So Rollo put the hemlock-seed into his pocket, and he and James took their books under their arms, with a great many flowers and plants carefully placed between the leaves, and walked along towards the village. When they arrived at the apothecary’s, Rollo put his book down upon the counter, and then took the wallet from his pocket, and untied the string, and took the prescription out, and handed it to the apothecary. The apothecary was talking with another man, at the time; but he took the prescription, and Rollo watched his countenance to see how perplexed and puzzled he would look, when he tried to read it. Instead, however, of appearing perplexed and puzzled, the apothecary only glanced his eye over it, and laid it down upon the counter, and immediately began to look upon his shelves to find the articles.
“That’s strange!” said Rollo to himself. “He reads it as easily as I should a guide board.”
While the apothecary was weighing out his medicines, Rollo was very much interested in looking at the little pair of scales in which he weighed them. Rollo never had seen so small a pair of scales. The weights, too, were small, square weights of brass, with little figures stamped upon them. He asked the apothecary what such scales as those would cost. He answered that they were of various prices, from one dollar to five. Rollo thought that that was too much for him to give; but while he was thinking whether his father would probably be willing to let him have a dollar to buy a pair with, James said that he wished he had such a pair of scales.
“So do I,” said Rollo; “then we could play keep store. We could have our store out in the play room, and weigh things.”
“So we could,” said James. “We could put a long board upon two barrels for a counter.”
“O, you must make your scales, boys,” said the apothecary.
“How can we make them?” said Rollo.
“Why, you can get a good, stout knitting-needle for a beam. Tie a silk thread around the middle of it to hold it up by, and slip it along until you get it so that the needle will exactly balance. Then for scales, you must cut out two round pieces of thin pasteboard. Then take three threads for each scale, and run them through the pasteboard, near the edge, and at equal distances from each other. You must tie knots at the lower ends of the threads to keep them from drawing through. Then you must gather the other ends of the threads together, about half a foot from the pasteboard, and tie them to the ends of the knitting-needle, one on each side; and that will make a very respectable pair of scales for you.”
“But what shall we do for weights?” asked Rollo.
“O, weights!—yes, you must have some weights. You must make them of lead. I will show you how.”