Royal showed Rollo the fungus, and he thought it was a very curious thing indeed. Then Rollo told him the story of the accident which had happened in the cart path. Royal was somewhat alarmed at this, and he hastened to the place. He felt somewhat condemned for having gone away and left his charge in the hands of such guardians as Rollo and Lucy, and so he very assiduously helped them replace Nathan in his wagon, and turn it round. The leaves which they had collected were all scattered upon the ground; even those which had been put into the picture-book had fallen out when the wagon had been upset; so that, when the children had got nearly home, they recollected that they had left their whole botanical collection behind them. And this was the end of Lucy’s attempts to pursue the study of botany, for several years.
CHAPTER III.
THE MAGAZINE.
Neither Royal nor Lucy thought any thing more of their arithmetic for several days. Lucy’s slate got put up upon a shelf in the closet, and was entirely forgotten. One day, however, when Rollo and Lucy were walking in a little lane by the side of the garden, they found a beautiful flower, growing near a large, flat stone.
“O, what a beautiful blue flower!” said Lucy.
“Yes,” said Royal; “give it to me.”
“No,” said Lucy, “I want to carry it home to my mother.”
“O, mother won’t care about it,” said Royal; “give it to me, and I will press it in a book.”
“No,” said Lucy.
“And then,” continued Royal, “we can draw a copy of it, and paint it.”