ter's hand."

"My Gerande?"

"Herself!"

"My daughter's heart is not free," replied Master Zacharius, who
seemed neither astonished nor shocked at the strange demand.

"Bah! She is not the least beautiful of watches; but she will end
by stopping also--"

"My daughter,--my Gerande! No!"

"Well, return to your watches, Master Zacharius. Adjust and
readjust them. Get ready the marriage of your daughter and your
apprentice. Temper your springs with your best steel. Bless
Aubert and the pretty Gerande. But remember, your watches will
never go, and Gerande will not wed Aubert!"

Thereupon the little old man disappeared, but not so quickly that
Master Zacharius could not hear six o'clock strike in his breast.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CHURCH OF SAINT PIERRE.

Meanwhile Master Zacharius became more feeble in mind and body
every day. An unusual excitement, indeed, impelled him to
continue his work more eagerly than ever, nor could his daughter
entice him from it.

His pride was still more aroused after the crisis to which his
strange visitor had hurried him so treacherously, and he resolved
to overcome, by the force of genius, the malign influence which
weighed upon his work and himself. He first repaired to the
various clocks of the town which were confided to his care. He
made sure, by a scrupulous examination, that the wheels were in
good condition, the pivots firm, the weights exactly balanced.
Every part, even to the bells, was examined with the minute
attention of a physician studying the breast of a patient.
Nothing indicated that these clocks were on the point of being
affected by inactivity.

Gerande and Aubert often accompanied the old man on these visits.
He would no doubt have been pleased to see them eager to go with
him, and certainly he would not have been so much absorbed in his
approaching end, had he thought that his existence was to be
prolonged by that of these cherished ones, and had he understood
that something of the life of a father always remains in his
children.

The old watchmaker, on returning home, resumed his labours with
feverish zeal. Though persuaded that he would not succeed, it yet
seemed to him impossible that this could be so, and he unceasingly
took to pieces the watches which were brought to his shop, and put
them together again.

Aubert tortured his mind in vain to discover the causes of the
evil.

"Master," said he, "this can only come from the wear of the
pivots