Council Bluffs bugle. [volume] (Council Bluffs, Iowa) 1860-1868, 1862-07-16
WEDNESDAY, JULY Is, 1862.

MiAs naFto8 sns sala you'A 1--we Z
see she folly ut it.c 7 as s&.sa
| $50 they salk, Y said the nsa. $40,
listen doctor. Yoaayn coma fur to sea 10
and done ell you coald. T'u give yol
chat watch. It's money valley arnt lauch
: but is I'll do yoa service. lEwas giy' d
. me by aa old Rranshznan, aus o. Oausdy
} when be was layin' iagt as | ana iayin' -
J Ii had been his fathers, and his grand
fathers, and his great grandfather be
fore that and this 10 what be told m,
: about ii, and this is xhss you'll Gua Il
be truth. That wateh viii tEck slew anG
steady, regular as The sun, a. long a
whoever 10 belongs tolls we'll, and safe
and thriving. When saersaa danger com
ing. IL begins to GO fasa, faster, aad
faster, and faster, until it is past, and
30 loud that you can bear il across the
room ss plain as II you held il 10 your
hand When death 10 esming thas watch,
bsgins 10 atop. IL gsas aleweg aad slow
ers lts voice ZroRs hollow; and whaa tha
oreash leaves the body, there's no more
sound to be heard, and all you can do
vent make ID 60 for a year. q 1t the end
OF that time il win start all Of sudden.
aud after that yau can read foax fate by
It and Know yonr death hour. II waa SO
after old Pierre died. 1t viii bo 80 nov. !.
Keep the watch when Pa gone, doctor -
could not help looking Nth some in
tersss at the battered sine piscs. 4
strange story had been woven about it,
aud the marvellous always had charm for
me.
sat beside nay patient HnEil he sunk 20
sleep, he seemed to be doiag we'll still,
aud had no doubt bat thaS the morning
light would see him greatly better. But
western hospitality w6afd not permits of
my departure II that la&a boar, and was
lodged in 80 upper chambar upon bed
Is clean and fragrant a. it was simple.
slept soundfy. At midnight, however,
was awakened by the news sAas my pa
tiant was w0rse.s he had -aMnkaned 10
mortal agony. Same iawasd injary ina
possible to discover had iuua it's work. /
sa4d nothing Of hope now, and the dying
nsAn looked at me with ghastly sznile.
''Take the watch" he said s'W&tch
il and me yoa will fnd me Eight.o
Those were the last words be uttered.
He nuttered incoherently after this, tos-
sed has arms about, and struggled for his
breath. Al last hs sesSaed 10 sank into .
slamber. My hand was On his heart /
felt its bcatings grow faint, fainter, faint
er stiii. AT last there was no motion
he was dead. lifted the watch to my
aar-shat bad stopped slsos s-
There were tears III the eyes Of the
rough meu about me, and the woman wept
as she might for Que Of here own kindred.
could do no good aow, and | surned 20
go away, lsaVing ths watch upon the
eQYeElid; bat one Of the men came after
me.
S'Hs Civ it to you, he said, "and it's
yoarn. He bad nobody belongin' 20 him,
so you needn't be afeered of takin' it. He
must hey takin' lIkin' 70 you, for be
thought heap of it. Take it, doctor"
And so the watch Was mine.
1t was dumb aad nAotioGiess, and re-
| asnsss r.nn EooE IL 10 Q wase enxnaKsE,
and he laughed st the idea Of its ever 60
ing again. This was after had left the
west and dwelt in large and populoas
city IN the eastern States, some eight or
nine moRShs after poor Mike B&rlow's
death. The matchmaker only confirmed
my own suspicious. Ii was a strange CO.
incidence that 1t should last exactly its
masters lifetime, bot that was aii. So
hung il upon my chamber vail, memen-
10 of those days Of toll and struggle in the
far vest.
One morning / awoke early. The
blushss OF dawn were Jast breaking over
The earth. It was the month Of Noven~
beE, bat still tbs day was lovely. There
was an unwouted sound in nv room. Al
frst | could not guess from whence It
came. Had the sky been cloudy should
have imagined it to be the rain upon the
roof. Then ! began Co feel thai this
sound heard vas too delicate for the
paster of rain. Ii might hare been the
elang of a fairy hammer, or the tapping
of the beak Of some lninats bird, save
| that it was too regular. But the mys.
terry of the sound Was that it seemed TO
appeal TO me--to repro&oh zne with for
! apttinE - -s-~--~~. -------.~-- . -
sat up and looked about me. In al
instant understood the SQUAD Ii was
the tick of the old watch upon the wall.
| Silent for a twelyemonEh, it had suddenly
found voice, as though some spirit hand
had eOuehed its spViags. looked ~ my
I
| the past night was the anniversary Of
| Nike Barlow's death. His words had
come true at last. He had said that when
it once again began 70 move, it would be
SO Hss monitor Of safety or danger. all
else had happened as be had foretold; Why
should not this come to pass? ! wore
upon my guard shain a dainty little
Geneva wa<ch. I unfastcned it, and put
the battered silver monster ia its place,
The baading development of The mystery
made 1t more precious 10 me- than ii it
had been set With jewels.
IL did nos stop again. heard the soft
clear stick, lick, tick % all day, and when
| wakened in the night. onGe OF twice 1t
beat more rapidly than usual, and always
before some peril-the krst time when q
fever threatened me the seeoued as !
stood apon broken bridge which was
swept away one hour afterwards and III
other moments which have forgotten,
but which served 70 keep alive The fancy
that have loved 10 cherish. Never wss
it's voice 30 clear and soft as On that
evening whan frat msa Rosa Grey.
loved her from the first moment, and she
loved me ia return. We had neither OF
as any friends 20 iutarfsre, for she was an
orphan, brosheraess aaa sisssrisss and
30, after . brief cuargship, We were msx'
RED. .- .s..-ss E., ..-f..
had no secrets from my wife, and in
fa little While she learnt the story Of ths
watch. She had faith ia ii, and thoughi
or faacied that shs could desapt the Eaey
shades Of difference ia It's atterance.-
When was weary, she said the watci
was weary too when | wss CHAD, 1t Ind !
ljoyaeus echo. know tksas ssa slsas night
when fssbls hssash aastsrea In D fesaasl
/: frame, and the litsla creature to whom
our love had given existence struggles
, wainiy for its- life, there was piteoas ca
dence in the voice Of that old watch
= hama nevar "a hsmr ayasn