THE HEMLOCK-SEED.
James came to play with Rollo that afternoon, and Rollo explained to him his plan of collecting a museum of curiosities. James was very much interested in it indeed, and he said that he had some shells and some Guinea peas at home, which he would put into it.
Rollo went to show him the box out of which Jonas was going to make the cabinet the first rainy day. Then the boys went out again to see if there were yet any signs of a storm. But they looked in vain. There were no clouds to be seen, except here and there a few of those white, fleecy tufts floating in the heavens, which indicate fair weather rather than rain.
The boys played together in the yard for some time. Among other things, they amused themselves by collecting some flowers, and pressing them in a book. Suddenly James said,
“O Rollo, let us go and get some blue-bells to press; they will be beautiful.”
“Where?” said Rollo.
“Among the rocks by the road, beyond the bridge,” said James. “There are plenty of them among those rocks.”
The place which James referred to, was a rocky precipice by the road side, about a quarter of a mile from the house; just at the entrance of a small village. Rollo approved of the proposal, and he went in and asked his mother’s permission to go.
She consented, and Rollo, when he came back through the kitchen, said to Dorothy, who was sitting at the window, sewing,