begrimed with smoke and dust from the forge which Don Ippolito had set
up in it; the embers of a recent fire, the bellows, the pincers, the
hammers, and the other implements of the trade, gave it a sinister
effect, as if the place of prayer had been invaded by mocking imps, or
as if some hapless mortal in contract with the evil powers were here
searching, by the help of the adversary, for the forbidden secrets of
the metals and of fire. In those days, Ferris was an uncompromising
enemy of the theatricalization of Italy, or indeed of anything; but the
fancy of the black-robed young priest at work in this place appealed to
him all the more potently because of the sort of tragic innocence which
seemed to characterize Don Ippolito's expression. He longed intensely
to sketch the picture then and there, but he had strength to rebuke the
fancy as something that could not make itself intelligible without the
help of such accessories as he despised, and he victoriously followed
the priest into his larger workshop, where his inventions, complete and
incomplete, were stored, and where he had been seated when his visitor
arrived. The high windows and the frescoed ceiling were festooned with
dusty cobwebs; litter of shavings and whittlings strewed the floor;
mechanical implements and contrivances were everywhere, and Don
Ippolito's listlessness seemed to return upon him again at the sight of
the familiar disorder. Conspicuous among other objects lay the
illogically unsuccessful model of the new principle of steam
propulsion, untouched since the day when he had lifted it out of the
canal and carried it indoors through the ranks of grinning spectators.
From a shelf above it he took down models of a flying-machine and a
perpetual motion. "Fantastic researches in the impossible. I never
expected results from these experiments, with which I nevertheless once
pleased myself," he said, and turned impatiently to various pieces of
portable furniture, chairs, tables, bedsteads, which by folding up
their legs and tops condensed themselves into flat boxes, developing