noon
At present it was at rest , held up to the right wall of the case by a loop of fine silk passed through a minute hole in the glass , brought round to the front , and secured to a tiny nail at the edge of the niche ; a snip -- the thread withdrawn -- and the clock would start on the work it had been designed to perform . The only really odd things about the whole affair were that the lowest third of the case was filled with a liquid , thickish and emerald green and possessing a curious iridescence , and that just beneath the niche was fixed a strip of ebony tilted upwards and bearing in distinct opal lettering the word : DANGEROUS `` Well , monsieur , '' said Christopher Craig , opening cheque-book , `` I suppose I can trust your clock to perform all that we bargained for . You will give me your word for that ? '' `` Mr. Craik , I give you my word of honour that the clock will go for one year and one day ; that he will stop on the day appointed , within two hours , on the one side or the other , of the hour he was to start at ; that he will make alarum forty-eight precise hours before he stop ; that he will strike only at noon and at midnight ; and that , when the end arrive , he will -- '' `` Thank you , monsieur . '' `` But more ! I give you more than my word ; the credit of the work is so much to me . I beg to take only one-half of the money now -- the other half when you have seen with your own eyes -- '' `` Enough .