CHAPTER XI
THE COLLECTIONS
On Sunday, dinner was in the middle of the day, and directly after itwas over Mr. Forbes led the four to the drawing-room, as was usual inthe 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, lookingkindly 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 livein Berwick, to be sure; but I do love to visit in New York and see allthe 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 callthat early!"
"Early for a city party," insisted Alicia, "but it was an elaborateaffair, after all, and what do you s'pose, Uncle Jeff? We hadinvitations 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, UncleForbes, 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 thefacts might be.
"Well, look here," and Mr. Forbes' eyes twinkled "I ask you two, Dottyand 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, speakingseriously, and looking at the two girls. "You see, everybody likesBernie--and--they all like Alicia."
"You're a diplomat!" laughed the old man, "Now, Dolly, see if you canbeat that?"
Dolly liked being put on her mettle, and after a moment's thought, whenshe pretended to study the girls, she said, "They are both likedtremendously for themselves,--but more, because they are your nieces."
"Capital!" and Mr. Forbes rubbed his hands in glee. "You're a tactfulyoung person, I do avow. Now, just for that you may ask anything of meyou like, to the half of my kingdom."
"I'll ask," said Dolly, quickly, "before you have a chance to repent ofthat 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 theexhibits, except such as I say you may?"
"Of course we will. We're not mischievous little kiddies! Oh, are youreally 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 floorof the house.
The rooms corresponded to those below stairs, but all were arranged asa museum. There were enormous cases filled with specimens of every sortof 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 enormouscollection."
"Yes," said Mr. Forbes, with justifiable pride, "it Is the largestprivate collection that I know of. Come, let me show you the birdsfirst."
Obediently the girls followed his directions, and with ever growinginterest they saw the rows and rows of stuffed birds, of all sizes andof all varieties of plumage.
Then came great cabinets filled with shallow drawers, each of which,when opened, displayed tiny moths, queer flies, and microscopicinsects, each daintily mounted on its own pin and all standing in trimrows.
The butterflies were the prettiest exhibit of all. These showed rarevarieties and well-known ones; specimens from far distant countries andfrom their own state.
All the girls were interested, but Dolly was absorbed. She walked fromcase to case, asking intelligent questions, that Mr. Forbes was glad toanswer.
"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 takeit up specially next year. And here are the beetles! How wonderfullythey are arranged, and what beautiful colours!"
"Yes, see the iridescent wings of this chap," and Uncle Jeff pointed toa fine specimen. "I don't wonder the old Egyptians loved this creatureand 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 frontrooms, but now Uncle Jeff conducted them to the room in the rearextension of the house, and as he unlocked the door he said, "Here aremy greatest treasures of all."
The girls went in, and Mr. Forbes rolled up the shades and let in thesunlight.
"My, but it's close and stuffy!" exclaimed Bernice; "mayn't we have awindow open, uncle?"
"Yes, indeed; I believe in fresh air, but I keep this room closed somuch of the time it does get stale."
Mr. Forbes threw open a window that faced the south, and as there wasno wind blowing, the fresh winter air was balmy and pleasant.
"That's better," said Bernice, and she began to look at the treasuresall about her.
There were many tall cases, like book-cases, and on their shelves wereranged curios and valuables of all sorts. These proved more interestingto Dotty than the birds and butterflies.
"Oh, look at the old jewellery!" she cried. "Just like what we saw inthe 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 alady in India some centuries before you girls were born."
"What is the oldest thing you have, Uncle?" asked Alicia. "Thisjewellery?"
"No; this is my oldest piece," and Mr. Forbes took from a shelf animage of a cat. It was of dark brown material, and was dingy androughened, as if by fire.
"This came from an old Egyptian tomb," he said. "You know they put allsorts of idols and charms in the tombs of their dead. Then once in awhile these things are exhumed, and in some instances sold by theEgyptian Museum authorities. I buy only what is guaranteed by them tobe genuine. I have an agent, who has travelled in many countries tocollect authentic antiquities for me. This cat dates from about 2000 B.C."
