Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-08-14
DAILY STORY
THE OLD CLOCK.

[OriSinaLl
The clock and tower We're very old
though the tower was far older than
the clock, having long been Il ruin
when the clock was put in it. 1t was
supposed to have been built by the
Romans Some said that the clock was
the Oldest tower clock in the world.
1t had not marked the time for nearly
Il century. \ few We're living who
had seen its great iron hands swing
around the circle of its dial, but they
We're very aged people. Its works
were covered with rust. and there was
not a cOgwheel that could be turned
without q wrench
One night suddenly every person in
the village started up in bed. One
two. three, four! There was no bell to
give forth this cracked antiquated me
tallic sound except the old clock III the
tower. And if it had returned to its
, life it must he Its dotage. for the
hour was - midnight and all counted
four strokes Had not some one got
up in the tower and struck the bell
with Il hammer? Impossible. The
stairway-the last put in-had fallen
years ago. Then. too, every one had
| heard the whirring of wheels-a whir-
ring harsh with rust. Directly after
| the last stroke Peter Steiger who
| lived Just beneath the tower, had
| opened his shutter and looked out and
up to the belfry. All was still up
there and about the tower. If n foot
| step had fallen on the stones beneath
he would have heard it.
Some of the villagers got out of bed
and talked to each other from behind
their half opened doors; some lay
| awake wondering: some went to sleeI
| again. Only little children slept OF
without having heard Il sound. "Ah
| the children" said old Caspar Steiner
the innocent children, If they had
| been awakened l should not thinl
there was evil in it, but they are in
| sensible to evil" Caspar was the phi
losopher of the village, and his word,
struck deep into the souls of those who
heard him. All looked for some ca
| taStrophe
There was one person and only one
| not child who had not heard tn,
| ghOstly strokes. That was Gretchen
the granddaughter of old Becker, tn,
miller. Gretchen was to be married il
few days to Hans Huntsman, :
| young fellow about her own age, VIII,
loved her, and she loved him dearly
Gretchen laughed at the fears of tn,
| villagers. When they told her wha
old Steiner had said she replied tina
she had not heard the strokes, and sh
was not a child, therefore the philoso
piers words were not true.
While the older people were whisper
ing together, shaking their heads ant
giving way TO their dread. the younge
ones were preparing for the wedding
No one had been married in the villag
for q long while. for there We're fey
people there, and the boys as they grey
up went out into the world. leaving tn
girls with no one to marry them. Blu
Gretchen's lover would not go withou
her. He loved her better than eve
success in life. This was not remark
able, for every one loved her. She wa
gentle and amiable and kind. But no
till later did those who knew her rea
ize that, much as they priced her, the
had not known her true value
All the preparations were made, an
the wedding was to be tomorrow. On
, man who had been a sailor predicte
that the sun would shine. BY commo
consent the older ones ceased to tai
about the mysterious strokes OF the oil
! clock and. for the young couples sake