CHAPTER V. OSCAR RECEIVES A LETTER.
The young taxidermist walked over to the table and picked up the grouse. It was a perfect specimen of his work, and he held it off at arm's length and admired it.
"I'll put this in Mr. Jackson's case," said he, as he arranged some of the plumage with a pair of pliers. "Then I'll put in a pair of quails, two English snipes, two wood-cock, that young heron over there, and they will be as many as I can stand on the bottom of the case without crowding them too much. Then in the tree I'll put an imperial wood-pecker, and—hold on! I've got another gamebird that I can put in the tree."
The boy was so well pleased with the thought that had just passed through his mind that he laughed outright.
He put the grouse back upon the table, and took from one of the shelves a beautiful bird which was mounted on a board, instead of a perch, because it was web-footed. He looked at it closely, and found that it was in as good order as when it first came out from under his hands.
"Yes, I'll put that in the tree, too," said he, with another laugh, "and we'll see what Mr. Jackson will say when he finds it there."
Oscar passed along the shelves, taking down one specimen after another, and when he had selected as many as he thought he could use he went into the shop, dropped the curtain to its place, and, after lighting a fire in the stove, took some well-seasoned boards from the corner where he had placed them for safe keeping, and went to work upon the case.
During the next few days, Oscar toiled early and late. Under his skilful hands, the case grew in size and shape, and when at last it was put together, Oscar thrust his hands into his pockets and stood off to make a critical examination of it.
The front was composed of double glass doors, hung on silver-plated hinges; the joints were tight and, taken altogether, it was a piece of work with which any cabinet-maker would have been entirely satisfied.