River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-03-12

with the place. Then, as matter
of good faith he led me into his
locked rooms. They looked like a
machine or jewelry. shop, all Uttered
with tools, cigar boxes, jugs, bottles
and barrels. He had converted the
gas range into kind of blacksmith's
furnace, and / noticed that the win
dows were boarded up on the inside.
He gave me a bunch of keys, showed
me pile of magazines in the front
room and case full of books, al!
novelsI and told me to go ahead and
try it for a week.
at went all right for the first two
or three days. and then L began to
get lonesome. [ found / couldn't
open the door at the end of the hall
which led into his laboratory and
the empty house, with no company,
began to get on my nerves. I didn't
know anybody in town, but Mr. Brod-
erick had expressly forbidden me to
have company. Sometimes in the
night when / couldn't sleep [ could
hear vague sounds of tinkering from
his quarters, but / didn't see him
for nearly two weeks. On Saturday
morning found my wages in a small
yellow envelope on the hall seat, and
that night about nine o'clock Mrs.
Broderick-the wife-came to the
door. l knew her at once, because
she called me by name, said that her
husband had gone out of town for q
few days and that she had no key to
the rear entrance. i told her that
had none either, but she insistc1
that ] try my best to let her into her
husbands laboratory. | did try. but
failed, and she went away very much
annoyed, | thought, after asking me
if any visitors had called and if any
letters had come for him. Nobody
ever called and no letters ever came.
Even Broderick let himself in end out
by the back door of the fiat, never
came into the forward rooms, and,
so far as | could discover, never came
to the building at all in the day
time.
"After I'd been there about a
month he came in one night by the
front door, looked cautiously and, it
seemed to me, suspiciously about and
said: We'll, are you tired o& your
job?' I had to admit that it was
getting bit tedious, but he laughed
and said that if I'd stick it out the
three months he'd raise my wages
to $40 a week right off. And he did.
But at last, one night about mid
night, as [ lay tossing never could
sleep more than six or seven hours
in pa suddenly heard his voice
right at my elbow. He asked if l
was asleep. and when / said no, he
told me he'd like me to step into mis-
laboratory. I'll give you another
raise he said, if you'll do something
for me in the daytime He had a
lot of plaster of paris and showed
me how to make it into a kind of
paste, like clay, and he gave me a
jug of acid and lot of old pewter
ware and showed me how to polish
up the metal. The next morning ]
noticed that his door was open and
/ judged that his intention was for
me to get busy. That day was Satur-
day, but / didn't find my envelope
in it's usual place. But I had some
saved and wasn't worried, now that
I had something to occupy my mind.
"Broderick didn't show up for an
other week, and then, finding his
doors locked, I concluded he had re-
turned. My hands were all stained
up with the acid and my finger nails
were chalky with the plaster, but
/ found my envelope that morning
with two weeks -$30-and all
in gold. l was surprised and de-
lighted, you can bet, and that day
at dinner time, / walked over to the
avenue and bought myself a new
overcoat. L got back to the fiat, my
fat I had commenced to call it, but
I wasn't there ten minutes before
there was ring at the bell. | went
to the door and saw two men, one
the clerk, who had sold me the over
coat, and the other a strapping, big
IIlSHHdu, With d IuF Cd - anu MS COdU
collar turned up. I asked them
what they wanted, and for answer
the big man put his foot in the slight
ly opened door and pushed in. Tho
clothing clerk looked pretty scared,
and | guess | did too, but the Irish
man sat down and explained the
whole trouble.
eyer amt so bad lookin',' he said,
but yer goold'd a dead giveaway.
Where's yer layout?' 1 didn't UNDER
stand fully till he began to search
the house. Brodericlk's back rooms
were a well-equipped counterfeiter's
den, and on my hands were the acids
and plaster of his trade. [ never
saw either my employer or his wife
afterward, but when it comes to be-
ing an easy scapegoat, | think I've
got the world beat. "-Chicago Rec.
ord-Herald.