Jack obligingly threw in the reverse to humor the little man, who darted forward and began scraping up the dust in the road with his hands as if he had been a dog scratching out a rabbit hole. He began chipping away eagerly with his hammer at some rock that cropped up out of the road.
He broke off a piece with his hammer, which was an oddly shaped tool, and drawing out a big magnifying glass scanned the chip intently. He appeared to have forgotten all about the waiting boys. But now he seemed to remember them. He looked up, beaming.
"A magnificent specimen. One of the finest I have ever seen. Most remarkable!"
And with that he popped the bit of stone into his bag, which the boys now saw was filled with similar objects.
"Maybe he'll let us get by now," remarked Tom, but a sudden exclamation from Dick Donovan cut him short.
"Why, hullo, professor," he said, "out collecting specimens?"
The little man peered at him sharply. And then broke into a smile of recognition.
"Why, it's Dick Donovan!" he beamed, hastening up to the car, "the young journalist who wrote an article about my specimens once and woefully mixed them up. However, to an unscientific mind——"
"They are all just rocks," finished Dick with a grin.
"I have had unusual success to-day," said the professor, who appeared not to have heard the remark. "I must have at least fifty pounds of specimens on my back at this minute."