Copyright by Keystone View Co. 

 A CROWD IN THE CONCOURSE OF ST. PETER'S WATCHING THE SMOKE FROM THE 

 CHIMNEY OE THE SISTINE CHAPEE 



In choosing the Pope, the cardinals, who are the electors, are locked in the Sistine Chapel, 

 which stands between St. Peter's and the Vatican. None of them may leave and no person 

 may enter. If a cardinal is obliged by illness or accident to leave tbe conclave, he cannot 

 return. After the ballots are cast and counted, they are burned, if no choice has been reached. 

 The smoke issuing from the chimney above (to the left of the obelisk) is evidence that the 

 ballot just taken has failed to elect. It is said that two years of balloting were required to 

 elect Gregory X, who was absent in the Holy Land as a crusader at the time of his eleva- 

 tion, 1270. 



305 



