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"Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of

money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London

could earn £ 700 a year-which is less than my average takings-but

I had exceptional advantages in my power of making up, and also

in a facility of repartee, which improved by practice and made me

quite a recognised character in the City. All day a stream of

pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, and it was a very

bad day in which I failed to take £ 2.

"As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the

country, and eventually married, without anyone having a

suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had

business in the City. She little knew what.