78 THE PICTURE SHOPS. CHAP. 



one specimen of each flower, so that his garden was 

 various in its beauty. The neighbours, who had at 

 first sneered at him as a fool, on seeing his pretty 

 garden, began to whisper that the " loon " was surely 

 a genius, and that it was a pity that his father had 

 not made him a gardener instead of a shoemaker. 

 Edward himself often wished that his parents had been 

 of the same mind as the neighbours. 



Near the back of the house in which Edward lived, 

 was an old tannery, with a number of disused tanning 

 pits, full of water. These, he thought, would be a 

 nice place for storing his powets and puddocks.* He 

 got a large pail, went to a place where these creatures 

 abounded, and brought back a large cargo, heaving 

 them into the pit. But they did not thrive. They 

 nearly all died. He next put about thirty newts 

 there, but he never saw them again, dead or alive. 

 At last he gave up this undertaking. 



About the same time, he used to make a tour 

 among the booksellers of the town, to inspect the 

 pictures which they had in their windows. These 

 visits proved a source of great profit and pleasure 

 to him. He learned something from the pictures, and 

 especially from the pictures of animals. He found 

 that there was more to be gained from a visit to the 

 picture shops than from a visit to the public-house. 

 When he saw a book that he could buy, he bought it, 

 though his means were still very small. 



* Tadpoles and frogs. 



