Mr. Mangel, the school principal, had written
Nan and encouraged her to send a full description of some of
Corson Vanderwiller's collection, especially of the wonderful
death's-head moth, to a wealthy collector in Chicago. Nan did
this at once.
So, one day, a letter came from the man and in it was a check for
twenty-five dollars.
"This is a retainer," the gentleman wrote. "I am much interested
in your account of the lame boy's specimens. I want the
strangely marked moth in any case, and the check pays for an
option on it until I can come and see his specimens personally."
Nan went that very afternoon to the tamarack swamp to tell the
Vanderwillers this news and give Toby the check. She knew poor
Corson would be delighted, for now he could purchase the longed-
for silk dress for his grandmother.
The day was so hot and the way so long that Nan was glad to sit
down when she reached the edge of the sawdust strip, to rest and
cool off before attempting this unshaded desert. A cardinal bird
one of the sauciest and most brilliant of his saucy and
brilliant race, flitted about her as she sat upon a log.
"You pretty thing!" crooned Nan. "If it were not wicked I'd wish
to have you at home in a cage.
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