2 I)e tines, New Btoomficfo, Jou
TIIE DEACON'S CLOCK.
A Lover In a Fix.
a HIE OLD clock in the kitchen had
. just struck nine. It was no gildod
toy, no trifle of bronze, orjalabastcr, but a
tall, square, solid rclio of tho olden time
looking not unliko a coffin case sot on
end, in the corner a clock that had last
ed through one generation, and, to judge
from all appearance, was quito likely to
last through another. Deacon Mcrritt
cherished that old time piece with a sort
of pride which ho himself would scarcely
have confessed to.
There was a great ruddy fire of chest
nut logs in the wido red brick-paved fire
place, and the candles in the polished
brass stick were winking merrily from
tho high wooden mantle, where they
shared the post of honor with a broken
sea shell and a plaster basket of improba
bly colored fruit. At the windows a
curtain of gaudy chintz shut out the
million stars of the frosty autumnal
night, and on tho cozy rug of parti-colored
rags, a fat tortoise-shell cat purred
away the slowly lapsing minutes.
But the tortoise-shell cat was not the
only inhabitant of the snug farm-house
kitchen.
" John !" said Mehitablo Mcrrit, deci
dedly, " if you don't behave yourself,
I'll"
What she would do Hetty Mcrrit did
not say the sentence was terminated by
a laugh that set the dimples round her
mouth in motion, just as a beam of Juno
sunshine play3 athwart a cluster of red
ripe cherries.
Hetty Mcrrit was just seventeen a
plump, rosy girl, with jet-black hair,
brushed back from her forehead, and
perfectly arched eyebrows that gave a
bewitching 'expresison of surprise to a
pair of melting hazel eyes: She was
rather dark, but the severest critic would
hardly have found fault with the peach
like bloom upon her her cheeks, and the
dewy red of her full, dainty-curved lips.
Evidently, Mr. Aylmer was quite sat
isfied with Hetty's peculiar stylo of
beauty.
"Come, Hetty," said John, moving
his chair where ho could best watch tho
firelight upon her face, and picking up
the thread of conversation where he had
dropped it, when it became necessary for
Hetty to bid him behave himself.
" You might promise. It's nine o'clock,
and your father will soon be home."
"Promise what, John?" said Hetty,
demurely, fitting a square of Turkey-red
patch-work to a white one, and intently
observing tho effect.
"Nonsense, Hatty; you know what
Tory well. Promise to marry me before
Christmas ! I tell you what, Hetty it's
all very well for you to keep putting off,
but I can't stand it, what with your fath
er's forbidding me tho house, and Caleb
Truman's coming here every Saturday
night"
Hetty gave her pretty head a toss.
" As if Caleb Truman's coming here
makes any difference in my feelings,
John!"
" No, but, Hetty, it isn't pleasant, you
know. I'm as good a man as Caleb Tru
man, if I don't own railroad shares, and
keep an account at Brighain Dank, and
I love you, Hetty, from the very bottom
of my heart 1 Hetty, this matter lies
between me and you only no other pcr
Bon in the world has a right to interfere
between us. Come, promise me !"
He held both her hands in his, and
looked into her liquid brown eyes.
" Do you love mo, Hetty ?"
" You know I love you, John."
" Then wo may juft as well Hush !
what's that ?"
There was a portentious sound of draw
ing bolts and rattling latches in tho porch
room beyond a stamp of nailed boots
shaking off the dust of country roads
Hetty rose to her feet with sudden scar
let suffusing brow and cheeks.
"Oh, John, it's father."
" Suppose it is !"
" But ho mustn't find you here, John !
Hide yourself somewhere, do !"
" What nonsense, Hetty !" paid tho
young man,resolutcly standing his ground.
"I have not come here to steal his spoons
why should I steal away like a detected
burglar?"
"Tor my sake, John. Oh, John, if
you have ever loved me, do as I say !
Not in that closet it is too close to his
bedroom; not through that window it's
nailed down tight. He's coming ! he's
coming ! Here, John, quick !" - .
