you to conduct my work in person. Let no one contradict me, for in cases like this we need the aid of hand and hearing, not of advice." When I had uttered these words, a certain Maestro Alessandro Lastricati broke 5 silence and said, “Look you, Benvenuto, you are going to attempt an enterprise which the laws of art do not sanction and which cannot succeed." I turned upon him with such fury and so full of mischief that he and all the rest of them exclaimed with one voice: "On then! 10 Give orders! We will obey your least commands, so long as life is left in us." I believe they spoke thus feelingly because they thought I must fall shortly dead upon the ground. I went immediately to inspect the furnace, and found that the metal was all curdled; an accident we ex15 press by "being caked." I told two of the hands to cross the road, and fetch a load of young oak wood, which had lain dry for above a year. So soon as the first armfuls arrived, I began to fill the grate beneath the furnace. Now, oak wood of that kind heats more powerfully than 20 any other sort of trees; and for this reason, where a slow fire is wanted, as in the case of a gun foundry, alder or pine is preferred. Accordingly, when the logs took fire, oh how the cake began to stir beneath that awful heat, to glow and sparkle in a blaze! At the same time I 25 kept stirring up the channels, and sent men upon the roof to stop the conflagration, which had gathered force from the increased combustion in the furnace; also I caused boards, carpets, and other hangings to be set up against the garden, in order to protect us from the 30 violence of the rain.

When I had thus provided against these several dis

asters, I roared out first to one man and then to another: "Bring this thing here! Take that thing there!" At this crisis, when the whole gang saw the cake was on the point of melting, they did my bidding, each fellow working with the strength of three. I then ordered half a 5 pig of pewter to be brought, which weighed about sixty pounds, and flung it into the middle of the cake inside. the furnace. By this means, and by piling on wood and stirring now with pokers and now with iron rods, the curdling mass rapidly began to liquefy. Then, knowing 10 I had brought the dead to life again, against the firm opinion of those ignoramuses, I felt such vigor fill my veins, that all those pains of fever, all those fears of death, were quite forgotten.

All of a sudden an explosion took place, attended by 15 a tremendous flash of flame, as though a thunderbolt had formed and been discharged amongst us. Unwonted and appalling terror astonied every one, and me more even than the rest. When the din was over and the dazzling light extinguished, we began to look each other in the 20 face. Then I discovered that the cap of the furnace had blown up, and the bronze was bubbling over from its source beneath. So I had the mouths of my mold immediately opened, and at the same time drove in the two plugs which kept back the molten metal. But I noticed 25 that it did not flow so rapidly as usual, the reason being probably that the fierce heat of the fire we kindled had consumed its base alloy. Accordingly, I sent for all my pewter platters, porringers, and dishes, to the number of some two hundred pieces, and had a portion of them cast, 30 one by one, into the channels, the rest into the furnace.

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This expedient succeeded, and every one could now perceive that my bronze was in most perfect liquefaction, and my mold was filling; whereupon, they all with heartiness and happy cheer assisted and obeyed my bid5 ding, while I, now here, now there, gave orders, helped with my own hands, and cried aloud: “O God! Thou that by Thy immeasurable power didst rise from the dead, and in Thy glory didst ascend to heaven!' even thus in a moment my mold was filled; and seeing my 10 work finished, I fell upon my knees, and with all my heart gave thanks to God.

After I had let my statue cool for two whole days, I began to uncover it by slow degrees. The first thing I found was that the head of Medusa had come out most 15 admirably, thanks to the air-vents; for, as I had told the duke, it is the nature of fire to ascend. Upon advancing farther, I discovered that the other head — that, namely, of Perseus had succeeded no less admirably ; and this astonished me far more, because it is at a consid20 erably lower level than that of the Medusa. Now the mouths of the mold were placed above the head of Perseus and behind his shoulders; and I found that all the bronze my furnace contained had been exhausted in the head of this figure. It was a miracle to observe that 25 not one fragment remained in the orifice of the channel, and that nothing was wanting to the statue. In my great astonishment I seemed to see in this the hand of God arranging and controlling all.

I went on uncovering the statue with success, and as30 certained that everything had come out in perfect order, until I reached the foot of the right leg on which the

statue rests. There the heel itself was formed, and going farther, I found the foot apparently complete. This gave me great joy on the one side, but was half unwelcome to me on the other, merely because I had told the duke that it could not come out. However, when I 5 reached the end, it appeared that the toes and a little piece above them were unfinished, so that about half the foot was wanting. Although I knew that this would add a trifle to my labor, I was very well pleased, because I could now prove to the duke how well I understood my 10 business. It is true that far more of the foot than I expected had been perfectly formed; the reason of this was that, from causes I have recently described, the bronze was hotter than our rules of art prescribed; also that I had been obliged to supplement the alloy with my pewter 15 cups and platters, which no one else, I think, had ever done before.

Having now ascertained how successfully my work had been accomplished, I lost no time in hurrying to Pisa, where I found the duke. He gave me a most gracious 20 reception, as did also the duchess; and although the major-domo had informed them of the whole proceedings, their excellencies deemed my performance far more stupendous and astonishing when they heard the tale from my own mouth. When I arrived at the foot of Perseus, 25 and said it had not come out perfect, just as I had previously warned his excellency, I saw an expression of wonder pass over his face, while he related to the duchess how I had predicted this beforehand. Observing the princes to be so well disposed toward me, I begged leave 30 from the duke to go to Rome. He granted it in most

obliging terms, and bade me return as soon as possible to complete his Perseus.

Ser ris to'ri. Per'seus: according to Greek mythology, a son of Jupiter and Danæ, who slew Medusa, a monster who turned into stone all who looked upon her. Pigs: oblong masses of cast iron, lead, or other metal. Unc'tu ous: fat; oily. Bĕrnär dï'no Män nel lï'ni of Mu gel'lo. Mǎl'içe pre pense': malice previously and deliberately entertained. Mǎes'tró Al ĕs sän'drò Läs trï cä'tï. Ăs ton'ied: astonished.

John Milton

L'Allegro

BY JOHN MILTON

:

John Milton (16081674) One of the greatest of English poets. His prose works, also, are models of dignified, vigorous English. Milton's literary life divides itself into three periods; during the first of which he wrote his lighter poems, including the masques of "Comus" and "Arcades," and "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso," two exquisite companion pictures of mirth and melancholy. During the second period, he was devoted to the defense of Puritanism and wrote

"Areopagitica," "Defense of the English People," "Tractate on Education," and other prose pamphlets. During his last