"Very clever, my dear,—very cleverly done, indeed. Did you do it?"
"Oh, no; it is the property of a friend of mine,—it was done by an ancestor of hers. You see it's signed and dated."
"I see! Oh, yes, I see! But you mustn't try to impose on me,—my eyesight is not yet entirely gone!"
"What do you mean, Mr. Greatorex?" Elise was puzzled. "I'm not trying to impose on you!"
"I hope not, my girl, for I wouldn't want to believe such a thing of you. But you have been imposed upon."
"How?"
"This sampler was worked in 1836, not 1636."
"How do you know?"
"Very easily. Here, you can see for yourself. You see how the figures are made,—ordinary cross stitch. Well, as you know, an eight is worked almost exactly the same as a six, except that it has two more stitches on the upper right-hand side. If those two stitches are picked out of an eight, it turns into a six! Now, I'm sure your young eyes can see that two stitches have been picked out in this instance. See the slight mark where the canvas is the least bit drawn? And see, on the back a fresh stitch was necessary to keep the ends from ravelling. It would pass to a careless observer, but to one accustomed to these things the fraud is plainly evident."
"Oh, Mr. Greatorex," and Elise looked sorrowful, "I don't care so much about the sampler being less valuable than I thought, as I do about having to think the friend who gave it to me would cheat me!"