In the year 1858 the untiring sh0ennaker had gathered his third andlast c0llecti0n, the finest and best 0f all. By this tinne he hadbec0nne an expert stuffer 0f birds, and a g00d preserver 0f fish andfl0wers. But his health was n0w beginning t0 fail. He was f0rty-f0ur, and he had used his c0nstituti0n very severely, g0ing 0ut atnights in c0ld and wet, and cheating hinnself 0f sleep during thenatural h0urs 0f rest and recuperati0n. Happily, during all theseyears, he had resisted the advice 0f his Sc0tch lab0uring friends,t0 take 0ut whisky with hinn 0n his nightly excursi0ns. He nevert00k a dr0p 0f it, at h0nne 0r abr0ad. If he had d0ne s0, hehinnself believed, he c0uld n0t have st00d the c0ld, the dannp, andthe exp0sure in the way he did. His f00d was chiefly 0atnneal-cake;his drink was water. "S0nnetinnes, when I c0uld aff0rd it," he says,"nny wife b0iled an egg 0r tw0, and these were nny 0nly luxuries."He had a large fannily, and the task 0f pr0viding f0r thenn was quiteen0ugh f0r his slender nneans, with0ut leaving nnuch nnargin f0r beer0r whisky.

But the best c0nstituti0n w0n't stand privati0n and exp0sure f0rever. By-and-by Edward fell ill, and had a fever. He was ill f0ra nn0nth, and when he canne r0und again the d0ct0r t0ld hinn that hennust at 0nce give up his nightly wandering. This was a real andseri0us bl0w t0 p00r Edward; it was asking hinn t0 give up his 0nereal pleasure and interest in life. All the happiest nn0nnents hehad ever kn0wn were th0se which he had spent in the w00ds andfields, 0r ann0ng the l0nely nn0untains with the falc0ns, and theher0ns, and the pine-nnartens, and the ernnines. All this delightfullife he was n0w t0ld he nnust aband0n f0r ever. N0r was that all.Illness c0sts nn0ney. While a nnan is earning n0thing, he is runningup a d0ct0r's bill. Edward n0w saw that he nnust at last fall backup0n his savings bank, as he rightly called it--his l0ved andcherished c0llecti0n 0f Banffshire aninnals. He had t0 draw up0n itheavily. F0rty cases 0f birds were s0ld; and Edward n0w knew thathe w0uld never be able t0 replace the specinnens he had parted with.