“I’m sure I don’t know,” answered the professor, as he made a grab for a large bug that was trying to get down a crack, for some of the scientist’s specimens were very lively. “I’m sure I don’t know. I was sleeping peacefully, when I was suddenly awakened by this man shouting.”
“How did you come to get the beetles?” asked Jerry, looking severely at Mr. Buttle.
“I didn’t git ’em, they got me,” he declared. “Th’ consarned critters pinch wuss than lobsters.”
“They are a form of land lobster,” the professor explained as he carefully caught the two beetles in a box and closed the lid. “But I don’t see how they got out. I had the top securely closed.”
“Perhaps Mr. Buttle can explain,” remarked Ned significantly. That individual squirmed uneasily.
“Wa’al, I got t’ thinkin’ in th’ night, that maybe th’ professor might need a drink of water,” explained the farmer, “’count of him eatin’ so much ham. So I brung some water up. There’s the pitcher,” and he pointed to one, in proof of his assertion. “I knocked on th’ door,” he went on, “but th’ professor didn’t answer, an’ then I thought it’d be a pity to wake him up. So I thought I’d jest push th’ door open, an’ leave th’ water where he could git it.
“Wa’al, I done so, an’ I were jest leavin’ when them two big black bugs jumped out of th’ darkness an’ grabbed me. Then I let out a yell.”
“Yes, we heard you yell,” spoke Bob gently, and Ned felt like laughing, only the matter seemed to be too serious.
“I don’t see how those horned beetles could get out when the boxes were tightly fastened,” observed the professor simply.
“Wa’al, they got out all right, an’ they got on me,” went on the farmer. “Ef I git blood poison I’ll have t’ sue ye.”