THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
99 
“Well,” said Davidson, “as there is about as 
much probability that Miss Minnie will become 
interested in my personal charms as there is 
that I shall ever be worth the serious thoughts 
of a. sensible woman, you will probably enjoy 
my delightful companionship for a long time 
yet. But, as we have gathered a good supply 
of specimens, it would be better to adjourn this 
wise discussion. We can then report to the 
doctor the results of our expedition, and see 
what wonders of natural history we have un¬ 
consciously captured.” 
At the appointed hour there was a prompt 
gathering for the promised lecture, when the 
specimens collected by the young men were 
presented and received with thanks. The doc¬ 
tor began his remarks by saying: 
“ I judge from the appearance of your collec¬ 
tions that you have been fortunate in securing 
specimens well adapted to illustrate that round 
in Nature’s beautiful ladder on which I wish to 
place our feet in this interview. 
“ We have been lingering on the borders of 
a land filled with marvels of a minute world, 
but as yet we have inspected only a tithe of its 
curious forms of life. The lines of demarcation 
