Harper's Young People, March 29, 1881 An Illustrated Weekly

THE MAGIC WAND.

A STORY OF OLD WILMINGTON.

BY HOWARD PYLE.

In the good old days of the city of Wilmington, some seventy or eighty years ago, there lived a couple in that quaint little Quaker town by the name of Vertz, better known as Dutch Dolly and her husband.

Dutch Dolly had a truck patch wherein she raised vegetables--peas, radishes, potatoes, and beans--supplying the better part of the town with such produce. Her husband was a tailor, and is described in the chronicles of the town as sitting cross-legged on his bench opposite the window that looked out on the stony street.

Dutch Dolly was a woman of much importance of demeanor, and is described as being the admiration of the rising generation when, on a fair-day or holiday, she appeared in "a black velvet hood, a bodice of the same, a petticoat of superior blue cloth, the whole dress trimmed with gold-lace and two rows of gold-fringe on the skirt." But Tailor Vertz was as puny and insignificant as his helpmate was large and imposing. Dutch Dolly attended to her husband's business, collected his bills for him, and took such good care of his money that the poor little fellow was driven to many an odd shift to get a stray cent or fip[1] to buy him a pinch of rappee or a small glass of strong waters to comfort his inner man. One of his means for gaming small contributions was by telling fortunes, which he did by the aid of astrology, knowing a great many stars, from Aldebaran downward. For those who consulted him, chiefly serving-maids and very young girls, he drew mysterious signs of the heavens, in which the sun, moon, and stars were represented in miraculous conjunction. But with all his faults, with all his cloudy reputation among the good folk, Tailor Vertz was a merry, chipper little fellow, and though not entirely trustworthy, had as blithe a heart as any in Wilmington. He was a great favorite with the boys; he could whistle as sweetly as a robin, he could sing numberless ballads and songs in his queer piping voice, and had a knack of whittling little trinkets out of wood, which he sold, thus turning an odd penny from his young friends.

There were two boy friends especially, Ned Springer and Billy Shallcross by name, who were fond of loitering at odd times in the dusty, musty little shop. They looked upon the tailor as one of the wisest of men, and would listen by the hour to his stories of wonderful adventures, of perils he had escaped, of magic books he had read, and of the wonders of his black-art, believing everything with the utmost sincerity; for boys were much more credulous then than they are nowadays. The little tailor delighted especially to talk of his mysterious art, and often bewailed himself that he had never been able to find a branch of witch-willow, which had such properties that he could with it tell wherever secret treasure lay buried. He generally spoke of this witch-willow in connection with old Jan Judson's house.

Jan Judson was an old Swede of a generation preceding that of which we are speaking. So far as trustworthy narratives tell of him, he appears to have been only an eccentric, miserly old bachelor. A very heavy thunderstorm which passed over the region in which Jan lived struck his house with lightning, and it was burned to the ground, all that was left being a tall stone chimney and a pile of stones. Whether it was the effect of the electricity, or merely the shock of losing his property that affected the owner, certain it is that the old Swede, though rescued from the flames, died a day or two after the accident. Of course the occurrence gave rise to many weird stories connected with old Jan Judson. It was said that ONE had appeared to him in fire and flame to carry him off bodily, and all agreed that he had left great wealth behind. Treasure-hunters had dug in the cellar, and had turned over the stones, but had found nothing; or, if they had, had said nothing about it.

One bright afternoon the two boys entered the shop of Tailor Vertz, whom they found sitting cross-legged on his bench, with one finger touching his forehead, apparently sunk in deep meditation--a position which he had assumed when he heard the boys approaching. He held up his hand to them to enjoin silence, and they stood looking at him, a little awe-struck and very much wondering. At last he roused himself, and, looking cautiously, beckoned them to draw near.

"I haf foundt it," said he, in a mysterious tone.

"Found what?"

"Hush!--de vitch-villow."

"The witch-willow?"

"Yes, de vitch-villow. I haf foundt it town in de marsh. Look!" And he drew forth a slender osier twig that he had cut and peeled the day before.

"Then you'll be rich, won't you?" said Ned Springer, excitedly. "All you've got to do is to walk around and to find treasure."

Tailor Vertz shook his head sadly. "I am like many creat mens," said he; "I haf foundt creat tings, but I lack von tings."

"What's that?"

"Money. If I had von quarter of a tollar, I vas all right. I must coot a leetle hole into de vitch-villow, and melt some silfer and bour into it, and den it is magics."

"Why don't you get somebody to lend you a quarter?" said Billy.

"Dat's vot I vants to do," said Tailor Vertz. "Now I tells you vot I do. To-morrow's Plack Imp's Night--"

"Black Imp's Night! what's that?" interrupted Ned.

"Shust vait, and I tells you. To-morrow's Plack Imp's Night, de fery night de vitch-villow's able to findt de moneys. Now I am fondt of you poys: you lend me a quarter of a tollar to melt and run in de hole I coots in de vitch-villow, and I gifs you de first lot of moneys vot ve findt."

