Zorzi stood up, and taking a little tow from the supply used for
cleaning the blow-pipes, he dipped it into the oil of the lamp and
proceeded to grease the box carefully before hiding it.
"It would rust," he explained.
He laid the box in the hole and covered it with earth before placing the
stone over it.
"Be careful to make the stone lie quite flat," said Angelo, bending down
and gathering his gown off the floor in a bunch at his knees. "If it
does not lie flat, the stone will move when the boys tread on it, and
they may think of taking it up."
"It is very heavy," answered the young man. "It was as much as I could
do to heave it up. You need not be afraid of the boys."
"It is not a very safe place, I fear, after all," returned Beroviero
doubtfully. "Be sure to leave no marks of the crowbar, and no loose
earth near it."
The heavy slab slipped into its bed with a soft thud. Zorzi took the
lamp and examined the edges. One of them was a little chipped by the
crowbar, and he rubbed it with the greasy tow and scattered dust over
it. Then he got a cypress broom and swept the earth carefully away into
a heap. Beroviero himself brought the shovel and held it close to the
stones while Zorzi pushed the loose earth upon it.
"Carry it out and scatter it in the garden," said the old man.
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