124 Old Primrose

So he went to the lending library, and
asked for a natural history book.

‘‘What subject do you want ?” asked the
librarian.

Old Primrose was too artful to divulge
his great secret like that. He wasn’t going
to say “ Butterfly” and give himself away ;
so he said “ Butter.”

“There isn’t anything about butter in the
natural history,” said the librarian. Then
old Primrose tried ‘buttons’; but that
wouldn't do either. However, they gave
him the volume with “B” in it, which was
what he required.

Very eagerly he trotted home and looked
out ‘‘butterflies”—and it referred him to
“moths”; so he doddered back to the lib-
rary, and pretended the subject he wanted
was ‘‘mottled soap.”

“No ‘mottled soap’ in the natural his-
tory,” said the librarian; but he was tired
of old Primose, and gave him the volume
containing the M’s.

Then the old man set to work to study
the subject deeply, and discovered that