A BRIC-A-BRAC STORY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1851, 17 August 1893, Page 40

A BRIC-A-BRAC STORY.

Br Murbay Aston.

. John Burt was a curiosity-maniac, and as a necessary sequence was always poor. The old proverb " Buy what you have no need of aud you will sell your necessaries," held good in his case as in that, of most others, and Burt was always hard up.

Our hero was ever on the look out for bargains, and residing a3 he did in New Zealand, which is neither old enough nor rich enough to have acquired any great taste for bric-a-brac or articles of vertu generally, he was afforded "ample opportunity for the acquisition of - those unconsidered trifles which he so dearly prized. The pawnbrokers' shops in the different towns where Burt, who was a commercial traveller, in turn visited formed a happy hunting ground indeed, aud although the prices asked were frequently quite beyond the means of the collector, still he often found that he was able to indulge his costly propensity. Nothing in the way of antiques escaped " poor" Burb, as he was designated by some of his intimate acquaintances. Old china, of which he had a fair knowledge, was always particularly attractive. Examples of Chelsea, Bow, Derby, Worcester, Dresden, and Sevres in turn came into the net of the indefatigable Burt, and as his possessions increased so his financial position - became more involved, until at length his long-suffering wife thought it advisable to enter an emphatic protest, and one evejaing, on John arriving home with two very beautiful antique intaglio rings which had cost him " only 253 for the two," and which he assured Mrs Burt " were worth as many pounds in the old country,",bis wife declared : "John, this is really too bad. I cannot pay my way if you will spend so much in curios, as you call them } " And just a suspicion of tears came into her bright blue eyes. "AU right, old lady," was the reply of her lord and master. " I'm awfully sorry, but I cannot bear to see these lovely things thrown away so. I know I'm a fool in one way," he went on, " but sometimes I feel disposed to agree with Mr Wemmick that 'goods is cash,' and my impetuous nature runs away with my judgment. However, perhaps some day I may make a haul out of one of my investments. Anyway, my form of madness is better than that of a dipsomaniac, for instance; for, my dear, I do have something to show for my money, and I escape the sick headaches of -the sot. Besides, the pleasure to me of hunting for curios is a source of inexpressible delight, and I'm sure it must be conducive to longevity. People with hobbies always.make • old bones.' Why, Mr Gladstone himself is awfully fond of old china. Then again, wifie,. lam really nearly cured now of my weakness, for I have found two or three people who are content to relieve me of some of my investments, occasionally at an advance on the price paid by me."

To this Mrs Burb thought it wise to make no reply, but simply contented herself with a deep-drawn sigh, which appealed more to the sympathetic heart of her liege lord than whole volleys of verbal argument. Some little time elapaed and Mr Burt seemed to have forgotten to bring home any more bargains, and Mrs Burt was beginning to think her " dear hubby " was in a fair way towards reoovery, when one evening his well-known knock having just resounded through the house, and Mrs Burt having opened the front door, discovered Mr B. staggering under a parcel nearly as tall as himself, and when their eyes met poor Burt looked as though he almost wished that one of the children had let him in, but putting a bold front on he cheerily said :

" Halloa, my dear. Ob, you are looking at this! Ah, this Is a gem if you like I Empire French } Louis XV! Exquisite ormolu and inlaid table. Got it in swap — no money passed. Sima sort of thing as w.as sold at the Duke of Hamilton's sale for 10,000 guineas. And it's for you— your very own. Don't part with it ever under any circumstances," he solemnly concluded.

Mrs Burb replied : " dome in, dear ; don't stand all night on the doorstep, and let's have a look at your bargain," she graciously added. It really was a gem of artistic furniture that Mr Bart had brought horne — a sort of whatnot, with two tiers of shelves, and which, opening at the top, contained inside a magnificent oval' mirror. The base of the woodwork was a delicious rosewood, but the parts exposed to view consisted of most nigbjy finished mosaic work in a lightcoloured wood and of a sort of ' basket fashion. Mrs Burt was delighted with her present, and carefuljly conveyed it to her own particular sanctum, where she remained some time by herself in its contemplation.

That evening, after the little ones had retired to rest, Mrs Burt inquired :

" Do you real}y mean that dear little table for me, .John?"

" Most certainly I do,' ? he replied. " But don't give it away ; I'm sure it's yery valu,able."

"But," persisted his wife,, "is it all mine ? "

" Yes, yes," repeated Burt ; " but why do you ask ? It isn't half good enough for you," he tenderly continued.

