Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-01-01
$r.sftfd aGltseeIlauy.
TIE GOOD.NATURED PENDULUM.
From the Atlantic for January.


From the Atlantic for January
AN old clock, which stood in the corner
OF Parson Whipple's schoolroom, sudden
ly began to tick twice as fast as usual 1t
did so for two or four hours, according as
you counted time by its beats or by an
hour-glass. Then it licked for the re-
mainder of its life at apparently the same
rate as usual. This was never a dscon-
tented pendulum; and on thatday Single
ton and |, who were the only boys in its
counsels, thought it was very good,
natured.
But do not pretend it was right. Tfnye
/ said 1t was right for the pendulum to
tick so? | have not said it. have only
said that it was good-r atured liz the pen
dulum to tick twice as fast as usual, when
it simply knew that l wished it to do so.
Although | was then responsible for what
the pendulum did, assert That am not
now responsible for it. was then four.
teen, and am now hard on fifty-six, 50
must have changed atoAnicaIly six tir.,es
since then. | reject responsibility fer ali
my acts at Parson Whipple's. l do not
justify the pendulum, do rot Justify
myself, far less do l justly Singleton.
.lum.
1t happened t'.,us:
we were a. to go after chestnuts, and
we had mo de immense preparation. the
olu 9oHl ME not unwilling. We had
seWeu '4p into many bags some old bed
tick' lear, kind Miss Tryphosa had given
US; we had cosXed @lapp's cousin Perkins
--son of Matthew Perkins third, of the
old Black Perkins blood-we had coaxed
him into getting the black mare for us
from his father. Clapp was to harness
him, and we were to have the school
wagon to bring our spoils home. We had
laid in with the Varnum boys to meet us
at the cross roads in the hollow and, in
short, we were to give the trees such a
belaboring as chestnut-trees had not
known in many years. For all this we
had the grant of q halfholiday; we had
by great luck capital sharp frost on
Tuesday, we had everything but-time.
Red Jacket would have told us we
had all the time there was, and, if Mr..
Emerson had come along, he might
have enforced the lesson. But he was
elsewhere just then, aud the trouble with
us was, that having all the time there was,
we.wanted more. And no hard bestead
conductor on single track road, eager to
"make the time " which he must have to
reach the predestined switch in season,
ever questioned and entreated his engi-
neer more volubly than we assailed each
other as to how we could make the short
afternoon answer for the gigantic purpos-
es of this expedition. You see there is a
compensation in all things If you have
ever gone after chestnuts, you have found
out that the sun sets mighty near five
o'clock when you come to the Goth of Oc-
tober; and If you don't get through
school till one, and then must all have din
ncr, tell you it is very hard to start four
teen boys after dinner, and drive the wag-
on, and walk the boys down to the HOl-
low, and then meet the Varnums and drive
up that rough road to Clapp's grand
mothers, and then take down the bars
and lead the horse in through the pasture
to where we meant to tie him in the edge
of the hemlock second-growth, aud then
to carry the bags across the stream, and so
work up on the hill where the best trees
are IL say it is very hard to do all that
and come out on the road again and on
the way home before dark. And If yon
think it is easy to do it in three hours and
half, l wish you would try. All is, | will
not give sixteen cents for all the
chestnuts you get in that way.
So, as l said, we wanted to make the
time. Well, dear Miss Tryphosa said that
she would put dinner at twelve, If we
liked, and ii we could coax the dominic
TO let MS out of school then. So we asked
Hackmatack to ask him, and Hackmatack
did not dare to, but he coaxed Sarah Cla-
vers to ask him. The old man loved Sarah
Clavers, as everybody did. She was a
sweet little thing, and she did her best
Old man, | call him! That was the way
we talked. Let me see he graduated in
1S11,-I guess he was in Everett's class
and Frothinghsm's. The "old man." az
na1la1 him haUa hpnn thirty.
seven years old then,-nineteen years
younger than / am to-day. Old man in
deed
Well, little Sarah did her prettiest But
the old man-there it is agaiu-kissed her
and stroked her face, and said he had Civ
en- the school half.holiday, and h'
thought his duties 70 the parents forbade
his giving any more. And when littl'
Sarah tried again. all he would say was
that II we would get up early and b'
dressed when the first bell rang, we Nigh
"go in to school at eight instead of nine
Then school could be done at twelve
Miss Tryphoss might do as she cbos
about dinner, but if she chose, we nigh
be off before one. This was something
and we made the most of it.
Still we wished we could make a littl
more time And as 1t was ordered, wise
ly. have no donbt,-though, as said,
do not pretend to justify the use we mad
of the order,-as it was ordered,-tha
very Tuesday afternoon, when we wer
all at work in the school.room, Brereton-
that Southern boy, you know-was recil
ing in "Scientidc Dialogues to the Pal
son. think il must have been "Sclent
hc Dialogues" but | am not sure; Il
was reciting about the pendulum. The ol
man told him about Galileo's chandelier,
remember.
Well, then and there saw the whol
thing In my mind as ! see h4ow. single
ton saw It too. de was hearing some Il
tie boys in Liber Primus, but he turns
round grsvely, and looked me iuA IN "a
face. I looked at him and nodded Nc
from that day 70 this have ever had
discuss the details of the matter with hIr
Only he and did three things in con;
auence of THAI. stare and that nod
fg1 tun and / did Ona