Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-11-05
CHAPTERS. w

MUSE next out one to the public house,
and the wall of which formed one half of
the northern boundary Of the yard, he
paused and listened He could hear no
sound OF life or movement near him be-
Jond the snort or cough of horse now
ard then.
After a pause of two or three minutes,
ne stopped, slipped off his boots, slung
Them round his neck, and having hitched
lie crook of his heavy stick to belt he
wore under his waistcoat, he laid hold of
the waterpipe that descended from the gut
Ter of the double roof to the yard, and be-
gan ascending the gable of the house with
surprising agility and speed
In less than two minutes from the time
he first seized the waterpipe he disap-
Neared in the gutter above. He crawled
in few yards from the edge and then
reclined against the sloping states of the
roof to rest. The ascent had taken only
u couple of minutes, but the exerton had
been very great, and he was tired and
out of breath.
Then he unscrewed his ferrule and
withdrew the hampton and unscrewed the
handle of his stick, and was busy in the
darkness for awhile with the weapon he
carried.
hand and arm that night, so he made up
his mind that he would rest until five min
ates to -. Then he should get into
position. He should creep down the
gutter until he came to the gable wall
standing up over the roofs of the houses
on which he now was lying. He should
then be almost opposite the window at
which he last night saw the dwarf wind
up his clock. He should be little out
of the direct line, but not much. The
width of the street was no more from
house to house than fifty feet. The dis
tance from the wall Of the house he
should be on then, and the wall of Forbes
bakery could not be more than sixty feet.
The weapon he carried was perfectly
trustworthy at a hundred and fifty yards,
or more. He had been practicing that
afternoon and evening at an old hat forty
yards, and he had never mlSsed 1T once.
Forty yards was just double the distance
he should be from that window if he were
on parapet instead of being at the coping
tie, lying on the inside slope of the roof.
Allow another ten feet for that. This
would bring the distance up to seventy
feet at the very outside, and he had never
missed once at q hundred and twenty feet.
lie had given himself now and then
good deal of practice with the gun, for he
enjoyed peculiar facilities; because the
factory wall by which the lane at the
lack of his place ran, prevented any one
seeing what he was doing, and the noise
of the factory drowned the whir of the
gun and the whiz of the bullet.
At half-past II that night the private
bar of the public house held about half
a dozen customers, but it lacked the ele-
waiting presence of Oscar Leigh, who al
WAYS gave the assembly a distinctly in
tellectual air.
A few minutes later, however, the spir
its of those present rose, for Mr.. Oscar
Leigh came in, rubbing his forehead and
complaining of the heat.
81 have only minute or two. I must
be off to wind up" said Leigh. "Ten
,ninutes to u by your clock, Mr.. Will
Jams; that means quarter to right time.
'It is, I have heard, the most wonder
full clock in Chicago" spoke an acquaint-
ance.
I'm Chicago! In Chicago! In the world,
sir 1t is the most wonderful clock ever
conceived by man. Well, my time is up.
Goodnight, gentlemen"
He scrambled off his high stool and was
quickly out of the bar. 1t was now FIVE
minutes to II o'clock, right time. He
crossed the street, and opening the pri-
,ate door of Forbes, went in, closing the
door after him.
As he came out John Timmons turned
into the street He went on until he came
onposite the window of the clock-room.
Here he stood still, thrust his hands deep
down in his trousers pockets, and leaning
his back against the wall, prepared to
watch with his own eyes the winding of
the clock.
In less than five minutes the window of
the TOD room, which had been dark, grad
ually grew illumined until the light came
full through the transparent oiled muslin
curtain. Timmons could see for all prac-
teal purposes as plainly as through glass.
"There Leigh is, anyway" thought
Timmons, working away at his lever.
Can it be he was doing the same thing
nj this hour last night? Nonsense. He
was walking away from this place with
mo NJ this hour last night as sure as I
om here now I must be going mad.
,rbere. he is turning round now and nod
ding to the men at the bar. They said
he did the same last night, and, as live,
there's the clock we were under striking
tho quarter past again. l must be going
mad | begin to think last night must
aove been all dream with me. I don't
think he's all right. I don't believe in
yitchcraft. but there's something wrong
here. I'll watch this out anyway"
Wkir-whiz!
.Why. what's that over head"'
Timmons looked up, but saw nothing.
Its some young fellows larking."
He glanced back at the window.
"What a funny way he's nodding his
head now. And there's hole in the cur
tain and there seems to be q noise in the
room. There goes the gas out. suppose
the clock is wound UP now. Strange /
didn't hear the clock strike the hour, and
yet Leigh's light is out
And John Timmons walked out of Chef
vynd street and took his way eastward.
CHAPTER XXI.
~ Saturday morning ahout @ o'clock