er touch the sides of the sagger
nor come in contact with any other piece."

"I never thought of that," owned Theo. "Of course, now that you speak
of it, I can see that when the glaze melts and fuses with the clay it
would show any mark."

"Exactly."

"It must be an awful job to keep each piece separate."

"It demands extreme care," returned Mr. Marwood. "We use all sorts of
little clay devices to support the ware, and keep it in place while it
is in the saggers."

"Does it take about the same length of time to fire the glazed
porcelain as for the biscuit?" inquired Theo.

"No. The glost firing usually takes only from twenty-four to
thirty-six hours. Afterward any bits of glaze projecting from the
china or clinging to it are chipped away with a steel tool and the
piece is examined. If free from flaws it goes either to the packing
room to be shipped, or back to the factory, in case additional
decoration is to be put on over the glaze. You may recall that I told
you that there was an over-glaze and an under-glaze method of
decoration."

"Yes, sir."

"Are your questions answered now?"

"I believe they are, thank you."

"And you can now make china without trouble--whatever kind you like
best?"

"I shouldn't want to start doing it to-morrow," chuckled Theo. "I
think I should rather begin on earthenware."

"You would have to go to some other mills, then," smiled
Mr. Marwood. "We make no C. C. ware here."

"What is C. C. ware?"

"Ask Mr. Croyden," replied Mr. Marwood. "You see, we have a little
joke about it. His name is Charles Croyden and sometimes in jest we
call him C. C. Now C. C. ware (an abbreviation for cream-colored) is
one of the cheapest of the white earthenwares. When first manufactured
it used to be of a pale yellowish tint, but now it is made in
white. Nevertheless its quality has not been materially improved. As
Mr. Croyden manufactures only the finer grades of chinas it is a
favorite quip of ours to call him C. C."

Theo laughed heartily.

"I will ask him about the C. C. ware some time," grinned the boy.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XVIII

THEO'S GREAT CHOICE

[Illustration]

Theo was as good as his word.

That noon as he and Mr. Croyden sat at luncheon he remarked
mischievously:

"You did not tell me, sir, that you made C. C. ware here."

Mr. Croyden raised his eyes quickly and laughed.

"So they passed that joke on to you, did they?" he said. "C. C. ware
indeed!