The Ciock-Face of Schaumburg.

Manawatu Herald, 20 December 1898, Page 2

The Ciock-Face of Schaumburg.

(Continued.) The sun rose higher, and fell hotter and hotter on his face and head. He straggled with the bonds that held him tight between the machinery and the clock-face, bat in vain. He screamed hoarsely for water, but old Max stood, hammer in hand, immovable as a figure of stone. Sixty more eternities passed and again the blade point scored his throat, and again the deep strokes crashed upon his ears, and the long blade crept upwards a few inches nearer to his neck. Another hour passed, and another, and each time the oat of the blade point and the crash of the ball roused him from the stupor into which he was falling. The long blade, creeping on like the finger of Fate, was very near now, and the fear of death overcame his weariness and even the agony in his h6ad, and he began to think again. Would hii men be able to keep the aerfa back till the appointed time ? He could bear them shouting and cursing below him still. If they couldn't the old man — whom he oould not see, but who be knew was standing so near to him -would break the governing fan, the wheels of the dock would fly round, and a few minutes later the razor-edged blade would be buried in his neck. Or would Diedrich keep faith with -him ? What if he should delay the entry into the castle ? What if he should kill Max and let the dock go on f The clock struck eleven, and it seemed as though he had been standing there as many years as there had been strokes on the bell. Every act of his life had passed before him again and again. He had lived twenty lifetimes since the clock had struck six. He was nearly blind now, and the long line of the garrison on its way had passed be yond his vision. By this time ft would be safe under the walls of Hameln— perhaps even now Count Conrad and Brunhild were feasting in the castle with the Lord and Lady of Hameln. What were Diedrich and his men doing ? Had they kept the serfs back? Would twelve o'clock never come and end the heUish torture of this suspense one way or the other ?

Yes, the long blade waa getting very near now, and bis instinct made him bend his head and neck away as far as the hole would let him. But still the clock ticked on, and he could hear the creak of the centre shaft as it turned and brought the blade nearer still. Old Max stood steadfast at bis post, waiting for the last stroke of twelve to stop the clock, aa his master had bidden him, and then to meet such a fate as might await him. He watched the striking lever rise, and knew that the first stroke of twelve was about to sound. He saw the body of Goetz writhe feebly in its bonds. One • two— three—four — five — six — . He put down bis hammer and took up the iron bar that he waa to thrust into the wheel at the twelfth stroke.

Seven — eight — nine— ten — . A head appeared at the top of the ladder leading to the belfry, and then a hand with a pistol in it. It wat the hand of Diedrioh of Altenau — . Eleven — . There was a flash, a bane, and a cloud of smoke, and old Max dropped the bar and pitched forward and fell in a heap just as the twelfth stroke sounded. There waa a hoarse scream — hardly human in sound— from the outside, and the wheels of the olook ground on, ticking nut the last seconds of the life of Goetz of the Iron Hand.