The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1908-04-21
The Tick of the OldCIoCk
tOriginal.l


When I bought my country place
made an offer for it and everything
on 1t just as 1t stood. and the deed was
thus made out The house was 100
years old and there was some very old
furniture In Ii. including clock reach
ing from the floor Of the hall nearly to
the ceiling. 1t had not kept time for
many years. The works were rusty.
and the pendulum. which had been de-
tached. stood In the corner of the case.
While the party from whom ! made
the purchase and were looking at the
old clock he gave me the following rea-
son for the pendulum being in that po-
sition: He said that there was a ira
dition that one Of the former owners
Of the premises had been warned that
the clock would fOretell the hour of
his death. How this ghOstly informa-
ton was to be conveyed was not desig
mated. but the warned man. hoping to
disarm the ghost. detached the pendu-
lum and set it in the corner Of the
case. One night In autumn. when the
winds were blowing and the rain fan
ing. he was lying wide awake when
suddenly the old clock In the hall be-
low began to tick. What induced him
to count the strokes from the very first
one he didn't know. but he did count
them till the three thousand FIVE hun
dred and fOrtieth stroke. when a sud-
den sinking sensation came over him.
and he called for assistance He died
one minute later, or on the three thou
exactly one hour from the first stroke
. l thanked my infOrmer for this
grewsome tale and told him that If he
would verify 1t would sell him the
property l had just bought from him
for one half what had paid him, but
the days of ghosts had passed and
such stories no longer affect people as
they once did.
Nevertheless. conscious as we are
that there are existences beyond our
ken, one must be superstitious. The
seed had been planted in me, and often
afterward when l lay awake at night
would fancy the slightest sound TO
be the tick of the old clock. l was
tempted to sell it, but, in the first
place. my wife greatly valued such
old truck; in the second, was ashamed
to confess even to myself that l was
afraid Of it. You laugh at me. but
how many people are there who do
not prefer to first see the new moon
over the right shoulder? This alone
indicates that we are all in a measure
superstitiOus. Whether by nature or
Inheritance, don't know.
One autumn my wife left me to be
gone a few days. There was only
servant at home besides myself The
night following my wife's departure
the house seemed unusually still-in-
deed, it was unusually still. can't
say felt unwell. but / was what
may call discomposed. My usual hour
for going to bed was 10 o'clock. but
this night 1 sat up till II and even
then felt no inclination to seek my
lonely couch. l got to sleep. however,
in about half an hour after going to
bed.
During the night I awoke suddenly.
Sometimes we awake at night feeling
comfortable, lie awake for short time
and 60 to sleep again. But this night
knew the moment ] awOke that I was
in for a season Of wakefulness. 1t
was bad night. The wind was fitful,
and slow rain had been coming down
all day. I felt terror creeping over
me. though at what could not divine.
I was not afraid of the dark or the
wind or the rain. Nevertheless l was
In an uncomfortable condition.
I had been awake only a few mo-
ments when l heard tap, tap, tap,
tap, for all the world like the ticking
of clock. Why 1 did so l can't ex-
plain. but I counted each tap or tick
from the first. Then it occurred to
me that the ticking came from the
clock in the hall below. The works
had not been cleaned, the pendulum
still stood in the corner, but if ever l
had heard any sound coming from
certain direction heard that clock
ticking, and the ticks seemed to me
to be exactly one second apart. kept
on counting. not from cApice. but from
some unexplained compulsion4@ tried
to stop counting. but do what I would
I couldn't lose the number Of the beats.
There I lay, every minute growing
more and more discomposed. counting
the seconds by sixties. knowing that at
every sixtieth second another minute