Read "Secret of the River" by Fred M. White online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
"I am not so certain," the old man said, wagging his head gently. "And all the more so, because the butterfly we are speaking of is quite common in Holland. But I have got on my hobby, and I am keeping you gentlemen from work."
"Not at all," Sidey said, with a geniality usually foreign to him. "We had practically finished for the day when you came in. You told us just now that you were interested in mineralogy. So are we, to a certain extent, because we are connected with a copper mine somewhere in the States, and you might possibly be able to give us certain information."