Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1872-05-01
Tilly's Lesson In Geology.

Tlly sat on the old door.stone with her
two precious pebbles in her hands They
we're smooth aud white and glstenng, aud
came from the shores Of that wonderful ocean
that Tlly always dreamed about, but never
had seen. The Stone Professor himself
brought the pebbles to Tilly, and when he
leaned out Of the window, and saw the lit
tie maiden holding them against her round
red cheeks he smiled little all to himself,
aud came aud sat down by her, while Tily
looked shy and glad, but didn't speak a word.
So You like them, do you" said the Stone
Professor, we'll, I'll tell you story about
them.
Many, many years ago, Tilly, long before
either You or | were born, each one of these
little pebbles was rough piece Of stone that
had crumbled of from some great rock, aud
it fell into the water somewhere, perhaps it
was great ocean, or maybe only river,
but it lay in some place, where the waves
washed over it, and rolled it about, aud very
slowly those waves wore off the rough corners
and sharp edges, and very slowly the rough
stones grew smooth. If you had looked at
it one May-day, and not seen it again till the
next May day came, | suppose you would
hardly have noticed any change, but it was
ust little different every spring it came
lu, smoother than il was the year before, til.
after great while, all the rough part was
gone, aud what was left was this beautiful
round pebble
Tilly handled over the two she was holding,
while the Stoue Professor talked, and tried to
make believe they looked as he said they
used to, but it was hard work to think that
anything as soft as water could have worn of
such hard stone.
And this is another treasure, | suppose,
| picking up 4 pie1e of pudding-stone that
peeped from the little ruiled pocket of Tily's
apron maybe you think this stone was
made so but it was Lot Once upon time,
little pile Of gravel stones lay in hollow
all by themselves There came gr .at rain
lnd washed some soft, sticky mud down and
covered them all up; it squeezed itself in
,moug the little stones, and filled every crew
zee then, when the rain was over the sun
,hone on it, and baked it hard, and afterward
il got covered up under sand, aud earth and
stones, and there it lay, growing harder all
he time, till the mud was dark brown stone
itself, when some one was digging there one
lay, and found this brown stone, all full OF
little stones, that look like the raisns in your
lrandmolher's Thanksgiving pudding, and
hats why they call it pudding stone"
Tilly laid down her pebbles and examined
her queer little bit of pudding-stone, and then
laid all three in a straight row on the door
stone. They were very precious in her eyes,
nd she was just making up her mind to put
them in her cabinet and label them gems"
IS she had seen some precious things in the
professors cabinet labeled Bat Just then
the professor went on
" Here's this rough, old door stone, Tilly !;
al the scrubbiug and securing in the world
could never make it smooth and white like
that one over the way. But do you see these
queer marks in it--just such marks as the
geese make in the mud along the edge Of the
gutter, only ever aud ever so much larger
| See, here is one, and here is another regu.
lar bird tracks"
Why, so they are said Tilly, getting
Town on her knees, aud laying her chubby
fingers 10 the marks.
Aud once upon a time you see it's just
/ like fairy story-once upon Il time, this old
loor.stone wasn't stone at all, but just mud,
stiff gray mud, and great bird came stalk.
ing along, aud left his foot prints in it. And
the sun dried the mud and there the tracks
we're and the sand blew over them, and COW
cred them entirely from the view, and at last
the gray mud itself turned into stone. 1t was
great many years about it aud, in the
meantime the big bird and all its relations
had utterly disappeared so that when at last
men dug up the stone and saw the curious
tracks, they could only guess how the bird
looked that made them. Just think, little
rilly, the bird that walked over this stone
may have died long before Adam was made"
That was long speech for the Professor,
but Tilly seemed to like ii. And am sure
you will. Little Corporal