story, and a long one
too. I don't know that I myself could follow every step of it. But you
will find McPhearson can. So seriously has he taken his profession that
he is not to be floored by anything in time-keeping history. Ask him to
tell you what you wish to know."

"He does seem to be mighty well up in his trade, doesn't he?"
acknowledged the boy, pleased to hear this tribute to his friend. "He
has collected quite a few interesting things related to it, too. The
night I was there he showed me a lot of old watch papers he has been
years picking up. He told me that long ago, when watches were thicker
than they are now, there was a space left between the covers and inside
it people put all sorts of things--pictures, small designs embroidered
or painted on satin, mottoes, figures pricked on paper until they made
raised patterns, poems, and portraits."

"So McPhearson has some of those, has he? Well, well! Sometime I must
ask him about them," Mr. Burton said. "The custom of carrying such
souvenirs was quite common in England at the time. If a man owned a fine
ship or was interested in one, he had a small picture of her painted to
put inside the cover of his watch; or he carried a likeness of his wife
or sweetheart there. Sometimes, on the other hand, he was patriotically
inclined and chose to devote this cherished space to a picture of the
king or some national idol. Or maybe he was of literary bent and gave
over the shrine to a religious text, a love poem, a maxim, or a moral
admonition that he wished to keep daily before him. Even we ourselves
often paste pictures in our watches. We have never, however, gone into
the craze as the English of this particular era did. With them it was a
fashionable fad that resulted in all manner of curious conceits. They
had no kodaks, you see, and small pictures were rarer possessions then
than now." Mr. Burton paused a moment to puff little rings of smoke
thoughtfully into the air. "So McPhearson has made a collection of those
old watch-papers, has he!" mused he. "Maybe he would loan them to us and
let us exhibit them here at the store sometime. They are quite rare now
and would be interesting."

"I think he would be tremendously pleased to do so, Dad," responded
Christopher. "He is far too modest ever to suggest doing it himself."

"Oh, we should never know it if McPhearson had the Kohinoor right in his
pocket. He would be the last person in the world to tell of it," laughed
Mr.