And in the night,
when all within was still, how its deep beats throbbed in the dark hall
louder and sterner even than in the day. There was something eminently
respectable about an old clock of this kind, and it would have been
audacity unheard of for any member of the family to doubt its
reliability. Set once a year, it was expected to retain its steady-going
habits for the rest of the twelvemonth. You dared not charge it with
being slow; and as for being too fast, why, the very idea was absurd.
There was sure to be some white-capped, silver-haired old lady, whose
long years had been counted by the venerable pendulum with unerring
precision, ready to defend the cause of the clock, to vouch for its
accuracy, and to plead its cause so well and so skillfully, that you
were ready to hide your face in shame at the thought of having even
suspected the veracity of so venerable and so honored an institution.
Truth to say, however, these old clocks, to the masses of the people of
this country, were objects of admiration, and nothing more; for their
exceeding high price placed them beyond the reach of all save the
wealthier classes.
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