“Then let me see it,” demanded Artie.
“Not yet, Artie,—to-morrow.”
Artie then went back to a box of sand in which he had been playing.
It took Allan nearly an hour to complete his purchases. He had the advantage of Owen’s advice, in the choice of trays, for instance. Owen had tried lacquered tin, glass, and pressed paper, but liked rubber best. These cost more, but as he only required three, two to be used in developing and a larger one, capable of holding four plates, for “fixing,” Allan felt that he could afford it,—especially with his share of the fifty dollars to come.
Certainly it was great fun to buy these utensils, and the shining glass graduate,—Dr. Hartel had promised Allan a second, large, graduate, as well as a hydrometer and some stopper bottles; the brass-hinged printing frames, the “hypo” and developing chemicals, and the dark-room lamp.
“Artie was lifted up.”
At first Allan had thought of building a dark-room light-box, with red cover glass, in which an ordinary small lamp could be placed; but in view of the probable usefulness of the portable lamp on certain expeditions which he had in mind, he decided to get an ordinary dark-room lamp, and it was a pretty affair. Dr. Hartel had urged Allan to prepare his own developer, at least until he had learned how developers were made up and what properties they had.
All these points had to be talked over, and Mr. Wincher, the stationer, who was an amateur photographer himself, and had on that account come to sell photographic supplies as a department in his store, was patient throughout the selection and offered plenty of advice too.
“Photographers are great fellows for giving advice,” laughed the stationer.