" Well, John," was the unexpected reply, "to-night, when I was looking over it, I accidentally touched a spring, and diacoveted a secret drawer la whioh was something of value— indeed, I think, although I'm not Quito sure, of very great value," Then,

fearful of causing her sanguine husband a possible disappointment, she went on : *' Anyway it is of great interest to us coming as we do from Horley in Surrey, and this paper which I found to-night," and here she produced an old yellow slip of strong paper, "speaks of a deposit made over 100 years ago ih the grounds of the honse where we formerly resided." Burt's face on hearing these words was a perfect study to behold. Gratified pride struggled with admiration for his clever spouse, as he eagerly held out his hand for the precious document, in which he read as follows : — Horley. Ten yards west from the portico (front) of Hatohgate House there lyes buried treasure, six feet beneath the big stump. Christmas 1762. J. S. "Well, I never 1" exclaimed Mr Burt, " what a lark I I wonder who •J. S. was 1 Anyway he was a very sensible man to make this interesting record for our edification. And is it not miraculous that I of all men should have picked up this curio, having lived for 10 of the best years of our lives in this very Hatchgate House? But I say, mother, supposing .the treasure has been recovered. Well, anyhow you've got the table and we're going to have some fun out of it sometime.' 1 '• You were talking of going Home to see your parents; now I vote that we go at once. We can arrange to be back in a, few months, and we can travel together thirdclass going Home, and make up for it on our voyage out again when we have recovered our pile." Burt found it no easy matter to raise funds for the projected trip Home. It would have been an act of folly to divulge to possible lenders the reason of his desire to visit England, and at the time of our story the money market was particularly tight, and he was beginning to tbink the " paltry hundred " he required for bis venture would never be forthcoming, when his "better half" came to the rescue with the suggestion that he should try the money-lendere, and offer them as security some, i£ not all, of his " curios." This Was almost high treason ; but Mrs Burt insisted, and at length Burt was able to raise an advance of £ICO upon the security of his highly-prized articles of vertu, excluding the table, which Mrs Burt determined should adcompany her to England. The rate of interest paid was truly appalling, but, " nothing venture nothing have," exclaimed Burk, improvident creature that he was, and pleading urgent private business to some good-natured friends, the children were placed in various families until their parents' return, and Mr and Mrs Burt took passage by the first direct steamer for London. We need not follow them through the inconvenience attendant on a steerage passage, but they were wonderfully cheered — Mrs Burt by the expectation of once more beholding her dearly-loved father and mother, and Burt by the hope of the recovery of the buried treasure at Hatchgate House. He would sit for long spells silently thinking, and when his wife would playfully bid him "a penny lor hi£T;Eougb.ts," he would make some such answer as this : " I wonder, mother, what the 'treasure' consists of? Can it be gold, or silver, or what ? I daresay there will be some antique silver cups and things." And whpn he was told "not to count his chickens before they were hatched, for very likely the treasure would have gone long before this," Burt would scout the very idea of such a thing ; but would admit there were difficulties about getting possession of the old house, and he quite realised that he had no right to pay a surreptitious visit of discovery. He could not dig a hole 6ft deep without making a fair amount of noise, and should he be detected he would certainly have to explain, which would put an end probably to his little plan. The position was certainly somewhat complicated, and for the greater part of the journey Homeward Bnrt's mind was filled with vain conjectures as to whether Hitchgate House was tenanted or not. If let, would the tenant allow him possession of the place furnished for a consideration. Of oourse, if empty, Butt thought he might have no compunctions about doing a little digging some night— "six feet beneath the big stump." However his doubts were soon set at rest upon the arrival of the good ship Coptic in London. Here he was met by an old and trusty friend, Tom Matthews, who gave him the cheering news that Hatchgate Honse was empty, had been for some time, and there was every probability that it would remain so. Matthews', who lived at Horley, invited Mr and Mrs Burt to stay at his house, which invitation, it is hardly necessary to say, was acc?pted without hesitation.

Bart, if a little weak as a curiosity maniac, was pretty cute in other way?, and both he and his wife took particular care not to give the slightest iDkling of the real cause of their visit to Surrey. Oar hero had, in years gone by, been known in the vicinity as an ardent lover of natural history, and entjmoloay was the branch in which he most delighted. During th 9 warm sunshiny days the yokels would chuckle as thty saw him rushing with green net raised en high after some swift butterfly; and at night with lamp in one hand aud sugar-pot in the other his movements had often given ground for suspicion. Oace, indeed, he had been arrested by some gamekeeper?, who had a^ked his business, and when he had explained that he w.is " moth " hunting they understood him to say " mole " hunting, and had taken bim before the squire. Another time, while waiting on tLe outskirts of a small village until his sugar — a concoction of beer, sugar, and rum, with which Burt painted certain spots, such as the top bars of gates leading into the fields — had dope its work of attracting moths, which jntoxicated later fell an easy prey to the' collector, he had been interviewed by a party of men armed with pitchforks, who, seeing his lautern, demanded his business, and would only depart satis 3ed that he was not a full-blown incendiary when they had been shown his paraphernalia of sugar, nests of boxes, net, &c. What more tatural, theD, that he should resume bis old ways now that he had returned to his native land ; but; what was not so natural was the wonderful interest that Mrs Burt,, who had previously been beard to express on more than one occasion an intense horror of moths, butterflies, and, indeed, of all oreeplcg thing", suddenly developed in the natural history researches of her husband, The very day after their &■