. And in tho drawing of a breath, sho
lad pushed John Aylmer into the square
pendulum caso of the clock, and turned
tho key upon bim.
It was not a very pleasant place of ref
uge, inasmuch as liis shoulders were
squeezed in ou cither sido, and his head
flattened against tho. springs and wheels
above, and tho air was unpleasantly close
but honest John made the best of mat
ters, and shook with suppressed laughter
in his solitary prison cell.
" Phew 1 a jolly scrapo to be in," John
thought, "and no knowing when I'll be
out of it 1 Hetty's a shrewd little puss,
however, and I cau't do better than leave
matters in her hands."
" So you havn't gone to bed, Hetty ?"
said Deacon Mcrrit, slowly unwinding the
two yards of woollen comforter in which
ho generally encased his throat of an
evening.
" Not yet, father," said Hetty, picking
up her scattered bits of patchwork with
a glowing cheek. "Did you have a pleas
ant meeting ?"
" Well, yes," quoth the deacon, reflect
ively, sitting down before the fire, great
ly to Hetty's consternation sho had
hoped he would have gone quietly to bed,
according to his usual custom; " tol'bly
pleasant. Elder Jones was there, and
Elder Backstrecher, and well, all tho
church folks pretty much. Why, how
red your checks are, Hetty ! Tired, ain't
you? Well, you needn't set up for me,
dear ; it must be getting late."
" The deacon glanced mechanically
around to the clock. Hetty felt the blood
grow cold in her veins.
" Twenty minutes past nine why, it
must be later than that ! Why, land o'
Goshen! The old clock's stopped!"
The old clock had stopped ; nor was it
wonderful, considering all the circum
stances. " I wound it up this mornin', I'm sar
tin," said the deacon pcrturbedly. " It
never served me such a trick before, all
the ycar3 it stood. Your Aunt Kcsiah
used to say that whenever that clock
stopped it was a sign of a death or a mar
riago in the family before the year was
out."
There was a suppressed sound like a
chuckle behind the clock caso as Deacon
Mcrrit fumbled on the shelf for the clock
key.
" These springs must be out of order
somehow," said the deacon decisively
" How scared you look, child ! There
is no cause for bein' scared. I don' put
no faith in your Annt Kcziah's old-time
superstition. Where in the name of all
possessed i3 tho key ? I could ha' de
clared I left it in the case."
" Isn't it ou the shelf, father ?" asked
Hetty, guiltily conscious that it was snug
ly reposing in tho pocket of her checked
gingham dress.
" No ; nor 'taint on the set-off, nei
ther." And down went the deacon, stiffly
enough, on his knees, to examine the
floor, lest, perchance, the missing key
might have slipped off and fallen down
there.
" Well, I never knowed anything so
strange," said the deacon.
" It is strange," faltered hypocritical
Hetty.
" I'll have a reg'lar sarch to-morrow,"
said Deacon Mcrrit. "It must besome
whero around."
" Yes, it must," said Hetty, tremu
lously. " Only," went on the dcacon slowly
resuming his place before the cheery blaze,
" I kind o' don't like to have tho clock
stand still a single night. When I wake
up, you know it seems like if it was talk
ing to me in tho stillness."
Tho deacon looked thoughtfully at tho
fiery back-log. Hetty fidgetted uneasily
about the room, straightening table cov
ers and setting back chairs oh, if he
would only go to bed !
As ho sat there, lys eye-lids began to
droop, and his head to nod, somnolently.
Hetty's eyes lighted up with a sparkle of
something like hope.
" Child," ho suddenly said, straighten
ing himself up in the stiff-backed chair,
" you'd better go to bed. I'll sit up
awhile longer, till the logs burn out."
" But father I'm not sleepy."
" Go to bed, my child,' reiterated tho
deacon, with good-humored authority, that
brooked no opposition, and Hetty crept
out of tho room, ready to cry with anxie
ty and vexation.
" If John will only keep quiet a little
longer," sho thought, sitting on tho stairs
where the autumn moonlight streamed in
chilly splendor. " Father sleeps so sound
ly and ho is sure to go to sleep in his
chair. I could just steal in and release
him just as easily as possible !"
