excepting one:--

"Sold to M. Pittonaccio, an iron clock, with bell and moving
figures; sent to his chateau at Andernatt."

It was this "moral" clock of which Scholastique had spoken with
so much enthusiasm.

"My father is there!" cried Gerande.

"Let us hasten thither," replied Aubert. "We may still save him!"

"Not for this life," murmured Gerande, "but at least for the
other."

"By the mercy of God, Gerande! The chateau of Andernatt stands in
the gorge of the 'Dents-du-Midi' twenty hours from Geneva. Let us
go!"

That very evening Aubert and Gerande, followed by the old
servant, set out on foot by the road which skirts Lake Leman.
They accomplished five leagues during the night, stopping neither
at Bessinge nor at Ermance, where rises the famous chateau of the
Mayors. They with difficulty forded the torrent of the Dranse,
and everywhere they went they inquired for Master Zacharius, and
were soon convinced that they were on his track.

The next morning, at daybreak, having passed Thonon, they reached
Evian, whence the Swiss territory may be seen extended over
twelve leagues. But the two betrothed did not even perceive the
enchanting prospect. They went straight forward, urged on by a
supernatural force. Aubert, leaning on a knotty stick, offered
his arm alternately to Gerande and to Scholastique, and he made
the greatest efforts to sustain his companions. All three talked
of their sorrow, of their hopes, and thus passed along the
beautiful road by the water-side, and across the narrow plateau
which unites the borders of the lake with the heights of the
Chalais. They soon reached Bouveret, where the Rhone enters the
Lake of Geneva.

On leaving this town they diverged from the lake, and their
weariness increased amid these mountain districts. Vionnaz,
Chesset, Collombay, half lost villages, were soon left behind.
Meanwhile their knees shook, their feet were lacerated by the
sharp points which covered the ground like a brushwood of
granite;--but no trace of Master Zacharius!

He must be found, however, and the two young people did not seek
repose either in the isolated hamlets or at the chateau of
Monthay, which, with its dependencies, formed the appanage of
Margaret of Savoy. At last, late in the day, and half dead with
fatigue, they reached the hermitage of Notre-Dame-du-Sex, which
is situated at the base of the Dents-du-Midi, six hundred feet
above the Rhone.

The hermit received the three wanderers