I beg of you, then, to permit me to
continue with you three months longer without salary.' This request
confirmed the attachment of the master to his pupil. But scarcely was
the apprenticeship of the latter over, when he lost his mother and his
stepfather, and found himself alone in the world with an elder
sister--being thus left to provide, by his own industry, for the
maintenance of two persons. Nevertheless, he ardently desired to
complete his necessary studies, for he felt that the knowledge of
mathematics was absolutely indispensable to his attaining perfection
in his art. This determined purpose conquered every obstacle. Not only
did he labour perseveringly for his sister and himself, but also found
means to attend regularly a course of public lectures which the Abbe
Marie was then giving at the College Mazarin. The professor, having
remarked the unwearied assiduity of the young clockmaker, made a
friend of him, and delighted in considering him as his beloved pupil.
This friendship, founded on the truest esteem and the most
affectionate gratitude, contributed wondrously to the progress of the
student.
The great metamorphosis which was effected so suddenly in the young
clockmaker was very remarkable.
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