The daily Alaskan., 1906-01-10
A Clock Mystery
COrlginall

My uncle had been In poor clrcum' stances and at his death every one was surprised to find that he had owned the bouse in which he lived. was very glad to come Into possession Of even so poor dwelling, for had no perma. uent lodgment for my family.
 There was an old wheezy clock In the Ioyer hall whose strike was enough to wake the dead. During the first even. ing of our occupancy of the house ] wound thls clock, and the tick that had been enlivenlng the place for a hun dred years prior to my uncle's death went at 1t again. We were In bed by half past 10 o'clock and were 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 of, but when they were beginning to grow again got up, went downstairs, un' hooked the striking weight and drop ped 1t 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 cord at sitting room window was broken and the sash would not stay up when raised. l found that the weight had fallen down where I could not reach 1t. Remem' bering the clock weight, l used 1t for a sash weight.
 One night I felt Lucy gripping my arm cOnvulslyely. I started up, and she whispered to me to listen. heard the sound of saving and knew that burglars were cutting out a DOT. ton 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 a weapon in the house, 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 l heard step below. There was a grating, which l recog- nized as the opening of the clock door. Then 1 heard q muttered oath, and the burglar went out by the front door. ] went downstairs, struck a light and examined both the door and the clock
 The clock weight was gone. stop ped the hole so that 1t would not be noticed, locked the door and went back to bed and to 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 burglar wanted with clock weight We con. tinued to wonder the next day and the next, keeping up our suggestions as tc the cause of so singular robbery, but without assigning a cause that had in tt any probability.
 The clock stood still for want of q weight. Had not been so poor that I could not afford a watch l would rather have had no record of time In the house than have endured the tick. ing As 1t was, remembering the weight I had used in the window, l took It out and, having bought weight to put in 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 l had provided myself with a revolver, and, hearing a window pried open in the lower hall, I got up, went to the land ing, looked down the staircase and saw the dim outline of man at the clock. l fired, the man gave a howl and made for an open window, by which he had doubtless come in. He jumped out, and, going down, 1 light ed a 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 I hired a clockmaker to come and take 1t to pieces. We took the clock out of the case, unscrewed every part, but nothing could we find except an old fashioned timepiece.
 There was evidently a mystery about the old wheezer, and Lucy, who Is full of fancy, declared that if it could speak 1t would tell horrible tale. The noise 1t made was quite enough, but it's sup posed connection with crime was too much to be borne. l got a dealer in old furniture to come and make me an offer for 1t. He did so and surprised us by an offer of a hundred dollaEs. He pronounced the clock of genuine old fashioned make which could no longer be procured. This information render ed 1t 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- cle's papers. One day I came home and Lucy told me that she had been through them all. She had discovered an old check book. I examined 1t and found that 1t showed a balance of $11 against which there was no check stub. I went to the bank and was surprised to find that the balance was still to my uncle's credit. Since I had paid his funeral expenses, I was surprised.