"Gracious!" cried Dotty, "and there's been nearly two thousand yearssince 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 bea 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 amere brittle shell. If it were dropped to the floor it would break intoa 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 youngpeople up here. They're too heedless to appreciate the value of theseold things. Yes, two centuries before the Christian Era, this piece ofbric-a-brac, as we would call it, adorned the tomb of some Egyptiancitizen. I have the guarantee, signed by the Egyptian Museum.
And hereis a fine specimen. This is in a better state of preservation. See, youcan read the date on it clearly, 537 B. C."
Mr. Forbes took from a cabinet a small image of a mummy. It was of bluestone, somewhat chipped and worn, but preserving its shape and colour.On the back, in rude figures, but clearly discernible was the date towhich he called their attention.
"Wonderful!" said Alicia. "Their figures are much like ours, aren'tthey?"
"Yes, my child, the Arabic numerals are of ancient usage. Think of theold 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 manyof these things that it is not difficult to get them. But that's prettyold, you see,--half a century before Christ."
"I wonder who was King of Egypt then," said Dotty. "I wish I couldremember my history better. I learned about the Ptolemies and the otherdynasties, but I get 'em all mixed up."
Although the others were eagerly examining the old mummy relic, Dollystood 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 anEgyptian mummy. She gazed at the date deeply graven on the back, andthen 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, andAlicia 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 whenthey 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 meanto 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 tothat. Tell 'em, my dear. Oh, you are a smart one!"
Mr. Forbes shook with glee, and Dolly held up the image to themystified girls.
"Don't you see, you blindies, the date 537 B. C. couldn't have been puton 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 beforeChrist's birth. Nobody dated anything B. C. until after the ChristianEra had begun."
"But why didn't they?" and Bernice also looked bewildered.
"Think a minute, you sillies. Nobody knew the exact date of the yearone until after the year one was here. In fact, I don't think theybegan to count right away, anyhow. But certainly they didn't know fivehundred and thirty-seven years before!"
"Oh, I see!" cried Bernice. "All the B. C. years have been computed ordated since the A. D. years began."
"Of course they have, and Mr. Forbes had the date carved on this mummyon purpose to fool people. Didn't you?"
"Yes," chuckled Mr. Forbes, "and it has fooled lots of people older andwiser than you, little Dolly Fayre! I think you're pretty smart tonotice 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 neverthought 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 thepurpose 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 gladof it.
A case of antique jewellery proved interesting to all. The queerornaments 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." Thefiligree gold ornament, was a long and slender pendant, of intricategold work and studded with tiny jewels. It was one of a pair ofearrings, and they wondered where its mate might be, if indeed, it wasyet in existence.
"It would make a fine lavalliere," said Dolly, holding it up againsther chest, and glancing in a nearby mirror. "See!" and she hooked thetrinket into the lace at her throat, "isn't it becoming?"
"Very," laughed Bernice, and turned to see what Dotty was nowexclaiming over.
It proved to be a bracelet, that legend said had been worn byCleopatra, though Mr. Forbes frankly acknowledged he didn't believethis.
"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 itswrought gold.
"Here, take it, Uncle Jeff," she said; "I declare I'm almost afraid tohandle these valuable things for fear I should suddenly become aklep-what-do-you-call-it?"
"Kleptomaniac?" said her uncle, laughing, "I'm not afraid, or Ishouldn't have brought you girls up here. I don't mind admitting I haveone friend, a wise old octogenarian, rich as Croesus, whom I wouldn'ttrust up here alone! He'd steal a gem as quickly as a highway robberwould!"
"How awful!" said Bernice. "Just because of his craze for antiques?"
"Yes. You know some people are carried quite out of themselves by a pethobby. Well, girls, it is getting dusk. Let's go downstairs, and have alittle chat over what you've seen. I'd like to see how much youremember 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 itlater."
The girls left the room, Mr. Forbes followed, and locking the door,pocketed the key, and they all went downstairs.