"That may be; but a man who will go on as he did when we pulled him out of the water, and who hasn't sense enough to know when he is wearing a cap belonging to somebody else, can't have much wit. Professor! He never saw Yarmouth University, and you'll never hear from him again, either. What have you got there?" added Sam, glancing at a piece of wood which his companion just then took from the work-bench.
"I wrote down some of his hard words," replied Oscar, passing the board over to Sam. "You are fresh from your books, and I'd like to have you translate them for me. I'll tell you what's a fact: I have come to the conclusion that I don't know anything about natural history."
"He talked in a regular scientific style, didn't he?" said Sam, after he had run his eyes over the board. "The animal kingdom, as you know, is divided into branches, classes, orders, families, genera, and species. The branch Vertebrates is divided into five classes—fishes, batrachians, reptiles, birds, and mammalia. The class birds is divided into seven orders, two of which you have put down here. The Rasores are scratchers, such as the turkey and grouse, and the Insessores are perchers. To this order belong all our songbirds."
"Well, he went down the river after some specimens of the Fuligula Valisneria," said Oscar. "What are they?"
"That's a conundrum," replied Sam.
"What's a Bombycilla Carolinensis?"
"I give it up. There are only a few words more here that I can understand; and, Oscar, I'll say this much for you: your spelling is simply fearful. The Pachydermata are thick-skinned animals, such as the elephant and rhinoceros; the Ruminantia are those that chew the cud, like the cow and sheep; the Digitigrades walk on their toes—the cat and dog belong to this family—and the Plantigrades walk on their heels. To this family the bear belongs. That is as far as I can help you. But I'll tell you what we will do," added Sam, jumping down from the bench and pulling out his watch. "I'll be around here to-night, within fifteen minutes after school is dismissed, and you go home and take supper with me. In the early part of the evening I'll beat you playing a game of chess, and then we'll go over and call on Mr. Chamberlain. He will make everything clear to you. I don't believe you have been near him since you left school."
"No, I haven't," answered Oscar. "I was obliged to neglect everybody while I was in the store. I'll be ready for you."
Sam rushed out, slamming the door behind him, and hurried toward the gate; but, just then, Oscar happened to think of something, so he ran to the door and called him back.