. He wanted the Carnegie medal, and he knew it would be
given to me if I could incubate and hatch my batch of Silver Moon
butterfly eggs. He realised well enough that his Heliconian eggs were not
as valuable as my Silver Moon eggs. So first he sneaked in here and put
an ichneumon fly in my breeding-cage. And next he stole the Silver Moon
eggs and left in their place some common _Plexippus_ eggs, thinking that
because they were very similar I would not notice the substitution.

"I did notice it! I charged him with that cataclysmic outrage. He
laughed. We came into personal collision. He chased me into my room."

Panting, breathless with rage at the memory of the morning's defeat which
I had witnessed, Quint glared at me for a moment. Then he jerked his head
toward Mildred:

"As soon as he went to luncheon--Boomly, I mean--I climbed over that
transom and dropped into this room. I had been hunting for ten minutes
before I found my Silver Moon eggs hidden under the carpet. So I pocketed
them, climbed back over the transom, and went to my room."

He paused dramatically, staring from one to another of us:

"Boomly was there!" he said slowly.

"Where?" asked Mildred with a shudder.

"In my room. He had picked the lock. I told him to get out! He went.
I shouted after him that I had recovered the Silver Moon eggs and that
I should certainly be awarded the Carnegie medal.

"Then that monster in human form laughed a horrible laugh, avowing
himself guilty of a crime still more hideous than the theft of the Silver
Moon eggs! Do you know what he had done?"

"W-what?" faltered Mildred.

"He had stolen from cold storage and had concealed the leaves of the
Bimba bush, brought from Singapore to feed the Silver Moon caterpillars!
_That's_ what Boomly had done!

_"And my Silver Moon eggs had already begun to hatch!!! And my
caterpillars would starve!!!!"_

His voice ended in a yell; he struggled on his chair until it nearly
upset.

"You lunatic!" I shouted. "Was that a reason for spilling the blood of a
human being!"

"It was reason enough for me!"

"Madman!"

"Let me loose! He's hidden those leaves somewhere or other! I've torn
this place to pieces looking for them. I've got to find them, I tell
you--"

Mildred went to the infuriated entomologist and laid a firm hand on his
shoulder:

"Listen," she said: "how do you know that Professor Boomly has not
concealed these Bimba leaves on his own person?"

Quint ceased