Rock Island Argus., 1905-11-11
DAILY SHORT STORY
A CLOCK MYSTERY.
IOriglnaI.I

After our marriage Lucy and went
TO live in little house that had come
to me as heir-at-law from an uncle.
My uncle had been in poor circum-
stances, anu at his death every one was
surprised TO find that he had owned the
house in which he lived. / was very
glad to come into possession of even
so poor dwelling, for / had DO perma-
nent lodgment for my family.
There was an old wheezy clock in the
lower hall whose strike was enough 10
wake the dead During the first even
ing of our occupancy of the house |
wound this clock, and the tick that had
been enlivening the place for a hun
dred years prior to my uncleS death
went at it again. We were in bed by
half past 10 o'clock and We're just get
ting to sleep when the striking ham
mer reused US. We counted eleven
strokes, and at midnight counted
twelve. Then the number fell off, but
when they We're beginning TO grow
again l got up. went downstairs. un-
hooked the striking weight and drop
ped it in the bottom of the clock case.
Then we both went to sleep.
The house was an old one. and many
things in it's construction were worn
out, among them the cords to which
the sash weights were hung One day
Lucy told me that Il cord at Il sitting
room window was broken and the sash
would not stay up when raised.
found that the weight had fallen down
where | could not reach it. Remem-
bering the clock weight, | used it for
n sash weight.
One night | felt Lucy gripping my
arm cOnvulSively. / started up. and
she whispered to me TO listen. l
heard the sound of saving and knew
that burglars We're cutting out Il por-
tiOn of the front door in order TO put
in an arm and draw the bolts. / got
up and went out on to the landing. Not
having weapon in the house, l could
do nothing but wait or give an alarm.
There was no other house near. so l
waited The saving finished. the door
was opened, and | heard a step below.
There was Il grating, which l recog-
nized as the opening of the clock door.
Then heard muttcred oath, and the
burglar went out by the front door. l
went downstairs. struck a light and
examined both the door and the clock.
The clock weight was gone. I stop
ped the hole so that it woutl not he
noticed. locked the door and went back
to bed and 10 report to Lucy what had
occurred.
There was no more sleep for us that
night. both from the fright and Won
derinG what in the world Il burglar
wanted with Il clock weight. We con-
tinued to wonder the next day and the
next, keeping up our suggestions as to
the cause of so singular robbery, but
without assigning cause that had in
it any probability.
The clock stood still for want of Il
weight Had l not been so poor that
I could not afford Il watch l would
rather have had no record of time in
the house than have endured the tick
ing. As it was remembering the
weight | had used in the window, |
took it out and. having bought a weight
to put 81 its place. hooked the striking
weight on to the cord that moved the
hands
Our robbery of the clock weight was
well nigh forgotten when one night our
house was again entered by burglars.
After having once been robbed | had
provided myself with a revolver, and,
hearing a window pried open in the
lower hall, | got up, went to the land
ing. looked down the staircase and
saw the dim outline of a man at the
clock. | fired. the man gave Il howl
and made for an open window, by
which he had doubtless come in. He
Il I;rrI,@
ed candle, by which | traced blood
to the window. l looked in the clock
and nothing had been disturbed.
Curious to know why burglars were
so interested in the clock the next day
| hired Il clockmaker to come and take
it to pieces. We took the clock out of
the case, unscrewed every part, but |
could we find except an old |
fashioned timepiece.
There was evidently mystery about |
the old wheeZer, and Lucy, who is full |
of fancy. declared that if it could speak |
it would tell a horrible tale The noise |
II made was quite enough, but its sup |
posed connection with crime was too |
much to be borne. / got a dealer in old |
furniture TO come and make me an
by an offer of hundred dOllars. He
pronounced the clock of a genuine old
fashioned make which could no longer
be procured. This information render
ed it evident to me that the burglars
had tried TO steal the only valuable
thing in the house. We declined the
offer.
In the garret was an old box of un-
rle's papers. One day l came home
and Lucy told me that she had been
through them all. She had discovered
ln old check book. | examined it and
found that If showed a balance of S11
against which there was no check stub.
went to the bank and was surprised
10 find that the balance was still TO my
lncle's credit Since / had paid his
.uneral expenses. / was surprised.