Sho sat there, her plump fingers inter
laced, and her eyes fixed dreamily on tho
floor, while, all tho time, her ears were
strained to catch every sound in tho
kitchen beyond.
Hark ! was that the wail of the wind,
or was it something,to her literally near
er and dearer ? Yes she could not bo
mistaken now it was actually a snore !
Hetty rose softly to her feet with re
newed hope. Surely, now was the ac
cepted time.
" Noislcssly as a floating shadow she
crossed the hall, opened the kitchen door,
and stole across tho creaking floor.
The shiftiug lustre of the fire-light re
vealed to her Deacon Merrit nodding be
fore tho fire with closed eyes, and hands
hanging at his sides.
" He is certainly asleep," thought
Hetty.
With a heart that beat quick and fast,
like the stroke of a minature hammer,
she drew the key from her dress pocket
and procecded,Jin spite of the; nervous
trembling of her fingers, to fit it into
tho lock. So absorbed was 6he in her
task that she never noted the sudden
cessation of the heavy breathing never
saw the deacon startfcsuddenly into wake
fulness, and look around towards her.
Ah, Hetty, love is blind, they say, and it
is equally true that love is sometimes
deaf!
Tho deacon rose quietly up with a
shrewd twinkle in his eyes, and Hetty
gave a little frightened shriek as a hand
fell softly on her arm, possessing itself
quietly of the key.
" Let me help you," said Deacon Mcr
rit. " Father, I I found the key," falter
ed Hetty, "and"
" Found the key, eh ?!! returned the
deacon. " Well, that's lucky and now
you can find out what's tho matter with
the old clock !"
Hetty's heart throbbing so wildly a
moment before, seemed to stand absolute
ly still as Deacon Mcrrit turned tho key
and opened tho tall door of the clock
case. " Hallo!,' ejaculated Deacon Merrit, as
Mr. John Aylmer tumbled laughingly
into the room. " So you was the matter
with tho old clock, eh ?"
" Yesl sir," said Mr. Aylmer, compos
edly. " I hope I havn't seriously inter
fered with the works o the clock ?"
" You've seriously interfered with me,
though !" said the deacon, waxing indig
nant. " What do you mean, sir, by hid
ing in my house like a thief?"
" Indeed, indeed, father," cried Hetty,
bursting into tears, " it wasn't his fault.
He didu't want to hide, but I put him in
there."
" You did, eh ? And may I ask what
for?"
" Father," faltered Hetty, rather lrrcv
ently, l I love him and ho loves me ?"
" Is that any reason he should hide in
a clock-case, miss ?"
No but father ! 0, father, I can
never marrry Caleb Truman ! lie is old,
and cross, and withered, and "
Hetty's eyes finished the sentence for
her. The deacon looked down, not un
kindly, on her bowed head, and tho ten
der arms that supported it. Apparently
tho eourso of true love, roughly though
it ran, was overwhelming all his worldly
wise arrangements in its tido.
" And so you young folks really think
you lovo each other ?" said the deacon,
mcdiativcly.
" I lovo her with all my heart and soul,
sir," said John Aylmer, earnestly. " I'm
not rich, I know, but I can work for
her."
" And 1 can work myself, too, father,"
said Hetty, with eyes that Ehoue like soft
ened stars.
" And you said yourself, sir," went on
Aylmer, " that the stopping of the clock
meant either a death or a niarriago. Of
course wo don't want any deaths, so don't
you think the most sensible thing to do is
to help ou a marriage as soon as possi
ble?" Tho deacon laughed in spite of him
self. " It is late," said tho deacon. " Come
round to-morrow morning, and we'll talk
about it. I suppose young folks will be
young folks, and there's no uso in trying
to stop 'em."
