"And a jelly-jar it is, Jack, but you wouldn't care to eat what's inside. It's some rare specimens of the Coleoptera,* Jack. I spotted them ayont the hill last night, so I just rubbed the inside of this jar with butter, and stuck it in a bush. I've now been to fetch it, and it's about half full. I'll show them to you at breakfast."
* The Beetle tribe.
"Oh no, thanks; not then."
"Beauties they are, I assure you, and prettily bronzed; and some in uniform, you might say—in navy-blue with gold and white facings."
"Indeed!"
"Ay, indeed; and this, it seems to me, is a provision of nature to enliven the ghastly duty they perform."
"Ghastly duty, doctor?"
"Ay, ay, just. They bury the dead!"
By this time Jack was nearly ready, and it was almost daylight.
"Why, Dr. Reikie, you're wounded!"