"But suppose you don't find any?" said Ned, dubiously.

"Of course I findt some," said Tailor Vertz, indignantly. "Didn't I tells you I foundt a pranch of vitch-villow?" Then, in a reproachful manner: "I didn't tinks you vouldn't peliefe me--me, as alvays tells you de trut'. Nefer mind. I goes to somepody else and gets a quarter of a tollar; somepodies as tinks I'm honest."

"Of course we think you're honest," spoke up Billy. "If I had a quarter of a dollar I'd lend it to you. I've only got a levy. How much have you got, Ned?"

"Only a fip. Maybe I can get another from Aunt Catherine, though."

"Very vells," said the little man, climbing rather hastily back on the bench, for he thought he heard his wife coming--"very vells; put pring de quarter to-night, else I get it from somepodies."

The boys were all excitement and interest. They laid out so many plans for the spending of their wealth--when they should get it--and built so many castles in the air, that they wound themselves up to a thorough pitch of enthusiasm. That night they brought the tailor the quarter of a dollar. He pocketed the money, made an appointment with them for the next night to go treasure-hunting, and, after they were gone, melted some lead and poured it into a hole in the willow wand for the sake of appearances.

The next night the three met at a paling fence at the foot of Stalcop's lot; the tailor brought his magic wand, Billy Shallcross a lantern, and Ned Springer a crowbar for turning over the stones.

As the three walked along, Tailor Vertz beguiled the way with stories of the departed Swede, and how his ghost still haunted the ruins--how it was apt to appear to treasure-hunters, laying its grisly hand upon them at the very moment of finding the sought-for treasure, until the very hearts of his listeners quaked with dread. Probably they would willingly have sacrificed their hopes of treasure and turned back, but neither of them liked to propose such a measure. The lantern cast a ghostly flitting light on the fence posts and trees as they walked along, and so drew near the ruined house, the chimney of which stood black against the sky.

"Now dere is von tings to remember," said Tailor Vertz, as they stood on the shapeless pile of stones that marked the ruin. He spoke impressively. "Now dere is von tings to remember. From de moment de stick pegins to p'int, you mustn't speak von vord, for shoost as soon as you do--poof!--de magics all goes out of de stick, de silfer turns into lead, and de treasure all melt like ice on a hot stove. If you see a ghost, den mind, shoost don't pay no notice to him, but go on vorkings, and say nodings. Are you ready?"

"Suppose you take the crowbar, and I'll hold the lantern," said Billy.

"No, I've carried it all the way, and I'm tired," said Ned.

They both thought there was less danger from the ghost to the one that held the lantern than to the one that laid a hand on his buried treasure. However, it was finally determined that Ned should begin, and work until he was tired, and then Billy should take a turn. The tailor stepped forward, holding the wand by the middle between his finger and thumb. In this way the slightest movement of the fingers would direct it. The boys watched him with the most intense interest. The willow wand moved slowly this way and that, and finally pointed toward a great beam that reached across the chimney just over the fire-place, thus indicating it as the place where a treasure must be. The boys approached cautiously, Billy holding the lantern, and Ned firmly grasping the crowbar, both wrought up to a high pitch of nervous excitement, while the tailor stood a little back from them. It was a hopeless-looking piece of work for two boys to remove such a beam, so imbedded in the stone and mortar, and probably that was why the tailor had selected it. Ned struck the crowbar between the stones just under the beam, but it was a quarter of an hour's job to loosen the first stone, which was very large; but finally it came, and then another. Then Ned, whose face was beaded with perspiration, handed the crowbar to Billy. By this time they were beginning to regain their courage. Billy examined the chimney carefully, and seeing a stone looser than the rest, just over the beam, determined to begin the attack in that quarter; so he stuck the crowbar between that stone and the next, and began to prize. In the mean time, Tailor Vertz had grown tired, and determined to hasten matters; accordingly, just as the stone was loosening, he gave an unearthly groan.

"What's that?" cried Billy, and let go of the crowbar. It fell clanking on the stones, and with it fell the stone he was loosening. The groan, and the noise of the falling of the crowbar and the stone, frightened Ned so that he dropped the lantern; and the boys, leaping over the pile of stones, fled up the road like frightened deer, closely followed by the tailor, who was scarcely less frightened than they were. At length they stopped, and stood panting about a hundred yards up the road.

"Ach! mein Himmel!" cried Tailor Vertz, stamping his foot, "what you speak for? You have shpoilt all de magic of de vitch-villow. Vy did you not hold your tongue?"

"Did you hear that groan?" said Billy, in an awful voice.

"It must have been the ghost," said Ned. Then, in a very loud voice, "I don't want the money anyhow," cried he.

"But you dropped father's lantern back there."

"Well, you dropped my father's crowbar. It was you that scared me, dropping it, so you ought to go back for it."