The Clockwork Man Read Online Free PDF

process a private matter, and prefer not to perform it in view of others.)
    We had gone no more than two blocks when the ticks slowed and grew fainter, and the last image I beheld was the cobblestone street rushing up to meet me.
    When I regained consciousness, the Master’s face filled my vision. He was kneeling over me, his hand in the flap on my side, vigorously turning the winding key. I could not interpret the look upon his face—something between anger and concern. I heard Frau Gruber’s disembodied voice in the background, rough and raspy: “I told you to destroy that thing. It’s been nothing but trouble.”
    “Not now, Mother,” the Master said. “Are you all right, Ernst?”
    “Yes,” I replied. “Thank you.”
    “That was quite a stunt. It’s going to cost me a few marks.”
    “I apologize. I only wished to help.”
    “I know. But you must be more careful.” He gently patted my arm and smiled, almost imperceptibly. “On your feet now.”
    Fräulein Gruenwald and the Master each took hold of an arm and hoisted me back into a standing position. Frau Gruber stood several feet from us, holding Jakob and Giselle back. “Don’t go near it, children,” she said. “It’s dangerous. I always said so.”
    “Go home, Ernst,” the Master said. “We’ll talk about this later, after I’ve had a look at you.”
    “Yes, sir,” I said.
    The Master instructed Fräulein Gruenwald to shepherd me back to the house, where I was to go to the workshop immediately and remain there until he arrived. As we turned to leave, however, Giselle pushed her grandmother’s arm aside and ran to me.
    “Don’t let him lecture you,” she said, smiling. “You did a good thing today. You’re a hero.” She raised herself on tiptoes and kissed my cheek.
    “Thank you,” I said.
    When we arrived at the Master’s home I complied with his orders immediately, taking my place on a long, narrow bench. He has not yet come down to examine me, so I assume his anger must be great indeed. But earlier this evening I did hear an extended episode of raised voices—first Frau Gruber’s, then the Master’s, then Giselle’s, then the Master’s again. Due to the thickness of these walls I cannot tell what they are saying, nor have I any intention of eavesdropping, but I am certain I am the cause of it.
    Regardless, the Master has instructed me to wait for him here, where I will face whatever judgment he has planned for me.
    25 October 1893
12:32 a.m.
    I am somewhat relieved to report that Herr Gruber’s anger with me was not significant. However, nine hours, twenty-seven minutes after sending me down to his workshop, he finally came for me. He ordered me up onto my bench and began probing me in several places with a thin screwdriver. By his estimation, that newsstand weighednearly a thousand pounds, and I had hoisted it high into the air and into a wall ten feet away. A single human being, even a very strong one, would have torn several muscles by simply lifting it, and while my construction differs greatly, he wished to inspect me for injury.
    “Anything loose or rattling?” he inquired, peeling back the suede skin over my wrists to examine the joints.
    “No,” I replied.
    “Good. Ernst, I want you to know I am not angry with you. But what you did was very unwise.”
    “I am sorry. Should I not have helped that man?”
    The Master paused, staring down at the floor before proceeding. “No, you did the right thing. No one else could have helped him in time. I only take issue with how you did it.”
    Again I apologized. “It was a miscalculation.”
    “That’s an understatement. But that’s not what I mean. Setting aside for a moment that someone could have been hurt, I don’t think people were quite ready for what they saw today.”
    “Yes. Some of them seemed frightened afterward. I wondered why.”
    The Master sighed, as if he were lecturing Jakob. “Ernst, you must understand that the people of this city have only