The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1915-06-15
A SHREWD
WOMAN
BY EUNCE BLAKE

climbing up TO a considerable height
be came 20 a man lying on his back in
a dying condition. for he had slipped
and fallen over a cliff Martin stanch-
ed the blood flowing from the wound
and otherwise cared for the sufferer
until he died Then he went down to
the valley TO report the matter.
Martins wife, Gretchen. was a very
shrewd woman, and before doing any
thing Of Importance he was used TO con
sultiHg her. So he went home and told
her of his experience and that he was
about to report il that the body he had
left on the mountain side might be
buried
Don't you say anything about IT."
said Gretchen. You might be accused
Of having committed a murder"
Martin had thought Of that himself.
and this was one reason why he had
mentioned the matter TO his wife He
concluded to keep his mouth shut But
there were two things be did not think
Of In succoring the stranger he had
got some blood on his sleeve, and when
descending the mountain he had met
Jacob Kirsbner going up. Kirshner
found the body and in telling OF his
find mentioned having met Eempfer
coming down the mountain. This ex-
cited some suspicion that Kempfer had
been the cause of the strangers death.
and a man was sent to his house TO
investigate. Kempfer received him.
and the visitor noticed a spot on his
shirt sleeve that looked like blood.
To make a long story short. Kempfer's
not having reported the strangers
death led to his undoing He was tried
for murder and convicted. to be SEN
fenced on a Friday at the hour Of
II noon.
Gretchen. his wife, was horror strick-
en- at the result of the advice she had
given her husband. who attempted to
comfort her by saying that If he had
reported tie matter be might still have
| been convicted The misfortune was
in finding the stranger. Gretchen. who.
as has been said. was a woman OF
! great shrewdness, set her wits to work
TO think of some plan whereby she
might save her husband
she went TO Adolph Switzer, the head
man or the canton, and besought him
| TO save her husband. assuring him that
4 il was her fault that he had been con
] victed and il was She if any one, that
should be punished. Switzer replied
that the verdict was matter for the
| courts, over which he had no power
and Gretchen went away discOnsolate
One morning some time before the
hanging Gretchen, being still asleep
dreamed OF plan by which she might
save her husband When she awoke
though. she did not consider it likely
to succeed; still she believed IT posi-
bic. At any rate she determined e
try it
Her husband had. among other things
a chronometer which had been giveI
him by matchmaker I'm Geneva anC
which he valued very highly He Sc
cured the time once a month regularl.
and found that his watch never variet
more than few seconds. The resul
was that Martin furnished time for tn
whole valley The day before tn
hanging the sheriff asked q citizen {
go to Gretchen and get the time. tina
he might be sure TO execute his pris
oner in exact accordance with the ser
tence. Gretchen gave the inquirer tim
fifteen minutes behind what was cor
rect. stating that she had learned tina
owing TO bad weather the astronome
in Geneva who observed the sun ha
been unable TO do so for several week
and had discovered a considerable el
ror in his chrOnometers. The sheri
set his watch in accordance with th
time given him
On the morning of the hanging Gretcl
, en- went 10 the head man of the car
; ton and asked him for an order for tn
body Of her husband that she Nigh
give ii burial. SwitZer replied that b
, would give her the order after the e,
, ecution had taken place and not bC
fore. Half an hour before II she weI
, TO his house with her chronomete
; which she set ahead fifteen MINUTES
: and when the hands pointed to
> Switzer signed the order Gretche
? had a horse and cart in waiting
short distance from the house. an,
p jumping into the cart, she whipped ii
j horse to a gallop. traversing a mile (
the jail. On the way she turned IL
. | hands of her chronometer backwar
= to correspond with the time she ha
+ eiven the sheriff. When she reache
him his and her timepieces both mar
ed ten minutes TO - She held IL
head mans order aIoft, crying:
!. "A reprieve, a repriever'
9 The sheriff read the order and, thin
o ing that the condemned man had bee
pardoned. turned him over to his wifi
4 Then the two jumped into the cart al
q drove like mad 10 a railway station
;. few miles distant. where they caug
!. train bound for the French border.
n The misunderstanding that Gretch'
n | had brought about between the hei
: man Of the canton and the sheriff w
). not discovered till an hour after tn
n fixed for the execution and when q
- convicted man was well on his way
: foreign territory. As soon as the tru
= was known n conference was held
- the authorities. but nothing was ev
a done about the matter, for when tn
"A learned that Kempfer was in a forei;
% land they did not try to get him. NJ
in time his wife convinced them tn
he was an innocent man. Then he !
turned 10 his home
1T Best Thing for Bilious Attack