1. 'What is the oldest thing in this room?' asked the mother one day.

'Is this a riddle?'

'No, not exactly.'

2. Dora guessed one thing, and Harry another, and at last they gave up guessing. 'Unless,' said Harry, 'it is the fender, or the poker.'

3. 'It is very likely that the thing you were drawing on just now is older than any of those.'

4. 'That slate? Why, mother!' cried the children, opening their eyes wide with wonder, 'you bought it only last Saturday!'

'So I did. But it was not made last Saturday.'

5. 'No, I suppose the man cut it, and made the frame, and fixed it on before that.'

'Perhaps on Friday,' said Dora.

6. 'But the slate itself,' the mother went on, 'where did that come from? Did the man make it?'

Harry and Dora looked well at it, turned it over, rubbed their fingers on it, and said they did not know.

7. 'Well, would you say it is like wood, or like stone, or is it metal like the poker? Is it a kind of wood, do you think? Did it ever grow?'

'I think it must be a sort of rock, or stone,' said Harry, 'only very smooth and thin.'

8. 'The man who worked at it before it came to the shop made it smooth and cut it thin. It was not smooth and thin at first. But you are quite right; it is a sort of stone.'

9. 'It is as cold as a stone,' said Dora, putting it against her face. 'Do you remember, Harry, how cold our hands were in winter when we did sums? Yes, and it is very hard. I am sure it is a piece of rock.'