THE CAMEO SET.
AGAIN the jewel-case was brought out. Lucy Ansted's brother had arrived for a short visit, and taking advantage of this addition to her forces, Annie Burton determined to have a tableau party. Grandma Burton, always interested in whatever the "the children were up to," offered the girls her old-fashioned jewels for the occasion. But no sooner was the jewel-case opened than they forgot all about the tableaux and fell to admiring and asking questions. "These the only cameos I ever saw that I thought pretty," said Annie, holding up a handsome set.
"Those are handsome!" said Lucy. "Mamma has cameos, but they are common-looking things. Seems to me they cannot be the same kind; I think there is a difference in the color."
"Very likely," replied Mrs. Burton. "I presume your mother's are shell cameos. The most of the modern cameos are made from sea shells. The shells have two layers of different colors. Usually the outside is white and the inner layer brown or coffee-colored. I once had an opportunity of visiting a cameo cutter's workshop. It was not easy to get admission, but an artist friend of your grandfather's took me there."
"Can you tell us about the process?"
"It was many years ago, and my impressions of what I saw have grown somewhat dim, still I can tell you something about it. I remember that he told me that the shell he was cutting came from the coast of Brazil. Another which he showed me was from the Bahamas, and he said that some of those used came from the Indies, both East and West, and also from the African coast."
"Are the shells used of a peculiar sort?"
