Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1901-07-05

NNNE A"HN 7
ovsrSlept because his alarm had failed
hin, so to insure his "caiT he had rup
b wire from tho station clock to a bell
IN his room at the hotel. BY M ingen-
ions connection when the hands mark
ed HAS the ringing Of the bell brought
him violently out of the land Of
dreams. When Tom was promoted to
the shorter watch and e to live at
Mrs. Jordan's, Bill Townsend, who u c
ceeded hlm, fell heir TO his room and
'the devils own" as Tom called tho
bell. The clock was an Imitation Of the
old fashioned, big faced. caselcss time
pieces. with weights and chains and q
long, heavy pendulum.
Twenty minutes late" he muttercd.
The hour hand was less than two
Inches from the connection, but how
slowly It creptl If he could only nov
that handl His knees We're free. He
drew them up toward his chin, shot out
his legs and came to a sitting position.
Then, by n series OF short jumps and
bumps, lac reached the wall, braced his
back against It and, with great diff
Guilty, worked himself TO his feet. The
pendulum swung close to his ear, but
how could he reach the HANDY Was
he to fail now?
His eyes quickly searched the room.
A few feet to the right wal the win.
dow, heavily barred, the torn shade
partly down. His glance rested on tho
stick that weighted the latter, just
what he needed. New hope gave him
new strength. Inch by inch he edged
himself along the wall TO the shade,
caught the stick between his teeth and
sank quickly to the floor. lie had sue
ceeded. The stick was torn loose from
It's fiimsy fastenlngs. Back again, up
and along the wall he worked until he
stood nearly under the clock. He turn.
ed sldcwlsc, raised his head until the
stick pointed at the hand, made q ter.
rife effort to reach 1t, failed, lost his
balance and fell heavily to the floor.
The bodily pain was nothing to him,
but he groaned in anguish al the loss
Of time. He looked up. The clock
had stopped!
The hands marked IL. lie could
reach the pendulum. 1t must be start.
ed. There was still a chance Of more
delay. Again the struggle to regain
his feet, harder now because OF his
growing weakness. Nearer and nearer
he crept to the motionless rod. A nod
of his head would start It.
"My God~ he suddenly cried. why
didn't l think Of 1t befOre2 Is there
still timer" And SELLING the heavy
brass disk at the end of the pendulum
in his teeth he raised his head and de.
tached It.
The rod, freed Of its heavy weight,
swung rapidly back and forward. i'm
pelllng the hands onward at a greatly
Increased rate Of speed. His eyes were
following the minute hand. lie coult
see 1t move. and the hour hand? Yes
II was creeping along. Toms strength
was going fast. He sank to his knees
and rolled over on the floor, but hi
eyes were fixed on that hand. How
long would 1t take to reach 11:45'
Closer aud closer 1t crept. Now
touched the iron connection and moved
slowly past 1t. The alarm had beer
sounded. but there were IL minutes
more before Bill would arrive. H'
strained his ears to catch the sllghtes'
sound. The noise of the storm was al
that lie could hear.
Click, click, click came from the in
strument-a message from Maysville
Twenty-sIx had just passed. MaysvlllC
was IL minutes up the road-it mus
now be 11:1S. Tom tried to calculate
the time since the hands started OF
their wild race, but his mind was {
chaos OF mad thoughts. What IL Bill
did not arrive In season? He rolled
over on his face and waited for the
worst.
The door burst open.
Hello, where are youY" 1t was BllPI
voice.
stop 2G-hoId up at Dykes siding
get mem But BIZ was gone.
The red light flashed up the track
and %, With a noisy grinding of wheel
and many jolts, came to a stop.
posse was hastily formed. but wheI
the siding was reached nothing wa
found but the open switch that mean
death and destruction.
The passengers and crew tried t
make Tom believe that ne was a hero
but he only pointed to the clock an,
sald:
at was the devils own "-WaveI
ley Magazine.