recently been introduced there by Oriental traders, and was very
expensive, selling for about eight dollars a pound--at that time a
great deal of money, and even quite a price when rated by our own
standards. People were very ignorant still as to its use. You have
probably heard the story of the servant who, knowing nothing about
preparing the new delicacy, boiled the tea leaves, sprinkled them with
salt and pepper and, throwing away the liquid, served the dainty to
his master in a covered dish."

There was a hearty laugh from Theo.

"As late as 1661 an Englishman named Samuel Pepys, whose diary is an
interesting record of the time, writes: '_I had to-day some tea--a
China drink of which I had never drank before._' Isn't it a pity that
while he was writing the little man did not also put down how he liked
this new beverage?"

Mr. Croyden drew out his watch and rose.

"So you can see, Theo," he added as he stood with his back to the
fire, "what it meant to have tea sets introduced into England. Of
course the cups had no handles as do our teacups of to-day. The
Chinese cups were in reality small bowls without either saucer or
handle. Therefore the Delft teacups copied from them were made in the
same way. The Chinese did not drink their tea very hot, you see, and
therefore could take hold of the cup without burning their fingers;
moreover, they used in their houses tables of teak-wood to which hot
cups did no injury. Since, however, teak-wood was unknown in England
and oak was in general use the English found that the hot cups marred
their tables and later they invented saucers to go under
them. Nevertheless it was a long time before it dawned on potters that
they could make handles for their cups. One of the ear-marks of tea
sets of early manufacture is these handleless cups. With this advent
of dishes, of Delft plaques to be hung on the wall in place of
pictures, and of Delft tiles, many of the common people for the first
time awakened to the discovery that the interiors of their houses
might be made attractive, and something more than mere shelters from
cold and storm. They began buying vases and crude pottery ornaments,
images of flower-girls, fishermen, and of the saints. In Holland
people even hung Delft plaques on the walls of their stables. It was a
new thought to have anything about which was not for actual use."

"I should think that with all this Chinese and Delft ware to copy from
the English would have