The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1897-01-08
n UMBER I

"'Ah, I've just seen him. -aid tl.-
fellow About an hour 400. or i,ll.llar
q little more. lie was gong 10 AIaccl,.--
.ield. he sad. TO catch the calIV train l.,
The morning into StaTordshirc. whesc
he's got another job. He sseenaed in "a
mighty hurry. too
Il had reason afterNyartl to think that
this man was the one who had give,
lamprey warning. but " hciher that
WAS 80 or rot his informario ior thai
right appeared To bc correct. for mot
several people who had seen Jack 90
ing across the fields toward NTarps,,
vhich was lis best WAY of a,-ttf frrr -
M@ccles-icld from the place h. live!
IN; but when arrived II Marble station
was at fault again. for no train had
seen out for quite two hours. and al
though I waited till the last train L.
Macclesiield had left. I.amprey did not
show up.
Tired, and vexed beyond description.
tramped hack and got what resi-
could, hoping that someth -ng migEs
turn mp in the morning TO assist me "a
Iecoycrin~ the ground I had la-t. bat
afraid that for once | had let my quarry
slip. and that l might never catch him.
row that he was aware he was being
tracked.
Sure enough. the something did tuiu
up in line morning. and something y,.hi..,,
confirmed my fears. though 1 f.It thar
| had got my nan dead. If 1 had missed
him alive. The postman came round
.oon after seven, before il was qui.,.
light. and l had only just got mp y hen
u 10y came running with "a letter.
which had been delivered at the police.
station 1t lore the MarpIe postmark.
and was addressed TO The Detective
from i-oldnn.'
Tearing it open. 1 read something
like this:
- From .iohn Lamprey. I kn- y yen
are after UIc, and l know what for. |
mans-s-.d "a keep out of your way To-
night. and meant to try and get down
south. tEt lou are sure To have, me.
sooner or later. so I've determined to
make an end of it. Look at the church
steePle when you get this tomorrow
morning
The church Stceple was a tall ant
prominent feature whichever vav YOU
turned, and | had only to go to the end
| of the street to get a full view or IT.
When l got there and looked up | s,yy
| something that gave me n start In
the uncertain light OF the early morning
| ! could discern against the gray sky.
| hanging by the neck 10 one of the irs,I,
| loops which serve for a ladder n a E.
side of the spire. the figure OF Il man
so much for Jack Lamprey!' said
! to myself. a. | hurried to the police Sta
| iion. He has saved me any more
trouble,'
by the time / had been To the sta
tion and buck TO the church IL WAS
! broad daylight. and, of course, the boiy
haT@ing ;iIoft had been seen, and a
| crowd had already collected, every one
recognized it as Jacl, Lamprey.
y strange freak l remarked 10
the sergeant who was with me.
! There was no one round Stockport
! who would venture up the sPire, and a
| telegram had To be sent To Stalybridge
for Il man to come and get the body
| down Ii was past midday before the
| steeple jack arrived. and by that time
half Stockport had heard OF the affair.
| Work was discarded. and an immense
| crowd collected to witness the SIGHT.
| Every foot of the mans way up To The
| stceple was watched 10y thousands uf
| eyes, and when at last he approached
the swaying body of Jack LampTry. the
tongues which had been loudly waggiI.g
| were huShod is by common consent.
Il shall never forget the few minutes
that followed while the steeple- Jack
(now looking the size of little ch;Id)
made his way very cautiously close up
to the body, and fixing a rope 10 IL. made
his preparations for lowering it tn Eis
assistant. who was waiting on the top
Of the square tower to receive it. There
WIS something awfully sad and solemn
about ii all!
In due course the assistant received
ihe corpse. which he let down to the
ground. and everyone around mr re-
marked that he swung il roughly To I ne
earth. without showing the respect
which might have been looked for. In
fact. solne actually called out: 'Shauic,'
But all al once the hush which had
fallen upon the crowd WAS broken by
Il storm of jeers and laughter, Tine
thing which had given us all this
trouble MAS nothing but guy, Aud |
never fel: such fool i'm all my life.
so that he might get nearly day :
start. LamPrey had cleverly missed nae
the night before. While had been was
ing my time at MarpIe he had been ON
bioN'd III StuliHS lhS SUIT 81 cio3 nCS
which he had taken from his lodgings
with straw. making 4 very pasSable rep
rescntarion of himself: and in the mid
die OF the night he had climbed the
steeplc (which was chiid's play to him)
and left his efligy there to deceive me
and iuil me into inaction.
Il need not dwell upon the chaff re-
ceived. Il is too painful, even now. foI
me to recall without annoyance. hut
YOU may he sure that 1 quickly made
myself scarce