Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-12-25
A QUARTER PAST SIX.
HOW LIEUTENANT HALFORp'S LIFE
WAS SAVED BY AClOcK.
o. h q small Wonder that the Narrator of
This Adventure Was Nervous
at Night.
Phnadolphia Press.

the room. And yet clock once saved
my life. after il had come near making
me lose il.
AS he spoke Lieutenant Halford lifted
dainty little time piece from disposition
in the centre of the mantel and carried il
of TO the closet, where he deposited ii on
one OF the shelves
Nonsense, Frank" rejoined his
room-fcllow for the night and old-tirne
sohoolmate, Grant Young. you're the
last man | would ever accuse OF being
iussy."
"Not having heard my clock story,
you are. Of course, ignorant OF the fact
that / was once tried for murder"
"Seo here, Frank don't trihe with q
fellows nerves on night like this"
Then, seeing .hat his friends face was
deeply serious, Young added go on,
frank.
cit was shortly before joined the
army, aud when / was out in Arizona
prospecting with party from Denver.
We had struck good thing near the lit
tle town with tho most inappropriate
name OF Bluehell. II was n newly-sottlod
place, and settled with some pretty poor
material, too. A vein Of silver had been
struck in the hills close by. and the town
sprang up like askyrocket fon needn't
knit your brows, Grant, and try to re-
call the place the vein proved very
short one. and Bluebells soaring soon
came down like n stick. and now doubt
"A Al 4 f.,, ls-a loff
at the time Of which speak. how
ever, Bluebell was n city of considerable
pretensions-fo It's kind. IL boosted a
hotel with two rooms, a shaving saloon
with regular barber's chair. and q
small tailoring establishment, as the
sign had IT, which we fellows OF the Baby
Mime found a great improvement on
amateur darns and MISUNDERSTANDING
This tailor-shop was kept by a Ger
man named Bilsing, one Of the most re-
pulsiye- looking men | have ever seen.
lie was short, almost a dwarf in size,
with fingers like talons, and nose that
was almost perfect beak. Ho was
surly and disogreeable, but being q good
workman and having monopoly of the
trade he did thriving business. But
he was avariciOus 10 "A degree and resort
cd 80 all sorts Of devices TO extort pay
that was not due him.
Zone afternoon / had gone TO his
place to have q rent in my coat-lining
sowed up. While he was at work on it,
not wishing TO be detained in the shop
longer than / could help | asked him
how much IL would be and on his an
swcrIng twenty-five cents took a quarter
from my pocket aud laid 1t on the table
in front OF him. When the Job was fin
ished / put on my coat and was about TO
hurry of when Bising called after me
'Say, you 90 oil mitout leaving me
Something's. 1t cost twenty-five cents.
80 paid you once. | retorted.
"'No, you did not, he insisted and
then, rather Shan have fuss with the
man, j paid him over again, and took
occasion at the same time TO tell him
plainly that | knew he was cheating me.
Jack Darling and Nate Gray, two
miners from Bluebell, happened in while
Bilsing and were i'll the thick of it, for
the impudent fellow answered back, and
considered myself lncky to get out of
the place without having to resort 10 my
muscles 10 defend myself. AS | walked
back 10 our clam | vowed never to go TO
the shop again you can imagine, then,
how annoyed [ was when | discovered
that had lost a locket from my watch
chain.
cit contained picture Of my mother
which priced most highly. 1 had no
ticod that the ring by which ii was at
A 4. l,tta ttv
thin and had determined to file it
through, take the locket of, and put il
away safely till had an opportunity of
having it fastened on by jeweller. But
had delayed to do this, and now the
thing was gone.
Could | have lost ii at Bilsing's
shop? | asked myself. | remembered
that had been leaning against his work
table. the edge Of which would come
Just about whore the locket had been. !
resolved 20 return mt once and make a
search. deeply as | disikod the idea OF
intervening the man again.
81 turned and retraced my steps.
walking slowly, with my eyes on the
ground. But saw no SIGN of my locket
on the way. just before | reached Bill
sings place looked at my watch to see
how much time / had before supper,
and saw that IL was twenty minutes 20 6.
"The irascible German was seated
cross-lcgged on his table bGsily at work
when / entered.
"'Nell. vat you vsnt now =? he grunt-
Cd out whom BE saw me.
"'I think | dropped locket on the
floor here, j answered, and began to
search among the litter under the table.
'You didn't see it did you y | added
when O three minutes hunt proved bar
rem of results.
"'Yur dink l steal him, eh 2 he
snarled, dropping his work and begin
ming to glare at ne.
Ono; | didn't say so = returned.
might have added that / thought so.
but he scarcely gave me any time to do
any thinking, for all at once he burst
out with "A torrent Of brutal inyectiye.
Ho sprang down from the table and
] thought he was gong to strike me. |
squared oil and made ready TO defend
myself, and in that instant the door
opened and a man entered the shop. He
was quite young fellow and had n pair
of trousers over his arm. which he flung
down on the counter, raging something
in German, and then got out as quickly
as possible. Bilsings attention was mo-
mentarly diverted from me by this cpl
sode, and | seized the opportunity to
take myself oil, satisfied that l could
get nothing out of the man in his pres
ent mood.
Perhaps did not lose the locket
there, after all, reflected, and spent
twice the usual amount OF time 1t took
me to reach our camp by making thor
ough inspection of the path. But did
moi find the locket l said nothing TO
the fellows about my afternoons expc'
renee, but quietly made up my mind to
make another visit to the tailoring es-
adjustment later on. in the hope that
might find its owner in more reason
able frame of mind.
"The next morning we heard that