M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1857-12-03

her father, shouting irom his cham
Der door:
"SalIy! what are yoE getting up in
the middle of the night forl"
"Tell him it's most mornia'," whis-
Ipered Joe.
81 can't tell fib," said Sally.
"I'll make it a truth, then," said
Joe; and running to the huge old
fashioned clock that stood in the cor
ner, he set it at five.
; "Look at the clock, and tell me
what time it is" cried thO-eld gen
Itleman.
"It's FIVE by the clock" said Sally;
and corroborating her words, the clock
struck five.
The lovers sat down again and re-
sumed their conversation. Suddenly
the staircase began to creak.
"Good gracious! it's father" ex-
claimed Sally.
1.-THE deacon, by thunder!" cried
Joe. "Hide me Sally"
"Where can hide youl" cried the
distracted girl.
"Oh, | know" said he, "I'll
squeeze into the clock case" And
without another word,. he concealed
himself in the case, and closed the
door.
The deacon was dressed, and sit
ting down by the cookingstove, pulled
out his pipe, lighted it, and began
deliberately to smoke.
"Five o'clock, eh2" said he
swell, shall have time to smoke
three or four pipes, and then I'll go
and feed the critters"
"Had'nt you better feed the crit
ters fustl" suggested the dutiful Sal
Ily.
"No; smokin' clears my head, and
wakes me up" replied the deacon,
who seemed not q whit disposed to
hurry his enjoyment.
"Tormented lightning!" cried the
deacon, starting up and dropping his
pipe on the stove; "what n airth's
thatp
"It's only the clock striking five,'
replied Sally, tremulously.
! Whiz-dingl dingl ding! went the
old clock furiously.
"Powers of creation" cried the
deacon. "Strikin' five! it's struck
more'n hundred times already.n
"Deacon Barberry!" cried the bet
ter halt, who had hastily robed her.
self, and now came plunging down the
staircase in the widest state Of
alarm, "what in the univarse is the
matter with the clockW
Goodness only knows" replied
the old man. "lt's been a hundred
years in the family, and it never car
ried on so afore."
Whizl ding! whiz-zz-z! wen! the
clock again.
"It'll bust itself" CRIED the old
lady, shedding a food of tears, sand
there won't be nuthin' left of it,"
"It's bewitched!" said the deacon,
who retained leaven OF good old
J New England superstition in his ma
ture. "Anyhow," said he after a
pause, advancing resolutely towards
the clock, "IlI see what's going on in
it,"
"Oh. don't!" cried his daughter,
Iseizing one Of his coat tails, while his
wife clung to the other. "Don't,"
Ichorused both the women togeth-
er.
"Let 90 my raiment!" shouted the
deacon. 81 amt ateerd ofthe powers
of darkness"
But the women wouldn't let 60; SO
the deacon slipped outof his coat, and
while, from the sudden cessation Of
resistance, they fell heavily upon the
floor, he pitched forward and seized
the knob of clock. But no human
power could open it, for Joe was hold
lug it from the inside with a death
grip. E.t. a.
The deacon began to be dreadfully
frightened. He gave one more tug,
when an unearthly yell as OF fend
in distress, burst from the inside, then
the clock case pitched head foremost
at the deacon, fell headlong on the
floor, smashed its face, and wrecked
its fair proportions. The current of
air extinguished the lamp-the deacon,
the old lady, and Sally fled up stairs,
and Joe Mayweed, extricating himself
from the clock, effected his escape in
the same way in which he entered.
The next day all Appleton was
alive with the story how Deacon Bar
berrys clock had been bewitched, and
although many believed his version,
yet some, and especially Joe May
weed, affected to discredit the whole
affair, and hinted that the deacon had
been trying the experiment Of tasting
frozen cider, and that the Eagaries OF
the clock-casel existed only in dis.
tempered imagination. .sai.l.
However, the interdict being taken
off, Joe was allowed to resume his
courting, and won the assent of the