Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-09-08
DAILY SHORT STORY
A Revolutionary Episode
lOrISinaI.1

| age it sheltered a regiment marching
to save the capital from the Confed-
! crates. There are sixteen panes of
| glass in every sash and siXty-four
panes in every window. The pews re-
mind one of pens, and the pulpit is
perched up under the roof. But the
oldest fashioned thing about it is the
clock in the little steeple.
| During the Revolution the care of
| the church fell temporarily into the
hands of one of the deacons an ardent
| Tory. AT the time of the occupation
of the region by the British Deacon
Bradford, occupying neutral ground
between both armies. was especially
diligent in supplying the British with
| information and in keeping his eye
open for patriots who were engaged in
like efforts for the Americans. The
| dominic having gone as n chaplain
| and the sexton as a wagon master
with the revolutionists, Deacon Brad
ford slept in the parsonage, which
stood in the next lot to the church, in
order to keep it under his personal SUI
pervision. His sole duty was once a
week TO wind the clock. The rest of
the time he was spying OH the Amer
lean army for the benefit of the Brit
ish.
One Saturday night he had taken his
lantern and was about to start for the
belfry to wind the clock when he heard
the clatter of horses hoofs. and mo-
ment later a dozen British horsemen
rode up to the parsonage.
Deacon" said the leader, ..impor-
tant papers have been missed today
from the generals headquarters. and
this evening a youth who has been
lettering near the generals office is
missing. We have tracked a figure
fitting along before us which disap-
peared behind the church. Perhaps it
is hiding there
mo one could get in there" said the
deacon, without the keys. However,
we will see"
He led the way to the church door,
opened it, and the soldiers. aided by the
light of the lantern, poked into every
Granny. When no one was found, they
rode on, followed by the deacon. Be
fore departing he called to his son An
thony. who had come to the church to
see what was going on, to wind the
clock and be sure not to forget it.
When they had all gone, Anthony
took the lantern and went up into the
belfry Setting the lantern on the
floor. he took up the iron crank, fixed
it to the arbor and began to turn. The
weight seemed unusually heavy, and
Anthony wondered what was the mat
ter When the crank stopped turning,
the young man stood mute with as
constituent at seeing young girl
S,ff fI,n nfrr,H hn 10 &c
death.
"Oh, Anthony she exclaimed. Il
supposed your father was winding the
clock If So l should have been lost"
What does it all mean?''
II am trying to get away from Gen
eral IS headquarters with valuable
papers. know every corner in the old
church and came in by way of a loose
window in the cellar. Then 1 went into
the weight closet and got on the weight.
1 heard them searching, and they open
cd the door to the closet. but 1 stood
too high for them to see me.
'They said they We're after a boy.
My brother Sam was watching his OPP
portunity to get some papers he had
seen on the generals desk. He did not
know what they were worth, but he
was bound to do something for his
country. When he got them, he brought
them to me, knowing that he would be
suspected. 1 was going to General
Washington's headquarters with them
when they gave chase"
Tony called voice from below.
Whatever of color had returned to
the girls cheeks left them in an in
slant. She recognized the deacon's
voice. Both stood looking at each 9TH
err, mute with terror.
Tony" repeated the voice, ''if you've
wound the clock come down"
Tony was about to do the only thing
he could do-go downstairs, leaving the
girl to come out Iater-when he heard
his fathers step on the stairs below.
There was but one staircase, and it
was plain that they were caught in a
trap.
Give me the papers," said Tony.
The girl handed them to him, and,
thrusting them under his shirt, he
seized a Ratchet lying among other
tools in the clockroom and cut the rope
sustaining the weight, which fell to the
bottom with Il thud. Then, opening
a sliding panel used to reach the hands
of the clock, he hastily unwound the
rope and tossed it out When his
father entered the room, Anthony was
descending by the rope to the ground.
The sight of a young girl where the
deacon expected to find his son was,
10 say the least, startling. He looked
from the girl to the rope hanging from
out the room and was more startled
than ever. Taking in the situation,
without speaking word he turned and
dashed down the steps. When he
reached the ground, there was the
rope dangling in the wind. Not know
ing what else to do, he started off in
the direction of the American army,
naturally supposing the fugitive would
take this course