CHAP. ix. EDWARD DISBELIEVED. 161 



" Then you'll not succeed here unless you do some- 

 thing of the sort." 



" In that case, then/' said Edward, " I'll be plain 

 enough to tell you that I never will succeed." 



"You are too stiff too unbending," said the 

 Doctor. " Then, you know very well, that you have 

 nobody in Aberdeen to confirm your extraordinary 

 statement. You say that the whole of this collection 

 is entirely the work of your own hands, and that it 

 is your own exclusive property !" 



" Yes ! I bought the game birds ; and as regards 

 the others, I procured the whole of them myself, pre- 

 served them and cased them, just as you see them." 



" And had you to work for your living all that 

 time?" 



" Yes ; and for the living of my family too." 



" Then you have a wife and a family ?" 



" Yes, I have five children." 



"The devil!" 



" No, sir, I said children." 



" Ah, yes, I know ; I beg your pardon. But do you 

 mean to say that you have maintained your wife and 

 family by working at your trade, all the while that 

 you have been making this collection ?" 



"Yes." 



" Oh, nonsense ! How is it possible that you 

 could have done that ?" 



" By never losing a single minute, nor any part of 

 a minute, that I could by any means improve." 



M 



