Theo's face fell.

"He must take it," he said, "even if I walk to Trenton myself."

But there was room, plenty of it, in the big touring car.

Mr. Croyden did, to be sure, comment teasingly about the lad's extended wardrobe, and ask how many dozen suits of clothes he had brought with him; but he made no objection to taking either the bundle or the suit-case.

And when that night just before dinner Theo slipped into the dining-room and placed the shelves beside Mr. Croyden's chair no boy could have been happier. The only person happier than Theo himself was the man who received them.

"My, but this is a present!" exclaimed the merchant. "And you made them all yourself? I can hardly believe it. Why, they are beautifully finished! And isn't it a queer thing that only yesterday I told Mrs. Croyden I must buy some bookshelves for my office? You remember, don't you, Madeline?"

Mrs. Croyden nodded.

"Those were his very words," affirmed Mrs. Croyden, turning to Theo. "He said it only at breakfast. I believe it was mental telepathy, Theo."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THIS IS A PRESENT"]

Theo beamed.

He had really succeeded then in giving Mr. Croyden something he wanted! That was pleasure enough.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER XIII

THE TRENTON VISIT

[Ill.u.s.tration: A]

Although originally planned to be of only a week's duration, Theo's visit to the Croydens stretched on into the second week before any one seemed to realize it. Ten days pa.s.sed and still the lad had not been to the porcelain works--one of his chief aims in coming to Trenton. Each morning at breakfast Mrs. Croyden presented so many delightful plans for the day, and was so eager to have Theo accompany her to the golf club, the tennis club, or for a motor ride, that the hours sped by and night came only too soon.

For Mrs. Croyden was a marvelous comrade for a boy, a strange mixture of youthfulness and maturity; of feminine charm and masculine freedom from conventionality. She loved boys and understood how to be one with them, and in consequence the friendship that at first had extended only to Mr. Croyden Theo now stretched to include her. Nor did the stretching demand effort. Who could have resisted the sweet wholesome interest of this fascinating woman with her soft brown eyes, her quick sympathy, and her girlish love of sport?

As the days fled by a tie of real affection strengthened between them, and Theo found himself talking with an amazing freedom of his dreams and ambitions; of his chums; and of his life at home. To all these things Mrs. Croyden listened earnestly, now and then putting in a word of interest or encouragement. Sometimes in the evening Mr. Croyden joined in these talks; and sometimes all three of them abandoned life and its problems and went to the theatre, or to a moving picture show.

"I declare, Theo, I don't know how we are to do without you when you go back home," exclaimed Mr. Croyden one night at dinner. "It will leave a big hole in the house, won't it, Madeline?"

Mrs. Croyden nodded and a shadow pa.s.sed across her face.

"I wish we might borrow Theo for a long, long time," she sighed wistfully. "But I suppose your family would not listen to that, laddie."

"I'm afraid not," Theo answered. "Mother seems to be getting a little impatient as it is. She thinks I've been gone a pretty long time."

"Long? Nonsense! Why, you've only just come," Mr. Croyden said emphatically. "Up to now you have been visiting Mrs. Croyden. You haven't been my guest at all. Haven't we got the porcelain works ahead of us? That will take the best part of another week."

"Then I am afraid I'd better be getting at it," laughed Theo, "for Mother writes we're to leave for Lake George the middle of July."

"Mercy on us!" bl.u.s.tered Mr. Croyden. "I don't see how you can. The middle of July? That settles it. There must be no more kidnapping Theo for golf or tennis, Madeline. From now on he is to be my guest. Understand that."

Mrs. Croyden bowed her head with amusing meekness.

"It shall be as you say, my lord," she answered. "But are you expecting to take Theo to the factory every moment of every day?"

"I don't know," was the grim reply. "That will all depend on how rapidly he learns the business."

There was a general laugh.

"How long has it taken you to learn it, Mr. Croyden?" questioned Theo mischievously.

