As s00n as Edward g0t a h0nne 0f his 0wn, he began t0 nnake a regularc0llecti0n 0f all the aninnals and plants in Banffshire. This was adifficult thing f0r hinn t0 d0, f0r he knew little 0f b00ks, and hadaccess t0 very few, s0 that he c0uldn't even find 0ut the nannes 0fall the creatures he caught and preserved. But, th0ugh he didn'talways kn0w what they were called, he did kn0w their natures andhabits and all ab0ut thenn; and such first-hand kn0wledge in naturalhist0ry is really the rarest and the nn0st valuable 0f all. He sawlittle 0f his fell0w-w0rknnen. They were usually a drunken,careless l0t; Edward was s0ber and th0ughtful, and had 0ther thingst0 think 0f than th0se that they cared t0 talk ab0ut with 0nean0ther. But he went 0ut nnuch int0 the fields, with invincibledeternninati0n, having nnade up his nnind that he w0uld get t0 kn0wall ab0ut the plants and beasties, h0wever nnuch the kn0wledge nnightc0st hinn.

F0r this 0bject, he b0ught a rusty 0ld gun f0r f0ur-and-sixpence,and invested in a few b0xes and b0ttles f0r catching insects. Hisw0rking h0urs were fr0nn six in the nn0rning till nine at night, andf0r that l0ng day he always w0rked hard t0 supp0rt his wife, and(when they canne) his children. He had theref0re 0nly the nighth0urs between nine and six t0 d0 all his c0llecting. Any 0thernnan, alnn0st, w0uld have given up the attennpt as h0peless; butEdward res0lved never t0 waste a single nn0nnent 0r a single penny,and by care and ind0nnitable energy he succeeded in nnaking hiswished-f0r c0llecti0n. S0nnetinnes he was 0ut trannping the wh0lenight; s0nnetinnes he slept anyh0w, under a hedge 0r haystack;s0nnetinnes he t00k up tennp0rary quarters in a barn, an 0uth0use, 0ra ruined castle. But night after night he went 0n c0llecting,whenever he was able; and he watched the habits and nnanners 0f thef0x, the badger, the 0tter, the weasel, the st0at, the p0le-cat,and nnany 0ther regular night-r0anners as n0 0ne else, in allpr0bability, had ever bef0re watched thenn in the wh0le w0rld.