after the insect.
Daintily it settled upon a flower for a second, then away it went just
as the girl gave her net a frantic swish to catch it. Hither and thither
the creature darted as though intoxicated with its freedom after being
earth-bound for so long. Round and round went Beatrice after it; onward
and upward it flew, tantalizingly near sometimes, but ever escaping
capture. Presently it rose, and disappeared over the tree tops.

[Illustration: "OUT THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW SAILED THE BUTTERFLY."]

"It's gone," cried Bee with a sob. "It's gone. What will father think?
And the door! The door is still open."

She ran back to the house as fast as she could. Panting and breathless,
hot and tired, she clambered through the window into the study.

"Beatrice." Doctor Raymond stood by the open door of the laboratory, his
face very grave. "Why is this door open? I might lose a very valuable
specimen through such carelessness."

"Oh, father!" cried Bee, bursting into tears. "I have lost a valuable
specimen already. I have lost your Teinopalpus Imperialis. I left the
door open to go in to put the sorrel grass in the cage for some larvae,
and it flew out. Father, father, I--"

Chapter XIX

The Closed Door

"When cometh the close of a cherished thing,
How keenly our heart to its charm doth cling,
For it seems as sunshine vanishing."

--_Pall Mall Gazette._

Doctor Raymond looked at her sternly. "My Teinopalpus Imperialis?" he
questioned.

"Yes;" answered Bee brokenly. "After you had gone I remembered that you
had spoken of sorrel grass for the larvae of the Chrysophanus Americanus,
and I thought you had forgotten it, so I ran down to put it in the cage.
I did not expect to be in the laboratory but just a minute so I left the
study door open. After I fixed the sorrel I saw the new butterfly. While
I was looking at it, it rose and flew about the room; and then, and
then--" She paused to collect herself, then continued bravely: "Then I
remembered the door, but before I could reach it the butterfly had flown
into the study, and out through the window. I ran after it to catch it,
but I could not."

"And to the best of my knowledge it is the only known specimen in
existence. Beatrice, do you realize just what your carelessness means?"

"Yes;" sobbed Bee. "I know, father."

"And you are the girl who, but a few days since, assured me that she
would fail me in nothing?"

"Yes;" said Bee again,