As Osgood described his work the stranger at first roused himself and showed an interest, which pleased Osgood, who like any artisan loved to talk about his craft. But before long, while Osgood explained the complex, interlocking works of the timepieces in his shop, the odd man became restless.
He began to ask questions. Why use brass, he wondered, when other alloys were both stronger and immune to corrosion? Why rely so on purely mechanical parts, and why power the devices with the tension of wound springs? He insisted on calling these primitive methods.
Osgood could see that the man's madness was beginning to show itself again. His replies grew abrupt and evasive. He tried to change the subject, but it was no use: the stranger was grimly fixed on Osgood's mechanical devices.
The stranger began to mumble to himself and to steal glances at the hidden globe. Osgood found the man glaring at him as they drove up to Rotwang Bridge.
"You and your clockworks!" the man exclaimed. "You will never even comprehend what I've given you. Wasted! The knowledge of millennia, all the histories of a dead species ... gone! Gone forever!"
Osgood was about to tell the madman that he had no intention of keeping the globe when the stranger leaped on him and tried to throw him from the car
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