THE BUTTERFLY HUNTERS. 1 7 



He opened his little box and showed Hal and Johnny 

 a poor crushed insect, with its legs and antennae all 

 broken off. 



" Now see here," said Hal, " I 've caught six." 



"Look at that one," said Johnny, "with a beautiful 

 shaded border." 



" Yes," replied Hal, " that is a female butterfly. Mr. 

 Benedict described it to me. I only caught one, although 

 I chased another half-way down the other side of the hill. 

 Now, Johnny, show us your boxful." 



Johnny laughed, and put his box away in his pocket. 

 " The warm sun made the things too lively," said he ; 

 "I had a hard run, and threw my net ever so many 

 times, but the butterflies always darted off into the air. 

 And all the while I could see you off on the hill, down 

 on your knees and boxing them up." 



The boys gathered up their flowers and went home. 

 Johnny gave a large bunch of the Saxifrage to Rose, 



« 



and carried the rest home to his sister Annie. 



In the evening the boys all met again at the school- 

 room. Mr. Benedict was much gratified to find the boys 

 taking so much interest in their study, and he praised 

 them for the number of specimens they had brought, and 

 for the careful manner in which most of them had been 

 'prepared. 



"These beautiful yellow butterflies," said he, "belong to 



