“They were very bright, when I got them,” said Rollo.
“That is because they were wet,” said Jonas. “Pebbles always look brightest and most beautiful when they are in their own proper place, in the brook; and that is the reason why I think it is generally best to leave them there.”
Rollo looked at his faded pebbles with an air of disappointment. He asked Jonas if there was no way of keeping them bright all the time.
“I think it probable that they might be oiled, and the oil would not dry.”
“Ho!” said Rollo, “I should not like to have them oiled.”
“Nor I,” said Jonas; “I should rather leave them in the brook.”
“But is not there any other way?”
“They might be varnished,” said Jonas. “That would bring out the colors; and the varnish would dry, so that you could handle them.”
“That would do,” said Rollo, “if I only had some varnish.”
“But the best way is to polish them,” said Jonas.
“How is that done?” asked Rollo.
“O, it is very hard to do,” replied Jonas. “They grind them on stones, and then they polish them on polishing wheels.”
“I wish I could do it,” said Rollo.
“It is not worth while to take so much pains with any of your curiosities,” said Jonas, “because you very soon get tired of them, and throw them away.”
“O, no,” said Rollo, “I never throw them away.”
“You leave them lying about the house and yard, then, and so other people throw them away.”
Rollo knew that this was true, and so he did not contradict Jonas.
“It’s not of much use to collect curiosities,” said Jonas, “unless you have a museum.”
“A museum?” said Rollo.
“Yes, that is a cabinet to put them in, and keep them safe. Then, when you have done looking at them yourself, you put them away safely; and, after a time, you get a great many collected, and you take pleasure in looking them over from time to time, and showing them to other boys that come to see you.”
“Well,” said Rollo, “I should like to have a museum.”
“O, you could not keep one,” said Jonas.
“Why not?” said Rollo.
“You have not patience and perseverance enough. You would be very much pleased with it for a day or two; but then you would get interested in other plays, and let your museum all get into disorder.”
Rollo was silent. He knew that what Jonas said was true.
“I don’t know but that your cousin Lucy might keep a museum,” said Jonas; “she is more careful than you are.”
“And cousin James could help us find the curiosities,” said Rollo.
“So he could,” said Jonas. “I think it might be a very good plan.”
“But what shall we have for our cabinet to put them in?” said Rollo.
“Why, sometimes they have something like a book-case,” replied Jonas, “with shelves and glass doors. Then the curiosities are all put upon the shelves, and you can see them through the glass doors. But this can only be done with very valuable curiosities.”
“Why?” asked Rollo.
“Because such a case, with glass doors, costs a good deal of money; and it is not worth while to pay so much money only to keep common things, such as your pebble stones.”
“But we have got such a book-case, already made; it is in mother’s chamber,” said Rollo.
“Yes,” said Jonas; “but it is full of books. Sometimes they keep a museum in the drawers of a bureau; but that is not a very good plan.”
“Why not?” said Rollo.
“Because, when you open and shut the drawers, it joggles the curiosities about.”
“Does it?” said Rollo.
“Yes,” replied Jonas. “But there is one thing you can do—I did not think of it before. There is a good large box in the barn, and I can put some shelves into it, and make the cover into a door; and if you want to collect a museum, you can do it in that. You can keep it out in the play room, and so it will not trouble any body in the house.”
Jonas meant, by the play room, a pretty large room, in the barn, made originally for a sort of granary, but which the children were accustomed to use for a play room.
Rollo was very much pleased with this plan. He determined to collect a museum, and to put his hornets’ nest in it for the first thing. As soon as he got home, as he found that dinner was not quite ready, he and Jonas went out into the barn to look at the box. It was a large box, which had been made to pack up a bureau in, so that the bureau should not get injured in the wagon which it was brought home in. As it happened, the box was smooth inside and out, and the cover of it was made of two boards, which Jonas had taken off carefully, when he took the bureau out, and had then tacked them on again; thinking that he might perhaps want it some time or other,—box, covers, and all.
Now it happened, as it generally does to persons who take care of things, that the article which Jonas thus preserved, came into use exactly. The box, he said, would be just the thing. He showed Rollo how he could place it so that it would make a convenient sort of cabinet.
“I can put it upon its end,” said he, “and then I can put on the two cover boards with hinges,—one pair of hinges on each side; then the covers will make little doors, and it will open like a book case, only it will not be quite so elegant.”
“I think it will be very elegant indeed,” said Rollo; “and you can make it for us this afternoon.”
“No,” said Jonas; “not this afternoon.”
“Why not?” said Rollo.
“O, I must attend to my work in the meadow.”
“O, no,” said Rollo. “I mean to ask my father to let you make it this afternoon.”
“No; I’d rather you wouldn’t,” said Jonas.
“Why not?” asked Rollo. “I know he will let you.”
“Yes, I suppose he would let me, if you were to ask him; but that would spoil the museum.”
“Spoil it?” said Rollo.
“Yes,” said Jonas. “The way to spoil any pleasure is to neglect duty for the sake of it. Work first, and play afterwards. That’s the rule.”
“Well, but, Jonas, we want to begin our museum this afternoon.”
“Very well,” said Jonas; “you may begin collecting your curiosities, you know; and you can put them all in a safe place, and have them all ready to put in when I get the case made.”
Rollo did not quite like this plan; but he knew that Jonas was always firm when it was a question of right and wrong, and so he said no more; only, after a moment’s pause, he asked Jonas when he would make the cabinet.
“The first rainy day,” replied Jonas.
“Then I hope it will rain to-morrow,” said Rollo; and he went out of the barn to see if it was not cloudy. But the sun shone bright, and the sky was clear and serene.
While Rollo was looking up at the sky, trying to find some appearance of rain, he heard a chaise coming, and looking out into the road, he saw that his cousin James was in it.
“Ah,” said he to himself, “there comes cousin