Evening journal., 1907-11-07
The Town Clock.
[orIginal.1

IOrisinaLl
A group Of citizens stood In the mar
ket place of Schramberg, in the Black
forest, looking up at the clock in the
church tower.
'It has stopped" said one.
mo, but the hands move at a snail's
pace" said another.
II have been standing here fully ten
minutes" said a third, "and can't de-
tect the slightest change"
"And | have watched it for an hour"
said a fourth. THE long hand shows
a gain OF two and a half minutss."
when was the change noticedf'
AT l. o'clock midnight. 1t has not
struck the hour since"
Let me see-two and half minutes
to the hour At that rate the minute
hand would sweep the dial in twenty
four hours. The clock registers but
an hour a day"
From a little shop near by old Roth
holz, the matchmaker, glanced out OF
his window at the group, shook his
head at them, then turned and resdmed
his work. The day before his son had
come to him. wringing his hands.
"Oh. father" he exclaimed, "Cicily
has been condemned Old Mother
Gault swore that she had seen her
with her own eyes vomiting crooked
pins"
"Whatl That innocent girl con-
demned for witchcraft on the testi-
mony Of that hagT"
Eyes, and she is to be burned at the
stake In three days. Oh, father helpl
We are betrothed!'
The youngster, still in his teens, had
not ceased to rely on his father for
everything. The old man scratched
his head and gave himself up to deep
thought. Presently he said, Il cannot
prevent this tragedy, but 1 may delay
it."
"How? asked the boy eagerly.
"You know, my son, that the cloc6
in the church tower, which 1 made
and about which no one except my
self knows anything, is the legal time
in the village-that l, the town clerk
as well as matchmaker. keep the legal
calendar and keep it by the clodk. If
stop the clock 1 stop the village time,
but In that case they would adopt an
other standard. i will make the hands
go very slowly This will delay the
execution. and something may happen
to save the girl"
In the middle of the night the old
man went up into the tower and chang
ed the clocks rate to one hour in TWEEN
ty-four. Cicily could not be legally
burned for more than two months.
The group standing in the market
place after further discussion moved
together to old Rothholz's shop, told
him that the clock had nearly stopped
and he must fix II. Don't bother your
heads about the clock" he said; 1T
will go we'll enough in time" "WhenT'
"After the girl who was condemned
yesterday has been burned" what
has that to do with it?" II don't
know. I only know that the clock,
which has kept perfect time ever since
1t was set up in the tower has sud
denly gone wrong" Nonsense ex.
/ claimed most of the party. and they
went away.
The old man insisted that he could
not fix the clock. though. TO satisfy the
authorities. he pretended to try In a
few days the burghers, finding a new
subject of interest ceased to talk
about the clock A week later Antoine
Hecker presented a note that was due
to Karl Becker for payment. Becker
declared that he would pay it when
the town clock should say the time
for payment had expired. Heclzer
went TO Rothholz and asked for Ger.
tihcate to that effect. Hecker declared
/ that by the village time the note was
not due. The result was a quarrel be
tween the debtor and the creditor
| Then came a widow who wished tC
marry again. BY the terms Of her late
husbands win she would lose every
thing he had left her If she married
before a certain date. The date had
expired, but the legal town time said
that it had not The clerk said it was
his duty to keep the calendar by the
clock He could do nothing The
judge ordered him before the courf
and to fix the clock or keep the calen
der by another timepiece. The towr
clerk refused to break the law. anC
the judge had no power to compel hin
to do so.
AS the days and weeks elapsed tn,
condition Of the people of the village
became more irritating. They quar-
relied about the time to go to bed, t.
get up, for meals. The children woul(
not so to school till the clock strucl
the hour. Nobody would go to churcl
because there was no knowing wher
they should 60 Those who haG
watches tyrranized over those who hal
not and quarreled among themselve.
as to whose watch was right At las
the hubbub was so great that it be
came intolerable. A committee wait
ed on the town clerk and begged hin
TO fix the clock or break the law, prom
ising him immunity.
"Not l." he said Il believe tha
heaven shows its displeasure through
the clock for the condemnation Of I
pure young girl for witchcraft"
When this was repeated to the judg
he called the court together and re
opened the trial Of the condemne'
Cicily Antoine Hecker, who was anx