The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1877-02-16

ment bones had gone into the mouse,
and could find no trace of any having
gone out; the coin discovered was the
result of cashing some of the cupons,
and at the end OF whole months over
hauling of the house. we all agreed
that the old miser's wealth was slowed
away out Of doors, or that the myrlads
of rats which infested the premises
were the only gainels by old Forbes
parsimony.
Mr.. Ieonidas paid us his last visit,
the clerk returned to his perch, and
Ethel and were left alone to congrat-
ulate ourselves that, in any view, we
had considerably bettered our situation;
we had house and grounds of our own,
and very tidy sum of money III hand
after all our debts were paid.
Nearly year rolled around as quiet,
commonplace and happily with us as
the heart could wish. But with the
setting in of Winter Ethel grew i'll, and
when January came we were obliged to
have some one at her side continually.
Every other night the duty OF watching
devolved on me. l spent the hours
when she slept sitting before the great
old open fireplace III the common room.
Ethel lying in the adjoining chamber
so that could see her through the open
door and hear her slightest move. Her
illness and my own lack of trpgality
had somewhat reduced our stock of
money, and I had already taken the
preliminary steps towards mortoaglng
the old homestead, and only waited her
convalescence to conclude the operation.
Night after night / sat watching the
forms and scenes that pictured them
selves in the glowing wood Goals piled
beneath the great andirons, and thought
and pondered on the mystery of old
Forbes money. / was convinced that
it could not have passed out of ofexistence
so absolutely as to leave no shadow
nor fragment remaining; but in reply to
constant query: "W hat could have
become of it ?'' tie wood fire only shot
its hickory sparks further out on the
hearth, and tho old clock ticked SOL
emnly and monotononsly along III its
accustomed corner.
Though | had looked the clock all
over-back, front, top, bottom, outside
and inside-many a time since l have
been master at Oversee, it never struck
me that there was anything unusual
about it except tie little mechanical
figure on top, which indul.ed in angu-
the mellow hour bell, until towards the
morning of January 25th caught my
self saying in whimsical sleepiness, ais
it seven OF sixteen minutes past seven?"
and somehow the prompting figures
seemed TO stand out palmer than l had
ever seen them before. They were only
a cramped and brownish figure 81"
which was Inscribed close to the numeral
TX, and like F'16" close to the numeral
v 1t happened to be exactly quarter
OF five, ard the scanty hands just placed
their points on the figures.
Did you ever nave some slight, un-
meaning, nonsensical idea drop into
your mind, and lodge and annoy you
with the persistency of a cinder III your
eye? Well, that seven to sixteen clung
to me with like ridiculous pertlnacity.
All day [ saw it, and heard it; next
night l dreamed OF it, and after beirg
haunted by the crippled 81" and crab
ed s'16'' for week, l told Ethel of 1t /;
and it nearly worried the life ont of the
moor sick creature, for it seemed to ab-
so rb Der thoughts as completely as it
had mine.
/ convinced myself that the figures
were somehow connected with the miss
ing fortune, and I sevened and sixteened
everytb ing to which that mathematical
could be applied. / added
subtracteo and multiplied, and applied
nv results to everything about the place,
from the boards in the floor to the trees
in the orchard.
Ethel watched me, deeply interested
amused, but said pothing in aid or criti-
cisim, until one day she suggested that
maybe I was going wrong altogether.
''EIas it not occurred to you" she
asked, ''to take the numbers on the
clock case into consideration May not
the singularity of their arrangement
have S, netting to do with the solution
of ths mystery %
# Won y;!l believe me, I heard that
clock saw t.sevcn by nine" as distinctly
as | could ever hear anything IN my
life.
Seven by nine and sixteen Sy i've, OF
course 1t was, and / went to adding spa
counting Win T6HeWGu FlSOf3 DeSlubli1SS
with my usual starting point. the fire.
place. I did not believe there was any
single brick there / had not touched,
but mechanically began with the first
methodical arrangement that presented
itself. II was deep, cavernous affair,
with capacity for full cord of wood,
snch as distinguished the general house
keeping of our ancestors; its two sides
were built, each of fifteen bricks from
front to back, and, and nineteen bricks
from hearth to mantel. The back ran
into chimney, and no count could be
made of its construction, and, for analo-
gous cause the hearth was not taken
into account To the sides, for these
obvious reasons, / applied myself, and
naturally began with the sides next to
the clock. Sixteen only could be count
ed up or down and / counted mp; then
five from the front, and around the
brick, at the juncture Of the lines firm
and solid, with the mortar around it
undisturbed. After several futile en-
deavors l found that sixteen by five
from top and trout indicated a loose