treasure which he was to locate by means of the stone. A Palmyra
man, for instance, paid seventy-five cents to be sent by him on a
fool's errand to look for some stolen cloth.

* William Stafford's affidavit, Howe's "Mormonism Unveiled," p.
237.


Certain ceremonies were always connected with these money-digging
operations. Midnight was the favorite hour, a full moon was
helpful, and Good Friday was the best date. Joe would sometimes
stand by, directing the digging with a wand. The utmost silence
was necessary to success. More than once, when the digging proved
a failure, Joe explained to his associates that, just as the
deposit was about to be reached, some one, tempted by the devil,
spoke, causing the wished-for riches to disappear. Such an
explanation of his failures was by no means original with Smith,
the serious results of an untimely spoken word having been long
associated with divers magic performances. Joe even tried on his
New York victims the Pennsylvania device of requiring the
sacrifice of a black sheep to overcome the evil spirit that
guarded the treasure. William Stafford opportunely owned such an
animal, and, as he puts it, "to gratify my curiosity, "he let the
Smiths have it. But some new "mistake in the process" again
resulted in disappointment. "This, I believe," remarks the
contributor of the sheep, "is the only time they ever made
money-digging a profitable business. "The Smiths ate the sheep.

These money-seeking enterprises were continued from 1820 to 1827
(the year of the delivery to Smith of the golden plates). This