Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1900-11-15


would have given a trihe for peep be-
meath the white cambric handkerchief
which hung so obtrusively from the
pocket Of his swallow tailed coat. But
what mainly occasioncd a righteous In
dlgnatiOn was that the scoundrelly pop
Inlay, while he cut fandango here
and Il whirligig there, did not seem to
have the remotCst idea In the world Of
such thing as keeping time In his
steps
The good people OF the borough had
scarcely chance, however, to get
their eyes thoroughly open, when, just
as It wanted half n minute of noon,
the rascal bounced, as | say, right INTO
the midst Of them; gave chassez
here, and n balance there, and then,
after plrouettc and n pas-de-Zcphyr,
pigeon winged himself right up into
the belfry Of the house Of the town
council where the wonder stricken
belfryman sat smoking in n state Of
dignity and dismay. But the little chap
seized him at once by the nose, gave
II n swing and pull, clappcd the big
chapeau-de- bras upon his head, knock
ed it down over his eyes and mouth,
and then, lifting up the big fiddle,
beat him with 1t so long and so sound
ly that, what with the belfryman be-
ing so fat and the fiddle being so hol-
low, you would have sworn that there
was regiment of double bass drum
lt,,.. 4 I,, ,IAt tot
in the belfry Of the steeple of Wonder
YOttcImittlss.
There is no knowing to what desper-
ate act of vengeance his unprlnCipled
attack might have aroused the inhablt-
ants but for the important fact that
1t now wanted only half second Of
noon. The bell was about to strike,
and IL was n matter Of absolute and
pre-cmlnent necessity that everybody
should look well at his watch 1t
was evident, however, that just Mt this
moment the fellow in the steeple was
doing something that he had no bust
ness to do with the clock. But M IT
now began to strike, nobody had any
time to attend to his maneuvers, for
they had all to count the strokes of the
bell as 1t sounded.
"Onew said the clock.
"Vonw echoed every little old gen
tleman In every leather DOttomed arm
chair in Vondervottcmlttiss 'Von"
said his watch also; "Non!' said the
watch of his vrOw, and "Von" said
the watches of the boys and the little
rcpcaters on the tails of the cat and
pig.
"Twow continued the big bell and
"Doow repeated all the rcpeaters.
"Three! -Four! Five! six! Seven!
Eight! Nine! Tcnw said the bell.
"Drcc! Your! Fibc! Sax! Seben!
Aight! Neln! Denw answered the
others.
Eleven said the big one.
"Elebenw asscnted the little fellow.
"Twclvcw said the bell.
"Dvelfr' they replied, perfectly sntis-
fled and dropping their voices.
"Und dvclf 1t issv said all the little
old gentlemen, putting up their
watches. But the big bell had not
done with them yet.
"Thlrteen!" said he.
"Dcr tcufclw gasped the little gen
tlemcn turning pale, dropping their
pipes and putting down all their right
legs from over their left knees.
der teufelw groaned they. DIR
teen! Dlrteen! Mcin Colt, 1t Is dir
teen o'ClOck!'
why attempt to describe the terrible
scene which cnsucd? All Nondervot-
teimlttiss flew at once into lamenta-
BILE state of uproar.
"Vot is cum'd to mein pclly" roar
ed al the boys. 1--WE been ongry for
dis hOurW
"Vot IL cumd to mein krautY
screamed all the vrows. ut has been
done to rags for dis hour!"
"Not In cum'd to men plpeW sworc
all the little old gentlemen. "Donder
and bitten! 1t has been smoked out
for dis hourr' And they filled them up
again In II great rage and, sinking back
In their armchairs, pulled away so fast
and 80 flercely that the whole valley
wns Immediately filled with impene-
| trablc smoke.
Meantime the cabbngcs nil turned
very red in the face, and 1t seemed as
If old Nick himself had taken posses
sion of everything in the shape of n
timepiece The clocks carved upon the
furniture took TO dancing, as If be-
witchcd. while those upon the mantcl-
pieces could scarcely contain them
selves for fury and kept such n con-
tinual striking of IL and such frlsk-
ing and wriggling OF their pendulums
as was really horrible TO see. But,
worse than all. neither the cats nor the
pigs could put up any longer with the
behavior OF the little reporters tied to
their tails and resented 1t by seam
pcriug all over the place, scratching
and poking aud sQueaking and screcch-
ing and cnterwauling and squalllng
and flying into the faces and running
under the petticoats Of the people, and
creating altogether the most abomlna-
BILE din and confusion which 1t is pos
sible for Il reasonable person to con.
| Cplyp And to make mnttprS still moro