example, experiment has proved
that the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds at London will not serve
as accurately in other latitudes, because according to the laws of
gravity the length of seconds increases in a specific ratio as we
advance from the equator toward the poles. The clockmaker must,
therefore, take care to regulate the length of his pendulum to
correspond with this law."

"Great Scott! Why, I never dreamed there was so much to clockmaking!"
gasped the astonished Christopher.

"Oh, the making of a finely adjusted, close-running clock is far more of
a science than a trade, laddie. It isn't just making a lot of wheels
that will turn, hands that will point, or a mechanism that will
tick--wonderful as all that is," asserted McPhearson.

"I don't believe most persons realize it isn't."

"Those who dip below the surface and are better informed know the truth;
as for the others--we must not expect too much of a hurrying world, son.
Any branch of knowledge takes us very far if we follow it to the end.
Why, look at me! I have spent all my life with clocks and what do I know
about them?"

"A great deal," was the prompt retort.

"Very little, my boy; very little indeed!" sighed the old man. "I
couldn't make one. Nevertheless I have had great pleasure in hunting
down what I have learned. It is an interesting subject and one that
never seems to exhaust itself. For all the wonders of my trade are not
yet told. When, for instance, they put the clock on the Metropolitan
Life Insurance building here in New York an undreamed-of pinnacle in
clock construction was reached. There was a time when the clock on the
London Houses of Parliament was the last word in the art--a veritable
triumph of the horologe. Not only was it the largest timepiece in the
world, but it seemed then the most miraculous."

"What date was that?"

"Back in 1860. Even I remember what a sensation this masterpiece
created. It was designed by E. B. Dennison, afterward Lord Grimthorpe,
and was placed one hundred and eighty feet above the ground--some
halfway up the tower of one of the buildings. Now that fact in itself
made the undertaking difficult, for the weather always has its effect on
a clock, and to put one in such an exposed position created a problem at
the outset. Moreover, perched up there in the sight of all London to
serve as the chief timekeeper of the city, it could not be allowed to
indulge in whims and caprices lest the populace