He realised well enough that his Heliconian eggs were not
as valuable as my Silver Moon eggs. So first he sneaked in here and put
an ichneumon fly in my breeding-cage. And next he stole the Silver Moon
eggs and left in their place some common _Plexippus_ eggs, thinking that
because they were very similar I would not notice the substitution.
"I did notice it! I charged him with that cataclysmic outrage. He
laughed. We came into personal collision. He chased me into my room."
Panting, breathless with rage at the memory of the morning's defeat which
I had witnessed, Quint glared at me for a moment. Then he jerked his head
toward Mildred:
"As soon as he went to luncheon--Boomly, I mean--I climbed over that
transom and dropped into this room. I had been hunting for ten minutes
before I found my Silver Moon eggs hidden under the carpet. So I pocketed
them, climbed back over the transom, and went to my room."
He paused dramatically, staring from one to another of us:
"Boomly was there!" he said slowly.
"Where?" asked Mildred with a shudder.
"In my room. He had picked the lock. I told him to get out! He went.
I shouted after him that I had recovered the Silver Moon eggs and that
I should certainly be awarded the Carnegie medal.
Pages:
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231