Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-06-11


Quietly closing the gate behind him, he
turned down street towards point to tn
right. where be could see, lying at anchoe
in Man O. War bay, several large armor
clads, grim guardians of the peace, He
( bad not, however, taken more than do2-
en- steps, when he noticed, posted on the
fence beside him warning:
''BIIL sTIcKERs BEWARE.
"Well!" thoughthe, what does this
mean?" and he spelled the notice over
again. Yes, there could be no mistake;
there it was plain enough, bill Stiokers
| Beware" That surely could not mean
him, though, as he felt sure that no one
had seen him pick up the ten shilling
piece With uneasy mind he walked
slowly on. Already he could see the men
on the deck of the nearest man-of.war, as
| they paced slowly to and fro at their yari
GUS watches, and had almost forgotten his
scare of few moments previous, but he
was not to find peace quite so easily. On
crossing an alley he was brought face TO
face with declaration in large letters,
"Bill stickers will be prosecuted. There
could be no mistake now, some one must
have seen him when he stopped to pick up
the unlucky ten shillings. Perhaps it was
the man with the heavy eyebrows and
black mustache, who had sat just across
! the aisle from him. viii had often heard
OF the wonderful skill and keenness of de-
| tectives, perhaps this man was detective.
A thrill Of horror passed over him at the
very thought of such thing.
At any rate. if Bill Stickers was to be
prosecuted, the public street was not the
! Ia
surely be caught. He had better get back
to the house as soon and as quietly as pos
sible. He turned and started back, when,
oh horrorsl What was thatp Did his
| eyes deceive him2 There, on the opposite
fence of the allsy-way, in large black and
white letters, was the notice; 50 reward
| for the apprehension of Bill! Shckers.
/ This was more than poor William could
stand. His face turned as white as sheet
and his knees smote together with fear
| Pulling his hat down over MS eyes he
started off on a run for the house as fast as
| his legs could carry him. People were at
a loss to account for his hurry and gazed
at him with wondering eyes as he fed
rapidly past them. Every pair of eyes
| that he saw turned upon him he imagined
| TO be those of some lurking detective that
was on his track, ana strained every mus
Gle to increase his speed. At last, reach
| ing the house he dashed through the gate
and around into the back yard, where he
| found Mr., Mclean busy with the poultry.
The strain of the stolen ten shiliugs was
too great to bear any longer, and William,
taking it from his pocket and casting it on
the ground at his feet, confessed all.
AS 1t would now be impossible to return
the money to It's rightful owner, it was
decided that it should be dropped into the
contribution box at church that morning,
in the hope that out of evil done good
might arise. Il seemed to William as be
sat in the cushioned pew of the great
cathedral, as if the sermon had been pre-.
pared for his especial benefit, The minis
! ter hod chosen the following text; a say
ing that for nearly 5000 years has stood
the test of time and is none the less true
today than when the world was young;
The wicked fee when no man pursueth,
but the righteous are bold as lion.
4. Y. w.
Exchange.