s of their visit, and to show to their
friends at home. Mrs. Gray bought quite a number of these pictures, and
Rollo himself bought several.

The rooms that interested the young persons most were those which
contained the tools and household implements, and the various utensils
found at Pompeii. In general these things were much more similar to the
corresponding articles of the present day than one would have expected
to find. But yet there were many differences, both of form and
structure, which made them extremely curious to see.

For instance, there was a _bell_ found in one of the houses; but
instead of being hollow, and having a clapper inside, as is the custom
at the present day, it consisted simply of a large, flat ring, like a
plate, with a hole through the centre of it. This ring was hung up by
means of a short chain, and by the side of it there was hung a sort of
hammer. To ring the bell it was necessary to strike it with this hammer.
An attendant in the room did this while Mrs. Gray and Rollo were there,
to let them hear how the bell sounded.

"It sounds very well indeed," said Rollo.

"Yes," replied Rosie; "but I don't think it is quite so musical as one
of our bells."

There were several pairs of steelyards in the room, too, which were very
much like the steelyards of the present day, only they were made of a
more ornamental form. The weights were quite pretty little pieces of
sculpture and statuary.

There were some very curious and pretty little cooking fireplaces, one
of which, in particular, the young people admired very much indeed.
Rosie said that she should have liked it very much herself, when she was
a child, to play with. In the centre was a sort of pan for the coals, or
embers, and all around was a raised border, made double, with a space
between to contain water. In one corner there was a raised part, with
an opening to pour in the water, and in front, below, there was a small
faucet for the purpose of drawing the water out. Of course the embers or
coals in the centre of the pan kept the water in the reservoir around it
always warm.

There was also a little place on one side where a kettle or a saucepan
could stand on two supports, with an opening below to put the coals
under.

A great many of the floors in Pompeii were found to be in mosaic; that
is, they were formed of various colored stones, arranged together in a
sort of bed of cement, in such a manner as to show a picture, or some