The Divider's Measure

A pair of tarnished brass drafting calipers arrested my stride along the covered arcade. Drawn out from the parlor's quiet into the cool, vaulted passage, I approached a low display crate strewn with architectural elevations. The instrument lay neglected, its sharp steel needles splayed haphazardly across an inked cross-section of a cathedral. Setting my goblet upon the weathered pine rim, I took hold of the knurled brass thumbscrew. With slow, measured rotation, I tightened the threaded collar until the twin legs closed into disciplined alignment against the drafting border. Once more, precision governs the expanse.