turn to Horley, the devoted couple might have been seen, each armed with a net, eagerly looking for specimens ; and somehow their steps were generally turned towards Hatchgate House, where they did not hesitate to take a look round ; and when one day the farm bailiff came on, them in the back garden unexpectedly, Mrs Burt explained so prettily that the purple emperor — the prince of British insects — used to frequent the place, and they— Mr Burt, that was— had often captured rare hawk moth 3 of a night, that the man said he hoped they would have good luck, and when Mrs Bart asked might they come at night with their lantern Mr Pettit, for that was his name, replied certainly, why nob 1 Accordingly that night Burt and his wife might have been seen carrying their lantern, and, armed with a sugar-pot, making their way to the old house. All this was perfectly in order, but what imparted an air of mystery to their proceedings was the fact of Mr Burt carrying a sharp, new spade. No time, however, was intended to be lost, and on their arrival at the house while Mrs Burt occupied herself flitting about with the lantern her liege lord busied himself 10yds we^t from the portico in the attempt to reach the "buried treasure."

The "big stump" referred to in the document had long since been removed, and in its place was a nice round flower bed, which proved very easy digging at first; afterwards the soil was not so friable, and the second 3ft were decidedly hard work for our adventurer, who was inclined to embonpoint. At last, just as the Horley church clock was striking the hour of midnight, Burt'g heart gave a mighty leap within him, for his spade had struck something, and that something was evidently made of iron. Now, thought Burt, I'll seek the old woman to share my triumph, and, scrambling from the hole, he had considerable difficulty in finding his mate, who had quietly withdrawn to a summer honse, and, worn out with the fatigues of the day, had fallen asleep. "Here, get up!" exclaimed Burb, "I've struck He — I mean iron."

Mrs Burt started to her feet, and in a very short time Burt had unearthed a square iron box, which was sufficiently heavy to necessitate their combined strength to draw it to the surface. Slowly they dragged it towards the bower where Mrs Burt had just been enjoying her siesta. The lock required very little persuasion to force open, and with breathless interest they lifted the lid and turned the light towards the interior, which was, alas! empty.

Who can describe their disappointment ?

Mrs Burt took it most philosophically, but Burt raved aud used language the reverse of polite, and it was with difficulty that he could be induced to resume his digging, on the chance, as his wife said, of there being something left. He was rewarded by the discovery of three coins, which later turned out to be spade guineas. Reluctantly they carried the heavy iron chest, and were about to cast it back prior to refilling the hole when " Stop a bib " from Mrs Burt caused Burt to desist.

"The man the table belonged to was precious sly, John, with his secret drawer. This box seems heavy, doesn't it, dear ? The sides certainly are thick. What if it is lined with some more of those coins you picked up just now ? " and raising the spade on high, sbe gave the box a bang, which was followed by a perfect golden shower of guineas and half-guineas, which trickled into the hole with a most musical sound.

Burt found just time to say, " Well, you are a clever little woman," and at once fell to and shook all the gold there remained from the Bides, the top, and the bottom. Time had made the iron work quite easy to destroy,. and a blow or two sufficed to send the box into fragments. In all they gathered 1850 guineas, and when they arrived home at - 3 a.m. and told Mr Matthews that they bad lost themselves somewhere in the direction of Horsham, tbat gentleman was too polite to doubt the word of a lady.

The next morning Mr and Mrs Burt betook themselves to London, W.C., and made direct for the auction rooms of Messrs Christie, Manson, and Wood, the eminent art auctioneers. To them they submitted the famous table, with the result that it was pronounced to be of the best period, of Empire French manufacture, aud the discovery of such a priceless gem in an out-of-the-way place like New Zealand was commented on in all the daily papers as one of the mast surprising occurrences of the day in the way of curio history. As a result, when the date of its sale by auction arrived the attendance of the aristocracy and lovers of " fine goods " was extraordinarily large, and the price realised astonished everyor c but the sanguine Mr Buir. To name the actual figure the table brought would be to invite scepticism ; it must suffice, therefore, to state that the total could only be expressed by four figures. Mr and Ifrs Burt returned in safety to the c mntry of their adoption, and have invested their cash in sheep.