The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1902-09-26
] REVOLUTIONARY EPISODE


were Qunrtereu tneFe, hHu IN us Otu
age it sheltered regiment marching
70 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 1t Is the
clock in the little steeplc.
During the Revolution the care Of
the church fell temporarily hKo 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 chaplain
and the sexton as wagon master
with the reyoluionlsts, 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
week to wind the clock. The rest OF
the time he was spying on the Amer
lean army Coz the benefit OF the Brit
ash.
One Saturday night he had talIen his
lantern and was about to start for the
belfry to wind the COCK when he beard
the clatter Of horses hoofs, and mo.
ment later a dozen British horSemen
rode up to the parsonage.
Deacon" sold the leader. '+imQor.
tant papers have been missed today
from the generals headquarters, aud
this evening a youth WHO has been
lettering near the generals Office is
missing. We have tracked figure
fitting along before us which disAp.
peared behind the church. Perhaps 1t
is hiding there"
"No 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 calIcd to his son An.
thony, who bod come to the church to
see what was going Oh, to wind the
clock and be sure not to forget It
When they had al goOe, Antbuny
took tile lantern and went up into the
belfry. Setting the lantern on the
door, he took up the iron crank. fixed
"A tn NM
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 ut seeing a young girl
step OF the Uze1Sht. She was pale as
death.
-oh, Anthooyc' she exclaimed. II
supposed your father was winding the
clock. Ii 50, I should lnSc been lost"
"What does IT all meA!'
81 am trying to get away from Gen
eral IS headquarters with valuable
papers. know every corneC in the old
church and came In by way OF Loose
window in the cellar. Then l went into
the weight closet and gOt on the weight.
1 heard them searching. aud they open.
ed the door to the closet but stood
too high for them to see me.
''They said they were after boy.
My brother Sam was watching his op.
portunity to get some papers he had
seen on the generals desk. He did not
know what they were woSth, 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. l was going to General
WashlnNon's headquarters with them
when they gave chase"
Tony" called a voice from below.
Whatever of color had returned to
the girls checks left them in an in.
slant. She recogniDed the deacon's
voice. Both stood looking ut each 9th.
er. 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 later-Wlben he heard
his fathers step on the stairs below.
There was but one staircase. and It
was plain that they WNe 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 cIockroom and cut the rope
sustaining the weight which fell to the
bottom with thUd. Then. opening
a sliding panel used to reach the hands
of the clock, he hastily unwound the
rope and tossed 1t ont. When his
father entered the room, Anthony was
descending by the rope to the ground
The sight OF young girl where the
deacon expected to find his son was,
to 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 OF In
the direction OF the American army,
naturally supposinG the fugitive would
take this course.
But Tony was too smart to be caught
in this fashion. Hiding behind tomb.
stone in the churchgard, he saw his