126 BEYOND THE PASTURE BARS 



them up in the glass show-cases of the Institute 

 museum. 



It was while I was doing this that the old nat- 

 uralist came to visit the Institute in order to see 

 how we were treating his birds and beasts. 



I was greatly excited. I had read about great 

 naturalists Linnaeus, and Gilbert White, Pro- 

 fessor Agassiz, John James Audubon, Thoreau, 

 and old Tom Edwards but I had never seen one 

 alive, much more, spoken with one. Great nat- 

 uralists did not often come to southern New Jer- 

 sey. Yet here was one under the same roof with 

 me, and who would be coming in at the museum 

 door any moment. I could hardly work for ex- 

 citement. 



For I had been told all about him, how he was 

 the friend of Agassiz, how he had hunted birds 

 and snakes all over the world, how he had been 

 bitten by centipeds, and poisoned with the arsenic 

 used in curing skins, how he had been the first 

 white man to explore Lake Okechobee in Florida, 

 and, most wonderful of all, how he had written 

 a book ! Yes, and I had a copy of that book and 

 had read it through and through. 



Of course I was excited, and happy, and, 

 though I did not dare say it to myself, I felt also 



