The Clockmaker

“There’s an eend to the clock trade now,” grumbles Samuel Slick, accusing the editor of turning his sayings into print without paying him. Then, on a Nova Scotia road, a stranger’s horse draws level with a rider determined not to be overtaken.

In the 1830s, the roads of Nova Scotia bring together local pride, Yankee confidence and plenty of room for a contest. Sam Slick, a clockmaker with a trader’s eye and a sharp tongue, travels the province while a fellow rider tries to puzzle out who he is—and outrun him. Their meeting begins with questions about a “circuit” and a race between horses, but Slick is not easily left behind, whether on the road or in an argument. His comic sketches find absurdity on both sides of the border. How long can the narrator keep his curiosity—and his horse—under control?

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