Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1897-12-17
e~o~e@s@s eSeo@eNe~e
: THAT MYSTERIOUS CLOCK. :
4 BY q. T. Montague. 4
. ~o&-0~0@S 0&O& -

covered the retreat-in a cypress swami
of "A detected incendiary, young ne
gro who had formerly been i'm my en-
ploy, but who in latter days had strucl
into the smooth road leading TO the gal
lows. He was wanted just now for th'
burning of old Peter Gillian gin house
circumstantial evidence clearly prov
ing him 10 be the guilty person.
Upon riding into the village ! re-
ported my discovery to the authorities
and joined a posse of men who imme
diately set out for his capture. lie re-
! sisted arrest and was shot down ard his
body brought back to town. One way
or another l felt i'm a meausrc response
! bic for that mans death. While it was
evident from his latter day exploits that
/ he would eventually meet with such a
| fate, if not a more ignominious one. fUI
this particular olrense felt that he real
~ did not deserve TO die i'm such a cold
blooded fashion | had surely done only
my duty, but l almost wished that il
had fallen 10 the lot of somebody else
the doing of il.
What added TO my discontinue was
that towards nightfall disagreeable
drizzle set in, one OF those hideous rains,
which dampens the very soul and makes
one an easy prey TO every gloomy fore
boding
l went to my solitary abode in the
thrall Of a black depression. | could
not shake il off. Ny beloved books Of
fered no acceptable temptation; even
my pipe was poor comfort. \ fellow is
in a bad way when he loses faith in his
pipe. Manifestly bed was the place for
me; so into il got. after taking good
drink of the blessed Three Stars" and
very soon tumbled off to sleep.
slept the sleep of the conscientious,
TO be awakened at last by hearing the
crash of something which sounded like
IA breakable thing flung from the cell
ing TO the floor and smashed.
l was considerably startled got up
hurriedly and struck match 10 find
that my small alarm clock had fallen
off the .mantelpiece; that the crystal
was broken, and that the hands pointed
10 1920 a. m. l lit the lamp, sat on the
side of the bed and wondered how that
clock got off the ntelpiece-surely
very singular thing. expended a half
hours thought upon the subject, finally
getting round TO the conclusion that.
probably, mouse had run across the
shelf and thrown il down. AS had TO
meet a train at five a. IN. U am a rail
road MANI l got into my clothes, and
after fooling about a space went on
down 10 the Office. Somehow | could
not get rid of the idea that il really was,
after all, a strange thing how that clock
got off that shelf. BY this time | had
given over the mouse theory. All day
long the matter was in my mind, so
that by night, when l once more went
TO my room, l had worked myself into
quite state about it. tried the books
again - dead failure Pipe almost
grown 10 be an enemy. Bed regarded
with distrust. Sleep not to be thought
Of. This thing kept up until about ten
o'clock, when ! came 70 the conclusion
that | was baby; and got up, wound
my clock, set my alarm and went 10 bed
but not 10 sleep. | was looking out
for that clock. I had n rooted notion
that the last nights performance would
be repeated. l found myself saying:
and If ii comes three times III take il
for a sign"
Good heavens! this was getting ride
ulous. ! would be ashamed TO see my
face in the glass tO-morrOye Having ar
raigned and convicted myself of wom-
q nj =
shut my eyes and swore I'll go to sleep
or wake mp my next door neighbor and
get him TO kick me. No good was de-
tcrmined 10 be in at the finish. II
was now, however. about G imagined
one o'clock | tumbled off to sleep. and
the next thing | knew crash came the
clock again off the mantelpiece. shot
out the bed as if legion of demons
had routed me and lit the lamp. Yes,
there was my peace-disturbing clock
on the floor, with the hands pointing TO
1920 a. IN.
If the angel Gabriel had that minute
told me Buck Anderson (the dead ne
gro) and that clock were not in league
together ! would have doubted him.
was consumed with a deadly horror of
the supernatural. knew that Buck An
derson was pulling the strings that
waltzed my clock off the mantelpiece,
and | knew he meant me some deadly
harm for the hand l took in his down
fall. Good heavens! Was TO be fol- ,
lowed about by negro ghost for any
great length Of time? Cold perspira-
ton broke ont over mo
But why did he select the clock What
had the clock to do with it? Did he
mean TO hurl IL at me and il fell short?
On what did he mean, anyway? And
" hy 1920 in the morning. l wished old
Gillian and his whole family had been
burnt at the stake before had dabbled
In their Clubhouse affair. II was raining
outside and the March wind
was bullying under the doors and rat
Ting the window in n CHASTITY fashion.
l sat shivering upon the side of my
bed, lost In horrible speculation. My
cloak lay upon the floor and the lamp
sent out a pale, uncanny light which did