The Doctor seemed to have grown terribly serious--almost sad. But
suddenly his manner changed again and he took me by the arm with
his same old cheerful smile.
"But we haven't seen the butterfly-houses yet--nor the aquariums.
Come along. I am very proud of my butterfly-houses."
Off we went again and came presently into a hedged enclosure.
Here I saw several big huts made of fine wire netting, like
cages. Inside the netting all sorts of beautiful flowers were
growing in the sun, with butterflies skimming over them. The
Doctor pointed to the end of one of the huts where little boxes
with holes in them stood in a row.
"Those are the hatching-boxes," said he. "There I put the
different kinds of caterpillars. And as soon as they turn into
butterflies and moths they come out into these flower-gardens to
feed."
"Do butterflies have a language?" I asked.
"Oh I fancy they have," said the Doctor--"and the beetles too.
But so far I haven't succeeded in learning much about insect
languages. I have been too busy lately trying to master the
shellfish-talk. I mean to take it up though."
At that moment Polynesia joined us and said, "Doctor, there are
two guinea-pigs at the back door. They say they have run away
from the boy who kept them because they didn't get the right
stuff to eat. They want to know if you will take them in."
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