You have already seen the letters of my country on the coins I showed
you last evening."
And here I again pulled out my pocket-book, and emptied the contents on
the table.
He began to pick up the sovereigns one by one to examine them.
Meanwhile, finding my beautiful black and gold stylograph pen inserted
in the book, I thought I could not do better than to show him how I
wrote. Fortunately, the fluid in it had not become dry. Tearing a blank
page from my book I hastily scribbled a few lines, and handed the paper
to him, saying: "This is how I write."
He began studying the paper, but his eyes, I perceived, wandered often
to the stylograph pen in my hand.
Presently he remarked: "This writing, or these marks you have made on
the paper, are not the same as the letters on the gold."
I took the paper and proceeded to copy the sentence I had written, but
in printing letters, beneath it, then returned it to him.
He examined it again, and, after comparing my letters with those on the
sovereigns, said: "Pray tell me, now, what you have written here, and
explain why you write in two different ways?"
I told him, as well as I could, why letters of one form were used to
stamp on gold and other substances, and of a different form for writing.
Pages:
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124