ted to the belfry, wrapped in a dark
sack or cloak--a procedure sometimes had in the case of an elaborate
piece of sculpture, or statue, which, being intended to grace the front
of a new edifice, the architect does not desire exposed to critical
eyes, till set up, finished, in its appointed place. Such was the
impression now. But, as the object rose, a statuary present observed, or
thought he did, that it was not entirely rigid, but was, in a manner,
pliant. At last, when the hidden thing had attained its final height,
and, obscurely seen from below, seemed almost of itself to step into the
belfry, as if with little assistance from the crane, a shrewd old
blacksmith present ventured the suspicion that it was but a living man.
This surmise was thought a foolish one, while the general interest
failed not to augment.

Not without demur from Bannadonna, the chief-magistrate of the town,
with an associate--both elderly men--followed what seemed the image up
the tower. But, arrived at the belfry, they had little recompense.
Plausibly entrenching himself behind the conceded mysteries of his art,
the mechanician withheld present explanation. The magistrates glanced
toward the cloaked object, which, to their surprise, seemed now to have
changed its attitude, or else had before been more perplexingly
concealed by the violent muffling action of the wind without. It seemed
now seated upon some sort of frame, or chair, contained within the
domino. They observed that nigh the top, in a sort of square, the web of
the cloth, either from accident or design, had its warp partly
withdrawn, and the cross threads plucked out here and there, so as to
form a sort of woven grating. Whether it were the low wind or no,
stealing through the stone lattice-work, or only their own perturbed
imaginations, is uncertain, but they thought they discerned a slight
sort of fitful, spring-like motion, in the domino. Nothing, however
incidental or insignificant, escaped their uneasy eyes. Among other
things, they pried out, in a corner, an earthen cup, partly corroded and
partly encrusted, and one whispered to the other, that this cup was just
such a one as might, in mockery, be offered to the lips of some brazen
statue, or, perhaps, still worse.

But, being questioned, the mechanician said, that the cup was simply
used in his founder's business, and described the purpose; in short, a
cup to test the condition of metals in fusion. He added, that it had got