Myths and Legends of Our Own Land, vol 9 | Page 4

it, and guided the seekers to the
spot.
After the doctor had performed the proper ceremonies they fell to work,
but no sooner had their spades touched the lid of an iron-bound chest
than a sturdy rogue with a red flannel cap leaped out of the bushes.
They said afterward that he had the face of the brawler who was
drowned at Corlaer's Hook, but, in truth, they hardly looked at him in
their flight; nor, when the place was revisited, could any mark of
digging be found, nor any trace of treasure, so that part of Kidd's
wealth may be at this moment snugly stowed in the cellar of a tenement.
Webber had engaged in so many crazy enterprises of this nature that he
had neglected cabbage culture, and had grown so poor that the last
disappointment nearly broke his heart. He retired to his chamber and
made his will, but on learning that a new street had been run across his
farm and that it would presently be worth ten times as much for

building-lots as it ever had been for cabbages, he leaped out of bed,
dressed himself, and prospered for many a day after.

OTHER BURIED WEALTH
The wealth of the Astors hardly exceeds the treasure that is supposed to
be secreted here and there about the country, and thousands of dollars
have been expended in dredging rivers and shallow seas, and in
blasting caves and cellars. Certain promoters of these schemes have
enjoyed salaries as officers in the stock companies organized for their
furtherance, and they have seen the only tangible results from such
enterprises.
One summer evening, in the middle of the seventeenth century, a bark
dropped anchor at the mouth of Saugus River, Massachusetts, and four
of the crew rowed to the woods that skirt its banks and made a landing.
The vessel had disappeared on the following morning, but in the forge
at the settlement was found a paper stating that if a certain number of
shackles and handcuffs were made and secretly deposited at a specified
place in the forest, a sum of money equal to their value would be found
in their stead on the next day. The order was filled and the silver was
found, as promised, but, though a watch was set, nothing further was
seen of men or ship for several months.
The four men did return, however, and lived by themselves amid the
woods of Saugus, the gossips reporting that a beautiful woman had
been seen in their company--the mistress of the pirate chief, for, of
course, the mysterious quartette had followed the trade of robbery on
the high seas. Three of these men were captured, taken to England, and
hanged, but the fourth-Thomas Veale--escaped to a cavern in the wood,
where, it was reputed, great treasures were concealed, and there he
lived until the earthquake of 1658, when a rock fell from the roof of the
cave, closing the entrance and burying the guilty man in a tomb where,
it is presumed, he perished of thirst and hunger. Dungeon Rock, of
Lynn, is the name that the place has borne ever since.
In 1852 Hiram Marble announced that he had been visited by spirits,
who not only told him that the pirates' spoils were still in their olden
hiding-place, but pointed out the spot where the work of excavation
should begin. Aided by his son he tunnelled the solid granite for a
distance of one hundred and thirty-five feet, the passage being seven

feet high and seven wide. Whenever he was wearied the "mediums"
that he consulted would tell him to make cuttings to the right or left,
and for every fresh discouragement they found fresh work. For thirty
years this task was carried on, both father and son dying without
gaining any practical result, other than the discovery of an ancient
scabbard in a rift. The heiress of the house of Marble alone reaped
benefit from their labors, for-resuming on a petty scale the levies of the
first dwellers in the rock--she boldly placarded the entrance to the
workings "Ye who enter here leave twenty-five cents behind."
In several cases the chasms that have been caused by wear of water or
convulsions of nature (their opposite sides being matched) were
believed to have been hiding-places, but, in the old days in New
England, it was believed that all such fractures were caused by the
earthquake at the time of the crucifixion--a testimony of the power of
God to shake sinners.
The Heart of Greylock is the name given to the crater-like recess, a
thousand feet deep, in the tallest of the Berkshire peaks, but it was
formerly best known as Money Hole, and the stream that courses
through it as Money Brook, for a gang