The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-05-25

! could not help 1t. The skinny hand was
IIT4-
All at Oncc-IIark
My hair fit like growing grass.
A faint sort Of inward rapping or -asp-
ing-a strange, inrxplicablc sound, mixed
with n slight kind Of wood-pccking Or
ticking.
Tick! Tick!
Yes, il was n faint sort Of ticking.
Hooked up my great StraSbourg clock
in one corner. II was not that. The
clock had stopped.
Tick ! Tick!
Was it my watch?
According to her usual practice Mt night,
my wife had, upon retiring, carried my
watch off to our chamber to hang il up
on its nail
listened with all my ears.
Tick Tick!
Was it death tick in the wainscot?
With trrmIlOnS step went all round
the room, holding my ear to the waiRkcot,
No; it came not from the wainscOt.
Tick. Tick!
| shook myself was ashamed of my
flight.
Tick ! Tick!
II grew in precision and audiblcncss.
rrtreatcd from the wainscot. Ii seemed
advancing to meet me.
] looked round and round, hut saw no.
thing, only one clovcn foot oi the little
applc.trce table.
Bless me, said | to myself, With sudden
revulsion, it must be very jp;e; amt TINT
my wife calling me? Ic>. y,s; must
To bed. suppose AL is 'ncktd up. No
need to go the rounds.
The fascination hal lr,.nrtrd, though
the fear had increased. With trembling
hands, putting Gotten Mat!ier out Of sight.
! soon found myself, candle stick in hand,
in my chamber, with Peculiar rearward
feeling, such as some tr,Iant dog may feel.
In my tagerncsS to get we'll into the
chamber, stumbled agaio>t a chair.
DO try and make less roi- %. my dear"
said my wife from the bed. "iou have
been taking too much OF that punch, |
fear. That sad habit grows On You. All,
that should ever see you TIM, staggering
at night into your chamber"
Wifi. wife, h"arScly whispered T,
"thcrc isis something tick-ticking in
the ccdar.parlor."
Poor old man quite out Of his mind
i knew it would be 50. Come to bed !;
come and sleep it off"
"Wifc, Wife"
DO, do come to bed. I forgive YOU.
won't remind you Of it Tomorrow. But
,viVn 0I,.. IL ,ln;, 4,
my dear 1t quite gets the better Of you. -
l'"h't cXaSIcratc me-" | cried now,
truly beside myself; II will quit the
house :"
NO. no! not in that state. Come to
he'd. my dear. won't say another word. y
The next morning, upon waking, my
wife said nothing about the past night s
affair, and. feeling mn little embarrass-
mcnt myself, especially ut having been
thrown into such panic, I also was silent.
Consequently, my wife must still have
aSc'iimd my singular conduct to mind
dis rderr,i, not by ghosts, but by punch
For my own part. as lay in bed watch =
ing the sun in the pancs, began to think
that much midnight reading Of Cotton
Mathcr was not good for man that it had
II morbid irtlucnce upon the nerves, and
gave riSc to hallucinations. ! resolved to
put Cotton Mathcr permanently aside
That done, had no fear Of any return of
the ticking. Indeed, began to think
that what seemed the ticking in the room
was nothing but sort Of buzZing in my
ear.
As is her wont, my wife having pre-.
celed me in rising, made deliberate
aud agreeable toilet. Aware that most
disorders Of the mind have their origin in
the state Of the body, | made vigorous
use of the tiesh.brnsh, and bathed my
head with New England rum, q specific
once recommended to ME as good for buz
zing in the ear. Wrapped in my dress.
ing-gown, with cravat nicely adjusted,
and tinger.nails neatly trimmed, com.
placcntly descended to the little cedar
parlor to breakfast.
What was my amaZcmcnt to find my
wife on her knees, rummaging about the
carpet nigh the little applc.trec table, on
which the morning meal was laid, while
my daughters, Julia and Anna, were run
ming about the apartment distracted.
"Oh, papa, papa :" cried Julia, hurry
ing up to me, ~ knew it would be 50.
The table, the tablet"
"Spirils spirits!" cried Anna, stand
ing Car away from it, with pointed finger.
"Silence!" cried my wife How can
hear it, IL you make such noise? BE
still. Come here, husband; was this the
ticking you spoke Off Why don't you
movey Was this ity Here. kneel down
aud listen TO it. Tick, tick, tick !-don't
you hear it now 2"
~ do, | do" cried !, viii. my daught-
ers besonght US both to com away from
the spot
Tick, tick, tick
Right from under the S;!nwy cloth, and
the cheerful urn, and the smoking milk
toast, the cunaccOuntablc ticking was heard.
"Ain't there fire in the next room, Ju'
lia," said |, let US breakfast there, my
dear" turning to my wife" let Us go
leave the table-tcll Biddy to remove the
things"
And SO saying was moving towards
the dOoI in high self. lf.possesSiOn, when my
wife interrupted the.
Before quit this room will sec into
this ticking" she said with energy; "II
is something that can be found out, de-
pend upon Il. don't believe in spirits
especially at brcakfast-timc. liiddy Bid
dy ! Here, carry these things back to thu
kitchen" handling the urn. Then, sweep
ing off the cloth, the little table lay bare
to the eye.
ats the table, the table," cried Julia
NoRsensc,Ss said my wife; "who eve
heard of ticking table It's on the floor
Biddy! Julia Anna move everything
out Of the rOom-tahle and al. Wher
are the tack-hammers 2"
"Heavens, mamma-you are not goin
to take up the carpetY" screamed Julit
"Herc's the hammers, marin" said Bid
dy, advancing trcmblingly.
"IIand them to me, thCn," cried m