A storm had risen, heralded by a single
gust of wind, and in a few moments the steady
plash of the water on the pavement was distinctly
heard. I hardly know why I relate this incident; it
seemed somehow to have a certain significance and
relevancy which I am unable now to discern. It at
least added an element of seriousness, almost solem-
nity. Bartine resumed:
'I have a singular feeling toward this watch--a
kind of affection for it; I like to have it about me,
though partly from its weight, and partly for a rea-
son I shall now explain, I seldom carry it. The
reason is this: Every evening when I have it with
me I feel an unaccountable desire to open and con-
sult it, even if I can think of no reason for wishing
to know the time. But if I yield to it, the moment
my eyes rest upon the dial I am filled with a myste-
rious apprehension--a sense of imminent calamity.
And this is the more insupportable the nearer it is
to eleven o'clock--by this watch, no matter what
the actual hour may be. After the hands have regis-
tered eleven the desire to look is gone; I am entirely
indifferent. Then I can consult the thing as often
as I like, with no more emotion than you feel in
looking at your own. Naturally I have trained myself
not to look at that watch in the evening before
eleven; nothing could induce me. Your insistence
this evening upset me a trifle. I felt very much as I
suppose an opium-eater might feel if his yearning
for his special and particular kind of hell were rein-
forced by opportunity and advice.
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