rust the bruised substance
first under his own nose and then beneath the reluctant nostrils of
the disdainful Master Dominick.

Mr. Blennerhassett was himself a botanist, or desired to be considered
one, and his eagerness to become familiar with the flora of his
vicinity so far overcame offended formality, that he also got down on
his knees and directed his imperfect vision to the pungent specimen.
The two men, each an oddity, presented a ludicrous picture as they
knelt on the grass, their heads almost in contact, and their long
noses only a few inches above the object of their scrutiny.

"Yes, Virginia snakeroot, and I couldn't expect it to sprout up in
this open place. This is a different thing from the Seneca
rattlesnake-root; there's more cure in an ounce of this than in a
pound of that. I'll wager five shillings to a sixpence that I can name
you nine out of ten of the medicines and dyestuffs growing on this
island."

"If that is the case," said the Irish recluse, scrambling to his feet,
"I shall be glad to avail myself of your knowledge. There are many
vines, shrubs, and trees flourishing here, the names and qualities of
which I greatly desire to learn and many herbs which perhaps--"

"I'm your man, neighbor; I'm your man. There are three things which I
calculate I do know by experience: the first is fish, the second is
game, and the third is yarbs."

"What is the third?"

"Yarbs. Anything that grows wild. I'm acquainted with pretty much
every critter that has seed, flower, leaf, bark or root. I fish a good
bit, and I doctor a good bit."

"You doctor, fish and hunt," repeated Blennerhassett, his attention
now completely captured; "I myself prescribe simple remedies and I am
fond of the sports you mention, though a defect of vision interferes
with my shooting."

"If you like," proposed Byle, "we will prowl around this very
afternoon and study physic together. I call the wild woods God's
apothecary shop."

Blennerhassett was convoyed to the depths of the island forest, where
the strangely assorted pair conversed intimately on the virtues of
pleurisy-root, Indian physic and columbo. Byle discoursed on the high
price of ginseng, and the new method of preparing that specific for
the Chinese market; recommended the prompt use of succory to cure a
snake bite, and the liberal application of green stramonium leaves to
heal sores on the back of a horse. He advised Blennerhassett to
acquire an appetite for custar