Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1882-08-13
YOUNG AND OLD.

"Kaspar, thou little rogue, how often
shall i tell thee not to NEEDLE with that
clockr
81 was only watching the wheels go
round, father" said sturdy little fellow in
a soiled leathern jacket, staring up with
"And what hast thou to do with the
wheels, eh7 Suppose this clock is stopped
or made to 60 wrong some day by one OF
thy tricks, what shall /, Hans Scheller,
custodian OF St Martins church, say to the
town council? Dost thou know what birch
porridge is, thou rogue? Beware, or will
give thee such taste of 1t as shall make
thee go round faster than the wheels"
Poor Hans was indeed kept in constant
terror by his inquiring sons uncontrella6le
habit OF going wherever he ought not The
old church ofSt. Martin was famous play
ground any boy, with its shadovy isles,
and countless pillars and tall towers, and
deep nitehes, and halt ruinsd. battlerents;
and the worthy custodian, VIXEN he Sawoke
from hisafter-dinner nap in his little room
at the foot of the q eat clock tower, never
knew whether be should find the hopeful
/ boy hiding behind the hltaf-screen trying
to blow the organ bellows, playing hide
and-seek among the pinnacles of the ROOT,
or sitting astride of carved spout l6o feet
above the pavement.
All this, however, might have been for
gotten, for the old custodian was really as
fond of his 'little rogue" as the boy, Win
all his wildness, was of him. But the one
thing that Hans could not pardon was the
| danger caused by his sons restless inquisi.
| tiyeness to his beloved church clock. IL
was his pride and glory to be able TO tell
! every one that during the whole 40 years
| that he had been in charge OF the "St, Mar,
| tins 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 Ssras-
burg cathedral" he would say. with an OBJ.
stinate shake of his gray head. Gould 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 mar
| keting in the town the day after our hero 5
stolen visit to the clock, locked the door OF
| the tower and took the key along with him.
mo harm can happen now" he mutter-
| ed "and, in any case, / shall be back be-
! fore he gets out of school" .......-.a. ..
But, as i'll luck would have it, the teacher
was called away by some busine-s that al.
| ternoon, and the boys got out VI 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 on discovering that it
was locked, But he was not one TO be easily
stopped when he had once made up his
| mind. Getting out upon the roof, and
i crawling along a cornice where only cat
or a 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
| TO- 80, ehnn
another, until at length he discovered an
other hole, and thrusting his head through
it found himself looking down upon the
market place, 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
Kaspar was more inclined to laugh than to
be frightened; but suddenly a 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 Kaspar! it was too late now to wish
that he had left the clock alone. He tried
to scream for help, but with his neck in
that cramped position, the cry that ne gave
was scarcely louder than the chip OF a
sparrow. He struggled desperately to
writhe himself back through the ,le; but
a piece of the woodwork had slipp ed down
upon the back of his neck and held him
like wise.
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 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
muffled drum, while the coming hand OF
the clock looked like a monstrous arm out
stretched to seize him, and the carved
faces on the spouts seemed to grin and glib.
Der at him in mockery. And still the ter
rible hand crept onward, nearer, nearer,
nearer.
"What can that thing in the clock face
be-" said tourist below, pointing his spy
glass upward. "Why, declare it looks
| like boys head"
"a boys head" cried a gray.haired watch
maker beside him Zone of Hans Scheller's
special friendsI snatching hastily. at the
glass as he spoke. Why, good gracious!
| it's little Kaspar. He'll be killed! he'll be
killed.. And he rushed toward the
church, shouting like mailman.
The alarm spread like wild-fire, and be.
fore Klugmann, the matchmaker, had got
half way up the stairs leading to the tower
more than score of excited men were
scampering at his heels, but at the top of
the stairs they were suddenly brought to
stand.still by the locked door.
Its lockedw cried Klugmann in tones
of horror, land Hans must have:taken the
key with him, for it isn't here"
"Never mind the kew" roared brawny
smith behind him. "Pick up that beam,
comrades, and run it against the lock. All
| together, now"
Crash went the door, in rushed the
crowd, and Kasper, 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.
From that day forth Kaspar Scheller
never meddled with the church clock again.
Household Management.