What craftsmen these old workmen became ! It is still
remembered of one of them that he would sit for hour after hour with a pointed iron, roughening, with apologies for the word, the wheat stone (of an entirely different sort from the stone for grinding barley). When he had finished the stone was cut with lines as straight as any ruler could have made them, though none was used, and they were only less fine than the scratches cut with infinite patience by artists in the preparation of a mezzo-tint plate. The miller himself has recognized a stranger for such a workman by the blue lines on the back of his hand, caused by involuntary tattooing of the skin with frag- ments of stone. These workmen contrived many ingenious devices of which the remnants survive. Work, of course, could not begin till the head of water was sufficient ; so the men in the mills secured a floating bottle so that when the water reached a certain point it should strike and loosen a catch and set an alarum bell ringing. Thus they were able to snatch an hour or two of sleep, most precious to- men who were used to regarding night as day.
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