noon
From the corner , where hung the portrait of the late Pantler , the last of the Horeszko family , from a little door concealed between the pillars , had quietly come forth a form like a phantom . It was Gerwazy ; they recognised him by his stature , by his face , and by the little silvery Half-Goats on his yellow coat . He walked straight as a post , silent and grim , without taking off his hat , without even inclining his head ; in his hand he held a glittering key , like a dagger ; he opened a case and began to turn something in it . In two corners of the hall , against pillars , stood two musical clocks in locked cases ; the queer old fellows , long at odds with the sun , often indicated noon at sunset . Gerwazy had not undertaken to repair the machines , but he would not give up winding them ; he turned the key in the clocks every evening , and the time for winding had just come . While the Chamberlain was occupying the attention of the parties interested in the case , he drew up the weight ; the rusty wheels gnashed their broken teeth ; the Chamberlain shuddered and interrupted his dissertation . `` Brother , '' he said , `` postpone a bit your faithful toil ; '' and he went on with his plan of an exchange ; but the Warden , to spite him , pulled still more strongly the other weight , and suddenly the bullfinch perched on the top of the clock began to flap its wings and pour forth one of its melodies .