600 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Charles Begg was a low-class London cockney, and an ignorant, 

 brutal vagabond, who had a habit of coming home drunk, of thrashing 

 his apprentice, and then going up-stairs and beating his wife. His 

 relation to natural history was the same as that of Tom's teachers. 

 He had no love whatever for the works of Nature, and very naturally 

 detested those who had. Tom had a love of birds and living creat- 

 ures, and Begg hated him accordingly. If Tom brought any curiosi- 

 ties, Begg threw them into the street his little boxes, with butterflies, 

 birds'-eggs, etc. One afternoon, when Edward had finished his work, 

 he was sitting with a young sparrow on his knee which he had trained 

 and taught to do a number of little tricks. It was his pet, and he 

 loved it dearly. While thus occupied the master came in drunk, and, 

 seeing what he was doing, knocked him down, while the bird fluttered 

 to the ground, was trampled on, and died. In this way three years 

 passed, when one day Edward brought three young moles to the shop, 

 in his bonnet. When Begg found them, he killed them at once, 

 knocked down Edward with a last, seized him by the neck and breast, 

 dragged him to the door, and with a horrible imprecation threw him 

 iato the street. Tom did not return. He wanted to be a sailor, but 

 his father opposed it. He then ran away from home to see an uncle 

 a long way off, who kept him all night, gave him eighteen pence, and 

 sent him back. He had various adventures in this excursion, such as 

 the following : He came up to three men standing in the road ; two of 

 them were gentlemen, and the third seemed to be a gamekeeper. 

 He was showing them something which he had shot in the adjoining 

 wood. Edward went forward, and saw that it was a bird with blue 

 wings, and a large, variegated head. "What do you want?" said 

 the gamekeeper to Edward. "To have a sight of the bird, if you 

 please." "There, then ! " said the gamekeeper, and thrust the bird in 

 his face, nearly blinding him. When he got home, he tried the ships 

 again, to go to sea, and attempted to get on board of a vessel as a 

 "stow-away" to go to America, but could not accomplish it. So he 

 resumed shoemaking with another and kinder employer, who did not 

 persecute him for his love of natural things. He now started a little 

 garden for wild-flowers, and began to prepare places for his various 

 creatures, but his resources were too rude, and his knowledge not suf- 

 ficient to succeed very well. He made tours among the booksellers 

 to inspect the pictures in the windows, and now and then was able to 

 buy a cheap book. He took the Penny Magazine and the Weekly 

 Visitor, which cost but a half-penny. He was now about eighteen 

 years old, and, the shoe-business growing flat, he enlisted in the militia 

 for a short time, and one day, when on drill, a large, brown butterfly 

 flitted past, such as he had never seen before, and in an instant he 

 was off after it. After chasing it awhile, he (not the butterfly) was 

 captured by the corporal and four militiamen, who marched him to 

 the guard-house. The high functionaries were astounded, and pro- 



