THE COLLECTIONS
On Sunday, dinner was in the middle of the day, and directly after it
was over Mr. Forbes led the four to the drawing-room, as was usual in
the evening, and asked an account of the dance.
"It was lovely!" vouchsafed Dotty.
"Gorgeous!" agreed Bernice.
"Perfectly all right," Alicia averred.
"Nice enough, but very grown uppish," was Dolly's verdict.
"You stick to your taste for simpler parties?" said Mr. Forbes, looking
kindly at Dolly.
"Yes, sir; I guess I'm a country girl."
"Well, I'm not," and Dotty's black eyes flashed. "I'd just as lief live
in Berwick, to be sure; but I do love to visit in New York and see all
the grand doings."
"And was the party grand?"
"Oh, it was, uncle," said Alicia. "It was small and it was early."
"Pooh!" cried Dolly. "We came home at half past eleven. I don't call
that early!"
"Early for a city party," insisted Alicia, "but it was an elaborate
affair, after all, and what do you s'pose, Uncle Jeff? We had
invitations to a lot of things, next week and the week after, too."
"Well, you girls are real belles!"
"They do seem to like us," and Alicia looked very well self-satisfied.
"Which one of you do they like the best?" teased Uncle Jeff.
"Dotty," said Alicia and Bernice together.
"Nothing of the sort!" declared Dotty, blushing rosy red.
"Who, then?" and Mr. Forbes turned to her.
"Why, I don't know," said Dotty, still embarrassed. "Dolly, I guess."
"You know better, Dot," and Dolly laughed at her. "I think, Uncle
Forbes, the most citified boys and girls like Bernie and Alicia best,
and some of the others take to Dot and me."
Her honest blue eyes proved this was her true opinion, whatever the
facts might be.
"Well, look here," and Mr. Forbes' eyes twinkled "I ask you two, Dotty
and Dolly, which of my two nieces is a greater favourite?"
"Why, how can we tell that, right before them both?" cried Dolly,
taking it as a joke.
"Yes, I want you to tell me,--right before them."
"I don't think there's a bit of difference," Dotty said, speaking
seriously, and looking at the two girls. "You see, everybody likes
Bernie--and--they all like Alicia."
"You're a diplomat!" laughed the old man, "Now, Dolly, see if you can
beat that?"
Dolly liked being put on her mettle, and after a moment's thought, when
she pretended to study the girls, she said, "They are both liked
tremendously for themselves,--but more, because they are your nieces."
"Capital!" and Mr. Forbes rubbed his hands in glee. "You're a tactful
young person, I do avow. Now, just for that you may ask anything of me
you like, to the half of my kingdom."
"I'll ask," said Dolly, quickly, "before you have a chance to repent of
that offer. This is what I want: Let us go up and see your collections.
May we?"
"I s'pose so. Will you be good little girls, and not finger the
exhibits, except such as I say you may?"
"Of course we will. We're not mischievous little kiddies! Oh, are you
really going to let us see it! When?"
"Now. May as well get it over, I suppose. March!"
He led the way, and the girls trooped after him, up to the fourth floor
of the house.
The rooms corresponded to those below stairs, but all were arranged as
a museum. There were enormous cases filled with specimens of every sort
of bird, butterfly or insect. Or, if not every kind was represented,
surely they were nearly all there, so multitudinous were the exhibits.
"What a lot!" exclaimed Dolly, "I had no idea it was such an enormous
collection."
"Yes," said Mr. Forbes, with justifiable pride, "it Is the largest
private collection that I know of. Come, let me show you the birds
first."
Obediently the girls followed his directions, and with ever growing
interest they saw the rows and rows of stuffed birds, of all sizes and
of all varieties of plumage.
Then came great cabinets filled with shallow drawers, each of which,
when opened, displayed tiny moths, queer flies, and microscopic
insects, each daintily mounted on its own pin and all standing in trim
rows.
The butterflies were the prettiest exhibit of all. These showed rare
varieties and well-known ones; specimens from far distant countries and
from their own state.
All the girls were interested, but Dolly was absorbed. She walked from
case to case, asking intelligent questions, that Mr. Forbes was glad to
answer.
"You ought to make natural history a special study," he said to her.
"You seem so fond of it."
"Oh, I am!" responded Dolly. "I shall try to get mother to let me take
it up specially next year. And here are the beetles! How wonderfully
they are arranged, and what beautiful colours!"
