Business, or pleasure, often compelled me to keep late hours,
and on such occasions, on arriving home, I would naturally try to reach
my room as quietly as possible. With my shoes in my hand, and by a
series of agile leaps from one less noisy stair to another, I usually
succeeded in attaining the upper part of the house without much
disturbance.
"The annoying sounds occurred at all hours, but were of course more
noticeable at night. I am a light sleeper, and was invariably awakened
by them, and this, with the loud ticking of a grandfather's clock on the
first landing, usually banished further slumber, and I would arise at
daybreak, weary and unrefreshed. The clock was finally stopped, after a
heated discussion with my wife and sister-in-law, who regarded it with
something akin to reverence. It was indeed a venerable affair. I hated
the thing even when it was quiet, for it reminded me of a coffin set on
end, and I would pass it in the dark hurriedly, and with averted face.
"I do not think that either my wife or sister-in-law ever heard the
creaking of the stairs. If they did they never said anything about it to
me. For my part, I was silent, because I did not want to be laughed at
by my womenkind, and I knew also that if the matter reached the ear of
our only servant she would immediately take her departure.
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