The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1870-09-06

squeezed in on either side, and his head
fattened against the. springs and wheels
above, and the air was unpleasantly close
but honest John made the best of mat
ters, and shook with suppressed laughter
in his solitary prison cell.
"Phew a jolly scrape to be in" John
thought, "and no knowing when I'll be
out of it Hetty's shrewd little puss,
however, and 1 can't do better than leave
matters in her hands"
$50 you havn't gone to bed, Hetty?"
said Deacon Merritt slowly unwinding the
two yards of woollen comforter in which
he generally encaSed his throat of an
evening.
"Not yet, father" said Hetty, picking
up her scattered bits of patchwork with
q glowing cheek. "Did you have pleas
ant meeting?"
"Well, yes" quoth the deacon, reflect
lively, sitting down before the fire, great
ly to Hetty's consternation-she had
hoped he would have gone quietly to bed,
according to his usual custom; " torbly
pleasant. Elder Jones was there, and
Elder Backstrecher, and-well, all the
church folks pretty much. Why, how
red your cheeks are, Hetty Tired, amt
you? Well, you needn't set up for me,
dear; it must be getting late"
"The deacon glanced mechanically
around to the clock. Hetty felt the blood
grow cold in her veins.
" Twenty minutes past nine-why, it
must be later than that Why, land O.
Goshen! The old clocks stopped"
The old clock had stopped; nor was it
wonderful, considering all the circum-
stances.
81 wound it up this mornin', I'm sar-
TIM" said the deacon perturbedly. 1T
never served me such trick before, ali
the years it stood. Your Aunt Kesiah
used to say that whenever that clock
stopped it was a sign Of death or a mar
riage in the family before the year was
out"
There was suppressed sound like a
chuckle behind the clock case as Deacon
Merit fumbled on the shelf for the clock
key.
"These springs must be out of order
somehow" said the deacon decisively'
How scared you look, child There
is no cause for bein' scared. don put
no faith in your Amt Keziah's old-time
superstition. Where in the name of all
possessed is the key? could ha' de-
clared I left it in the case"
Isn't it on the shelf, father?" asked
Hetty, guiltily conscious that it was snug
ly reposing in the pocket of her checked
gingham dress.
"No; nor 'taint on the set-of, nei-
ther."
And down went the deacon, stif1y
enough, on his knees, to examine the
floor, lest, perchance, the missing key
might have slipped off and fallen down
there.
"Well, I never knowed anything so
strange" said the deacon.
at is strange" faltered hypocritical
Hetty.
" "I'll have q reg'lar sarch tomorrow"
said Deacon Merit. "It must be some
where around"
eyes, it must" said Hetty, tremu-
lously.
"Only," went on the deacon, slowly
resuming his place before the CHEEKY blaze,
"I kind O don't like to have the clock
stand still single night. When wake
up, you know it seems like if it was talk
ing to me in the stiffness"
The deacon looked thoughtfully at the
fiery backlog, Hetty fidgetted uneasily
about the room, Strengthening table COW
ers and setting back chairs-oh, if he
would only go to bed
As he sat there, his eye-lids began tc
droop, and his head to nod, somnolently
Hetty's eyes lighted up with a sparkle of
something like hope.
Child" he suddenly said, straighten-
ing himself up in the stiff-backed chair,
"you'd better 60 to bed. I'll sit up
awhile longer, till the logs burn out"
"But father I'm not sleepy"
"Go to bed, my child reiterated the
deacon, with good-humored authority, that
brooked no opposition, and Hetty crept
out of the room, ready to cry with ankle
ty and vexation.
"If John will only keep quiet little