“Never saw a mineral? Nonsense! What we were gathering on the island—”
“Gatherin’? Was it minerals, then?” said Pat. “Is it anythin’ like o’—like shrimps, sir?”
Mr. Long laughed. He knew Pat’s wonderful ignorance about some things, but he was hardly prepared for this. As for Pat, the poor fellow found he had made a mistake, and colored violently from shame and vexation.
“Do you really mean to say that you don’t know what minerals are?” asked Mr. Long.
“Sorra a bit of it thin, sir.”
“Well, they look like little stones. Didn’t you see us breaking little pieces from the rocks?”
“I didn’t notice, sir.”
“That’s no way to do, Pat. You ought to keep your eyes open, or you’ll never learn anything.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, then, these minerals looked like common little stones. They were in two baskets. Each one was carefully wrapped in paper. Now those two baskets of stones are missing, and I can’t find out anything about them. I want you to try and remember if you’ve seen anything of that kind, or if you’ve seen any little bits of paper that may have been around them. Do you understand? Little stones, you know.”