The new era. (Walden, Colo.) 1906-19??, 1907-10-10
THE CLOCK
By CHARLES S. REID


1t was an enlarged edition of the
typical grandfather's clock. 1t stood
nine feet in the corner Of my sleep
ing room, Is inches thick and 80 inches
wide at the base. The lower part
Of the case had the appearance of be-
Ing a cabinet, but if an opening ever
had existed in it the fact did not
now appear. At the request of
maiden aunt | had bought the clock
at an auction sale of the effects of
my late grandfather. and had stored
it here, until my aunt should elect to
move her property, for there was lit
tie of the antiquary about me-my
tastes were modern.
But as the days passed, the clock
seemed to take on kind of person
ality, its dingy face assumed an ex-
preston that was almost life-like.
though the manifestation was frown
instead of smile.
While at work during the day the
clock would pop up in my mind,
grimly serious, dejectedly striving, as
IL for the gift of speech; and at night
in my dreams it had a part. A num-
Der of times | was on the point of
writing my aunt that the timepiece,
now timepiece in name only, must be
removed from my apartments. But
on reflection found that | should
have no excuse for making the re-
quest unless | confessed to something
that might be considered supersti
tious So the clock remained.
Three months had passed-and 1t
was the night of the 18th of April, to
be exact-having become a still
more insistent feature of my daily
thoughts and nightly dreams. the old
clock one night suddenly caught and
held my attention under a hypnotic
fascination | was unable to break. l
had come In late. quarter to II
O'Clock by my watch-the old clock
in the corner had not licked off an
hour in 60 years, and the hands had
stood at IL undisturbed through all
these six decades.
Having dropped into convenient
arm chair few feet away, l had turn
ed my eyes toward the time-stained
dial; and at that moment the clock
had begun to strike, one, two, three.
each sound clear and distinct. until
~ had been struck. Then the clock
faded from my view as completely as
rainbow disappears from an even
ing sky, and | found myself trans
ported, through what manner of me-
diumship l had no means Of know
ing. to an old-fashioned home in the
country.
A mansion stood in the background.
rare old garden of elms, shrubbery
and vines in the foreground Near
fountain In the grounds sat vision
of loveliness such as never before
had crossed my view. This was
girl not yet over Is. In a moment !
could have thrown myself at her feet
and declared my soul consccrated to
her worship. so fair was she, so in
nocent in the soft expression of her
large liquid eyes. Her glance was
troubled, aad longed to approach her
to offer ny sympathies.
Presently n man came from the
house--Le WAS about middleaged and
was dressed after the fashion of a
colonial gentleman. A large kind
ness beamed from his face. but there
ner. AS he approached the fountain,
the girl arose as if to creep away.
But he had caught sight of her and
called. She stopped and turned to-
ward him. Then her lips moved faint
ly as If in protest when he came up
and took her hands in his. In the
mans eyes | could see the fire of
deep passion; and something seemed
to tell me that these two in relation
to each other stood as guardian and
ward.
Animated speech fell from the mans
lips, and the girls eyes looked up
into his with strange tenderness, but
this seemed mingled with peculiar
fear And apparently she was striv-
| ing to withdraw her hand from his
| grasp, though her effort was apollo
| getic.
Presently the man caught her in his
arms and pressed his lips to her fore
head hungrily, as if he would fill the
craving of famished soul with the
| drop of sweetness from her fresh
| white brow. Then he released her,
and the two turned away together a
few yards to a division in the walk,
where they parted, unconscious of a
look of fierce vindictiveness that fol-
| lowed them from an older woman's
| face which had pushed out from
among the shrubbery near the loun-
| tain.
| This was a middle-aged face like
the mans. but the features were I'M
favored, hard, uninviting to friendly
advancement. From the eyes gleam-
ed the green lights of a Jealous rage
| This older woman was angular in
| form, and she had a mouth and chin
that denoted unyielding determine
| ton.
From This scnne In the pardnn with