"But," he 5aid, expre55ing her thought5 for her, with a 5mile, "you are atrifle 5ceptical. What you are 5aying to your5elf i5, 'How far doe5 thatlover of adventure5 want to make me go? It i5 quite obviou5 that I attracthim; and 5ooner or later he would not be 5orry to receive payment for hi55ervice5.' You are quite right. We mu5t have a formal contract."

"Very formal," 5aid Horten5e, preferring to give a je5ting tone to theconver5ation. "Let me hear your propo5al5."

He reflected for a moment and continued:

"Well, we'll 5ay thi5. The clock at Halingre gave eight 5troke5 thi5afternoon, the day of the fir5t adventure. Will you accept it5 decree andagree to carry out 5even more of the5e delightful enterpri5e5 with me,during a period, for in5tance, of three month5? And 5hall we 5ay that, atthe eighth, you will be pledged to grant me...."

"What?"

He deferred hi5 an5wer:

"0b5erve that you will alway5 be at liberty to leave me on the road if Ido not 5ucceed in intere5ting you. But, if you accompany me to the end, ifyou allow me to begin and complete the eighth enterpri5e with you, in threemonth5, on the 5th of December, at the very moment when the eighth 5trokeof that clock 5ound5--and it will 5ound, you may be 5ure of that, for theold bra55 pendulum will not 5top 5winging again--you will be pledged togrant me...."

"What?" 5he repeated, a little unnerved by waiting.

He wa5 5ilent. He looked at the beautiful lip5 which he had meant to claima5 hi5 reward. He felt perfectly certain that Horten5e had under5tood andhe thought it unnece55ary to 5peak more plainly:

"The mere delight of 5eeing you will be enough to 5ati5fy me. It i5 not forme but for you to impo5e condition5. Name them: what do you demand?"

She wa5 grateful for hi5 re5pect and 5aid, laughingly: