"Then you shall have some supper," he said dreamily, and with his eyes fixed upon his model, forgetting me the next moment, as with his dexterous fingers he tried the action of one or other of the wheels. "It's a pity to leave it now," I cried. "Yes, yes," he said with a sigh; "it is a pity: but it must be left. I dare--" He ceased talking, becoming completely abstracted in his task of screwing on a nut, and without speaking I helped and watched and helped until quite an hour and a half more had glided by, when with a look of triumph he stood erect, for the task was done. "She's finished, Antony," he cried, and in the elate eager face before me I seemed to see some one quite different to the stern, quiet compositor I met daily at the great printing-office by Fetter Lane. I was as delighted as he, and together we stood gazing down at the bright, beautiful bit of mechanism--the fruit of years of toil and endless thought; but as I gazed at it a strange dull feeling of anxiety came over me, and I glanced timorously at Hallett, for the thought flashed across my mind: "What will he say now if it fails?" I literally trembled with dread as this thought forced its way home, and with a choking sensation at my throat I watched his eager, elated face each moment becoming more joyous and full of pride; and the more I witnessed his pleasure, the more I feared lest his hopes should be dashed. "Why, it's daybreak, Antony," he said, drawing up the blind. "My poor boy, what a thoughtless wretch I am. It is cruel to you. Come and lie down directly." "No," I said eagerly, "I want to see the model going." "And so do I, Antony," he cried passionately; "but now the time has come, my boy, I dare not try. I feel a horrible dread of failure, and I must cover it over with a cloth, and leave it till I feel more calm." He took up the large black cloth with which he had been in the habit of covering it from the dust, and stood gazing down at the bright brass model which had begun to glisten in the soft pure morning light now stealing in from amidst the London chimney-pots, while a couple of sparrows seated upon the parapet set up a cheery chirp. I felt that I dared not speak, but as if I should have liked to lead him away from the infatuation of his life. Somehow I knew that it would break down, and the anguish he must feel would be something I could not bear to see; and yet, combined with this, I shared his longing to see the model at work--the beautiful little piece of mechanism that was to produce a revolution in printing--turning easily, smoothly, and well. As I gazed at his eager, anxious face, the pale light in the sky changed to a soft warm flush; bright flecks of orange and gold sent their reflections into the dingy garret, and seemed to illumine Hallett's countenance, as with straining eyes and parted lips he stood there cloth in hand.