Excluding the outer drips and splatter, the bulk of the damage was concentrated on only five or six boards. This was extensive, but not beyond control. Novack's instructions had not yet been followed through and, I saw, he had more to say beyond oxalic acid. I selected a new test area - a short streak near one of the kitchen cabinets - and again set to work with the sandpaper and corrosive crystals. There were no suitable white cloths, so I had to sacrifice one of Oskar's linen napkins to the greater good, figuring that he was unlikely to miss one. And it worked - in the first and only positive development of that whole day, the acid did what it was supposed to do. The stain had gone.