Such a cloud of vapor puffed out that he could but
dimly discern what seemed to be a tank of boiling, bubbling water,
resting on a bed of soft coal, about which stark little forms were
dancing and poking with long steel bars until flames leaped out like
tongues of fire.
"Oh," said Leo, as he quickly turned from his place, "how do they endure
it? It is dreadful!"
"They are used to it; they all came from Terra del Fuego," replied
Knops, calmly. "And now, as a contrast to them, look in here."
A hut of solid ice presented itself. Long pendants of ice hung from the
ceiling, snow in masses was being formed into shapes of statue-like
grace by a company of little furry objects whose noses were not even
visible, and others were tracing out, on a broad screen of lace-like
texture, patterns of every star and leaf and flower imaginable.
Leo was so delighted that, although shivering, he could not bear to
leave them, but begged Knops to lend him a wrap.
Taking from a pile of furs in a corner several small garments, Paz
pinned them together and threw them over Leo's shoulders, and as he
continued to watch the beautiful work Knops explained its character.
"This is our place for working out designs for those who are unskilled
in frost-work. Frostwork is something too delicate for human hands, but
in it we excel.
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