Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1864-11-30
THE MYsTERIous WAroH


| " tu"h Nto tLe "Hlchmakcrt aud he laugh
cd at the idea OF IL ever going again This
was after leit The West and dwelt in a large
aud populuus city in the Eastern States some
eight oF nine months after poor Mike Barlow's
Z death The matchmaker only confirmed my
own suspicious Ii was "A e,rauge coincidence
that il should last exactly it's masters lie.
| time, hot that was all. SO hungit m upon
my chamber wall memenio Of those days of
toll and struggle in the far Wesl.
/ Que morning awokc early The bushes
I oi dawn were iusi breaking over the earth
II was the month of November, but still the
day was lovely There was an unwonied
sound in the room AZ fret could not guess
from whence It came Had the sky been
cloudy | should have imagined IL 10 ba rain
upon the roof rhen began to feel that this
sound Ieard was too delicate for the pattsr
Of raln II might he the elang Of u fairy ham.
mer, oe the tapping o. the neak Of some min.
ute bird, save that il wns too REGULAR But
the mystery Of the sound was that /, seemed 10
appeal 10 me--io reproach IN Tor forgetting
il. 'S
sat up aud looked about me. In an in
slant | understood the sound Ii was tho tick
OF the old watch upon the wall Silent for
twelyem0nth, it had suddenly found voice. as
though some spirit had touched i,s springs
looked AT my memorandum book Twelve
o clock OF ths past night was the anniversary
Of Mike Barlow's death His words had come
true at last he said that when il once abain
began to move ii would be say monitor of
safety or dauger All else had happened az
he hsd ioretold; why should not this come TO /
passY wore upon my Guard chain da nty
little Geneva watch | uniastened IT, and I
out the battered SILVER monster in It's place -
The budding development OF the mystery (
made II more precious to me Than If II had /
beeu set with jewels
IL did not stop again. heurd the soft /
clear "teS, tick tick, all day, aud when l |
wakened Ia the night Once or twice il beat /
more rapidly than usual, aud always before .
peri--the first time when a fever threaten.
ed me- the second as | stood upon R bro
ken bridge which was swept away one hour
Afterwards; aud al others which | have for
gotten, but which served to keep alive the |
fancy that ! have loved to cherish. Never
was a voice so clear aud soft as on tha; |
evening when : first met Rosa Gray .
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 or /
phan, brotheriess and ssterless; and So after
a brief courtship, we were married.
. had no secrets from my wife, and in Il |
little while she learnt the story of the watch |
She had faith in II, and thought or lanced |
she could detect the very shade of difference
IN its utterance. When was weary, she said |
the watch was weary too; when | was glad |
it had joyous echo | know that on that
on that night, when feeble breath Auttered
in a still ieebler frame, and the little creature
to whom our love has given existence strug-
gled vanly for its ! fe, there was q ptcons
cadence in that old watch hope never to hear
again.
So we lived on together 1t was God \
will that we should be chilicss but we loved /
each other all the more grew rich and /
prosperous, and our only grief was the miss
ing OF those baby eyes and voices which we |
had hoped 10 have about our hearth
1t WAS my iortieth brthday--l never shall |
forget the day-when the watch began its |
warning My wife ani heard it at ono mo |
ment. Never before had the voice OF that |
watch been so loud or 50 rapid A Il day long, |
all the next and all the next that warning |
continued. The strong pulse Of the watch |
shook the table on which it rested, when | |
drew it from my pocket, and made the gar |
ments rise and fall when | replaced it. We're |
we threatened with sickness2 mol her cheel, !
was blooming and my pulse was regular -
What could it mean2
After four days began to laugh at my
own eredulity. aud even Rosa began to lose |
her faith in the monitor About noon | left |
her, aud went alone Ia n little room where |
kept my medical works and some rare drugs
and curlostles' II was my purpose 10 study
for lecture which was IN deliver that even
ing.
seated myself at my desk and commenced
to read but after a few moments | began to
experience Il singular iaintness, aud to inhale
disagreeable oTdor | recognized the smell
in momenL In one of the Jars upon my
shelves was rare essence OF great use in
cases where suspension Of consciousness
was necessary, but excessively dangerous
save in skiliul hands. Some one. n servant,
probaby-had been meddling with the iar
and removed the stopper, and the room was
full OF the powerful ordor. must leave it ii
would live | staggared to the door put
my hand upon the lock- when horror Of hor-
rors il remained Notwithstanding had
happened to the catch. stroye to call aloud
but my voice failed me- | clntcAed the table
for support, but lost my hold, aud fell heavily
TO the lloor could see nothing grew
dark about me- Mechanically ! placed my
hand upon the watch within my BOSOM IL
had stopped land ! remembered nothing
come.
Consciousness came back to me, az il may
come to newborn babe, for angbt | know
felt without understanding was conscious
of facts for which cared nothing | was in
the dark was very cold, and my movements
were constrained but It did not seem as
! though that were any affair OF miue Hun.
ger at last awoke me the animal aroused the
meutal, and ] began to wonder where ! had
been and where | was Iput up NY hand as
we'll as could There was low roof over
my head, folds Of muslin lay about me- aud
something was upon my breast which emit.