"Perhaps, Gerande"
"Tell us, then," cried Scholastique eagerly, economically extinguishing her taper.
"For several days, Gerande," said the young apprentice, "something absolutely incomprehensible has been going on. All the watches which your father has made and sold for some years have suddenly stopped. Very many of them have been brought back to him. He has carefully taken them to pieces; the springs were in good condition, and the wheels well set. He has put them together yet more carefully; but, despite his skill, they will not go."
"The devil's in it!" cried Scholastique.
"Why say you so?" asked Gerande. "It seems very natural to me. Nothing lasts for ever in this world. The infinite cannot be fashioned by the hands of men."
"It is none the less true," returned Aubert, "that ther
