"Ungrateful hexapod!" he cried in dismay, "I intended to honour you with the best place in my collection."
He knew not what to do, and could not reconcile himself to the loss; he reproached himself for not having secured the manticora at the first; he gazed at the forest till he
[Illustration: For that day at least Cousin Benedict had lost his chance of being the happiest of entomologists. Page 435.]
persuaded himself he could see the coveted insect in the distance, and, seized with a frantic impulse, exclaimed,-
"I will have you yet!"
He did not even yet realize the fact that he had gained his liberty, but heedless of everything except his own burning disappointment, and at the risk of being attacked by natives or beset by wild beasts, he was just on the very point of dashing into the heart of the wood when suddenly a giant form confronted him, as suddenly a giant hand seized him by the nape of his neck, and, lifting him up, carried him off with apparently as little exertion as he could himself have carried off his hexapod!
For that day at least Cousin Benedict had lost his chance of being the happiest of entomologists.