And as the deacon hung tho pendulum
and set tho iron tongue of tho old clock
talking again, John Aylmer paused on
tho door-step to whisper to Hetty :
My darling, it's worth passing a life
time behind tho clock-case to feel as hap
py as I do now !"
tW Tho interpretation in English of the
namo of the German commanders is curi
ous. For instance, Steinmetz means a
stonecutter ; Falkensteiu, tho falcon rock ;
and hence Vogol von Falkonstoin the bird
of the falcon rock ; Manteuful, mau dovil,
and Eulcnburg, the castlo of owls. These
names are Gothic enough for the dark
ages.
The Three Treachcrs.
IT is well known that some of tho
Judges in Missouri are very reluct
ant to enforce tho law ogainst ministers
of the gospel for exercising their profes
sion without having taken tho test oath,
and avail themselves of every pretonce
to discharge those who are accused. We
tell the following tale as it is told to us,
vouching for nothing :
Three ministers, charged with the
crime of preaching " the glorious gospel
of tho son of God," were arraigned be
fore a certain judge: They were regu
larly indicted, and it was understood that
the proof against them was very clear.
" Aro you a preacher ?" said the Judge
to one of them.
" Yes sir," replied the culprit.
' To what denomination do you be
long?" "I am a Christian, sir." (With dig
nity.) " A Christian ! What do you mean by
that? Arc not all preachers Chris
tians ?"
"I belong to the sect usually called
but wrongly called Campbellites."
(Not so much dignity.)
" Ah ! Then you believe in baptizing
people, in order that they may bo born
again, do you?"
"I do, sir." Defiantly.
" Mr. Sheriff, discharge that man ! He
is an innocent man ! He is indicted for
preaching the gospel, and there is not a
word of gospel in the stuff he preaches !
It is only some of Alexander Campbell's
nonsense. Discharge the man !"
Exit Campbellite, greatly rejoicing.
" Are you a preacher ?" said the J udge,
addressing the second criminal.
" I am, sir," said the miscreant.
"Of what denomination are you?"
" I am a Methodist, sir." His looks
showed it.
" Do you believe in falling from grace,
sir?"
"I do sir." Without hesitation.
" Do you believe in sprinkling people,
instead of baptizing them ?"
" I believe that people can be baptized
by sprinkling." Much offended.
" Do you believe in baptizing babies ?"
" It is my opinion, sir, that infants
ought to be baptized. Indignantly.
" Not a word of S cripture fur any
thing of tho kind, sir '." shouted his hon
or. " Mr. Sheriff, turn that man loose !
He is no preacher of tho gospel. The
gospel is truth, and there is not a word
of truth in what that man teaches I Turn
him loose! It is ridiculous to indict men
on such frioulous pretences 1 Turn him
loose !"
Methodist disappears, not at all hurt
in his feelings by the judicial abuse he
had received.
" What are you, sir?" said the Judge,
to third felon.
"Some people call me a preacher, sir."
Meekly.
" What is your denomination ?"
" I am a Baptist." Head up.
His Honor's countenance fell, and ho
looked sober and sad. After a pause he
said :
"Do you believe in salvation by grace?"
" I do." Firmly.
" Do you teach that immersion only, is
baptism '("
" That is my doctrine, sir." Ear
nestly. " And you baptize nono but those who
believe in Jesus Christ ?"
" That is my faith and practice."
With emphasis.
" My friend, I fear it will go hard
with you. I see you arc indicted for
preaching the gospel, and it appears to
me that by your own confession you aro
t;uilty."
Baptist looked pretty blue.
" May it pleaso your Honor," said the
Baptist's counsel, springing to his feet,
" That man never preached tho gospel.
I have heard him say a hundred times
that ho only tried. I have heard him
try myself."
" Mr. Sheriff, discharge this man ! Ho
is not indicted for trying 1 There is
nothing said about the mere effort ! Let
him go, sir ! I am astonished that tho
State's attorney should annoy tho court
with frivolous indictments.
Exit Baptist, determined to " try"
again.
Court adjourned.
" God save tho State and this honora
ble court !" exclaimed tho Sheriff.
"Amen!" said tho threo preachers.
o
A young lady, recently married to
a farmer, one day visited tho cow-house,
when sho thus interrogated the milk
maid : " By-tho-by, Mary, which of these
cows gives the butter-milk ?"
