PresentlytheDoctorlookedupandsawusatthedoor. "Oh—comein,Stubbins,"saidhe,"didyouwishtospeaktome?Comeinandtakeachair." "Doctor,"Isaid,"Iwanttobeanaturalist—likeyou—whenIgrowup." "Ohyoudo,doyou?"murmuredtheDoctor."Humph!—Well!—Dearme!—Youdon'tsay!—Well,well!Have,youer—haveyouspokentoyourmotherandfatheraboutit?" "No,notyet,"Isaid."Iwantyoutospeaktothemforme.Youwoulddoitbetter. Iwanttobeyourhelper—yourassistant,ifyou'llhaveme. Lastnightmymotherwassayingthatshedidn'tconsideritrightformetocomeheresooftenformeals. AndI'vebeenthinkingaboutitagooddealsince. Couldn'twemakesomearrangement—couldn'tIworkformymealsandsleephere?" "ButmydearStubbins,"saidtheDoctor,laughing,"youarequitewelcometocomehereforthreemealsadayalltheyearround.I'monlytoogladtohaveyou. Besides,youdodoalotofwork,asitis. I'veoftenfeltthatIoughttopayyouforwhatyoudo—Butwhatarrangementwasitthatyouthoughtof?" "Well,Ithought,"saidI,"thatperhapsyouwouldcomeandseemymotherandfatherandtellthemthatiftheyletmeliveherewithyouandworkhard,thatyouwillteachmetoreadandwrite. Youseemymotherisawfullyanxioustohavemelearnreadingandwriting. Andbesides,Icouldn'tbeapropernaturalistwithout,couldI?" "Oh,Idon'tknowsomuchaboutthat,"saidtheDoctor. "Itisnice,Iadmit,tobeabletoreadandwrite. Butnaturalistsarenotallalike,youknow. Forexample:thisyoungfellowCharlesDarwinthatpeoplearetalkingaboutsomuchnow—he'saCambridgegraduate—readsandwritesverywell.AndthenCuvier—heusedtobeatutor. Butlisten,thegreatestnaturalistofthemalldoesn'tevenknowhowtowritehisownnamenortoreadtheABC." "Heisamysteriousperson,"saidtheDoctor—"averymysteriousperson.HisnameisLongArrow,thesonofGoldenArrow.HeisaRedIndian." "Haveyoueverseenhim?"Iasked. "No,"saidtheDoctor,"I'veneverseenhim.Nowhitemanhasevermethim. IfancyMr.Darwindoesn'tevenknowthatheexists. HelivesalmostentirelywiththeanimalsandwiththedifferenttribesofIndians—usuallysomewhereamongthemountainsofPeru.Neverstayslonginoneplace. Goesfromtribetotribe,likeasortofIndiantramp." "Howdoyouknowsomuchabouthim?"Iasked—"ifyou'veneverevenseenhim?" "ThePurpleBird-of-Paradise,"saidtheDoctor—"shetoldmeallabouthim. Shesaysheisaperfectlymarvelousnaturalist. Igothertotakeamessagetohimformelasttimeshewashere.Iamexpectingherbackanydaynow. Icanhardlywaittoseewhatanswershehasbroughtfromhim. ItisalreadyalmostthelastweekofAugust. Idohopenothinghashappenedtoherontheway." "Butwhydotheanimalsandbirdscometoyouwhentheyaresick?"Isaid—"Whydon'ttheygotohim,ifheissoverywonderful?" "Itseemsthatmymethodsaremoreuptodate,"saidtheDoctor. "ButfromwhatthePurpleBird-of-Paradisetellsme,LongArrow'sknowledgeofnaturalhistorymustbepositivelytremendous. Hisspecialtyisbotany—plantsandallthatsortofthing. Butheknowsalotaboutbirdsandanimalstoo. He'sverygoodonbeesandbeetles—Butnowtellme,Stubbins,areyouquitesurethatyoureallywanttobeanaturalist?" "Yes,"saidI,"mymindismadeup." "Wellyouknow,itisn'taverygoodprofessionformakingmoney.Notatall,itisn't. Mostofthegoodnaturalistsdon'tmakeanymoneywhatever. AlltheydoisSPENDmoney,buyingbutterfly-netsandcasesforbirds'eggsandthings. Itisonlynow,afterIhavebeenanaturalistformanyyears,thatIambeginningtomakealittlemoneyfromthebooksIwrite." "Idon'tcareaboutmoney,"Isaid."Iwanttobeanaturalist. Won'tyoupleasecomeandhavedinnerwithmymotherandfathernextThursday—ItoldthemIwasgoingtoaskyou—andthenyoucantalktothemaboutit. Yousee,there'sanotherthing:ifI'mlivingwithyou,andsortofbelongtoyourhouseandbusiness,Ishallbeabletocomewithyounexttimeyougoonavoyage." "Oh,Isee,"saidhe,smiling."Soyouwanttocomeonavoyagewithme,doyou?—Ahhah!" "Iwanttogoonallyourvoyageswithyou.Itwouldbemucheasierforyouifyouhadsomeonetocarrythebutterfly-netsandnote-books.Wouldn'titnow?" ForalongtimetheDoctorsatthinking,drummingonthedeskwithhisfingers,whileIwaited,terriblyimpatiently,toseewhathewasgoingtosay. Atlastheshruggedhisshouldersandstoodup. "Well,Stubbins,"saidhe,"I'llcomeandtalkitoverwithyouandyourparentsnextThursday.And—well,we'llsee.We'llsee. Giveyourmotherandfathermycomplimentsandthankthemfortheirinvitation,willyou?" ThenItorehomelikethewindtotellmymotherthattheDoctorhadpromisedtocome. 
