“We will have company to supper, Mrs. Gilcuddy,” went on the professor. “Put on three extra plates.”
A pleasant-faced woman came into the dining room.
“And you might take these,” the professor went on, holding out his wet shoes to her. “They’ll need drying.”
“Oh, if you haven’t been and done it again!” she cried, raising her hands in dismay. “You’ll catch cold, Professor.”
“Oh, I think not,” he said mildly. “These young gentlemen, friends of mine, made me take off my shoes and wrap my feet in a blanket. They are really quite warm now. Sit down, boys. Mrs. Gilcuddy will soon have supper ready. Sit down.”
“I’d like to know where they’re going to sit!” exclaimed the housekeeper. “Every chair in the place holds some of your specimens, Mr. Snodgrass.”
“We’ll clear some of them away,” offered Jerry. “We’ve been with the professor before.”
He started to lift an accumulation of boxes off one of the chairs, but the little scientist, dropping the shoes, which Mrs. Gilcuddy had not taken, cried:
“Look out, Jerry! Handle that gently. That contains some of my choicest specimens of _Argynnis atalantis_.”
“What’s that?” asked Jerry. “A new kind of fish?”
“It is the mountain silverspot butterfly,” the professor explained. “I was all day getting two specimens. I wouldn’t lose them for the world. Bring me my slippers, Mrs. Gilcuddy, and I’ll clear off the chairs myself,” and this he did after some confusion.
“Well, boys, now you’re here, let me say how glad I am to see you all,” said Professor Snodgrass, when the three chums had made themselves ready for the supper which could be smelled cooking in the kitchen. “I am very glad you came.”
“So are we,” echoed Bob, his eyes on the door leading to the kitchen.
During the meal there was much talk. The professor told what he had been doing since he had last seen the boys; while, on their part, they related their experiences and the doings which had led to their being sent to Boxwood Hall.
“You’ll like it here,” declared the scientist. “We have some of the most scholarly minds of the country at this college. You will gain knowledge that will be of unsurpassed value to you.”
“That’s all very well,” replied Ned, “but we came here to have a little fun, too, Professor. Are there any lively students here?”