is a great deal of his time at Erlangen's, and is an enthusiast
about fine bells. Ah! we are great friends, and I am going to him
after supper."

"People say he is crazy," said his mother.

"Crazy!" indignantly. "People say that of everybody who has ideas
they can't understand. They say _I_ am crazy when I talk of my chime
of bells. If I stay with Erlangen, he gets the credit of my work;
but my chime must be mine,--mine alone, mother." His eyes lighted
with a kind of wild enthusiasm whenever he talked on this subject.

His mother's cheerful face grew sad, as she laid her hand on his
shoulder.

"Why, Otto, thou art not thyself when thou speakest of those bells."

"More my real self, mother, than at any other time!" he cried. "I
only truly live when I think of how my idea is to be carried out. It
is to be my life's work; I know it, I feel it. It is upon me that my
fate is woven inextricably in that ideal chime. It is God-sent. No
great work, but the maker is possessed wholly by it. Don't shake
your head, mother. Wait till my 'Harmony Chime' sounds from the
great cathedral belfry, and then shake it if you can."

His mother smiled faintly.

"Thou art a boy,--a mere child, Otto, though a wonderful genius, I
must confess. Thy hopes delude thee, for it would take a lifetime to
carry out thine idea."

"Then let it take a lifetime!" he cried out vehemently. "Let me
accomplish it when I am too old to hear it distinctly, and I will be
content that its first sounds toll my dirge. I must go now to
Monsieur Dayrolles. Wish me good luck, dearest mother." And he
stooped and kissed her tenderly.

Otto did not fail. The strange old man in his visits to the foundry
had noticed the germs of genius in the boy, and grown very fond of
him. He was so frank, so honest, so devoted to his work, and had
accomplished so much at his early age, that Monsieur Dayrolles saw a
brilliant future before him. Besides, the old gentleman, with a
Frenchman's vanity, felt that if the "Harmony Chime" _could_ be
made, the name of the munificent patron would go down to posterity
with that of the maker. He believed firmly that the boy would some
day accomplish his purpose. So, although the revolt of the
Netherlands had begun and he was preparing to return to his own
country, he advanced the necessary funds, and saw Otto established
in business before he quitted Ghent.

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