But we found, after several hours, that we did not have
sufficient heat--or rather that the vessel was too thick to
transmit it. And again we set to work with our improvised chisels
and hammers, to shave off its sides and bottom. That was more
difficult and required many hours for completion.
Finally, with the profane portion of our vocabularies completely
exhausted and rendered meaningless by repetition, and with
bruised and bleeding hands, we again arranged our furnace and sat
down to wait. We had waited until the dishes from our dinner had
been removed, and we were fairly certain to be alone for several
hours.
Finally the gold was melted, stubbornly but surely. We took the
thick hide cover from the couch and, one on each side, lifted the
vessel of liquid metal and filled our mold. In an hour it was
hardened into a bar the shape of a half-cylinder. We removed it
and poured in the remainder of the gold.
It would appear that the gain was hardly worth the pains, and I
admit it. But at the least I had kept Harry occupied with
something besides his amatory troubles, and at the best we had
two heavy, easily handled bars of metal that would prove most
effective weapons against foes who had none whatever.
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