On reaching the Oudenarde gate, the counsellor and the burgomaster prudently made a short detour, so as not to pass within reach of the tower, in case it should fall; then they turned and looked at it attentively.
“I think that it will fall,” said Van Tricasse.
“I think so too,” replied Niklausse.
“Unless it is propped up,” added Van Tricasse. “But must it be propped up? That is the question.”
“That is—in fact—the question.”
Some moments after, they reached the door of the gasworks.
“Can we see Doctor Ox?” they asked.
Doctor Ox could always be seen by the first authorities of the town, and they were at once introduced into the celebrated physiologist’s study.
Perhaps the two notables waited for the doctor at least an hour; at least it is reasonable to suppose so, as the burgomaster—a thing that had never before happened in his life—betrayed a certain amount of impatience, from which his companion was not exempt.
Doctor Ox came in at last, and began to excuse himself for having kept them waiting; but he had to approve a plan for the gasometer, rectify some of the machinery—But everything was going on well! The pipes intended for the oxygen were already laid. In a few months the town would be splendidly lighted. The two notables might even now see the orifices of the pipes which were laid on in the laboratory.