She finished her breakfast as quickly as she could, and left the room.
On her way upstairs she met Dorcas.
"Have you heard what has happened, little missie ?" said the old servant.
"Yes," replied Griselda.
"My ladies are in great trouble," continued Dorcas, who seemed inclined to be more communicative than usual, "and no wonder.

For fifty years that clock has never gone wrong." "Can't it be put right ?" asked the child.
Dorcas shook her head.
"No good would come of interfering," she said.

"What must be, must be.
The luck of the house hangs on that clock.

Its maker spent a good part of his life over it, and his last words were that it would bring good luck to the house that owned it, but that trouble would follow its silence.

It's my belief," she added solemnly, "that it's a _fairy_ clock, neither more nor less, for good luck it has brought there's no denying.