Saying this the doctor turned back towards the house, followed by the boys.
They found the articles all neatly labelled, and their names written upon each label as discoverers and donors. All looked delighted except Bart. He read the label on the bone, and there was an expression on his face which did not escape the notice of the doctor.
“What’s the matter, Bart?” he asked. “You don’t seem pleased.”
“Why, sir,” said Bart, “I didn’t think that this bone belonged to—to that.”
“Why, what did you think that it did belong to?”
“Well, sir, I thought that it belonged to the owner of the house.”
“The owner of the house!” said the doctor, with a laugh. “Well, not directly. It belonged to his horse, as I think, but Mr. Simmons thinks it was his cow. That is the only way in which it ever belonged to him.”
Bart looked ineffably disgusted.
“Then it’s no use putting an old cow bone in the Museum,” said he.
“O, yes,” said the doctor. “It was found beside the plough, and perhaps belonged to the horse or ox that dragged it. From that point of view it is a very interesting relic.”