by Florence Richardson Street
“One of these days I want to get a real nice clock for the
mantel,” Mother said wistfully.
Ever since we had moved into the big house, which had a
fireplace in the living room, mother had remarked frequently that the fireplace
mantle needed a clock. The old walnut Seth Thomas had been moved to the
kitchen, where it was needed most; Whenever we wanted to know the time, we had
to run to the kitchen.
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| Little Ruth in the Northfield house parlor, prior to 1899; the Seth Thomas clock is visible in the kitchen behind |
Father's furniture business had been good that year, so he
decided rather impulsively to surprise Mother with a clock for Christmas.
Father always did his Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve.
He dropped into McGuire's jewelry shop just to look, but Mr. McGuire succeeded
in selling him a beautiful black onyx clock with three light marble columns on
either side of the face; It looked a little like the Parthenon.
Christmas came on Sunday that year [Ed: This dates the story to 1899. Ella was then 15, Florence 14, Ruth 7, Fay 6, and Russell 4]. Father connived with Mrs. Bierman, our next door neighbor, to keep the clock overnight period she promised to place it on the mantle while the family was at church.
After church, Father brought Mother home. She went into the
house alone while he put up the horse period of course Mother spied the lovely
clock at once, but she decided mischievously to have a little fun with Father.
She carried the clock into an adjoining bedroom and draped her shawl carelessly
over it.
When Father came in, he stared at the empty mantle, then dashed
over to Biermans. Soon Mrs. Bierman ran over to borrow an egg. She made an
excuse to come into the living room. She, two, stared in bewilderment at the
mantel.
Ours was a large family. In addition to five children, our
California cousin Fred Watson lived with us. There was also a Norwegian maid,
Hannah, who had been with us for years.
About that time, we children arrived home from Sunday
school. There was an air of mystery about the house; I observed Father quietly
conferring with Fred. Father and Fred were darting here and there all over the
house in a most peculiar fashion. I even heard Fred on the attic stairs.
Finally, justice Hannah announced dinner, Mother drew Father
aside. “You've had your fun,” she said, “and I've had mine.” She took father's
arm and led him into her bedroom. With her dramatic gesture, mother lifted her shawl
and revealed - a sofa pillow!
Where was that clock? Father hadn’t the remotest idea.
Neither had Mother. She enlisted the help of the children. We searched high and
low, in the most unlikely places, but couldn't find the clock. The search
continued intermittently until bedtime, but to no avail. We went to bed, still
mystified.
Suddenly, in the dead of night, we were awakened by an
exquisite chime! We scrambled out of bed, excited and laughing, and rushed
downstairs in the direction of the sound. It struck 12 times. There on the
fireplace mantel, just as though it had always been there, was Mother's clock!
Although the mystery occurred 60 years ago, it never was resolved. Though cousin Fred, then 15, helped look for the clock, I personally suspect that he was playing a delightful Christmas trick on the rest of the family. He was that much of a mischief.
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| The Christmas Clock |
In 1983, the clock was still in the possession of cousin James Smith of Monmouth, Oregon. The story was printed in the Kansas City Star, December 18, 1960, section D, page one. [MRWalsh, ed.]
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