Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-09-06

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is what he told me aeout it, and this is wa
you'll hnd to be truth. That watch viii ti(
slow and steady, lar - the san, IS leng
whoever it belongs to Is we'll, and safe, an
thriving. When thors's danger coming, it b
gins 10 60 fast, faster, and faster and faste
until it IS past, and so loud that you can hear
scr0ss the room As plain a. If you held iIin yoI
hand, Whom death is coming that watch bsgir
to stop. Il goes slower and slower. Its VoiC
grows hollow, and, when the breath leaves th
body, there's no more sound 10 be heard, an
all you can do BoR't make is go for year,
tho end of that time it will start sll Of sudder
and after that Il 20 you can rasd y0ur tate by
and know your de2Lh hour. Il was 50 afier ol
Pierre died. L viii bs so now. Keep the Watc
Whsn l an gone doctor"
could not help looking with some interest q
the battered tine-piece. A strange story ha
been woven about il, and the marvellous alway
had a charm for me.
sat beside my patient until he sunk to sleep
1s seemed to be doing well still, and 1 had n
doubt but that the morning light would see hin
grestly better. But WesterA hospitality woul
not permit Of my departure at that late hour
and | was lodged in an upper chamber upon
bed as clean and simple as Is was fragrant.
slept soundY At midnight, however, l We!
I awakened by the news that my patient VIZ:
worse. He had awakened in mortal agony
Some inward injury, impossible to discover, hac
done its work I said nothing of hope now, anc
ths dying man looked at me with a ghastly
smile.
/ "Take the watch" he said, Watch it and
me; you will fnd me right"
These were the last words he uttered. He
muttered incoherently after this, tossed his arms
about aad struggled for his breath. At last he
| seemed to siRk into a slumbeT. Ny hand was
on his heart. I felt its bestingz grow faint,
fainter fainter still At last there was no motion.
/ He was dead. l lifted the watch 10 my ear
that had stepped also
There were tears in the eyes Of the rough men
about me, and the woman wept as she might tor
one Of her own kindred. l could do no good
now, and turned away, leaving the watch upon
the coverlid, but one of the men came after me.
" He give it to you," he said, and it's
your n. He had nobody belongin' to him, so
you needn't be Altered to take it. He must hev
taken a Iikin' to you, for he thought heap Of it
Take 1t, doctor" And so the watch was mine
It was dumb and motionleSs, and remained
Sc l took it to a wa;chmekar, and he laughed
al the idea Of it's ever going again. This was
after l had left the West Rad d1els in 3 large
and pspUlous city in the eastern States, aome
eight or nine months after poor Nike Barlow's
death. The matchmaker only confirmed my
own suspicious. It was q strange coincidence
that it should last exactly It's masters lifetime,
but that was all. So hung it upon my cham
Der wall, mement0 of those days Of toll and
Struggle in the far West.
One morning awoke early. The bushes Of
dawn were jlst breaking ever the eartk. 1t was
the month Of November, but still the day was
lovely. There was an uawontsd sound in my
room. Had the SKY besn cloudy should have
imagined it to be the rain upon the roof Then
L began to feel that this sound l hsard was too
delicats for the pstter of rain. 1t might have
bcen the clsGg of fairy hammer, or the tapping
of tie beak of some minute bird, save that it
was too regular. But the mystery Of the souud
was that it seeInsd to appeal to ms-to reproach
me with forgetting it.
sas up and looked about me- In an instant
understood the sound. il wss the tick of the
old watch upon the wall. Silent for twelve
month it had suddenly found voice, ss though
some spirit hand has touched its springs. |
looked at my memorandum book. Twelve
o'clock of the psst night was the anniversary OF
Mike Barlows death His Wsrds had csme
trus 81 lsst He had said tbas, when it once
ssain began 70 move, it would be as my moni
tor of safety or danger. All else had happened
IS he hsd forstola; why should not this come
10 pass I wore upsn my gusrd-chsin dainty
little Geneva watch. l unfsstened 1t, and put
the battered silver monster in its placs. The
more precious to me than if il had bsen ses wish
jewels
1t did not stop again. heard the soft clear
Il tick, tick tick, al day, and when awakened
in the night. Once or tvica Is beat more rap
idly than usual and always before psril-ths
first time when g fever threatened me the SEQ
ond as I sssol upon broken bridge, which WAS
swept away one hour afterwards; and ct other
which hsvo forgotten, but which |
served to keep alive the fancy that have loved |
10 cherish Never was its voice so clsar and /
'olt as on that evening when l first met Rosa |
Grey. l loved her from the FIRST moment, and /
she loved me in return. We had neither OF Us
any friends to Interfere, for she was an orphan,
snd sisseTless and SO, after brisi
,ouTiship, We were married.
/ had no secrets from my wife, and in little
While she learned the story of the wsteh. Shc
lad faith in it, and thought or faneied that sac
,oud detect the very shades Of difference ia its
lttersncs. When l was weary, she said tho
watch was weary tooi when l Was glad, if had
Joyous echo. l know that on that night when
feeble breath 1u!tered in fsebler frame, and
ne little creature to whom cur love had given
xistencs struggled vainly for its life, there was
piteoUs cadence in the voice of that old watch
hope never to hear again.
So we lived on together. Ii was Gods will
bat we should be childlsss, but We loved each
ther all the more. l grew rich and prosper
us, and cur only grief was the missing of tbos9
ably eyes and voices which we had hopsd to
ave about our hearth.
It was nv fortieth bithday-I never shall for
ret The day-when ths watch began its warn
ng Ny wife and heard il at one moment.
yever before had the voice of that watch been
O loud or rapid. All day long, ell the next, and
II the next that warning continued. The strong
h. shoo Il. hfah
t rested when l drew it from my pocket, and
made the garments on my bosom rise and fall
when replaced It. Were We thYestcnsd with
.lness No her cheek was blooming and my
ulse was regular. What could II mean
After four days I began to laugh at my own
redulty, and even Rosa began 10 lose her faith
D the monitor. About noon left her, and went
long to a little room whore kept my medical
-orks and some rare drugs and curosities 1t
7s5 my purpose to study for lecture which l
ras TO deliver that evening. / seated myself at
ny desk and commenced to read, but after
w moments l began to experioncs 4 singular j
lintness, and to inhale disagreeable odor. 1
the swell in a momsnt In one Of
be Jars upon ny shelves was a rare essence Of
reat use 10 cases where suspension of con-
was necessary, but excessively dam
erous save in skillful hands. Some one-a
servant probasly-had been msddling with
be Jar and removed the stopper, and the room I
,as full of the powerful odor. l must leave 1t
l would live. l staggered to the door, put
ly hand upon tho lock, when horror of horrors {
/ remained immoYable-somstbing had hap {
ened to the catch. l strove to call aloud but
ly voice failed me- 1 c'utched the table for
upport, but lost my hold aad fell heavily to the
oor l could see nothing-sll grew dark about
ne. Mechanically placed my hand upon the
watch within my bosom. 1t had stopned and |
remember nothing more.
Consciousness came back to me, as It may
ome to a newborn babe, for aught know. I
cit without understanding; was conscious of
acts for which I cared nothing; | was in the
lark; was very cold, and my movements
we're constrained but it did not seem as though
hat were any affair Of mine Hunger at last
woke me- the animal aroused the mental, and
began to wonder where had been and where
was. put up my hand as well as could
There was low roof over my head, folds of
muslin lay about me, and something was upon
ny breast which emitted sickly fragrance-a
lunch of flowers seeming half withered knew