CHAPTER X.
THE SCHOOL-BOY’S RETURN.
CONSIDERING the heavy weight of care which I knew lay on the heart of the lady, it was wonderful to me how quietly she went through the ceaseless petty trials of her life.
Lily and Eddy came as usual to their lessons next morning, the former with her dress a good deal torn.
“Please, mamma, nurse says that I want a new frock.”
“It is not long since I purchased this, Lily. You must have treated it very carelessly indeed,” replied the mother, looking somewhat grave.
“Oh, it’s poor stuff!” cried Lily, giving a little pull, which confirmed her assertion, by making the rent a good deal wider.
“There is no use in making it worse, Lily. I cannot afford to be buying new clothes. We must do the best we can with the old.”
“Nurse says that she has no time for mending.”
“I think that these lazy little fingers might make themselves useful,” said Mrs. Ellerslie, with a gentle smile; “those who mar things ought at least to mend them.”
“I cannot mend such a frock!”
“Then I must,” said the lady.
Lily glanced at her mother’s face for a moment; perhaps she saw something there that pricked her conscience a little, for she said in an altered tone, “Dear mamma, I should like to be useful, but I do not like mending at all!”
“Nor do I, my love,” answered her mother.
There was nothing more said on the subject at that time. The lessons proceeded as usual. Lily, whose thoughts were very full of the expected arrival of her brother, broke off several times in the midst of her tasks, when she heard the sound of a carriage, and rushed to the window, whither she always was followed by Eddy, though assured each time that it was impossible that George could arrive till after early dinner.
If Lily had known all that I knew, I cannot but think that for once she would have shown some consideration for the teacher, whose mind was so full of troubles and cares; I cannot but think that she would have known her verse correctly, held up her head, and kept her finger-ends still; but, as it was, the old story was repeated again, and when lesson-time was over, the child did not even seem conscious that she had been doing anything wrong!
But oh! the bustle and commotion that there were when a cab, with a black trunk on the coachman’s box, did at length actually drive up to the door! The whole house resounded with the cry, “It is George! it is George! he has come!” I heard little Eddy swinging himself downstairs so fast, that it must have been at the peril of his neck; I believe the coachman had not even time to ring, so eagerly the door was opened; and there was such a medley of eager voices in the hall, that all the neighbourhood must have known of the arrival! I soon saw Mrs. Ellerslie enter the drawing-room, with a colour on her cheek and a sparkle in her eye; her arm was round the neck of her son, and she surveyed him with mingled pride and joy!
I shall not attempt to repeat the conversation which passed; every one seemed so eager to ask questions, that there was scarcely a possibility of reply; but I noticed that whenever his mother spoke, George was instantly silent and attentive; and that though he laughed, played, and chatted merrily with all, his eye most frequently rested on her. Then he had to go upstairs to see the baby, followed, of course, by Lily and Eddy, who pursued him like his shadow; and it was not till an hour or two afterwards that he re-entered the drawing-room with them.
“And now, Georgie, you must show us your prize!” cried Lily, with eager pleasure.
They sat down on the ottoman together, just as Lizzie and Lily had sat, and Eddy crept up close to his brother. This time no one sent him away.
“A book! what a beauty!” cried Lily; but on turning over some of the pages, she added, with a look of disappointment, “But what a stupid book it must be! all about metals, and things no one cares for!”
“Well, I’ve been reading a little in the train, and I do not find it stupid at all. It tells one so much that is curious and new. Did you ever hear, Eddy, of metal spoons that would melt in hot tea like sugar?”
Eddy opened his eyes very wide.
“Well, men really make such spoons—I mean, that they would, if they thought that any one would buy them—of a mixture of bismuth, lead, and tin!”
“I never heard of bismuth before,” cried Lily.
“It is a white metal, of a reddish-yellow tinge, used with others in making solder for the plumbers. There’s the beauty of my book, Lily; it tells one so much that one never heard of before. Did you know that there was a wine made of steel?”
“Steel wine? Oh yes! that is what mamma has to take every day, to make her strong. But it is not at all nice; it does not taste in the least like other wine.”
“I’d like that!” cried Eddy, smacking his lips at the idea of a sweetmeat.
“Would you, my little man? But it would not like you. Sugar of lead is that metal dissolved in spirit of vinegar; and that, you must know, makes it a poison.”
“Well,” said Lily, “I always considered lead as a dull, heavy metal, fit for nothing but making water-pipes.”
“My book would tell you a different tale. Why, you forget black lead pencils, and the types used in printing. It is employed also in making clear glass, the varnish on china, and beautiful white paint, for all that it looks so dull! Then, it’s so odd to think that from mixing some metals together you can get quite a new one! Look at the bright brass rods upon which the curtains are hung; brass is a mixture of copper and zinc.”
“They look like gold!” cried Eddy, looking up. “What do people mix to make gold?”
“You funny little philosopher,” said George, playfully tapping his brother on the cheek, “that’s the very question which for ages puzzled the brains of the learned. They wanted to discover some way to mix up metals and make gold. Even the wonderful Sir Isaac Newton was very anxious to find it out! Men were always searching and searching for what they called ‘the philosopher’s stone;’ and they read old books, and looked at the stars, as if they could see the secret written there; and they kept up fires for years and years, and mixed together all sorts of things; and some spent all their money, and some all their lives, in trying to find out how to make gold!”
“And never found out at last?” inquired Lily.
“It was like running after a rainbow, that searching for the philosopher’s stone. But look at Eddy; he is yawning. He is not quite a Sir Isaac Newton yet; so I think, Lily, that we had best shut the book, and be off for a game at hide-and-seek!”