The Story of Porcelain Part 11

"The j.a.panese came in time to be great traders," continued Mr. Croyden, "and they are going to be still greater ones some day. They invented many other kinds of pottery and porcelain which they sold to the merchants of Holland. Satsuma is a pottery in which they excelled. It has a body of cream-colored earthenware not unlike Wedgwood's Queen's ware, and this is richly decorated in dull colors and gold. In order to please the Dutch traders the j.a.panese even painted angels, saints, and other Christian figures both on their pottery and porcelain, which proves they must have been pretty eager for European customers. At the present moment they are equally willing to cater to American and European demands, and to gratify our inartistic public by sending into our markets all sorts of cheap, gaudily decorated goods which they themselves would not tolerate. It is a deplorable fact, too, that we buy them. Now you surely have got your money's worth of lecture for to-night. If you are not tired, I am. Good-night, sonny!"

"Good-night," called Theo as Mr. Croyden pa.s.sed out, "and thank you. I'm sorry you're tired. I am _not_. I could listen all over again."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER VIII

THE THIRD FAMOUS POTTER

Theo's crutches did not arrive as soon as he expected, both because of the remoteness of the camp and a confusion in transportation.

Poor Theo! After getting his hopes up it was hard to be cheerful over this disappointment, and the courage that until now had buoyed him up suddenly began to fail.

"I just wish one of those miserable expressmen could have a broken leg and then he'd see how good it is to be laid up like this," fretted the boy indignantly.

"Oh, come, don't wish that!" Mr. Croyden protested laughing, "for if you decree that the expressmen be disabled you will never get your crutches."

"I suppose not," admitted Theo grudgingly. "But it is so irritating."

"I know that; still, it might be worse, Theo. You really are pretty comfortable, you know."

"Yes."

"You are not suffering."

"No," murmured the lad, hanging his head.

"You have plenty to eat."

"Yes."

"And the food is good."

Theo flushed, but said nothing.

"There is many a boy worse off than you are."

"Probably."

"I guess your father could show you a score of them were you to accompany him on one of his hospital rounds. Suppose, for example, you were in pain every moment, and were never to walk again. That would be a real calamity, and something to fuss about."

Theo raised his eyes.

"I know it, sir," he said instantly. "I'm afraid I have been pretty grumpy and cross."

"No. Until now you have been most patient--phenomenally patient for a lad who loves to be doing something every minute. It is precisely because you have done so well that I'd like you to hold out a little longer."

Theo's lip quivered; then suddenly his scowl melted into a mischievous smile.

"I believe, Mr. Croyden, that you are as good at preaching as you are at lecturing," he observed gaily.

Mr. Croyden nodded his head.

"You are one of the few persons, Theo, who appreciate me at my full value. I am really a very gifted person if only other people suspected it. In return for your recognition of my talents I have half a mind to favor you with another of my celebrated lectures this very instant."

"I wish you would," came eagerly from Theo. "But aren't you going off fis.h.i.+ng this morning?"

"No. Your father and Manuel are going to fish some secret trout hole, and they did not invite me. You see, your father's guide and mine are the best of friends until it comes to trout holes; then they are sworn enemies. Manuel won't tell Tony where he finds his five and six pounders; and Tony won't tell Manuel. Yesterday Tony actually led me nearly half a mile out of my way so Manuel should not see where we were going. He wanted to throw him off the scent, and I guess he did it, too. This rivalry between fis.h.i.+ng guides is very common and sometimes, I am sorry to say, it is less good-natured than here."

"It seems very silly," Theo remarked.

"It is the same old question of protecting the source of one's income. Governments as well as individuals have to confront the problem. You remember how the Chinese tried to shut every one out from knowing how they made their porcelain?"

"Yes, indeed. And you never have told me yet how the European nations found out the secret."

"Until now we had not come to that story," replied Mr. Croyden. "But to-day it chances that that is the very tale I have in mind to tell you."

Theo rubbed his hands, and with a contented smile settled back against the pillows prepared to listen.

"As I told you," began Mr. Croyden, "about 1518 Portuguese traders brought Chinese porcelains into Europe; and following their lead the Dutch imported the same goods in even greater quant.i.ties. Everywhere people marveled at the beauty of these wares just as you would have done if up to that time you had never seen anything but crude clay dishes. The whiteness of the porcelain seemed a miracle, and on every hand people were eager to make such china themselves. Especially eager were the rulers of the different European countries, who were clever enough to see that such production would greatly increase their national fame and prosperity. Now there chanced to be a Prussian by the name of Bottger, an alchemist, who because of the wars had fled for safety to Meissen. He was a man well-versed in the composition of minerals and chemicals, and in consequence Augustus II, who was at that time Elector of Saxony, sent for him, and asked him to join his other skilled chemists, who for a long time had been busy experimenting with clays in the hope of discovering how the Chinese made their porcelain. This was no unusual thing, for chemists of most of the other countries were working feverishly in their laboratories at the same enigma."

"Doesn't it seem funny?"

"As you look back on it, yes," answered Mr. Croyden. "It is almost tragic when you consider the time, patience, and money that went into these experiments--most of them failures, at that."

"Did Bottger fail too?"

"I am coming to that," replied the story-teller. "While mixing various combinations of clays Bottger and his a.s.sociates came upon a hard pottery clay which was neither white nor translucent like the Chinese, but which nevertheless was nearer that ware than anything they had previously succeeded in making. In 1708 some dishes were made from this material, but they were not very satisfactory. After that Bottger tried again. You see he was not a person who was easily discouraged. The next time he got a white ware, but it was not thin; instead it was thick and ugly. He now had the hardness and the whiteness, but not the semi-transparency and fine texture of the Chinese porcelain; and although he tried repeatedly he was unable to fathom the secret of these qualities."

Theo waited while Mr. Croyden stopped to rest.

"The one thing Bottger needed he did not know where to find and that was----"

"Kaolin!" cried Theo.

"Exactly," a.s.sented Mr. Croyden. "What a pity it is that you could not have shouted the magic word in his ear as l.u.s.tily as you have in mine. It would have saved poor Bottger no end of worry and hard work. However, even if he had heard the name it probably would have conveyed nothing to him, for no one in Europe had ever heard of kaolin."

"I suppose it is a Chinese word."

"Yes. The name was taken from the Chinese mountain of Kailing, where the first kaolin, or decomposed feldspar, was found."