noon
His nose might readily have been taken for the style of a sun-dial , for it was narrow and sharp ; his teeth , far apart , resembled the cogs of a wheel , and ground themselves between his lips ; his voice had the metallic sound of a bell , and you could hear his heart beat like the tick of a clock . This little man , whose arms moved like the hands on a dial , walked with jerks , without ever turning round . If any one followed him , it was found that he walked a league an hour , and that his course was nearly circular . This strange being had not long been seen wandering , or rather circulating , around the town ; but it had already been observed that , every day , at the moment when the sun passed the meridian , he stopped before the Cathedral of Saint Pierre , and resumed his course after the twelve strokes of noon had sounded . Excepting at this precise moment , he seemed to become a part of all the conversations in which the old watchmaker was talked of ; and people asked each other , in terror , what relation could exist between him and Master Zacharius . It was remarked , too , that he never lost sight of the old man and his daughter while they were taking their promenades . One day Gerande perceived this monster looking at her with a hideous smile .