Why, a bare cage with iron bars; an ugly piece of
dead meat thrust in to them once a day; and a crowd of fools to come and
stare at them with open mouths!--No, Stubbins. Lions and tigers, the Big
Hunters, should never, never be seen in zoos."

The Doctor seemed to have grown terribly serious--almost sad. But
suddenly his manner changed again and he took me by the arm with his
same old cheerful smile.

"But we haven't seen the butterfly-houses yet--nor the aquariums. Come
along. I am very proud of my butterfly-houses."

Off we went again and came presently into a hedged enclosure. Here I
saw several big huts made of fine wire netting, like cages. Inside the
netting all sorts of beautiful flowers were growing in the sun, with
butterflies skimming over them. The Doctor pointed to the end of one of
the huts where little boxes with holes in them stood in a row.

"Those are the hatching-boxes," said he. "There I put the different
kinds of caterpillars. And as soon as they turn into butterflies and
moths they come out into these flower-gardens to feed."

"Do butterflies have a language?" I asked.

"Oh I fancy they have," said the Doctor--"and the beetles too. But so
far I haven't succeeded in learning much about insect languages. I have
been too busy lately trying to master the shellfish-talk. I mean to take
it up though."

At that moment Polynesia joined us and said, "Doctor, there are two
guinea-pigs at the back door. They say they have run away from the boy
who kept them because they didn't get the right stuff to eat. They want
to know if you will take them in."

"All right," said the Doctor. "Show them the way to the zoo. Give them
the house on the left, near the gate--the one the black fox had. Tell
them what the rules are and give them a square meal--Now, Stubbins, we
will go on to the aquariums. And first of all I must show you my big,
glass, sea-water tank where I keep the shellfish."

THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER. MY SCHOOLMASTER, POLYNESIA

WELL, there were not many days after that, you may be sure, when I did
not come to see my new friend. Indeed I was at his house practically all
day and every day. So that one evening my mother asked me jokingly why
I did not take my bed over there and live at the Doctor's house
altogether.

After a while I think I got to be quite useful to the Doctor, feeding
his pets for him; helping to make new houses and fences for the zoo;
assisting with the sick animals that came;