themselves a chance of prosperity. Humplebee need no longer hesitate. He
had his little capital to meet the first expenses, and if need arose there
need not be the slightest doubt that Mr. Chadwick would assist him. A kind
gentleman Mr. Chadwick! Had he not expressly desired to see Harry's mother,
and had he not assured her in every way possible of his debt and gratitude
he felt towards all who bore the name of Humplebee? The draper, if he
neglected his opportunity, would be an idiot--a mere idiot.

So, when the boy came home for his holidays he found two momentous things
decided; first, that he should forthwith enter Mr. Chadwick's office;
secondly, that the little shop should be abandoned and a new one taken in a
better neighbourhood.

Now Harry Humplebee had in his soul a secret desire and a secret
abhorrence. Ever since he could read his delight had been in books of
natural history; beasts, birds, and fishes possessed his imagination, and
for nothing else in the intellectual world did he really care. With poor
resources he had learned a great deal of his beloved subjects. Whenever he
could get away into the fields he was happy; to lie still for hours
watching some wild thing, noting its features and its ways, seemed to him
perfect enjoyment. His treasure was a collection, locked in a cupboard at
home, of eggs, skeletons, butterflies, beetles, and I know not what. His
father regarded all this as harmless amusement, his mother contemptuously
tolerated it or, in worse humour, condemned it as waste of time. When at
school the boy had frequent opportunities of pursuing his study, for he was
in mid country and could wander as he liked on free afternoons; but neither
the headmaster nor his assistant thought it worth while to pay heed to
Humplebee's predilection. True, it had been noticed more than once that in
writing an 'essay' he showed unusual observation of natural things; this,
however, did not strike his educators as a matter of any importance; it was