Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-11-24
The Clock was q Repeater.
New York Trihune.l

This Is story about a clock which made
great deal of trouble for two people, and
| gave the same two people very poor opin-
ions of each other. The brother says that
no woman save his sister could have such
amazing ignorance about clocks In general
and this one In particular; while his sister
declares that only her brother, Of all men
on earth. would have allowed a little bit of
clock to make fool of him before car
load of strangers.
| The trouble with the clock was that it
would not keep time. There was no rea-
son in the world why it wouldn't; 1t just
wouldn't, and that was all there was to IT,
This was painful to the young woman for
several reasons. 1t Is only necessary to
mention one; the timepiece had been given
to her by her betrothed. He thought 1t
was little gem of a clock, and that it
would please her. She agreed with him as
to the beauty of the delicate little affair,
and was pleased for time. Then she be-
gan to get worried; then she got nervous
and lastly alarmed. This was ali, of
| course, because the thing would not go,
| and because she feared he might think she
had broken 1t. or worse still, as she herself
| confessed between that time. that she
hadn't sense enough to make a clock 90,
while her lrreverent and impertinent
brother suggested sweetly that he was
| more likely to think that 1t was her face
| which had stopped a clock"
The family were in the country when the
clock was received, and when the time
drew near for the arrival of the betrothed
| clock giver, affairs began to be desperate
| The young woman declared that the clock
| had to go. The clock simply wouldn't
She would wind 1t up--lt would always
ND hyCith thn ar
1t would not go. She shook it, she turned
| II upside down, she coaxed it, she laid it
| on its face and then on its back. and the
hands were still frozen to the face of the
clock.
albert" she said to her brother, 'you
must take this clock over to town and get
II repaired. 1t must be repaired it must
GO
Now town was 10 miles away, and Al
bert did not see why any one should make
so much fuss over a clock, and such
little clock, too, as that was But when
arguments and pleadings could not move
him he yielded to tears, and, chucking the
timepiece under his arm, he boarded the
train and started for town. In the car he
placed the clock on the seat beside him
and rested his hand on it. Then more
trouble began. That clock began to strike.
II went into the striking business in a
calm determined way. 1t struck right
along, up grade and down grade, around
curves and on straight tracks. The broth
er felt fainting around his heart The
people in the car no had first been
amused began to be annoyed The young
mans face got red; it got warm; his hair
became bathed with dampness, but he
clung to the clock like Trojan. He had
an idea that he might be able to hide it, or
smother 1t, or close it, he didn't know
which, and so he kept his hand tightly
pressed on it,
And all that time that Internal machine
Just sawed wood" II had struck gait
which It liked, and it kept it up without a
break. 1t showed no signs of getting tired
or Of running down, 1t was stalking along
at 220 gait when the train reached the
town. 1t continued to strike when the
brother made his escape from the car. 1t
went on striking up the street until the
brother wanted to throw it over the fence
and then commit suicide. No burglar
alarm was ever more perseverng than that
clock. No Changing fire engine ever made
more noise and caused more excitement
The clock was striking away industriously
and cheerfully when the brother ran into a
jewellers shop ard threw the thing down
on a counter.
For heavens sake stop it :" he cried
But 1t had stopped. There it lay on the
counter as dumb as an oyster and as silent
as a tomb.
We'll, I'll be hanged" said the brother,
breathlessly. What's the matter with it,
anyway" he asked, looking at it as IL it
were dynamite cartridge.
The jeweller picked it up.
Look out cried the brother. That
thing will start up again If you touch it."
But 1t didn't. 1t never made sound,
only in minute came gentle and rhythmic
ticking.
There's nothing the trouble with it,"
said the jeweller, setting the hands and
then examining the little Internal machine
You see, he added, with sympathetic
smile, this is repeating clock. You can
make 1t restrike the last hour by touching
this spring. You have been winding up
the repeating sounder, but not the clock
And you must have held your hand on the
spring when you kept il striking. It's all
right now. All you want to do is to wind
the clock more and the repeater less"
"Oh," said the brother with a gasp-and
that was all.
Now the brother says tha. any woman
that doesn't know enough to wind clock
doesn't know enough to live And the
sister says-well, every brother knows
what sister can say.