Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1900-07-12

formation hat the house was occupied
by W men; and she had waxed merry
while telling me that they seemed to
do all the homework themselves. as a
female had never been seen to enter
the place, front or back" but the fact
that they were foreigners seemed to her
to account for all their peculiarities.
Foreigners like, sir" said she,
seems to ave ways different to us"
A fortnight passed, and / was unable
to get any more information. The at
tics were illuminated every night. and,
becoming impatient, 1 at last resolved
to satisfy my curiosity as to what was
being done there, and the only means
/ could think of for doing so consisted
in going and looking.
Having decided on this course. l lost
very little time in putting my resolve
into action. / arrived home late one
night and let myself in with my latch
key; my landlady had gone to bed,
having, as she usually did when l
stayed out late, left a cold supper
awaiting me.
/ hastily ate a few mouthfuls and
proceeded upstairs. Ny bedroom was
at the top of the house. and from it a
dormer window overlooked the street.
Behind il was a lumber room. and in
this vas a skyiight opening out on the
roof. The door of this room was usual
~ kept unlocked. and was now open.
After waiting an hour or so IN my bed
room. in order TO make sure that all
in the house were Sleeping cautiously
crept into the next room. With the aid
of a chair placed upon a table j man
aged to Unfastea the skylight. and 50
got out on the roof. When there [
found that the decline was so acute
that / could not with any degree of
safety trust myself out of reach Of the
framework OF the window. However.
/ managed TO overcome this difficulty
by returning to my bedroom and get
ting a stout walking stick: with this
| once mOTe got upon the roof. and,
lying with my feet supported by the
framework. L managed to catch the
crook of the stick over the roof tile.
and so drew myself up until l sat upon
the ridge of the roof.
Progress was now easy, but a Chin
ney now barred my way. 1 clambered
across it, and, begrimed with SCOT, l
slowly crept along until l came above
the skylight through which the light
shone. l cautiously let myself down
with the aid of the walking stick which
1 had taken the ~precaution to bring
with me, and my exertions were soon
rewarded by a look into the room be-
low.
AS my eyes became accustomed to
tho Enhf II fa1f Snnar~ho ~ dica nn0in4 rod
at what met my gaze. Seated at a table
was the man who had made the pur-
chase from me; he was busily employed
with some cutting implement working
at a piece of metal which lay before
him. A printing press occupied one
side of the room, and behind the doc
was a camera, together with some 9TH
er Photographic apparatus. A couple
of chairs placed near the table were all
else the room contained. With a feel
ing of disgust hat my exertions should
have ended in the discovery of an en-
graver at work, I was about to cau-
tiously Chamber back again, when l
observed the door opening, and a sec
ond individual entered the room. With
out looking up from his work, the en-
graver asked:
"Well, Schular?"
"Oh," said SECULAR, cit works spIen-
didly. Look!" He placed upon the
table a book and some papers which
he had brought in, and then, lifting up |
a couple of sheets of the latter, he care
lessly drew them from one another.
A flash and a sharp report followed,
similar to that made by a child's Christ
mas cracker.
The other looked on his face beam
ing with admiration. SECULAR then
lifted the book and turned over the
pages until he came to where two of
them seemed to be slightly stuck to-
gether; in attempting to draw these
apart another flash and report fol-
lowed. The engraver then motioned his
companion to sit down, and they began
to converse earnestly in a low tone.
Ny position on the roof was by this |
time becoming uncomfortable, and, as
they continued talking, 1 resolved to |
see what was visible through the other
skylight, which evidently gave light to
another room. Carefully clambering
with fear and trembling lest my prog
ress should be heard by those in the
room below, I managed t. get to the
other window.
The light in this room was not so
intense as in that into which 1 had
first looked. One corne was carefully
partitioned off with green baize cloth,
and this / suspected to be used as a
Photographic dark room. A lantern,
well guarded with wire and protected
from draughts, such as is used for car
rying about farmyards, stood by itself
on a stool in another corner. A row
of blue 'Winchesters" of sulphuric and
nitric acids stood along the wall op-
posite to the lamp, while on a low table
which occupied all of one side of the
room some kind of waterproof mate
rial was spread, and on it was a heap
of light fluffy stuff, the sight of which
gave me such a start that 1 almost lost
my foothold on the roof as I recog-
nized it to be gun cotton in the process
of drying.
Quickly retracing my steps, / arrived
in my own room quite limp with the
unusual exertion, and somewhat ex-
by the discovery Ihad made.
My suspicious had proved correct,
and there could be no doubt that, what
ever their objects were, my neighbors
were certainly engaged in the manufac-
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