Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1882-09-27
"The Minute Hand Of the CIock.v
A GERMAN BoY's ADVENTURE.

"The Minute Hand Of the Clock"
GERMAN BoY's ADVENTURE.
"Kaspar, thou little rogue, how often shall
tell thee not to NEEDLE with that clock 2"
al was only watching the wheels go
round, father" said sturdy little fellow in
a soiled leathern jacket, starting up with
a half-mischievous look in his blue eyes.
"And what hast thou to do with the
wheels, eh ? Suppose this clock is stopped
or put wrong some day by one of thy tricks,
what shall l, Hans Scheler, custodian of
st. Martins church, say to the town coun-
Gil ? Dost thou know what birch porridge
is thou rogue2 Beware, or ri give thee
such taste of it as shall make thee go
round faster than the wheels"
Poor Hans was indeed kept in constant
terror by his inquiring sons uncomfortable
habit of going where he ought not. The
old church OF st. Martin was famous play
ground for any boy, with its shadowy aisles,
and countless pillars, and tall towers and
deep inches, and half-ruined battlements;
and the worthy custodian, when he awoke
from his after-dinner nap in his little room
at the foot of the great clock tower, never
knew whether he should find his hopeful
boy hiding behind the altar-screen, trying
to blow out the bellows, playing hide-and-
seek among the pinnacles of the roof, or sit
ting astride of carved spout a hundred
and sixty feet above the pavement.
All this, however, might have been for.
given for the old custodian was really as
fond of his " little rogue as the boy, with
all his wildness was of him. But the one
thing that Hans could not pardon was the
danger caused by his sons restless inquisi-
tiveness to his beloved church clock 1t
was his pride and glory to be able to tell
every one that during the whole forty years
that he had been in charge of the st.
Mary's Kirche," the clock had never
stopped or gone wrong; and nothing would
convince him that it was not by far the
finest clock in the whole world.
"Don't tell me of the big clock of Stras-
burg cathedral" he would say, with an OBJ
stinate shake of his gray head. "Could it
go forty years on end, think you, without
the slightest deviation No, that it couldn't,
nor any other clock on the face of the earth
except this one"
Mindful of Kaspar's inquiring turn of
mind, his father, having to do some market
ing in the town the day after our hero's
stolen visit to the clock, locked the door of
the tower and took the key along with him.
"No harm can happen now" he muttered,
anu III any case Shall De DacK DelOre ne
gets of school,"
But, as illluck would have it, the teacher
was called away by some business that af-
ternoon, and the boys got out of school more
than an hour earlier than usual. Kaspar,
finding his father gone, went straight to the
door of the clock tower, and looked rather
blank upon discovering that it was locked.
But he was not one to be easily stopped
when he had once made up his mind. Get
ting out on the roof, and crawling along
cornice where only a cat or schoolboy
could have found footing, he crept through
an air-hole right into the clock-room.
For some time he was as happy as child
in toy shop, running from one marvel to
another, until at length he discovered
another hole, and thrusting his head through
it, found himself looking down upon the
marketplace through the face of the clock
itself. But when he tried to withdraw his
head again, it would not come.
1t was such queer scrape to be in that
Kasper was more inclined to laugh than to
be frightened, but suddenly thought struck
him which scared him in earnest his neck
was in the track of the minute-hand, which,
when it reached him. must inevitably tear
his head off
Poor Kasper It was too late now to
wish that he had left the clock alone. lie
tried to scream for help, but with his neck
in that cramped position, the cry that he
gave was scarcely louder than the chirp of
sparrow. He struggled desperately to
writhe himself back through the hole; but
piece of the woodwork had slipped down
upon the back of his neck, and held him
like a vise
On came the destroyer, nearer and nearer
still, marking off with its measured tick his
few remaining moments of life. And all
the while the sun was shining gayly, the
the tiny flags were fluttering on the booths
OF the MARKET and the merry voices OF his
school.fellows who were playing in the
market-place came family to his ears, while
he hung there helpless, with death stealing
upon him inch by inch. His head grew
dizzy and the measured beat of the ticking
sounded like the roll of mufiled drum while
the coming hand of the clock looked like
monstrous arm outstretched to seize him,
and the carved faces on the spouts seemed
to grin and gibber at him in mockery. And
still the terrible hand crept onward, nearer,
nearer, nearer
"Wbat can that thing in the clock face
be ?" said tourist below, pointing his spy
glass upward. "Why, declare, it looks like
boys head r.
"A boys head " cried a gray-haired
matchmaker beside him Zone of Hans Sche-
ler's special friends), snatching hastily at
the glass as he spoke. "Why, good gra-
ciousl it's little Kaspar. He'll be killed
he'll be killed !" And he rushed towards
the church, shouting like mailman.
The alarm spread like wild-fre, and be-
fore Kingman, the matchmaker, had got
halfway up the stairs leading to the tower,
more than score of excited men were
scampering at his heels. But at the top of
the stair they were suddenly brought TO a
stand-still by the locked door.
ITS locked |" cried Kingman in tones of
horror, land Hans must have taken the key
with him, for it isn't here"
"Never mind the key" roared brawny
smith behind him. "Pick up that beam,
and run it against the lock. All together
now -
Crash went the crowd, and Kaspar, now
senseless from sheer fright, was dragged out
of his strange prison just as the huge bar of
the minute hand actually touched his neck.
And so it fell out that poor old Scheller,
coming home for a quiet afternoon nap,
found the door of the tower smashed in, his
son lying in a swoon, and his little room
crowded with strange men all talking at
once.
But from that day forth Kaspar Scheller
never meddled with the church clock again.