y specimen brought him. Many of the pupils of the school availed
themselves of this suggestion, and before a month was out there
blossomed forth a host of stones of every imaginable hue set in rings or
scarfpins of silver. Stone-hunting became a craze and the geological
department gained scores of pupils in consequence. One heard murmurs
about quartz and crystals as one passed through the school corridors,
and one came upon eager scientists comparing rings, brooches, or
pendants.

The drawing department was beset with pupils who wished either to make
designs for jewelry, or to look over books on ancient settings for gems.

Louise Clausen had a necklace she had made herself at arts and crafts
class; it was set with stones she had collected--common pebbles that had
been polished--and it was the envy of the entire student body. Her
mother had let her melt up an old silver butter-dish to make it, she
explained.

Burmingham boys and girls went home _en masse_ and begged to be allowed
to melt up old water pitchers, mugs, or napkin rings, and fashion
jewelry.

Out of the jumble of material turned in from various sources one number
after another of the _March Hare_ appeared, each marked by a freshness
of subject matter and a freedom of expression in such complete contrast
to other publications that even such an august medium as the _Echo_
broke over its traditions to a sufficient extent to glean an idea here
and there from the infant prodigy and enlarge upon it.

Once no less a personage than Mr. Arthur Presby Carter himself asked of
Paul permission to reprint in the columns of his paper an article that
had particularly appealed to him as unique and interesting.

"I tried," declared Paul, when relating the incident to his father, "not
to fall all over myself when granting the permission. I told him that of
course the thing was copyrighted, but that we should be glad to have him
use it on the condition that he printed the source from which he had
obtained it. One of his men told me afterward that we let him off too
easy--that Carter was determined to have the article, and would have
paid us a good sum for the privilege of republishing it. We never
thought of charging him for it; we were proud as Punch to have him
reprint it."

Mr. Cameron laughed. Paul's frankness had always been one of the lad's
greatest charms.

"Pride goeth before destruction, my son," he remarked jestingly.
"However, perhaps you did as well not to