We were then hauling grain into the barn.
Father at this period devoted himself entirely to the Bible and did no
farm work whatever. The clock had a good loud tick, and when he heard
it strike, one of my sisters told me that he left his study, went to
the parlor, got down on his knees and carefully examined the
machinery, which was all in plain sight, not being enclosed in a case.
This he did repeatedly, and evidently seemed a little proud of my
ability to invent and whittle such a thing, though careful to give no
encouragement for anything more of the kind in future.
But somehow it seemed impossible to stop. Inventing and whittling
faster than ever, I made another hickory clock, shaped like a scythe
to symbolize the scythe of Father Time. The pendulum is a bunch of
arrows symbolizing the flight of time. It hangs on a leafless mossy
oak snag showing the effect of time, and on the snath is written, "All
flesh is grass." This, especially the inscription, rather pleased
father, and, of course, mother and all my sisters and brothers admired
it.
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