of which, high above the ground, were protected by iron gratings.
The stone stairs leading down into the vaults could be closed at
will by a heavy trap-door in the back hall, which we found open.
The Baron himself led the way down the stairs. We remarked that it might
be awkward if that trap-door fell down and closed the opening behind us.
The Baron smiled at the idea. "Don't be alarmed, gentlemen," he said;
"the door is safe. I had an interest in seeing to it myself,
when we first inhabited the palace. My favourite study is the study
of experimental chemistry--and my workshop, since we have been in Venice,
is down here."

'These last words explained a curious smell in the vaults,
which we noticed the moment we entered them. We can only describe
the smell by saying that it was of a twofold sort--faintly aromatic,
as it were, in its first effect, but with some after-odour very
sickening in our nostrils. The Baron's furnaces and retorts,
and other things, were all there to speak for themselves,
together with some packages of chemicals, having the name and address
of the person who had supplied them plainly visible on their labels.
"Not a pleasant place for study," Baron Rivar observed, "but my sister
is timid. She has a horror of chemical smells and explosions--
and she has banished me to these lower regions, so that my experiments
may neither be smelt nor heard." He held out his hands, on which we
had noticed that he wore gloves in the house. "Accidents will
happen sometimes," he said, "no matter how careful a man may be.
I burnt my hands severely in trying a new combination the other day,
and they are only recovering now."

'We mention these otherwise unimportant incidents, in order to show
that our exploration of the palace was not impeded by any attempt