"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?"

"They are the ordinary conch-shell. In each one there is material for only a single cameo, large or small. The available part is sawed out by persons employed for that work, who also shape the cameo by grinding the piece upon a grindstone, making it square or oval as desired; then it is ready to be handed over to the artist. The cutter fastens the shell into a small block of wood, of a size convenient for grasping firmly with the left hand. He then draws the outline of the figure he wishes to put upon it with a pencil. When the work is outlined upon the white surface, he begins to scratch the line with a fine steel needle, following his pencil mark very carefully. The artist I saw at work inspected his scratches with a magnifying glass at almost every scratch of his needle. I call it a needle because that describes the fine steel tool which he used. After he had finished the outline he began to work with small, sharp chisels, cutting away the white layer of shell around the figure he had outlined. He worked away carefully, chipping and scraping until it was all removed, leaving the portrait of some old Roman a raised white figure upon a dark ground. It seems simple enough to hear about it, or to see it done, but it requires a skilful hand and a practised eye. There is a finishing process of polishing with putty powder. This is applied with a stiff brush and is said to be a very delicate operation, though it seems as easy as the polishing of a silver spoon."

Lucy had been turning over the articles in one of the compartments of the jewel-case and now held up a small cameo pin.

"That is a shell cameo!" said Grandma; "I had quite forgotten it. Now if you will observe, you will see that the edges of the raised white part are left square-cut, not rounded or sloped."

"Why is that?" asked Lucy.

"If the white layer were cut thinner by the rounding or sloping of the edges, the dark layer would show through, and the outline would be less clearly defined."

"I see! A very simple explanation."

"A great many things are plain after you know the whys and wherefores."

"But, grandma," said Lucy, "this set of yours—is this a shell cameo?"

"No; I was going to tell you about that. It is very old, and somewhat rare in design and workmanship. It belonged to your great-grandmother Burton. It is an onyx. The art of cutting shell cameos is a modern one. I think it is not a hundred years since shell cameos were introduced, but the art of cutting precious stones like the onyx and agate, in fact, any stone which has layers of different colors, is very ancient. The Greeks and Romans understood the art, and even in Babylonish days it was practised, and used for the ornamenting of vases, cups, urns."

"There are a few very fine specimens of antique cameos to be found in Europe. One in Paris is twelve inches long by ten inches wide. And the Gonzaga Cameo in St. Petersburg is one of the finest." It was Grandpa Burton who said this, joining for the first time in the talk which drifted to other topics, in which we have just now no special interest. But Mrs. Burton noticed that Lucy laid aside the cameos for the tableau party.

THE ROSE-GAME.

Make a chain of roses, just as one makes a daisy chain, or a chain of any other flowers. Use all kinds and colors of roses—being careful to distribute shades nicely. String on strong enough cord or ribbon to support the flowers.

Now choose your leader, either a boy or girl. Let all players assemble under a tree, or on the porch. The leader holding chain, comes up to them, and if addressing a girl, says, bowing low, "Pretty maid, wilt join us?"

(If to a boy)

"Pretty sir, wilt join us?"

When you have as many as can comfortably take hold of chain, move off to the smooth lawn. And here let me say, you better calculate before making your chain, how many children will take part in the game. Do not, I beg, crowd out any who would like to play. Always remember that a slight like this, or a disappointment, would make you feel very badly, and remembering this, make your games to bring pleasure to every one, and only productive of happy memories.

Now then, you are on the lawn. The leader gives the word. All take hold by both hands of rose-chain, and dance around, singing,

May the sweetest, longest June evening be made very happy in playing this Rose-Game.