"Yes, see the iridescent wings of this chap," and Uncle Jeff pointed to
a fine specimen. "I don't wonder the old Egyptians loved this creature
and carved their scarabs in its likeness, do you?"
"No indeed," responded Dolly. "And do you like old Egyptian things,
too? So do I. I saw wonders in the Museum."
"I have quite an antique collection, if you're interested."
"If I'm interested! Well, I just guess I AM!"
The other girls enjoyed the exhibition, too, but not so much as Dolly,
who was enthusiastic over it all. They had so far seen only the front
rooms, but now Uncle Jeff conducted them to the room in the rear
extension of the house, and as he unlocked the door he said, "Here are
my greatest treasures of all."
The girls went in, and Mr. Forbes rolled up the shades and let in the
sunlight.
"My, but it's close and stuffy!" exclaimed Bernice; "mayn't we have a
window open, uncle?"
"Yes, indeed; I believe in fresh air, but I keep this room closed so
much of the time it does get stale."
Mr. Forbes threw open a window that faced the south, and as there was
no wind blowing, the fresh winter air was balmy and pleasant.
"That's better," said Bernice, and she began to look at the treasures
all about her.
There were many tall cases, like book-cases, and on their shelves were
ranged curios and valuables of all sorts. These proved more interesting
to Dotty than the birds and butterflies.
"Oh, look at the old jewellery!" she cried. "Just like what we saw in
the museum, Doll."
"Yes, here are old Egyptian trinkets,--aren't they, Uncle Forbes?"
"Yes, those are Egyptian and Abyssinian. This nose ring was worn by a
lady in India some centuries before you girls were born."
"What is the oldest thing you have, Uncle?" asked Alicia. "This
jewellery?"
"No; this is my oldest piece," and Mr. Forbes took from a shelf an
image of a cat. It was of dark brown material, and was dingy and
roughened, as if by fire.
"This came from an old Egyptian tomb," he said. "You know they put all
sorts of idols and charms in the tombs of their dead. Then once in a
while these things are exhumed, and in some instances sold by the
Egyptian Museum authorities. I buy only what is guaranteed by them to
be genuine. I have an agent, who has travelled in many countries to
collect authentic antiquities for me. This cat dates from about 2000 B.
C."
"Gracious!" cried Dotty, "and there's been nearly two thousand years
since B. C. That makes Mr. Cat about four thousand years old! Some cat!"
"Well, a cat has nine lives anyway," laughed Alicia, "so it ought to be
a long time dead."
"That never was a live cat, was it?" asked Dolly.
"Oh, no. This was a bronze image, but fire and age have turned it to a
mere brittle shell. If it were dropped to the floor it would break into
a thousand pieces."
"Oh, my! take it!" exclaimed Dolly, who was holding the precious relic.
"I didn't know it was so fragile."
Mr. Forbes took it carefully. "That's why I don't often bring young
people up here. They're too heedless to appreciate the value of these
old things. Yes, two centuries before the Christian Era, this piece of
bric-a-brac, as we would call it, adorned the tomb of some Egyptian
citizen. I have the guarantee, signed by the Egyptian Museum. And here
is a fine specimen. This is in a better state of preservation. See, you
can read the date on it clearly, 537 B. C."
Mr. Forbes took from a cabinet a small image of a mummy. It was of blue
stone, somewhat chipped and worn, but preserving its shape and colour.
On the back, in rude figures, but clearly discernible was the date to
which he called their attention.
"Wonderful!" said Alicia. "Their figures are much like ours, aren't
they?"
"Yes, my child, the Arabic numerals are of ancient usage. Think of the
old hand that carved that date! Long since mouldered to dust!"
"It gives me the creeps!" declared Bernice, "and yet it fascinates me,
too. Was this found in a tomb?"
"Yes, or in a temple. Excavations in Egypt, latterly, produce so many
of these things that it is not difficult to get them. But that's pretty
old, you see,--half a century before Christ."
"I wonder who was King of Egypt then," said Dotty. "I wish I could
remember my history better. I learned about the Ptolemies and the other
dynasties, but I get 'em all mixed up."
Although the others were eagerly examining the old mummy relic, Dolly
stood looking at it thoughtfully.
"May I take it?" she said, after the others had scrutinised it.
Dolly handled it carefully, as she minutely observed it on every side.
It was about six inches long and was a perfect little model of an
Egyptian mummy. She gazed at the date deeply graven on the back, and
then with a slight smile she handed it back to Mr. Forbes, saying,
"Very good, Eddie!"
