“Shall I fetch some more?” I cried.
“No, my lad, perhaps what has been burned may have melted it, so we’ll wait and see.”
“And take out the pot?”
“No, we couldn’t do that. We must wait till it cools down. Maybe by and by I can take out a brick, and we shall be able to see whether the ore has melted.”
I waited impatiently for this to be done, and about an hour later the doctor took the top brick from the glowing furnace with the tongs, and touched the charcoal embers, which fell at once down to a level with the top of the pot, the interior having burned away, so as to leave quite a glowing basket or cage of fire.
Chapter Nine.
The Result of the Smelting.
But there was nothing to see yet, and the brick was replaced, the fire roared once more, and for what must have been quite another quarter of an hour we waited before the doctor took out the brick again.