in ls it really true?'l asked Peter breathlessly after the tale was finished. And the other children chimed in with their questions, but the old man merely shook his head and said, That's all l know about it and my grandfather told me the story. so unless the fairies have stolen the money. it must be there yet. The old man was my great-uncle Peter. for whom you were named little Peter. Seeing this was all the information they could gain, the two oldest went away, but little Peter stayed, and climbing on his grandfather's knee. he asked many questions about the story. Seeing the little fellow had been greatly impressed, Grandfather told him all he could remember and at last when his information had run out, shooed him away to bed and went to see that everything was locked up for the night. But the little boy did not forget the story and often thought about it seriously. Une day, grandpa fell sick and Peter heard his mother and father wondering what they should do if he became worse. The next day he was still worse and the doctor thought he ought to go to the hos- pital. At that the mother broke down and wept. saying they had no money to pay for the necessary operation. The kindly doctor. believing in Providence said that something would surely provide the money. Finding they must either see the old man die because he did not have the proper care or else run deeply into debt, they chose the latter course. Peter. hearing his mother weep, had come closer to hear what was the trouble, and went away sorrowful that he could do nothing to help. He thought long and deeply to find a way to literally grow money and with these thoughts in his mind at last went to sleep that night. He woke up in the middle of the night with a start and realized he was sitting up, reaching out for something. Then he remembered his dream. lt was about the gold buried under the tree that he could see from where he sat. This at once aroused in him the determination to try his luck at dis- covering the treasure. He awoke bright and early the next morning and having dressed himself. quietly crept out side without waking anyone. VVhen the rest woke up they saw him digging and jokingly asked if he were digging for fish worms. He kept at it all day. stopping only at intervals to do some chores which his mother asked him to do. Being small, he accomplished little. That night he was so worn out, his mother said he could not start again the next day. He would tell no one of his intentions and this aroused much curiosity. '

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all aw' al' The Pot of Gold Tell us a story, Grandfather, begged the children. VVhat would you like F asked the grandfather. Tell us about the pot of gold, piped up the smallest boy, Peter, whose clear, blue eyes were wide with anticipation. Wait till I till my pipe, he said, and proceeded to do it with exasperating slowness, And l will tell you a new story about it. Oh hurry, hurry, cried the children, excitedly jumping up and down. But he took his time, filling the pipe with precision and finally, after lighting it, he puffed once or twice and then began. Well, one upon a time, an old man lived all alone in a house which stood right on this spot. Of course this is a different house but it was built on the same foundation. His children had all grown up and gone away, leaving him alone in his old home in which he said he wished to stay until he died. No one kept house for him although a woman came for a few hours each morning to keep things in order. Everyone thought he was rich, for he always had enough money and was kind to everyone who had none, so you can imagine their surprise when, upon his death, not one penny could be found after searching the house. He had passed away in his sleep so no one was with him at the time. His children ransacked the house and even tore away part of the walls, looking in every place where one could hide anything. Still the loss of the money was a mystery. Finally one night, the house burned down, leaving no trace of what started the fire. Of course, the ruins were looked over but nothing of value was found. The quest for the fortune was then for- gotten. 3' .ar h 2 Z 32 Z, 2 5 2 Q E! 5 5 S S W it E hiv' Several years later, a grand-daughter of the dead man dreamed three nights in succession of seeing the old man standing under the apple tree in the yard. He seemed to say to her. as she stood by him 'The money is buried under your feet.' Being such a weird dream, she became frightened and told her mother of it. Her mother was a superstitious person and believed in dreams so she asked her husband to dig for the money. He dug for several days, but then becoming discouraged, he gave it up. VVhen the mother went to the city one day, acting on an impulse, she went to see a crystal-gazer, who told her that the money really was there, but that the man had not dug deeply enough. Accepting this as truth, her husband dug more but was unsuccessful, perhaps because he still had not faith enough. So, you see. to this day the money is still hidden out there under the apple tree that you can see from this window, concluded grandpa.

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Q tug Two days later, he was again permitted to start in digging and this time he kept at it for several days. His persistance amazed every- one. It was hard work for such a tiny fellow and when there were so many more interesting things to do, it was only his determination which kept him at it. His brothers teased him and kept questioning him about it but he answered none. After he had been digging steadily for three days, he went to bed early, completely tired out. In his dreams again he saw the money and the kind-looking old man who urged him to keep on digging. The next day started his real work. He was now down to where the roots of the apple tree were closely entwined and these had to be cut out, tak- ing some time to do it. Finally he struck one bunch which seemed more solid than the rest and he could hardly get the dirt away from them. He ran to get an ax and chopped away at the roots until finally he had a number of them broken off. Pulling these out, he found under them an old rusted pot. Digging excitedly now. he uncovered the whole thing but it was so heavy he could not lift it. He sat down for a minute to rest and try to think what to do. Most likely it was just filled with dirt, but anyway there was the thought that it might be interesting. Trying again to move it out, he decided he could not do it alone. He then ran to call his father who was at work. However his father was farther away than he had supposed. so Peter had to search some time before he found him. They then returned together to pull out the pot. By that time the rest of the family had gathered around and were eagerly waiting to have Peter open it up. The father motioned them to let Peter do it by himself and he at last pried off the lid. Underneath was a box of iron which was locked. It was very much rusted by the wear of the years. After breaking this open, they saw it was partly Filled with old coins, some old books and papers. while on top was a small slip of paper yellowed with age and frayed on the edges. On this was writ- ten in old fashioned script, so faintly that it had to be held close to a strong light to make out the letters: nlierseverance conquers. The per- son who finds this will be eternally blest and will always be followed by luck. If it is possible. return this to one of my descendents. Peter Marr. The coins turned out to be very old and at that time, valuable. Underneath was a diary and some important documents which were valuable as relics. Now we can help grandfather to get well, cried Peter exultantly. -P. J. Sarine. WW sfal'