ilton, who
chanced to be at that time the English ambassador to Naples. From him
it passed to the Duchess of Portland, and at her death was sold at
auction to the new Duke of Portland. That is the way it got its name.
Now the Duke, desirous of putting his precious purchase in a safe
place, and also wishing to allow others to enjoy it, lent it to the
British Museum. Imagine his horror and that of the Museum authorities
when in 1845 a lunatic named Lloyd, who saw it, viciously smashed it to
pieces."

His hearers gasped.

"To see it you would not dream that it had ever been broken, would you?
Yes, it has been so carefully mended that no one could tell the
difference. It was this vase which the English potter, Wedgwood,
coveted so intensely that he bid a thousand pounds for it; the Duke of
Portland outbid him by just twenty-nine pounds. He was, however, a
generous man, and when at last the vase was his he allowed Wedgwood to
copy it. This took a year's time, and even then the copy was far less
beautiful than was the original. Many copies of it have been made
since, but never has any one succeeded in making anything to equal the
vase itself. You will see copies of it in almost all our American
museums."

"I mean to see when I get home if there is a copy of it in Boston,"
Jean remarked.

"You will find one at the Art Museum. And now while we are here there
is still that other famous vase which I mentioned once before and which
I should like to have you see. It is not, perhaps, as fine as the
Naples or the Portland, but it is nevertheless one celebrated the world
over. Like the Naples Vase it came from Pompeii, and like the Portland
Vase it has been skilfully mended. It is called the Auldjo Vase."

Uncle Bob was not long in finding where this treasure stood. It was
small--not more than nine inches in height, and like the other two was
of the familiar blue transparent glass with a white cameo design cut
upon it. Instead of having a Grecian decoration, however, the pattern
was of vines, leaves, and clusters of grapes.

"The Portland Vase, as I have already told you, was perfect when it was
unearthed," Mr. Cabot said. "And the Naples Vase you will remember was
also whole except that its base, or foot, which was probably of gold,
was missing. But the Auldjo Vase was in pieces, and it was only a
single one of these fragments that was bequeathed to the British Museum
by Miss Auldjo. Now when the Museum committee saw this sin