The hours that followed were a sweaty nightmare of sledges and levers and pulley work. The vast unwieldy slab of stolen marble came foot by foot, sometimes inch by inch, around, under, and through the maze of scaffolding. Men rushed back and forth with crayons and tape measures, chopping the slab to fit with saws, mauls, and chisels. Cranes were raised, timbers set, as the incomplete Dome itself squeaked and shuddered under the strain.