Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1890-04-06

nature NIII M1N MIl~AN Nf~NA NAs ttAAN 4l-NN--
er and l were finally on the brink OF
starvation. Besides, l made myself
nearly sick worrying; so after pacing
the floor YEARLY one night for more
than two hours, / determined TO take q
walk i'm the open air, thinking IL might
relieve my headache.
1T was an intensely dark night
every star shut out by clouds. Thought
less. of any direction. walked along
the street, until, glancing up, l saw,
dimly outlined, the great, black walls OF
the pulp mill As / stood there IN the
darkness it occurred to me that it was
lust a month since | left the mill. /
Strolled about through the yard. As
approached the office door l thought l
heard soft footsteps with. / stopped
and listened, but nothing broke the
stiffness of the night. As l went by the
boiler room. however, l heard distinctly
the voices of men in low conversation.
Nv first thought was 10 get off the
grounds as quietly as possible. FOR ala
not care % be seen near the mill. was
acting upon this impulse when l heard
some one speak my own name. Won
dcrcd who could be there at that time OF
night and talking about me. Conclud-
ing that l must investigate. l slipped
into a jog by the door and
listened breathleSSly. The conversation
had ceased for moment, but looking
throught a creyice i'm the wall, saw
Steve Hardy, Pat Regain and the watch
man. Joe, all leaning against the wall
smoking.
Air yer sure the stuff came terday,
Stcvc?' / heard Regain inquire.
Came yes, yer doubtin' Thomas,
steve replied. didn't tell you / saw
old Wharton coming from the depot
with il i'm his bag.
IL wish | was clean out of this
Scrape. piped Joe, in his thin, Squeaky
voice. for / calculate we'll all get our
ncckS stretched for this nights work.
Too late now. old man. You've
gone in with MS and you have. got TO
stick by us. Besides, its worth little
riSk.-WSt think Slapping Joe on the
knee boy way of encouragement-'there
q cool twelve thousand i'm that safe,
and here's the key that opens ii, rap
ping against the wall a small brass key.
Il was thunderStruck at the bOldneSS
of their plans. As Steve had just said,
/ knew there must be at least $4,000 in
the safe. The hands were paid of each
month. and. TO prevent the men from
their earnings in drinking
and gambling ON the Sabbath, they
were paid of Monday, instead of Satur-
lay night. The money usually came
from the city. however, on Saturday,
and was locked up i'm the safe i'm the
office over Sunday.
My first thought was that IL was
none of my business if they did rob the
mill. / could not forget the injustice
the superintendent had done me but one
month past. and ! think for a few
seconds. at least, l fairly eXulted over
.he unexpected turn that the AFFAIR was
likely To take.
Reason and honor quickly came 10
ny rescue though, and convinced me
hat silence and inactiOn ON my part
now would be a cowardly revenge. l
mad Just determined TO go TO the super
house and inform him of my
knowledge of the plot when Joe broke
The silence again:
'''But why is 10 necessary 10 burn
he mill?' he asked. Let's take the
money, and let the mill alone.
why. YOU blockhead.' said steve.
can't YOU see that's all will save us?
II the mills burned fiat. and the safes
.ound securely lockcd-aS il will be
NY word for't-old Whartonu think
lc forgot 20 lock up the money, and
vill think it was burned.
.'BcSidcS.' added Pat, no one viii
aver SUSPECT us av burnin' the mill, don't
ger see. fur they'll think the little
Frinch lad did the job. That's not so
bad afther all the trick he played ON us
! month ago. 10 only delayed matters
, biz. and at his expense, too, l reckon:
md the little innocint niycr SUSPECTED
no all that we did the job.
.' 'Thcrc'll be no one round to stop the
leak this time, I'll warrant. If there Is,
I'm not Doe responsible for his safe return
home, and Steve emphasized his re-
marks by placing his hand suggeStiVeiy
on his hip.
Here was a revelation. 1t was the
two men. then. who had made the open
ing iu the brick tank. Had l not dis
covered the leak, and frustrated their
yilianOuS plans. the safe would have
been ROBBED and the mill burned at that
time. They had been quic6-witted
enough 10 charge me with the crime. i'm
order 90 faStcn suspicion upon me, so
that they might get another opportu-
uuity 90 execute their plans unlnter-
ruptcd. Any hesitation | may have had
at first about raising an alarm now dis
appeared But remark of Pats that
10 was about time To- begin operations,
warned me that / would not have time
to 90 90 Mr.. Wharton'S. that l must de-
pend ON myself. and | must act quickly;
but how? could think of but one chance.
and that poor one. Ii was TO blow the
whistle. If there was enough steam in
the boilers So that IL could be heard at
any distance. the fire signal would soon
bring "a score of men. The furnace
fires were never cNtiuguiShcd. but the
was that there was but little
steam no that hour. If could only see
the gaugc-but dared not 20 into the
engine room. Deciding that the whistle
was my only hope, l Stealthily crept
away from the door along the wall to-
ward the shed, through the roof of
which the pipe of the whistle protrud-
cd. BY climbing upon the window-Sill
could Just reach the wire leading To
the valve. knew that the fire signal
was one prolonged blast. followed i'm
quick succession by two short ones.
seized the wire. but heSitatcd. What if
the steam were So low that it would pro-
iuce mo- Sound-or one that would be
audible only To the robbers? Should l
fall again into the hands of those un-
men, of how much value
would they consider my life?'
AT the thought of my situation l
tremblcd So that was obliged to let 20
my hold of the wire for fear of making
a premature blast Summoning all my
courage / again seized the wire aud
pulled 10.
FL was told afterward that as the
scream of the whistle cut its
way through the air Steve Hardy alone
guessed its meaning. and ran 10 the en-