Ah, youngsters, earth is a wonderful treasure house!"
The clock was done. Old Principle put it carefully by and then mounted
on some wooden steps, and took down a tin saucepan. The boys knew the
shelf well; as though apparently it was just a row of tinware for sale,
many a pot and pan held treasures that geologists would have given a
great deal to possess.
Now when old Principle held out a peculiar shaped stone with loving
pride, Roy and Dudley pressed forward to look at it.
"I know, it's a Roman hammer," shouted out Dudley.
"It's a Saxon jug," suggested Roy.
"It's part of a jaw of a mammoth many thousands of years old, and there
are two teeth in perfect preservation," old Principle said solemnly.
"Where did you find it?"
"Ah, you must come and see! In a cave that I have only just discovered,
and which must originally have been by the side of a river. I'll take
you there to-night if you can get permission to come."
Nothing delighted the boys more than an expedition with old Principle.
They promised to be down at his shop punctually at half-past seven that
evening, and then the conversation drifted into other channels.
"Old Principle, do you think we ought to make opportunities?" questioned
Dudley, presently; "Roy thinks we ought, and I did make one the other
day, but it didn't turn out well.
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