Chapter 90

The weapon shop was busy with activities. Smoke poured out from the outlet above the roof darkening parts of the street. Passersby held scarves or the neck of their clothes to their noses to block out the pungent smell of burning metal. Small boys worked fervently in the shop, some attended to customers while others did the less than pleasing work of selecting reusable metals, and the pile to select from was huge. There were too many boys working in the shop. There were other armories but they had fewer workers than Gustoff's because everybody wanted to be given the honor of casting royal weapons.