Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1936-11-23
CHAPTER S

JACK MIXED with men-gOO0
and evil. and learnt much. His
Quickness and easy address found
him small jobs. He gave his age
as IA and invented different
stories to suit the occasion. He
had been no idler and no beggar.
He had known the underworld
had been taught to thieve or keel
watch while others did; honesty
and dishonesty came alike to him,
as long as he could fill his stom-
ach and have small sums to
spend.
Later he read voraciously, in
free libraries and in the houses
where he got employment as boots
or messenger boy-a quick, hand
some youth, we'll hammered and
Outwardly docile, though a raging
unrest was eating him up.
At II he knew more than most
men do at rs, and had come 20
realize through mixing with all
classes that he came of a good
stock-his face and figure and the
delicate artists hands told him
that as surely as his instructive
dread of vulgarity and dirt. Per-
haps with knowledge of moral
code he might have become a
steady, industrious clerk and mar"
ried and lived in the suburbs; but
he knew nothing OF the laws of
meum and tuum.
Why should some people have
homes and motors. relations and
friends. money to spend, when he
had none? The old eternal ques-
tons. SeXually, he kept clean
from a rather proud indifference
to the noisy, loud-mouthed girls
with whom he came into contact.
He studied deeply, watched his
chances, read everything in the
papers and in books. He worked
his owR-plans out with a thorough
ness that would have given him a
good place in business.
His looks and manners got him
Jobs in crowd work in studios. and
walking-on parts at theaters, but
never q permanent position any
where. Then he experimental
very carefully. He was clever
Small sums of money at first
Like wise schoolboy who, when
searching the hedgerow, comes
across birds nest, takes only a
few eggs and leaves the rest, so he
never emptied purse or bag, but
took a coin or two, >caving the
owner to wonder whether he had
dropped two half crowns by mis-
take or miscounted his money.
His needs were simple; he lived
in a bed-sitting room in Pimlico,
and cooked his own meals over a
gas ring. He hadn't a friend in
the world, and had no intention of
making any. He saved every
penny and placed it in the Post
Office Savings bank.
The game he was playing was
exciting-he was pitting his wits
against those Of the law. Some of
his exploits had revealed a high
level of artistry. When Fronstein,
The American millionaire, had ar
rived in England with a large
number of dollar bills concealed in
the double bottom Of one of his
trunks-the rate of exchange at
the time being greatly in 1avor of
the dollar-he had been furious on
finding that his trunk had been
tempered with and a portion of his
bills extracted. No suspicion had
fallen on the good-looking young
lift attendant, quiet and we'll man.
nered. When the millionaire de-
parted and the furore had died
down, the young attendant sought
out the manager and explained
that he had been offered a good
position as a steward on board a
ship, and received an excellent tes-
hnnonial for honesty and industry.
The dollar bills he changed in
America, and returned with Eng
ish notes.
A strange being, working alone,
Tor he would not trust soul, and
avoided women above all-they
had a way of worming secrets
from men. If he were found dead
On the road, there would be no
mark or trace by which to identity
aim, not letter nor scrap of