178 History of Guita-Percha Willie.

 

cautions—breathing, for instance, many gases they
ought not to breathe. He was so careful over
Agnes, however, that often he would not let her in
at all; and when he did, he generally confined
himself to her amusement. He would show her
such lovely things !—for instance, liquids that
changed from one gorgeous hue to another; bub-
bles that burst into flame, and ascended in rings of
white revolving smoke; light so intense, that it
seemed to darken the daylight. Sometimes Mona
would be of the party, and nothing pleased Agnes
or her better than such wonderful things as these;
while Willie found it very amusing to hear Agnes,
who was sharp enough to pick up not a few of the
chemical names, dropping the big words from her
lips as if she were on the most familiar terms with
the things they signified—phosphuretted hydrogen,
metaphosphoric acid, sesquiferrocyanide of iron, and
such like. —

Then he would give an hour to preparation for
the studies of next term; after which, until their
early dinner, he would work at his bench or turning-
lathe, generally at something for his mother or
grandmother ; or he would do a little mason-work
amongst the ruins, patching and strengthening, or
even buttressing, where he thought there was most
danger of further fall—for he had resolved that, if
he could help it, not another stone should come to
the ground, .