"Me? Oh, about thirty years."

"Then at that rate I see I shall not get to Lake George this season,"

returned the boy with a smile.

"Oh, I'll be easy with you this first time," Mr. Croyden answered. "I cannot afford to kill you or get you frightened, or you never will come again."

"I guess you needn't worry about my not coming again," Theo retorted. "I have had far too good a time."

"I am glad of that," the elder man a.s.serted heartily.

"And I, too, Theo," murmured Mrs. Croyden. "Do not forget that you have given us far more pleasure than you could possibly have received.

Mr. Croyden and I are often very lonely for a son like you. It has been a boon to have you here. That is why you must not let this ambitious husband of mine tire you all out by setting you too strenuously at porcelain-making," she added playfully. "Is it to-morrow that you plan to drag Theo forth on this crusade to the factory, my dear?"

Mr. Croyden glanced up at the words.

"Yes, to-morrow morning. I shall take Theo down to the works with me directly after breakfast," he answered. "You better get to bed early to-night, son, so to be prepared for the worst."

"I shan't waste any worry about the trip," grinned Theo as they rose from the dinner table.

It was a warm night, and the three strolled out on the veranda, which overlooked the green of the country club.

"I suppose," Theo remarked, "n.o.body has any idea when pottery and porcelain were first made in America."

"Barring out the pottery of the Mound Builders, the American Indians, and the early clay work done in West Virginia I imagine our modern china was first introduced into America at Philadelphia," Mr. Croyden said. "At least records would indicate that to be the case. Between 1760 and 1770 potteries sprung up there and thrived so l.u.s.tily that Wedgwood noted their success and urged the English government to check them lest they injure English trade. At these Philadelphia factories hard porcelain with a good quality of glaze was turned out; also much blue and white stone-china in the form of jars, b.u.t.ter-pots, bowls, and plates. Some mortars and pestles such as Wedgwood himself made were also manufactured, so what wonder that he was disturbed at the thought of losing the monopoly? In a letter to a friend he speaks of pottery being made in the Carolinas as well, and declares it would be a great calamity were the colonies to begin making their own dishes."

"The idea!" burst out Theo.

"It was business," replied Mr. Croyden. "Of course England would far rather ship her wares to America and collect the revenue than to have the colonists learn to do without her. For a long time, as the early papers a.s.sure us, crates of Queen's ware and the coa.r.s.er brown earthenwares, as well as quant.i.ties of stone-china continued to be shipped to America, and advertised for sale. In the meantime, however, the new settlers were contriving to make earthenware jars, jugs, flasks, mugs, and teapots of their own, and supplemented by the pewter dishes they had brought with them from England, they were managing to get on very well without outside aid. Not only was salt glaze pottery manufactured in Philadelphia along with a small amount of real porcelain, but in such Connecticut towns as Norwalk, Hartford, and Stonington experiments with earthenware were also being made. By 1810 the Secretary of the Treasury reported great progress in the manufacture of Queen's ware, and it is evident from what he says that by this time the coa.r.s.er varieties of earthenware were being very generally manufactured; he also mentions four factories for the finer types of porcelain-making."

"I think we did pretty well to get to making so much chinaware in such a short time," Theo observed.

"We did do well for a new country," agreed Mr. Croyden, "but you must remember we had the whip-lash of necessity at our backs. The wares imported from England were very expensive, and dishes we were forced to have; especially the simpler utensils for household use. People made their own b.u.t.ter, and needed crocks to keep it in; they needed jugs for milk or water; bowls for cooking. Of course no growing country could continue to import such every-day articles from across the sea. Therefore, although England tried very hard to cater to American tastes and demands by sending over blue and white stone-china decorated with American views, and even pitchers adorned with portraits of Washington, the American Eagle, and the names of the thirteen original States, we did not allow ourselves to be tempted away from our undertakings, but went right on increasing our own manufactures."