“Let each one write on a slip of paper the place he’d like to go to. We’ll drop the slips in a hat and one of us, blindfolded, can pull a slip out. We’ll go wherever the slip says.”
“Suits me,” exclaimed Bob, and Jerry nodded assent.
Pencils and paper were provided, and the boys were about to write down their choices when there came a knock on the library door. A moment later the portal opened and Mr. Slade was looking in on the chums.
“A visitor to see you,” he announced.
“To see who?” asked Ned.
“All three of you. Let me present Professor Uriah Snodgrass.”
“Professor Snodgrass!” exclaimed the three boys in a surprised chorus. “Where did he come from?”
“I just arrived,” announced a little man with very large spectacles, as he stepped past Mr. Slade and bowed to the boys. “I reached town this afternoon, and inquired for Mr. Slade’s store, as I had some business to transact. He heard my name, and remembered me. He invited me to call this evening, and—here I am.”
“Yes, and just in time, too,” cried Ned.
“How is that? Have you just captured a rare specimen of a mosquito or a June bug for me?” and the professor was ready at once to mount his hobby and start off on a scientific discussion.