MD3PAD 121-123

[Toby G Levy]

        Dixon is required to escort Maskelyne's clock (the Shelton
clock) back to Capetown, because Mason and Dixon have brought the clock
they used for the viewing of the Transit (the Ellicott clock) for
Maskelyne to use.

        Wicks' wild imagination conjures up an image of the two clocks
sitting on a shelf briefly before the Shelton clock would be boxed up
for return to Capetown.  He imagines certain atmospheric effects enable
the two clocks to converse with each other. The Shelton asks the
Ellicott what he can expect it to be like in Capetown. The Ellicott,
only familiar with the rainy season expounds on the damage that dampness
can do to delicate machinery.

        The Shelton asks about Dutch clocks and the Ellicott replies
that they strike a tone every quarter hour, without warning, unlike
British clocks that can be heard to whirr a few seconds before they
strike a tone. The Shelton wanted to know how Mason and Dixon felt about
the unexpected toning and the Ellicott explained how Dixon never got
used to it and complained often about it. The Ellicott also complains
that the cannon that announces the hour of curfew never sounds at the
exact right time.

        They are interrupted before the  Shelton could give a full
picture of what to expect on St. Helena, but he did get to say that he
thought Maskelyne was insane, "but not as insane as some..."

        After a carpenter crates up the Shelton, Dixon is left alone
with the clock. Dixon begins to talk to the clock as if it was a
person.

Toby