The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1862-09-20
IIloan 9ispatfl,


uk usSlE1loQS WAICM.
70. esxs y Iaise u The s,pssa a.ssrss
aseroicry. 81 h tAe power Of the evil cye7
%. The soaeon for THE ID, youar Americana,
lHacendsd from English Hncestors, while
~ 0ermAn elcod "a my veins. and inherit
revereuce for what YOU snecr At Were dis.
embodied spirit to ariee q my bedaide 70 night,
ohould question 4, and down to being irigh'en-
"a, while yea would throw candlestick at lite
SnmASefiAl head, and insist to the last upon it's
neinr 4 buralar IN disruiee. Yet, mark me, in
spi1c OF yoursslf, your hair would rise, and
your blood curdle, and you would feel what
you would not acknowledge for the world
6nh II such things have no existence, What
10 our strange shiverings and snoaoeflngs
mean and why do We look ABOUT 0s VITO
awssericken eyes when We pass graveyafns
alter dusk Yos do not, yoa cay. "A. Are y1I
sura Of III have never seen . ghost, ana
ennnes sav that desire the spectacle; There
naua s. "a uncomfortable beating 0. the heart
n snoh eight. I doubt If many could retain
~ ife ana reason through such an ordeal.
Iem 8 doctor. Years ago was very poor
and very young, ] came from my own coun
Try With my diploma, and nothing etse !
found that the great cities OF the new world
werU full Of doctors young and poor a. was.
1 lefl them and went westward. | settled IN
sh~ ntsse Of Indiana. II was then one great
forest, with clearings here and there for fields
az corn and rude log houses. Any one led a
hard life there, and doctors, it seemedto me,
worst Of ell Miles and miles of hard riding,
through rain and mud, TO visit patients who
could pay nothing miles back again, to steal
. few noments Of repose before another an "a,
pouncement Of some one being 'very bad
/ was skin and bones Ii twelvemonth, but
that was nothing uncommon in that part OF the
world. The only wonder il, that l did not
have what they called "fever'n ager. was
The only per.on free from it for fifty square
miles. However, prospered, after certain
fashion, and in u year or TWO made u eoIsia-
srahle local rsRG:st,on Inc , p,aSe was S''"
II Wss about this time that first saw my
watch. to which all have now to tell relates.
A cold night in November had set IN. was
at supper in my little home, and enjoying it n
only hungry and weary man can ENJOY Toe
Don't ask what had; it was tout west, re
member OF course, there was preparation
Of corn and preparation OF pork, ana pre-
marathon of whiskey; corn meal, pork, and
Whiakev are the staple articles "out west l
Was epioving my supper, as l have said, and "A
loud knock at my door was not the most de
Eohtfnl sound which could have broken the
eiIence. However, said "Come in with
- good grace as possible, and stranger en-
tered. He was o tall, brosd-shouldered man,
In the dress of a backwoodsman, and his large
features wore y troubled expression. saw
At once that something serious had occurred
"ts bad night to trouble you to come SO
far. doctor" he said, looking At NE from I'M
der his fur cap; "but there is bad accident
hapneued over ut our clearin and if You kin
do ANYTHING for the poor chap, Ill be glad to
see it done, more particularly as helped to
shoot him.
"Helped to shoot him." l said with start,
Is n
1--WE took him for some kind of Il cIitter,
that's how it was" answered my visitor; mot
a purpOse stranger. We think heaps OF hun.
I'd sooner hev shot myself
knew the man spoke the truth, aud, taking
nv box Of surgical instruments under my arm,
followed him TO the spot where his horse was
tied. Mine was already saddled my little dar-
Kew know we'll enough what the arrival por-
tended, and had made him ready. We were
of in few moments.
Few words were spoken as we rode along
through the darkness. l asked whether the
wounds were serious, and my companion re
plied-"Im afeard they be, doctor l asked
If the injured man were young or old, and he
answered." rising forty and then, after "A
few words UPON the badness OF the road, We
Ielapsed into silence
AT last glimmering light told that we had
approached a dwelling, and with short
Eve 70 thar doctor, my companionsprang from
his saddle and entered the door. l followed
him. The room was feebly lit by Pickering
candles. About a bed in the centre were
grouped four or tive men and a woman, large
and broad shouldered as any of her masculine
companions. A child. too, lay crying in its
s.but no one seemed to notice him. They
mA0a way fopOy approach, and saw ilg
uFo stretched upon the bed. II was that of a
man with sineWy limbs and weather, beaten
face His shirt was unbuttoned and the breast
and sleeves were soaked with blood
"'Tsin't of no use, DOCTOR he said, As
bent over him; I'm gone coon. Doctors
stuff amt no account to me now.
/ did not believe him. His face was not
that Of dying man, and the wounds scarcely
seemed dangerous ''These bullets are bad
things to have in one side,'' said, "but men
have lived through more than that. Cheer up!'''
81 amt down-hearted, DOCTOR answered
the man. Il shan't leave no children, nor no
rifle I never hey been much afeared of death.
But can tell you, all you can do e no use
There's a sign that can't be mistook."
The group about the bed glanced al each
other, and the woman shook her head at me
a. though she would have said, ''Neyer mind
his words. -
1 did what l could for him. The bullets
were extracted, the wounds bound up. He
was weak, but not desperately So Hooked at
him and smiled. "How nowl" said |.
"Taint no use-the watchis stopping fast,
he answered.
Then, for the FIRST time, / noticed that beside
him on the bed lay great old fashioned silver
watch, the case battered, the face discolored,
and that il licked with a strange dull sound, as
though It were very old and feeble
/ suppose" said l; 'besides, all watches stop
1t times"
'Not this one, stranger" said the wounded
man They've laughed about that watch a
hundred times; now they'll find my story's
true, / reckon. That watch and will stop at
the same minute"
The woman at the bedside shook her head
again. "It's an old fancy o yourn, Mike Bar
it."
$50 they talk, said the man. Now listen,
doctor. You've come for to see me aud done
all you could Ill give you that watch. Its
money valley Amt much, but it'll do you ser
vice. II was give to me by an old Frenchman
out q Canady, when he was layin' just as
am layin. 1t had been his fathers, and grand
fathers, and his great grandiather's before
that; aud this ia what he told LIE about it, and
ihis il Whist You'll Knd to be truth. That watch
will tick slow and steady, reg lar as the sun,
- long az whoever it belongs to is we'll, and
safe, and thriving. When there & danger com
ing, il begins to 90 fast, faster and faster and
faster, until it is past, and 30 loud that you can
hear it across the room plain as if you held
it in your hand. When death is coming that
watch begins to stop. 1t goes slower and
slower Its voice grows hollow, and, when
the breath leaves the body, there no more
sound TO be heard, aud all yon can do won't
make il go for a year. At the end Of that
time d viii start all of a sudden, and after
that time You can read y0nr fate by it aud
know your death honr. It was so after old