Page:A Girl of the Limberlost.djvu/318

300 reached the gate. And so excellent are the rewards of attending your own business that he found a splendid Promethea on a lilac in a corner, a moth of such rare wine-coloured, velvety shades that it almost sent Mrs. Comstock to her knees again. But this one was fully developed, able to fly, and had to be taken into the cabin hurriedly, Mrs. Comstock stood in the middle of the room holding up her Regalis. "Now, what must I do?" she asked. Elnora glanced at Philip Ammon. Their eyes met and both of them smiled; he with amusement at the tall, spare figure, with dark eyes and white crown, asking the childish question so confidingly, and Elnora with exultant pride. The girl was beginning to appreciate the greatness of her mother. "How would you like to sit and see her finish development? I'll get dinner," proposed the girl. After they had dined, Ammon and Elnora carried the dishes to the kitchen, brought out boxes, sheets of cork, pins, ink, paper for slips and everything necessary for mounting and classifying the moths they had taken. When the housework was finished Mrs. Comstock brought her ruffle and sat near, watching and listening. She remembered all they said that she understood, and when uncertain she asked questions. Occasionally she laid down her work to straighten some flower which needed attention or to go to the garden for a bug for the grosbeak. In one of these absences Elnora said to Ammon, "These replace quite a number of the moths I lost for