"But tell me, where did you get that leetle thing?" he asked me again presently, taking up in his hand the Indian clasp.
"I traded for it among the Crow Indians."
"You know what it iss, eh?"
"No, except that it is Indian made."
He scanned the round disks carefully. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "I show you sometings."
He reached for my pencil, drew toward him a piece of paper, taking from his pocket meantime a bit of string. Using the latter for a radius, he drew a circle on the piece of paper.
"Now look what I do!" he said, as I bent over curiously. "See, I draw a straight line through the circle. I divide it in half, so. I divide it in half once more, and make a point. Now I shorten my string, one-half. On each side of my long line I make me a half circle—only half way round on the opposite sides. So, now, what I got, eh? You understand him?"
I shook my head. He pointed in turn to the rude ornamentation in the shell clasp. I declare that then I could see a resemblance between the two designs!
"It is curious," I said.
"Mein Gott! it iss more than curious. It iss vonderful! I haf two Amazonias collected by my own bands, and twelve species of my own discovery, yess, in butterflies alone. That iss much? Listen. It iss notings! Here iss the discovery!"