River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-08-13
DYING ON TIME.
Why the Town Clock Accorded
with the Inscription.


/ 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.
i His knees bent couically when he
/ walked.
| For some years the yllagers had
/ been counting the nephews and nieces
to whom the savings of the old retired
/ dealer in dry goods would eventually
I descend.
| Ten thousand dollars and 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 We're two who
( had been his companions in that re-
/ mote period which had been his boy
! hood. One of these, Jerry Hurley, was
q childless widower; a very estimable
! and highly-respected man who owned
! two farms. The other, like himself
I bachelor, was Billy Skidmore, the sex
/ ton of the church and therefore the
regulator of the town clock upon the
4 stecple.
There came great shock TO old
( Tommy one day. AS old Mrs Sparks
said: Jerry Hurley, all sudden-like.
! Just took a notion and died"
The wealth and standing of Jerry
Hurley insured him an imposing
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 Hurler's
grave and wondered when his heirs
would erect monument to his mem
Dry II 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
my's old friend. Jerry, remained I'M
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 it over
every sunny afternoon.
ats an outrage, that's what it is!''
Billy would reply for the hundredth
time.
1t was, in their eyes, an omission al
most equal to that Of baptism or the
funeral service.
One day, as Tommy was aiding him
self along the main street of Rearward
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'm 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 a knot in the stocking
came the fear that even this money
might be misapplied; even his will
might be ignored through repeated
postponement and the laws indiffer-
ence.
Who, save old Billy Skidmore, would
care whether old Tommy MeGuffy 5 last
resting place were designated or not?
Once let the worms begin operations
upon tins antique mOrsel. what would
it matter to Rearward folks where the
banquet was taking place?
rT,,,,,,rr ,,,,vx- t,pI.ar.xxraut seppud ut
tack of horror. from which he came
victorious, gleeful smile momentarily
lifting the djmness from his excessive
ly laehrymal eyes.
sIll fix EN-" he said to himself
s'I'll go to-day to Ricketts,. the marble
cutter. and order my own tombstone"
Three months thereafter, Ricketts,,
the marble-cutter. united the knot in
the stocking that had been Blly's, and
deposited the contents in the local saw
ings bank.
In the cemetery stood new monu-
ment very lofty and elaborate. Around
it was an iroa 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 McGnffy, born
in Rearward November IL, 1880; died
. Gone whittier the wicked
cease from troubling and the weary are
al rest
This supplementary information was
framed in the words OF Tonmy's favor
lite passage in his favorite hymn. His
liking for his 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
IRE from visiting his tombstone upon
mild days lie spent many hours con /
templating 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 familiar sight to people /
riding or walking past the graveyard
this thin old man leaning upon his
cane, contentedly bordering over the
inscription upon his own tombstone.
lie undoubtedly found much innocent
pleasure in this.
One afternoon, as lie was 50 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 |
for it,
There was almost no likelihood of I
such an omission: but there was at !
least 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 4
time as to avoid a delay of his even /
ing meal and a consequent outburst OF 4
anger on the part of his old housekeep- /
er. be had taken a resolution.
.sThree score years and ten. say the /
Bible. he muttered to himself as he /
walked hOmewf.rd. "The Scriptural I
lifetime II do fer me-"
A week thereafter old Tommy gazed .
proudly upon his finished inscription
"Died November Il, 1890" was the 1
newest bit OF biography there en-
yrsved. !