The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-02-10
THE HUMBLING OF THE MEME
 LiNGS.
London Belgragia.

London Beigrasla.
 Iiis now forty years since Josiah Memb- hng. clock and wate h-rnaker, retired from Graee-church stree; and the little shop where he had done extremely well. Co his Elattee village m E-seS. He was ,i.e son ot .s small farmer, and the descendant oi >tasdy yeomen: the instincts of old fam t. were strong III hiIn when, therefore aetz., seod way past sixty. he thought s#e samc had come io sell the business .s seilre. ae '.4s encouraged by the Ia I iass ttc Fl II oi k.s ua,i.e village wa> ie. l g. with the park aad grounds. He oa49ni them; took his t.m iy into tae fssssssy w.th hm. and settled down. let tle fi.een wars af Iie winch remained ta 3l.n, not as a country gentleman eX- t.. tor the good man had no idea of -a-as into societY, hut as Il mistnre. oi ,e3sea tfadesmaa and farmer.
 l1-Iias the Latter years oi his lie the oia saan spent mos. of hls time locked ID T his own roota. ltwas very large faaii., on the hrst floor, having two win- -do8s facing the south and four locking io ;ac west; beside II was small dress ins-room which he occupied as a bed room and ns one al all was ever allowed le e1ieT the large room. which was al- ways locked bu, his grandson knew that !. ean,a!ned bench, lA,he. and all ,he tools- requisite for mechanical work Sometimes he worked there till late at night. sometimes he would not come out etea ioF dtRaeF. There was something une4nny about the old fellow working by himself continually. nobody knew at "hat. He might have made watches, oai he brought none out: he migh, have turned things with his lathe, but none were ever s..o~n : he IT igh, have been tfescc uiins some grand research in the neurological my stery, but he said nothing aseat II.
 He kep, on working till the day of his de .th. It happened. one Saturday even ins. that his unmarried daughter and his aa9shter-in-i.lw were Tn the drawing room when the old man unexpectedly wtlAed III. He stood before the ire and i1aNcd at them. turning from one 10 the other with strange smile. II was SO >etdom that he came out oi s'own room that the two ladies were perplexed and d iiie frightened
 Ny work he said. with another weird ,sa5i 1ncanny smiie, "is finished"
 Inc words were hardly spoken when he siddenly reeled. caught |, chair, ard tell heavily to the ground Tn m,
 n the morning he became conscious asa.n. and presently began to under stand that he was dying. and that he had better give any directions he had to give al eace. They sent for his grandson. who was at Cambridge. and 1t wa. to hn. his helr. tha, the old man gave the one inIunction that he seemed to care abou'. Let no one" he said. shaking his icIn and iong torehnger in the most solemn manner, .let no one presume to enter my room. Let it remain locked, or. If any desire to enter"-here he laughed and his hearers shuddered -.'let hum enter alone and after dark. shall be ihere.' he added, while they shud- dered again, lon the watch-a day and night watchman-a watch that always goes-a repeating watch, akeyless watch, With the newest improvements, an eyef1 lasting watch"-here his mind wapdered d hitie-"Watches neatly repaired- Es- tablished forty years. Clocks kept go- ing And then he laughed again, and brea,hed his last 1, was dreadful to see an old man die with laugh Spon his lps.
 They buried him in the church Hzrd. under d magnificent marble tornn. \ pnr grea; number of MembllngS. inci, ling his only son. And Ii was. as stated aSove. his grandson who succeeded. being then only one-and-twenty years Of age.
 His successor shortly afterwards mar ried, and in course of time had a family, like most people, of sons and daughters The young people knew very little abou, the watchmaker's shop, but they knew tha, ;ae churchyard was full of Josiah Membiings, and very easily they grew to believe Tn legendary history about the family greatness. They were the ancient holders Of the estate, the lords of the ma nor they were found on the spot by the Norman conquerors they experienced many adventures in the various civil wars; there came time when their fortunes were quite fallen; even the Hall passed for while out of their hands then came the second founder, who amassed wealth m the city, and bought back the old house. And they really did not know-- the innocent girls who built up this le- gend-what collection of fibs they were putting together.
 For fifteen years and more the old mans last wishes were faithfully and piously obeyed. No one entered the old mans room at all; the key was in his