15. "Not in the least," replied the pendulum; "it is not of six strokes
that I complain, nor of sixty, but of _millions_."

16. "Very good," replied the dial; "but recollect, that though you may
_think_ of a million strokes in an instant, you are required to
_execute_ but one; and that, however often you may hereafter have to
swing, a moment will always be given you to swing in."

17. "That consideration staggers me, I confess," said the
pendulum.--"Then I hope," resumed the dial-plate, "we shall all
immediately return to our duty; for the maids will lie in bed, if we
stand idling thus."

18. Upon this, the weights, who had never been accused of _light_
conduct, used all their influence in urging him to proceed; when, as
with one consent, the wheels began to turn, the hands began to move, the
pendulum began to swing, and, to its credit, ticked as loud as ever;
while a red beam of the rising sun, that streamed through a hole in the
kitchen window, shining full upon the dial-plate, it brightened up, as
if nothing had been the matter.

19. When the farmer came down to breakfast that morning, upon looking at
the clock, he declared that his watch had gained half an hour in the
night.




LESSON V.