ook out a white glittering thing like
glass, as it appeared to me, and looked at it carefully.

"I am no great judge of these things," said she, "but still I have
picked up some little knowledge. This belt, if it contain all stones
like this, must be of considerable value; now I must get out my needle
and thread and sew it up again." She did, and put the belt away with
the other articles in the chest. "And now," said she, "we have done a
good day's work, and it is time to have something to eat."

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

I must say that I was much better pleased with the appearance of the
cabin, it was so neat and clean to what it had been, and everything was
out of the way. The next day was a calm and clear day, and we went down
to fish. We were fortunate, and procured almost as many as we had done
at the previous fishing--they were all put in the bathing-pool as
before. When we went up to the cabin, as soon as the fish was put on
the fire, under the direction of my mother, I turned up the sides of one
of the pieces of sheet-iron, so as to make a sort of dish. The other
piece I did the same to, only not so high at the sides, as one piece was
kept for baking the fish on and the other as a dish to put our dinner
upon when cooked. That day we had been too busy with fishing to think
of anything else, but on the following I recollected the
magnifying-glass, and brought it to her. She first showed me the power
it had to magnify, with which I was much amused for a time, and she
explained as well as she could to me the cause of its having that power:
but I could not well understand her: I was more pleased with the effect
than cognisant of the cause. Afterwards she sent me to the cabin for
some of the dried moss which I used for tinder, and placing the glass so
as to concentrate the rays of the sun, to my astonishment I saw the
tinder caught fire. It was amazement more than astonishment, and I
looked up to see where the fire came from. My mother explained to me,
and I, to a certain degree, comprehended; but I was too anxious to have
the glass in my own hands and try experiments. I lighted the tinder
again--then I burnt my hand--then I singed one of the gannet's heads,
and lastly, perceiving that Nero was fast asleep in the sun, I obtained
the focus on his cold nose. He started up with a growl, which made me
retreat, and I was perfectly satisfied with the result of my
experiments. From that time, the fire was, w