SUNDAY READING.
Redeeming the Time.
Time abates not its speed, but rather
seems to fly with increasing swiftness as
we grow older. Nor is this to be regret
ted if our years are bearing us in the
right direction, for then, wo shall bo the
sooner in heaven with the Lord Jesus, in
whom we trust, and after whom we arc
sighing ; but if, on the other hand, every
instant is drifting us onward to eternal
misery, it should cause us the deepest
alarm. Like the dove's wing, with silk
en sound, time passes us ; but when
once departed, if our spirits be condemn
ed by tho Great Judge of all, it will have
the talons of a vulture with which to tear
our inmost hearts. Within the next
hour, dear reader, you may have enter
ed upon eternity, and what if that eter
nity should bo dark with sin's unending
night, and bitter with its ceaseless pun
ishment ? Time is your hour of escape
from condemnation ; throw it away and
your fetters are riveted forever. It wero
better and moro wise to throw empires
away, than to wasto the hours of this
precious life. Heaven is on the wing of
moments ; seizo them, for all the wealth of
worlds will one day be too little to buy
so much as one of them. Death cannot
be avoided ; he has laid, sicgo to us, and
from the beleaguered city of Manhood
none can escape. You must soon leave
all earthly things, to meet your God in
judgment.
Dear reader, if still unconverted, per
mit me to remind you that you aro by
na'ure a lost sinner. Have you consid
ered this ? Has your mind been fitly
impressed with a sense of your danger
ous condition ? If not, how is it that
you can be so inconsiderate ? You look
to the health of your body, how can you
neglect that part of your nature which
is so much more noble, namely, your im
mortal soul ! Be wise and think. Oh,
that you would consider your state with
seriousness and candor, until you feel
compelled trembling to cry, " What must
I do to be saved ?" It is not too late to
ask that question, nor to receive a com
fortable reply. There is salvation for all
those who trust Him, and so suffered that
none of their offences can ever be laid to
their charge. He has discharged tho
debts of His people, so that they are
clear before tho judgment seat of God.
0, reader, if you can but trust tho
Lord Jesus,, it will go well with you, for
you shall have tho joy of present peace
and the hope of future bliss. He whoso
pen now traces these lines, beseeches you
to lay hold on eternal life, and more, he
beseeches the Lord Jesus to lay hold on
you. To be safely sheltered in the wounds
of Jesus is blessedness beyond concep
tion ; try the clefts of this rock, and
your heart shall bo at rest. 0. II. Spur
(eon. Tho Lost Jewels.
Suppose you had a beautiful necklace
of pearls and diamonds, and some day,
while you were walking tho streets, a
thread of it should become loosened, and
one by one your precious gems should
fall to the ground and bo lost amidst the
dust of the street. How you would
grieve over tho los3 ! How unkind you
would think it of any one who saw your
misfortune and did not tell you of it in
season to save your jewels !
Every day, you are losing a jewel more
Erecious than any gem from the mine.
Tnless you are in Christ's fold, you have
lost another golden day in which you
might have turned to Him. You arc
lying down to sleep unpardoned, and oh !
what if you should not awake again !
Would you not think a person worse
than foolish, who should pettishly turn
away when warned of losing a costlj
necklace, even growing angry with tht
friend who warned her ? Yet those v,hc
do not lovo Jesus, hate to be warned c
their danger. They often turn awav
with a flushed and an angry brow, frou
the kind friend who urges them to seek
for safety, where alone they can find it.
It is not much to lose fine jewels.
They can be replaced again, or the ownc:
can be just as happy and useful withou
them. But oh, to lose tho soul ! Thcr
is no repairing that loss ! And when th
soul is lost, all is lost ! All the fine thinp
that tho eyes have taken such a deligL
in, must also be left.
Oh, hasten to the open arms of Jesu:;
Ho loves to gather the little lambs int
His bosom. He loves to have them com
willingly and cluster about His fect.
llo is never tired of their presence. A
all aro welcome.
flgyA little learning often breed
scepticism. Profound knowledge lea'1
back to Jesus.