“The hammers fell clanging with a frightful uproar upon the anvil, where

twenty sturdy smiths beat into shape the bars of boiling metal that quivered
and groaned beneath the blows.
“Already the arms of the sign of our redemption were outspread, already
the upper end was beginning to take form, when the fiendish, glowing mass
writhed anew, as if in frightful convulsion, and enfolding the unfortunate
workmen, who struggled to free themselves from its deadly embrace, glittered
in rings like a serpent or contracted itself in zigzag like lightning.
“Incessant labor, faith, prayers and holy water succeeded, at last, in
overcoming the infernal spirit, and the armor was converted into a cross.