Paris: The Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

said the foreman, not to be left out.
    “Are you boastful, Monsieur Gascon?” asked the engineer.
    “I have nothing to boast about,” answered Thomas simply.
    “Ah,” said the engineer. “Then perhaps I can help you. Why do you think we are constructing the statue in this particular way?”
    “I suppose,” said Thomas, “so that it can be disassembled and taken across the Atlantic.” He knew that after the statue was completed here in the rue de Chazelles, its copper skin attached with temporary rivets, the whole thing could be taken down and reassembled again in New York.
    “That is true,” said the engineer. “But there is another reason. The statue is going to stand beside the open waters of New York Harbor, exposed to the winds, which will catch it like a sail. If it is completely static, it will be under enormous stress. Temperature changes will also cause the metal to expand and contract. The copper skin could crack. So firstly, I have constructed the inside like a metal bridge, so that it can move, just enough to relieve the stress. And secondly, I have arranged that the plates of beaten copper that form the skin shall be riveted, each one separately, onto these metal strips—these ‘saddles’ as you ironworkers call them. The copper plates are attached to the framework, but not to each other. So each plate can slide, just a fraction, against its neighbor. In this way the skin will never crack. You will not see it with the eye, but all the time, the Statue of Liberty will move. This is good engineering. Do you understand?”
    Thomas nodded.
    “Good,” the engineer went on. “And now I can tell you why you may boast. Because of its engineering, and your careful work in putting it together, this statue of ours will last for centuries. Countless millions of people will see it. Quite certainly, my young friend, this will be the most famous construction that you, or I, will ever build. That is something we may boast about, don’t you think?”
    “Yes, Monsieur Eiffel,” said Thomas.
    Eiffel smiled at him. Bartholdi smiled at him. Even the foreman smiled, and Thomas Gascon felt very happy.
    Just then he saw his sister Nicole standing by the doorway.
    She was trying to catch his attention, yet was afraid to come in. She was going through that phase when her legs looked thin as stalks, and with her pale face and her large eyes, she seemed very vulnerable. If theirmother had sent her all the way here, it could only mean that Luc was lost. Or worse.
    But what a moment to arrive. If she would just wait until the foreman and the visitors were gone. He saw her eyes pleading as he tried to ignore her.
    But the foreman missed nothing. Seeing Thomas’s momentary distraction, he immediately turned and stared at Nicole.
    “Who’s that?”
    “My sister, sir.” It was no use lying.
    “Why is she interrupting you?”
    “My little brother vanished this morning, sir. I think he must be … I don’t know.”
    The foreman was not pleased. Staring at Nicole, he motioned her to approach him.
    “Well,” he said abruptly. “What is it?”
    “My mother sent me to find Thomas, monsieur. My brother Luc is nowhere to be found. They are fetching the police.”
    “Then they have no need of Thomas.” He motioned her to go away.
    The little girl’s mouth fell open. Involuntarily, Thomas started to move toward her, then checked himself.
    He couldn’t lose his job. The foreman might be harsh, but he was quite logical. Perhaps if the matter had been brought to him privately … But not with Monsieur Bartholdi and Monsieur Eiffel watching. He had to keep discipline.
    If only Nicole would go now. Quickly. But she didn’t. Her face started to pucker. Was she going to cry? She turned to him.
    “What shall I tell Mother?”
    And he was just about to say, “You must go now, Nicole,” when the voice of Monsieur Eiffel interrupted.
    “I think that, upon this occasion—and this occasion only—our young friend should go