Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1897-12-03
o~e~eNeNoeNcNeNe~e
|. THAT MYSTERIOUS CLOCK. :
BY q. 7. Montague. <
Se~s-e0Noe~eSee~o<Ay

OF |" uetecteu incendinry, young me-
igrs who had formerly been In my emf
lpoy, but who in latter days had struck
unto the smooth road leading TO the gal
lows. He was wanted just now for the
burning of old Peter Gillam's gin house,
circumstantial evidence clearly prov
ing him to oe the guilty person.
Upon riding into the village / re-
ported my discovery to the authorities
and joined posse OF men who imme-
'diately set out FOR his capture. He re.
sisted arrest and was shot down and his
body brought back to town. One way
or another felt in meausre response
bic for that mans death. While it was
evident from his latter day exploits that
The would eventually meet with such
fate II not more ignominious one, for
this particular offense felt that he real
ny did not deserve to die in such cold
blooded fashion. l had surely done only
my duty, but almost wished that it
had fallen to the lot OF somebody else
the doing of it,
What udded to my discontinue was
that towards nightfall a disagreeable
drigzlc setin, one OF those hideous rains,
which dampens the very soul and makes
one an easy prey to every gloomy fore
lboding.
d went to my solitary abode In the
'thrall OF black depression. | could
mot shake it off. My beloved books Of
;fered no acceptable temptation; even
my pipe was poor comfort. A fellow is
in bad way when he loses faith in his
pipe. Manifcstly bed was the place for
me; so into it got, after taking good
drink of the blessed "Three Stars;" aud
very soon tumbled off to sleep.
l slept the sleep of the conscientious,
ito be awakened at last by hearing the
crash of something which sounded like
a breakable thing flung from the cell
Ing to the floor and smashed
l was considerably startled, got up
hurriedly and struck match to find
that my small alarm clock had fallen
of the mantelpiece; that the crystal
was broken, and that the hands pointed
to 1920 a, m. lit the lamp, sat on the
side of the bed and wondered how that
clock got off the mantelpiece-surely a
very singular thing. expended half
hours thought upon the subject, finally
getting round to the conclusion that,
probably, mouse had run across the
shelf and thrown 1t down. AS l had to
meet train at five a. IN. q am rail-
road man) got into my clothes, and
after fooling about a space went on
down to the office Somehow l could
not get rid of the idea that it really was,
after all, n strange thing how that clock
got of that shelf. By this time had
given over The mouse theory. All day
long the matter was III my mind, so
that by night, when once more went
TO my room, had worked myself into
quite state about it. l tried the books
again - dead failure. Pipe almost
grown to be an enemy. Bed regarded
with distrust. Sleep not to be thought
of. This thing kept up until about ten
O'Clock, when / came to the conclusion
that was a baby; and got up, wound
my clock, set my alarm and went to bed
but not to sleep. was looking out
for that clock. had rooted notion
that the last nights performance would
be repeated. / found myself saying;
"And il it comes three times I'll take II
for sign"
Good heavens! this was getting ride
ulous. / would be ashamed to see my
face in the glass tomorrow. Having ar
raigned and convicted myself of won
nnishness, contemplate cowardice,
shut my eyes and swore I'd go to sleeI
or wake up my next door neighbor ant
get him to kick me. No good. Twas de
tcrmihed to be in at the finish.
IVES now, however, about Il imagine
one o'clock l tumbled off to sleep, ant
the next thing knew crash came tn,
clock again off the mantelpiece. sho
out the bed as II legion of demons
had routed me and lit the lamp. Yes
there was my pcace-disturbing clocl
on the floor, with the hands pointing t,
$500 n. m. s.
II the angel Gabriel had that minut
told me Buck Anderson the dead ne
gro) and that clock were not in leagu
together would have doubted him.
was consumed with deadly horror o
the supernatural knew that Buck An
dcrson was pulling the strings tina
waltzed my clock off the mantelpiece
and knew he meant me some deadl
harm for the hand | took in his down
fall. Good heavens! Was / to be fol
lowed about by negro ghost for an,
great length Of time? Cold perspira
ton broke out over me.
But why did he select the clock. Wha
had the clock to do with it? Did h
mean to hurl it at me and it fell short
Or what did he mean, anyway? An
why $500 in the morning. ] wished oil
Gillian and his whole family had bee
burnt at the stake before had dabble
In their clubhouse affair. Itws. rainin
insistently outside and the March win
was bullying under the doors and RAJ
Ting the window in n CHASTITY fashion
sat shivering upon the side of m
bed, lost in horrible speculation. M
cloak lay upon the floor and the lam
sent out pale. uncanny light which di
not quite reach into the corners, so tha
nv erstwhile cozy little sitting-rool
bore to my disordered mind the aspe'
of vault.
I was plainly Il thought III a supe
natural presence, and that presence
lost soul, an avenging spirit. Whi
was going to happen to me? lam nc