intact on De Hart
Street, I believe. This old picture must have come from his house; or in
some way, this letter found its way into someone else's hands and was
used at that time for scrap paper to mend this picture. Now let's see
what the picture is."

But a cry from Polly, who had picked up the old newspaper and now had
opened it wide, caught their fullest attention.

"Oh, oh! Isn't this too funny for anything! Listen and I will read it."
Then Polly read aloud an advertisement in the tiny old newspaper, of a
Squire at Baskingridge who wished to sell a healthy, young negro wench of
unquestionable pedigree. Price and particulars would be given any
interested buyer.

"Polly!" chorused her audience, in surprise. "That paper must be as old
as the letter!"

"And see, girls!" added Mrs. Fabian. "It has great heavy black borders on
the outside. What for, Polly?"

Polly turned over the sheet with utmost care, as it was so dry and
brittle, and to the speechless astonishment of them all, it showed that
the mourning bands were used for the death of George Washington. The
entire front page was devoted to the news of his demise which had
occurred the day before going to press. His fame, and value to the United
States, were spoken of, and other features of his life were touched upon.
His picture, printed from an old wood-cut, headed the page. All the
spelling was such as was common at that time with the letter "e" tacked
on when possible and the old English "f's" were used for "s's" and
long-stemmed "p's," and high-browed "a's" and "i's," were formed to show
readers that the writer and editor was a well-educated man.

"Oh my! Must we fold it up and put it back of that board again?" sighed
Polly, finally.

"If you want a bargain, that is what you'd better do," returned Mrs.
Fabian.

"Maybe the picture is as old as the paper," ventured Polly.

The thought of the picture had completely vanished from the mind of Mrs.
Fabian when she saw the rare old newspaper; but now she quickly picked up
the article and turned it over. The magnifying glass was once more
brought to bear upon the subject, and after several minutes of
inspection,--minutes of impatient hesitation on the part of the
girls,--she looked up bewildered with her discovery.

"Polly, this is really the missing picture that will complete the set
that is on exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, in New York. It is one
of the famous color-prints made in France about the