Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-10-05
DESTINY,

A row Of Lombarly poplais stood II
front Of my great'aunt deftrnde's house
ON the bank Of tho Sheepscot river, IL
personal appearance my aunt was sur
prislngly like one OF these trees, She
was tall. severe In outline, and extreme
" thin. Her habiliments elnng to her
lam sure that had the gods found occa'
sion to impose upon her the late Of
Daphne she would have taken her place
easily aud naturally In tho dismal row,
Va melancholy poplar Us tho rest,
A genealogy Is q stupid thing Here
II Aunt Gertrude'a, reduced to iia simp'
lest forms -
Her great gcat.grandmoiher 1859
ldi2l was woman Of Holland who mar
,ied Puritan refugee, and sailed from
I.eyden TO Plymouth In tho ship Ann, In
tho year OF our Lord 1852, This pill
grim mother hal q daughter, Aunt Ger
trnde's great'grandmothcr (lG4O-i7isl.
She came TO the Eastern District oi
Massachusetts, in the early part Of the
last century. anl was carried or by the
Indians In tho penobscot wars. Her
daughter 1850 1870 lived 10 Sce these
colonies FREQ and Independent. and con-
iributcd 10 the population OF the com
rg republic not less than nineteen stal.
wart sons and comely daughters, One
Of tho latter (l735-lsO2) married Wis.
casct skipper, engaged In the Wcst
India trade, with whom she sailed, She
was twice wrecked at sea once on what
Is now Seguin island and once on San
Salvador, II was on San Salvador that
Aunt Gertrude was born,
On the first landing OF the square
stairway Of the mansion loomed tall
Di,ch clock. The ease was more than
eight feet high, Of n dark red wood, not
mahogany, and IL was curiously inlaid
with silver No common piece OF inrni.
iure was this About hundred YEAR,
ago there Hourished in the town al
Brunswick an horologst named Cary,
IN industrious and accomplished work.
man. Few well.to-do houses on that
part Of the coast lacked Cary timepiece.
But Aunt Gertrude's clock had marked
the hours and minutes Of two full cent.
uries before the Brunswick artisan was
born. II was running when William
tho Taciturn pierced the dykes to re-,
lieve Leyden. The name Of the maker,
ian Lpperdam, and the date. 1872
were still legible in broad black letters
and figures, reaching quite across the
dial. Carys masterpieces were plebeian
and recent beside this ancient aristo.
crat. The jolly Dutch moon, made to
exhibit its phases over u landscape Of
windmills and polders, was cunningly
ainted. A skilled hand had carved the
grim ornament at the top. Deaths
head tansiixed by two.edged sword
Like all timepieces Of the sixteenth
century, it had no pendulum. A simple
Van Wyck escapement governed the de-
scent Of the weights to the bottom Of the
tall case.
But these weights never moved. Year
after year when Harry and | returned to
Maine we found the hands of the old
clock pointing to quarter past three,
as they had pointed when we first saw
them. The fat moon hung perpetually
in the third quarter, as motionless as
the Deaths head above There was o
mystery about the silenced movement
and the paralyzed hands. Aunt Ger
trude told us that the works had never
performed their functions since bolt
oflightning entered the clock and she
showed us black hole in the side of
the case near the top, with yawning
rift that extended downward for several
feet. This explanation failed to satisfy
us. Tt did not account for the sharp
ness of her refusal when We proposed to
bring over the matchmaker from the
village, or for her singular agitation
once when she found Harry on step
ladder with borrowed key in his hand,
about to test for himself the clocks sls.
pended vitality.
One August night, after We had grown
out of boyhood, I was awakened by a
noise in the hallway. shook my cous-
in. Somebody's in the house." wits.
pered.
We crept ont Of our room and on to
the stairs. A dim light came from be.
low. We held our breath and noiselessly
descended to the second landing. Harry
clutched my arm. He pointed down
over the banisters. at the same time
drawing me back into the shadow
We saw strange thing
Aunt Gertrude stood on chair in
front Of the old clcck, as spectral in hel
white night gown and white nightcap as
one Of the poplars when covered with
snow. 1t CHANGED that the floor creaked
slightly under our feet. She turned
with sudden movement, peering in
tently into the darkness, and holding 8
candle high toward lis, so that the light
was full in her pale face. She looked
many years older than when ] babe hel
good night. For few minutes she was
motionless, except in the trembling
arm that held aloft the candle. Then
evidently reassured, she placed the light
upon shelf and turned again to the
clock.
We now saw the old lady take key
from behind the case and proceed t.
wind up the weights. We could heal
her breath, quick and short. She restet
hand on either side of the case ant
held her face close TO the dial, as If sub
jecting it to anxious scrutiny. In thi'
attitude she remained for long time
We heard her utter sigh Of relief, ant
she half turned toward us for a moment
l shall never forget the expression o
wild JOY that transiigured her features
then.
The hands of the clock were moving
they were moving backward.
Aunt Gertrude put both arms aronnt
the clock and pressed her witheret
caeek against it, She kissed it repeat
edly. She caressed it in hundred
ways, as if it had been living an | be
loved thing. She fondled it and talket
to it, using words which We could hear
but could not understand. The hand
continued TO move backward.
Then she started back with suddeI
cry. The clock had stopped. We say
her tall body swaying for an instant OIL
the chair. She stretched out her arm
in convulsive gesture of terror and lie
spair, wrenched the minute hand to il
old place at quarter past three, ant
n