I saw my opportunity at once. The eccentric old man, by
acquiring two such extraordinary _objets d'art_ had indulged himself in
a sneer at the world's proverbial wisdom. I would come to the rescue of
our threatened stock of experience by gathering the facts that upheld
it. I would make it, besides, more than the selfish hobby of the private
collector who gives the world only a very little share of the pleasure
he tastes. I would make my collection a museum and a laboratory. Instead
of reading about the wise ant and the busy bee people should come and
see them in the life. It was the difference between reading about
animals in a book and seeing them in the life."
"And have you succeeded?" I asked.
"Beyond all expectations," he replied. "Come, I will take you through my
galleries," and he showed the way into the queerest garden I have ever
seen. It was as if a menagerie and a museum had been brought together in
the open air. Between enclosures and cages which harboured animals of
all species, ran long tables supporting glass cases like those used for
exhibiting coins or rare manuscripts.
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