"Such a provoking thing has happened!" exclaimed Matty, who was seated on a very flimsy chair, which she had purchased from Mr. Fiction. It gave such a loud crack as she leant back upon it, that Nelly expected to see it come to pieces beneath the weight of her sister.
"O Matty, I wish that you would buy better furniture from General Knowledge," cried Nelly; "I do believe that in a few weeks those wretched chairs will be fit for nothing but firewood!"
"I did buy a pair of screens from General Knowledge," cried Matty; "I brought them home several weeks ago, as you perhaps may remember."
"Yes, I recollect," replied Nelly; "they were handsome and valuable screens. One was made of Botany facts, all carved over with leaves and flowers; the other of Biography facts, covered with likenesses of great men. They were really a beautiful pair, but I don't see them now," added Nelly, with an inquiring glance round the room.
"They're lost to me and my heirs for ever!" cried Matty, again tossing herself backwards on her chair, which again gave an ominous creaking.
"How could they be lost?" exclaimed Nelly.
"Stolen—stolen by the robber Forgetfulness," answered Matty; "a regular burglar he is! I neglected to lock my door at night—I never dreamed of any danger—and in came the robber and carried away my pair of beautiful screens."
"How very vexatious," exclaimed Nelly.
"Yes, indeed; where's the use of spending hours upon hours in furnishing, and labouring to carry heavy things over brook Bother and up the steep hill of Puzzle, if Forgetfulness sneak in at last and carry the best goods away."
"What use, indeed," echoed Nelly; "the sad warnings of the misfortunes which have happened to you and poor Lubin from Forgetfulness stealing your facts, and Procrastination robbing him of his hours, must make each of us more careful in guarding our treasures from such thieves."