TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 13 



there are things of much interest in natural history to 

 see and to study ? " 



And as Eene made a gesture of thorough incredu- 

 lity he added, " Meanwhile we will take a turn on the 

 shore. I take possession of you by authority, and we 

 shall see who is right, who wrong. Allow me a 

 couple of minutes to go to my laboratory and get my 

 botanical box and some bottles." 



"I go under compulsion," said Eene, in a tone 

 worthy of a martyr on the way to the stake. 



Leon's workshop, to which he gave the imposing 

 name of laboratory, was a small square apartment, 

 whitewashed and facing the garden ; on some tables 

 various kinds of chemical and physiological apparatus, 

 retorts, bottles, glass tubes of various sizes and dimen- 

 sions glittered gaily in the rays of the sun. Farther 

 on there were books, a series of carefully-labelled 

 phials, specimens of the minerals and fossils of the 

 district, and hanging on the wall here and there, 

 boxes and bags, with quite an array of fishing-lines 

 and butterfly-nets. In the middle of the room stood a 

 large working-table with a microscope covered by its 

 shade. A variety of nets were drying in front of the 

 door, and Leon took possession of the first that 

 was handy. 



" We shall not see much to-day ; the tide has been 

 coming in for an hour already. However, we shall 

 have been, shall have made a beginning." 