"What! What do you mean?" cried the old gentleman, glaring at her, and
Alicia exclaimed, "Why, Dolly Fayre! You rude little thing!"
"But what do you mean?" persisted Mr. Forbes. "Why do you call me Eddie?"
"Oh," and Dolly laughed, "that's a slang phrase that people say when
they see through a joke."
"Joke, miss! Are you making fun of my antiques? Explain yourself!"
"Yes, what DO you mean, Dolly?" said Dotty, anxiously; "you can't mean
to insult Mr. Forbes."
"You goosies!" cried Dolly, "he's fooling you. It's a joke on us."
"What is? What's a joke?"
"This mummy," and now Mr. Forbes had joined in Dolly's laughter.
"You're a cute one!" he said. "Not one person in a dozen catches on to
that. Tell 'em, my dear. Oh, you are a smart one!"
Mr. Forbes shook with glee, and Dolly held up the image to the
mystified girls.
"Don't you see, you blindies, the date 537 B. C. couldn't have been put
on in the year 537 B. C.?"
"Why not?" asked Alicia, looking blank.
"Why, at that time they didn't know how many years it would be before
Christ's birth. Nobody dated anything B. C. until after the Christian
Era had begun."
"But why didn't they?" and Bernice also looked bewildered.
"Think a minute, you sillies. Nobody knew the exact date of the year
one until after the year one was here. In fact, I don't think they
began to count right away, anyhow. But certainly they didn't know five
hundred and thirty-seven years before!"
"Oh, I see!" cried Bernice. "All the B. C. years have been computed or
dated since the A. D. years began."
"Of course they have, and Mr. Forbes had the date carved on this mummy
on purpose to fool people. Didn't you?"
"Yes," chuckled Mr. Forbes, "and it has fooled lots of people older and
wiser than you, little Dolly Fayre! I think you're pretty smart to
notice the fraud!"
"Oh, no. But it just happened to occur to me that I'd never seen a B.
C. date marked before, and then I thought at once that it couldn't be."
"Pretty cute, all the same. You other girls didn't see it."
"No, we didn't," admitted Dotty. "I own up I was fooled. I never
thought of the absurdity of the thing. Did you make up the joke?"
"No, I bought the mummy from a dealer who sold a few of them for the
purpose of fun-making. It's a pretty good joke."
It was, and though the girls felt a little chagrined at being taken in,
they were generous enough to appreciate Dolly's cleverness and be glad
of it.
A case of antique jewellery proved interesting to all. The queer
ornaments worn by the ancients were admired and studied by the girls,
and Mr. Forbes enjoyed telling of their histories.
"This earring," he said, "is perhaps the gem of the whole collection.
It is Byzantine, and is of wonderfully delicate workmanship." The
filigree gold ornament, was a long and slender pendant, of intricate
gold work and studded with tiny jewels. It was one of a pair of
earrings, and they wondered where its mate might be, if indeed, it was
yet in existence.
"It would make a fine lavalliere," said Dolly, holding it up against
her chest, and glancing in a nearby mirror. "See!" and she hooked the
trinket into the lace at her throat, "isn't it becoming?"
"Very," laughed Bernice, and turned to see what Dotty was now
exclaiming over.
It proved to be a bracelet, that legend said had been worn by
Cleopatra, though Mr. Forbes frankly acknowledged he didn't believe
this.
"Let me take it by the light," said Alicia, "it's getting dusk in here."
She took the bracelet to the open window, and admired the beauty of its
wrought gold.
"Here, take it, Uncle Jeff," she said; "I declare I'm almost afraid to
handle these valuable things for fear I should suddenly become a
klep-what-do-you-call-it?"
"Kleptomaniac?" said her uncle, laughing, "I'm not afraid, or I
shouldn't have brought you girls up here. I don't mind admitting I have
one friend, a wise old octogenarian, rich as Croesus, whom I wouldn't
trust up here alone! He'd steal a gem as quickly as a highway robber
would!"
"How awful!" said Bernice. "Just because of his craze for antiques?"
"Yes. You know some people are carried quite out of themselves by a pet
hobby. Well, girls, it is getting dusk. Let's go downstairs, and have a
little chat over what you've seen. I'd like to see how much you
remember of what I've told you."
"Shall I shut the window, Uncle Jeff?" asked Bernice.
"No, leave it open. A little air will do the room good. I'll see to it
later."
The girls left the room, Mr. Forbes followed, and locking the door,
pocketed the key, and they all went downstairs.