THOMAS EDWARD. 61 



brought before the officer, who asked him : " Well, sir, 

 what have you to say about breaking the ranks during 

 drill, and running after a butterfly ? Are you subject 

 to fits of insanity ? ' To this Edward did not reply, 

 and the officer asked again : " What induced you to 

 leave the ranks and run after a harmless insect ? ' His 

 reply was : "I really do not know, unless it was from a 

 desire to possess the butterfly." He had never been 

 insubordinate before, and as some ladies who had 

 noticed the occurrence, interceded for the poor fellow, 

 he received nothing worse than a reprimand. 



Edward, shortly afterwards, at the age of twenty, 

 moved to Banff, in which town, with only a short 

 period when he was in Aberdeen, he has resided the 

 remainder of his life, and where he continues to live 

 to-day. He had no love for his trade, shoemaking, 

 but it appeared the only trade by which he was likely 

 to earn a living. His bench was rarely ever free from 

 caterpillars or other insects, and from these old habits 

 of his his shopmates were just as much annoyed as had 

 been the children and masters of the schools of his 

 childhood. At the age of twenty-three he acquired 

 another passion, and that was for a servant at a farm- 

 house, and they had the courage to marry when 

 Edward's earnings averaged some nine-and- sixpence 

 per week, but in his wife he had found a kindly and 

 sympathetic companion, and Edward has acknowledged 

 in a very touching way how cheerfully his dear wife 

 bore up amidst their poverty and Edward's love of his 

 favourite pursuits. He had learned how to preserve 

 and stuff animals and insects, and his house — for In* 



