A DREAM OF TREASURE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.

Evening Star, Issue 3706, 8 January 1875, Page 3

A DREAM OF TREASURE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.

An extraordinary, and withal true story, the legitmate sequel of which will in all probability be recorded upon the criminal annals of the Colony, has transpired within the past week. From what little can be gathered upon the subject it would appear that one day in September last (says the ‘Geelong Advertiser’), a well-known commercial celebrity of this city was waited upon by a gentlcmanly-lopking stranger who presented letters of introduction from a leading firm in a neighboring Colony. Mr courtesy, invited him to dine with him that afternoon, at his residence, situated a good drive away from the city. The invitation was courteously accented, and Mr , and his new acquaintance parted with the warmth of an old established friendship. The stranger—for such we shall continue to call him—duly accompanied Mr to his residence that afternoon, and at his hospitable board the evening was spent in social pnjoyment and converse' As the hours wore

on unnoted, midnight was reached ere the company noted the time, and it was out of the question for the stranger to return to own that night; he was prevailed upon to spend the night where he was. At breakfast the following morning Mr was concerned to note a strangeness in his newly nude acquaintance’s manner, and upon asking the learnod that he had passed an uneasy night. He had, he said, dreamed three times in succession that at a place which he minutely described, he had seen an old man bury three small bags of gold, each of which was enclosed in an old preserve jar. The dream produced such an effect upon him that it quite up-et him, more especially as he believed that there w’as some meaning in the dream, which he was unable to unravel. Mr at once set his Mend's mind at rest by telling him that he knew the spot, which was in a thickly wooded gully not a quarter of a mile away. To satisfy the dreamer's curiosity, to say nothing of his own, a private visit was made to the spot after breakfast, when, to the amazement of both parties, bags of precious metal were found precisely where they had been described as being by the dreamer. An examination proved beyond doubt the nature of the metal, and a rough estimate of its weight and fineness led the discoverers t > appreciate their treasure’s value at about 1.3 0 to L4CO. It was agreed that it should be divided equally between the finders, Mr being entrusted with the disposal of the metal. As the stranger, however, was in want of a trifle in the way of an advance, Mr handed him a cheque for LISO, asking at the same time apologetically, whether that would meet his now doubly dear friend’s requirements. It was accepted with the same frankness as that with which it was offered, and town was reached in exultation, the parties separating till the afternoon, when they were to meet for the final adjustment ot these joint ventures. The interesting stranger has nut been seen since ; the gold has. upon assay proved to be spurious; the letter oi introduction is proved to be a forgery, and Mr is anxious to find bis frieud, who there is good reason to suspect, is identical wi hj the old man who buried the gold so wonderfully discovered by the dreamer. In a word, Mr has been the victim of one of the best-laid schemes successfuly consummated in this Colony.