ic and improbable some of the announcements relating to such
treasure-hoards may seem, there is no doubt that many a poor family,
at the present day, would be possessed of great wealth if it could
only gain a clue to the whereabouts of money rightfully its own.

The legal identification, too, of such property when discovered has
frequently precluded its successfully being claimed by those really
entitled to enjoy it, and few persons are aware of the enormous amount
of unclaimed money--amounting to some millions--which lies dormant,
although continually made public in the "agony columns" of the _Times_
and other daily newspapers. It should be also remembered that wealth
of this kind is carefully preserved in all kinds of places; bankers'
cellars, for instance, containing some of the most curious unclaimed
deposits, many of them being of rare intrinsic value, whilst others
are of great romantic interest.

Thus, not many years ago, there was accidentally discovered in the
vaults of the Bank of England a large chest of some considerable age,
which, on being removed from its resting place, almost fell to pieces.
On the contents of this old chest being examined, some massive plate
of the time of Charles II. was brought to light, of very beautiful and
chaste workmanship. Nor was this all, for much to the surprise of the
explorers, a bundle of love letters, written during the period of the
Restoration, was found carefully packed away with the plate. On search
being made by the directors of the bank in their books, the surviving
heir of the original depositor was ascertained, to whom the plate and
packet of love letters were handed over.

Many similar cases might be quoted, for in most of our bank cellars
are hoarded away family treasures, which for some inexplicable reason
have never been claimed. Some, again, of our old jewellers' shops have
had strange deposits in their cellars, the history and whereabouts of
their owners having baffled the most searching and minute inquiries.
As an illustration, may be given an instance which occurred some years
back in connection with a jeweller's shop near Soho. It seems that an
old lady lodged for a few weeks over the said shop, and, on leaving
for the Continent, left behind her, for safety's sake, several boxes
of plate to be taken care of until further notice. But years passed by
and no tidings of the lady reached the jeweller, although from time to
time the most careful inquiries wer