the west shore.
646
harm, and will doubtless interest you; so i you wish it I
will try to relate my history."
We all with one voice urged hnu to proceed, and
after a moment's hesitation he said:
" I am not, as you might suppose, suffering the pangs
of a guilty conscience, but the fearful oppression of a
cruel and relentless fate. In the first place, I am not an
American, as you may already have suspected; on the
contrary, I was born in the south of France. My father
was a banker, of Jewish extraction, qnd my mother was
the daughter of an English consul. Grandfather returned
tn Encrland. and mv mother was then left without a single
- o y
relative in the country. My father, though generally of
an agreeable disposition, unfortunately for us all proved
to be a man of strange temper. Many years passed ere
his peculiarities began to exhibit themselves. If my
mother discovered them before she was successful in
disguising her knowledge of them, though it is probable
that thev were for the most part latent till the tide of
- f
fortune turned againBt him, and he suddenly beheld his
wpnH.h sUnninc surelv and rapidly from his possession.
. 1 I o " -
He had resort to alcohol to buoy up his spirits and brace
his nervous system. But this soon had no effoct, and he
sought a more powerful and deadly stimulant He began
to drink fihsintho. Each dav he took larger and more
frequent doses, until his nerves were completely shat
tered by the seductive and extraordinary liquor. From
opulence we sank to the very threshold ot poverty
Hnnnilv we succeeded in savins our home from the gen
eral wreck, and we were not turned into the street, as
seemed so probable at one time. I was by this time old
enough to turn myself to account, and with the remainder
of the family four brothers all older than myBelf-suo.
ceedod in earning enough to supply our daily noeus. j
fortunately secured a place as assistant in the post office
two of my brothers already had employment in a bank,
another had just finished a course in pharmacy and com
nnmulml urnscrintions at an apothecary's, while the
oldest was private clerk to a wealthy wine merchant We
miirht hiivn nlitninfld monev bv selling some of our furni-
ture, much of which was of curious workmanship and
prnnt antinnitv. but nothinK short of actual starvation
would have induced us to part with it Among other
rare articles we possessed a complicated and elaborately
constructed musical clock. The devil himself must have
designed the infernal thing. It had been made socially
for one of my father's remote ancestors, a vicioUB and
cruel old duke, by a celebrated clockmaker of that ierixl,
who was said to be also an alchemist ami magicum ti
He must have been Satan himself
It was always supposed that this man had invested the
clock with strange powers anil probities, du wo .
nAVBr nr. tl. lw.mnninff of our misfortunes remarked
in it onvtni mil of the ordinary. There were vague
" traditions that had been handed down with it from gen
eration to generation. Chief among them was one that
hinted that the time-stained dial had looked down on
several deeds of darkness. These in some mysterious
way it possessed the power of recording, and. if one held
the secret he might have them pictured before him; in
fact he could hrina ut in a sort of panorama all that had
ever passud at nay time in fiuiil of the uml. Vi'o did lint
believe any of those things; if we had we might have rid
ourselves of the dialxmeal machine and our lanuly his
tory might have run differently. Hut tho mysteries of
.... a.. 1
the future are soaleil to us, and we continued to regard
the old clock with that reverence and affection winch one
always has for things of that Bort that havo been handed
down from father to son for many generations. The
Mock was an exceptionally lariro one so large, indeed,
that a person of average height could easily enter the
case and close himself in behind tho massive curved door.
Once, when a lad of goodly size, I happened to be left
alone in my father's bedroom where the clock always
stotxl, and I was suddenly seized with an uncontroiiahio
desire to entor the case m search ot tho secret springs
which I imaginod must exist thero. I Ixildly opened tho
door, and hod almost closed myself in, when I folt a
dreadful pricking Bonsutiou all over my lody. This
pricking sonsation grew each moment more intense, ami
I was oppressed by a feeling of lamtnoss and heat. 1
wos also horrified to discover that tho ticking had stopped
Much frightened, I hastened to get out, and tho instant I
did so tho pricking sensation disapioarod and tho ondu
lum resumed its monotonous swing. My nroin rociou
and I was glad to make my escapo from tho room. I
never darod to rejieat the experiment I knew if I were
discovered tampering with tho clock my father would bo
very angry, and his anger was a thing u m uromiou, as
the caravan dreads the simoon.
" My father at length legan to havo occasional attacks
of a ioculiar and violent delirium, and during these at
tacks ho was extromely unmanageable, though ho showed
ii t ... ..i ! . ....
no inclination to do any one bodily narm. nomiuiiii,
however, ho injured himself moro or less, ami wo con-
sidored tho feasibility of placing him under somo sort oi
constant surveillanco, but my mother thought it best to
permit him, at least for a timo longer, his full liberty.
Ono morning, however, ho was discovered insensible in
his lied, and my mother was nowhere to 1 found. A
window which opned into the Ramon uomwmg wi
river wbb ajar; clothing, jowels and articles of furniture
were Btrewn alxmt tho Bpartment Hi wild ouniiuion. un
my father's brow was a frightful gash which had bind
profusely, dyeing tho bed ami carets crimson. There
had evidently lieen a commotion and n struggle; but as
all tho walls of tho old house were exceptionally thick.
not a soul had hoard a sound Wo soon am my nmmr
insonsiblo form could l removod to another room a
search was instituted for my mother. All the clU and
every place where she could xsibly havo limn concealed
were carefully examined, but with no success. Wo were
alxiut to conclude that she had lnwn carried off by brig
and, wlmn I Implied to notice that tho old clock had
stopiied, and rememlering my old experience wi
rushed to it and tore ojion tho locked door. Thero before
mo, insensible and apparently lifeless, lay the form of
my poor mother. We tenderly took her out, but all