by H G Wells

The buying of orchids always has certain speculative flavour the brown shrivelled lump of tissue, and rest trust your judgment, or the auctioneer, or your good luck, taste may incline The plant moribund or dead, or it just respectable purchase, fair value for your money, or perhaps-- thing has happened again and again--there slowly unfolds delighted eyes happy purchaser, day after day, some new variety, some novel richness, strange twist labellum, or some subtler colouration or unexpected mimicry Pride, beauty, and profit blossom together on one delicate green spike, and, it , even immortality new miracle of nature may stand in need of new specific name, and what so convenient discoverer ? "John-smithia" ! been worse names

perhaps the hope of some such happy discovery that made Winter Wedderburn such frequent attendant sales--that hope, and also, maybe, the fact that he had nothing else slightest interest shy, lonely, rather ineffectual man, provided with just enough income off the spur of necessity, and not enough nervous energy him seek any exacting employments collected stamps or coins, or translated Horace, or bound books, or invented new species of diatoms But, as it happened, he grew orchids, and had one ambitious little hothouse

" fancy," over his coffee, "that something is going to happen to-day " He spoke--as he moved and thought--slowly

"Oh, don't say that ! " said his housekeeper--who was also his remote cousin For "something happening" was euphemism that meant only to her

"You misunderstand me I mean nothing unpleasant . though what mean I scarcely know

"To-day," he continued, after pause, "Peters' are going batch of plants Andamans Indies go up what It buy something good unawares it "

He passed his cup second cupful of coffee

"Are these the things collected poor young fellow you told me other day ? " asked his cousin, as she filled his cup

"Yes," , and became meditative over piece of toast

"Nothing ever does happen ," he remarked presently, beginning aloud "I wonder why ? Things enough happen to other people Harvey Only the other week; on Monday he picked up sixpence, on Wednesday his chicks all had the staggers, on Friday his cousin came home from Australia, and on Saturday he broke his ankle What whirl of excitement ! --compared "

" rather be without excitement," said his housekeeper "It can't be good "

"I suppose it's troublesome Still . , nothing ever happens When little boy I never had accidents I never fell in love as I grew up Never married . I wonder how it feels something happen , something really remarkable

"That orchid-collector was only thirty-six--twenty years younger than myself--when he died And he married twice and divorced once; he had had malarial fever four times, and once he broke his thigh He killed Malay once, and once wounded by poisoned dart And end killed by jungle-leeches It all been very troublesome, but then it must very interesting, --except, perhaps, the leeches "

" not good for him," said the lady with conviction

"Perhaps not " And then Wedderburn looked at his watch "Twenty-three minutes past eight going up quarter to twelve train, so plenty wear my alpaca jacket-- quite warm enough--and my grey felt hat and brown shoes I suppose--"

He glanced window serene sky and sunlit garden, and then nervously at his cousin's face

" you had better take an umbrella going to London," she said in voice that admitted of no denial "There's all between here station coming back "

When he returned in state of mild excitement He had made purchase rare that make up his mind quickly enough , but he had done so

" Vandas," , "and Dendrobe and some Palaeonophis " He surveyed his purchases lovingly as he consumed his soup They were laid out spotless tablecloth before him, and telling his cousin all as he slowly meandered through his dinner his custom to live all his visits to London over again evening for her own entertainment

" something would happen to-day And bought all these -- -- , , that remarkable I don't know how , but just as sure some one had told me that will turn out remarkable

"That one "--he pointed to shrivelled rhizome--"was not identified It Palaeonophis--or it may not It new species, or even new genus And it last that poor Batten ever collected "

"I don't like the look of it," said his housekeeper "It's such an ugly shape "

" it scarcely seems shape "

"I don't like those things that stick out," said his housekeeper

"It shall be put away in pot to-morrow "

"It looks," said the housekeeper, "like spider shamming dead "

Wedderburn smiled and surveyed the root head on one side " certainly not pretty lump of stuff But never judge things from their dry appearance It may turn out very beautiful orchid indeed How busy to-morrow ! see to-night just exactly what things, and to-morrow set to work "

"They found poor Batten lying dead, or dying, in mangrove swamp--I forget which," he began again presently, "with very orchids crushed up under his body He unwell for some days with some kind of native fever, and I suppose he fainted These mangrove swamps are very unwholesome Every drop of blood, they say, was taken out of him jungle-leeches It that very plant that cost him his life to obtain "

" none the better of it "

"Men must work though women may weep," said Wedderburn with profound gravity

"Fancy dying away from every comfort in nasty swamp ! Fancy being ill of fever with nothing but chlorodyne and quinine--if men were left to themselves live on chlorodyne and quinine--and no one round you but horrible natives ! They say the Andaman islanders are most disgusting wretches--and, anyhow, scarcely make good nurses, not having the necessary training And just for people in England orchids ! "

"I don't suppose comfortable, but some men seem to enjoy that kind of thing," said Wedderburn "Anyhow, the natives party were sufficiently civilised care of all his collection until his colleague, who was an ornithologist, came back again interior; though tell the species orchid, and had let it wither And it makes these things more interesting "

"It makes them disgusting afraid of malaria clinging And just think, dead body lying across that ugly thing ! I never thought before There ! I declare eat another mouthful of dinner "

" take them off the table like, and put them window-seat them just there "

The next indeed singularly busy steamy little hothouse, fussing about with charcoal, lumps of teak, moss, and all the other mysteries orchid cultivator He considered having wonderfully eventful time evening talk about these new orchids friends, and over and over again he reverted expectation of something strange

Several Vandas Dendrobium died under his care, but presently the strange orchid began to show signs of life delighted, and took his housekeeper right away from jam-making it at once, directly the discovery