The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-10-02
DYING ON TIME.
Why tho Town Clock Accorded
with the inscription.

Tommy McGuffy was growing old
The skin of his attenuatcd face was
so shrunll and so stretched from wrinkle
To wrinkle that it seemed narrowly to
escape breaking. About the pointed
chin and the chcel<bones it had the color
| of faded brick.
Old Tommy had become so thin that
he dared not venture to the top of the
hill above his native village of Rear
ward upon a windy day
His knees bent comically when he
| walked.
! For some years the villagers had
been counting the nephews and nieces
to whom the savings of the old retired
dealer in dry goods would eventually
| descend.
Ten thousand dollars and n house
and lot constituted heritage worth
anticipating in Rearward.
The innocent old man was not upon
terms of intimacy with his prospective
! heirs Having remained unmarried,
| his only close associates were two who
had been his companions in that re-
| mote period which had been his boy
hood. One of these, Jerry Hurley, was
| n childless widowcr: n very estimable
and highly-respccted man who owned
two farms The other. like himself a
! bachelor was Billy Slxidmore, the SEX
ton of the church and therefore the
regulator of the town clock upon the
| stceple.
There came n great shock to old
| Tommy one day. AS old Mrs Sparks
said: Jerry Hurley, all sudden-like,
| Just took notion and died"
The wealth and standing of Jerry
al inn inn
/ funeral They laid his body beside
! that which had once been his wife's
in Rearward cemetery. His heirs pos
sessed his farm and time went on
slowly, as it always does at Rearward-
Tommy went frequently to Ilurley's
grave and wondered when his heirs
would erect a monument to his mem
ory. 1t is necessary that your grave
be marked with a monument if you
would stand high in that still society
that holds eternal assembly beneath
the pines and willows where only the
breezes speak, and they in subdued
voices
Years passed. and the grave of Tom
mys old friend, Jerry, remained un-
marked Jerry's relatives had post
poned the duty SO long that they had
grown Gallons to public opinion. Be
sides. they had other purposes to
which to apply Jerry's money. 1t was
easy enough to avoid reproach: they
had only TO refrain from visiting the
graveyard.
Jerry never deserved such treat
ment-" Tommy would say to Billy the
sexton. as the two met to talk il over
every sunny afternoon.
Its an outrage, that's what it isi'
Billy would reply for the hundredth
time.
1t was. in their eyes, an omission al
most equal to that Of baptism the
funeral service.
One day. as Tommy was aiding him
self along the main street of Rcarward
by means of hickory stick a fright
full thought came to him He turned
cold.
What if his own heirs should neglect
to mark his own grave?
..I'll hurry home and put the money
for it aside in stocking foot at once"
thought Tommy, and his knees bent
more than usual as he accelerated his
pace.
But as he tied knot in the stocking
came the fear that even this money
might be misappiied; even his Will
might be ignored through repeated
postponement and the laws mdiffer-
ence.
Who save old Billy Skidmore, would
care whether old Tommy McGuffy' last
resting place were designated or not?
Once let the worms begin operations
upon tins antique morscl. what would
il matter to Rearward folks where the
banquet was taking place?
Tommy now underwent second at
tack of horror. from Rhich he came
victorious, a gleeful smile momeutarily
lifting the dimness from his excessive
ly lachrymal eyes
iii fix EN-" he said to himself.
"Ill go to-day to Ricketts,, the marble
cutter, and order my own tombstone"
Three months thereafter, Ricketts,,
the marble-cuttcr. united the knot in
the stocking that had been Billy's, and
deposited the contents in the local saw
ings bank.
In the cemetery stood a new monu-
ment very lofty and elaborate Around
it was an iron fence Within the in
closure there was no grave as yet
Here" said the monument in deep
cut letters, but bad English, Lies all
that remains of Thomas McCiuffy, born
in Rearward. November IL, 1880; died
Gone whittier the wicked
cease from troubling and the weary are
at rest"
This supplementary information was
framed in the words of Tommy's favor
ite passage in his favorite hymn. His
liking for this was mainly on account
of its tune.
He had left the date of his death to
be inserted by the marble-cutter after
its occurrence.
Rearward folks were amused at sight
of the monument, and they ascribed
the placing of it there to the eccentric
ity of taciturn Old man
Tommy seemed to derive much pleas
ure from visiting his tombstone upon
mild days. He spent many hours con-
templatingi it. He would enter the iron
inclosure, lock the gate after him, and
sit upon the ground that was intended
some day to cover his body.
He was a familiar sight to people
riding or walking past the graveyard
this thin old man leaning upon his
cane, contentedly pondering over the
inscription upon his own tombstone
lie undoubtedly found much innocent
pleasure in this.
One afternoon, as he was so en-
gagged, he was assailed by a new appre-
hension-
Suppose that Ricketts,, the marble
cutter, should fail to inscribe the date
of his death in the space left vacant
fo- ~
There was almost no Likelihood of
such an omissions; but there was at
least a possibility of it
He glanced across the cemetery to-
ward Jerry Hurley's unmarked mound,
and shuddered.
Then he thought laboriously.
When he left the cemetery in such