r of nature,"--returned a small, slightly made, but exceedingly
active man, dressed in an odd mixture of cloth and skins, a little
past the middle age, and who advanced directly to her side, with the
familiarity of an old acquaintance; "and he who does not know how to
find things to admire by this grey light, is ignorant of a large portion
of the blessings he enjoys."

"Very true," said Ellen, suddenly recollecting the necessity of
accounting for her own appearance abroad at that unseasonable hour; "I
know many who think the earth has a pleasanter look in the night, than
when seen by the brightest sunshine."

"Ah! Their organs of sight must be too convex! But the man who wishes
to study the active habits of the feline race, or the variety, albinos,
must, indeed, be stirring at this hour. I dare say, there are men who
prefer even looking at objects by twilight, for the simple reason, that
they see better at that time of the day."

"And is this the cause why you are so much abroad in the night?"

"I am abroad at night, my good girl, because the earth in its diurnal
revolutions leaves the light of the sun but half the time on any given
meridian, and because what I have to do cannot be performed in twelve or
fifteen consecutive hours. Now have I been off two days from the family,
in search of a plant, that is known to exist on the tributaries of
La Platte, without seeing even a blade of grass that is not already
enumerated and classed."

"You have been unfortunate, Doctor, but--"

"Unfortunate!" echoed the little man, sideling nigher to his companion,
and producing his tablets with an air in which exultation struggled,
strangely, with an affectation of self-abasement. "No, no, Ellen, I am
any thing but unfortunate. Unless, indeed, a man may be so called, whose
fortune is made, whose fame may be said to be established for ever,
whose name will go down to posterity with that of Buffon--Buffon! a mere
compiler: one who flourishes on the foundation of other men's labours.
No; pari passu with Solander, who bought his knowledge with pain and
privations!"

"Have you discovered a mine, Doctor Bat?"

"More than a mine; a treasure coined, and fit for instant use,
girl.--Listen! I was making the angle necessary to intersect the line of
your uncle's march, after my fruitless search, when I heard sounds like
the explosion produced by fire arms--"

"Yes," exclaimed Ellen, eagerly, "we had an alarm--"

"And thought I was lost,