not to pay it myself."

"I'll see if I can't get that fellow to swop his bird of Paradise for
some of my stamps, when I go back to school," said Percy.

"Oh, thank you, Percy," said Ted, his eyes shining.

"Anyway you might have some peacocks'," Percy went on. "They're not so
hard to get, and they look so pretty."

"Mother's got some screens made of them on the drawing-room mantelpiece,"
said Ted, "and one of them's got a lot of loose feathers sticking out at
the back that are no use. Perhaps she'd give me one or two. Then I could
make a nice cardful, with the peacocks' at the corners and the little
ones in a sort of a wreath in the middle."

He looked at the sheet of white paper on to which, at present, his
feathers were fastened. "Yes, it would be very pretty," he repeated. But
just then the tea-bell rang, and the children left the museum for that
day.

The boys were in it the next morning, when Ted's mother appeared with a
rather graver face than usual. She did not come in, she knew that Ted
was putting all in perfect order, and that he did not want her to see it
till complete, so she only slightly opened the door and called him out.

"Ted," she said quietly, but Ted saw that she was sorry, "Ted, do you
know anything of this?"

She held up as she spoke a pretty and valuable little china ornament
which always stood on the drawing-room mantelpiece. It was broken--quite
spoilt--it could never be the same again.

"Oh dear," exclaimed Ted, "what a pity! Your dear little flower-basket.
I am so sorry. How could it have got broken?"

"I don't know," said his mother. "I found it lying on the floor. It
seemed as if some one had knocked it over without knowing. You are sure
you were not trying to reach anything off the mantelpiece yesterday
evening?"

"Sure," said Ted, looking sorry and puzzled.

"It stood just in front of my screen of peacock feathers," his mother
went on. She did not in the very very least doubt his assurance, but his
manner gave her the feeling that if she helped his memory a little, he
might be able to throw some light on the mystery.

"In front of the peacock-feather fan," he repeated absently.

"Yes," said his mother, "but do not say anything about it, Ted. We may
find out how it happened, but I do not like questioning every one about
it. It gives the servants a feeling that I don't trust them, for they
always tell me if they break anything. So don't say anything more about
it to _any one