{"id":"01KG6YHB0KHM05Q6D6B7WWQCSP","cid":"bafkreidh2zljvhacm26rwzkza64feipzbfnso5o73mr3ali7xwdg5cp3h4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":8369,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:55.413Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 6","source_file":"01KG6YDDF6PTWG4P7JTS5THSTD","start_line":8284,"text":"you; one would have almost sworn that she picked you out from among us\r\nthree.”\r\n\r\n“If she did, possibly, it might have been her finer apprehension,\r\nExcellenza.”\r\n\r\n“How, Bannadonna? I do not understand you.”\r\n\r\n“No consequence, no consequence, Excellenza—but the shifted wind is\r\nblowing through the slit. Suffer me to escort you on; and then, pardon,\r\nbut the toiler must to his tools.”\r\n\r\n“It may be foolish, Signor,” said the milder magistrate, as, from the\r\nthird landing, the two now went down unescorted, “but, somehow, our\r\ngreat mechanician moves me strangely. Why, just now, when he so\r\nsuperciliously replied, his walk seemed Sisera’s, God’s vain foe, in\r\nDel Fonca’s painting. And that young, sculptured Deborah, too. Ay, and\r\nthat—.”\r\n\r\n“Tush, tush, Signor!” returned the chief. “A passing whim.\r\nDeborah?—Where’s Jael, pray?”\r\n\r\n“Ah,” said the other, as they now stepped upon the sod, “Ah, Signor, I\r\nsee you leave your fears behind you with the chill and gloom; but mine,\r\neven in this sunny air, remain. Hark!”\r\n\r\nIt was a sound from just within the tower door, whence they had\r\nemerged. Turning, they saw it closed.\r\n\r\n“He has slipped down and barred us out,” smiled the chief; “but it is\r\nhis custom.”\r\n\r\nProclamation was now made, that the next day, at one hour after\r\nmeridian, the clock would strike, and—thanks to the mechanician’s\r\npowerful art—with unusual accompaniments. But what those should be,\r\nnone as yet could say. The announcement was received with cheers.\r\n\r\nBy the looser sort, who encamped about the tower all night, lights were\r\nseen gleaming through the topmost blind-work, only disappearing with\r\nthe morning sun. Strange sounds, too, were heard, or were thought to\r\nbe, by those whom anxious watching might not have left mentally\r\nundisturbed—sounds, not only of some ringing implement, but also—so\r\nthey said—half-suppressed screams and plainings, such as might have\r\nissued from some ghostly engine, overplied.\r\n\r\nSlowly the day drew on; part of the concourse chasing the weary time\r\nwith songs and games, till, at last, the great blurred sun rolled, like\r\na football, against the plain.\r\n\r\nAt noon, the nobility and principal citizens came from the town in\r\ncavalcade, a guard of soldiers, also, with music, the more to honor the\r\noccasion.\r\n\r\nOnly one hour more. Impatience grew. Watches were held in hands of\r\nfeverish men, who stood, now scrutinizing their small dial-plates, and\r\nthen, with neck thrown back, gazing toward the belfry, as if the eye\r\nmight foretell that which could only be made sensible to the ear; for,\r\nas yet, there was no dial to the tower-clock.\r\n\r\nThe hour hands of a thousand watches now verged within a hair’s breadth\r\nof the figure 1. A silence, as of the expectation of some Shiloh,\r\npervaded the swarming plain. Suddenly a dull, mangled sound—naught\r\nringing in it; scarcely audible, indeed, to the outer circles of the\r\npeople—that dull sound dropped heavily from the belfry. At the same\r\nmoment, each man stared at his neighbor blankly. All watches were\r\nupheld. All hour-hands were at—had passed—the figure 1. No bell-stroke\r\nfrom the tower. The multitude became tumultuous.\r\n\r\nWaiting a few moments, the chief magistrate, commanding silence, hailed\r\nthe belfry, to know what thing unforeseen had happened there.\r\n\r\nNo response.\r\n\r\nHe hailed again and yet again.\r\n\r\nAll continued hushed.\r\n\r\nBy his order, the soldiers burst in the tower-door; when, stationing\r\nguards to defend it from the now surging mob, the chief, accompanied by\r\nhis former associate, climbed the winding stairs. Half-way up, they\r\nstopped to listen. No sound. Mounting faster, they reached the belfry;\r\nbut, at the threshold, started at the spectacle disclosed. A spaniel,\r\nwhich, unbeknown to them, had followed them thus far, stood shivering\r\nas before some unknown monster in a brake: or, rather, as if it snuffed\r\nfootsteps leading to some other world.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 6"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6YGCCBQ15QDEM5CEG7CHSQ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6YDDF6PTWG4P7JTS5THSTD","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6YHB0Q1AG4VGKDH1KXF0G1","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6YHB0QNDK923932QYKZZ6V","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:58.163Z","ts":"2026-01-30T07:58:07.964Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}