Page:Cornelia Meigs--The island of Appledore.djvu/30

14 wrong with him lately that he is keeping from me. I wish I could manage to guess what it is.”

“Did you say he mends clocks for a living?” Billy asked. He decided that he would not betray Johann’s secret, little as he knew of it,  and much as he desired to learn more.

“No, clock-mending is his recreation, not his business. He is a mechanic, and a good faithful worker, but when he wants to be really  happy he just gets hold of a bunch of old  rusty wheels and weights, that hasn’t run for  twenty years, and works at them by the hour. To see him tinkering would show you where his real genius is. He gave me a clock that belonged to his father, a queer old thing with  gold roses on the face and with wooden wheels,  but it runs like a millionaire’s watch. He comes around once in so often to see if it is  doing its duty, and has six fits if it has lost a  second in a couple of weeks. He’s a queer fellow.”

“Then he isn’t a fisherman,” commented Billy. “I thought that every one who lived on the Island was that.”

“Almost every one is, except that boy and me,” answered the Captain. “No, Johann