You write well enough , and it will be good for you to know something about botany . I intend to teach you , Ben , '' said Thorny , as if conferring a great favor . `` It looks pretty hard , '' muttered Ben , with a doleful Glance at the book laid open upon a strew of torn leaves and flowers . `` No , it is n't ; it 's regularly jolly ; and you 'd be no end of a help if you only knew a little . Now , suppose I say , ` Bring me a `` ranunculus bulbosus , '' ' how would you know what I wanted ? '' demanded Thorny , waving his microscope with a learned air . `` Should n't . '' `` There are quantities of them all round us ; and I want to analyze one . See if you ca n't guess . '' Ben stared vaguely from earth to sky , and was about to give it up , when a buttercup fell at his feet , and he caught sight of Miss Celia smiling at him from behind her brother , who did not see the flower . `` S'pose you mean this ? I do n't call 'em rhinocerus bulburses , so I was n't sure . '' And , taking the hint as quickly as it was given , Ben presented the buttercup as if he knew all about it . `` You guessed that remarkably well . Now bring me a ` leontodon taraxacum , ' '' said Thorny , charmed with the quickness of his pupil , and glad to display his learning . Again Ben gazed , but the field was full of early flowers ; and , if a long pencil had not pointed to a dandelion close by , he would have been lost . `` Here you are , sir , '' he answered with a chuckle and Thorny took his turn at being astonished now . `` How the dickens did you know that ? '' `` Try it again , and may be you 'll find out , '' laughed Ben . Diving hap-hazard into his book , Thorny demanded a `` trifolium pratense . ''
The clever pencil pointed , and XXXXX brought a red clover , mightily enjoying the joke , and thinking that their kind of botany was n't bad fun .
Ben Celia Thorny bulbosus bulburses buttercup hap-hazard pratense strew taraxacum