COIMFORT ON A PITTANCE 



arrive without any idea of doing anything. Into my 

 office came a man one day. I had known him very 

 well in England — he had been in Rothschild's at New 

 Court. He had heard only two days before that I was 

 there, but had been too diffident to approach me; he 

 had slept out in the domain (park) the previous night. 

 There was only one thing to do, to get him a supply 

 of shirts and collars. Of course all his clothes had been 

 done in at an hotel, the bill for which was too big for 

 me to pay. Poor fellow, he died only a year or two 

 ago and was able to do me one or two turns in after 

 years for what I had managed for him. He was useful 

 in the office, and thirty shillings a week gave him a 

 margin of twelve shillings for pocket money, for I tell 

 you, in those days, if a man was under the weather, he 

 could get all the good food he wanted and a nice bed- 

 room, baths and all, for eighteen shillings a week. It 

 wasn't the place for big prices for living. An idea 

 came that I would take a basement in connection with 

 my advertising, to get ready the lantern slides in, and 

 use as a store-room, and there were some merry times 

 there. This was the resort when opened of some 

 extraordinary characters. I used to let them come in 

 and sit because some of these EngHshmen had really 

 nowhere to go and no money to spend. I didn't want 

 them in the office upstairs. Midday I would send 

 out for a loaf of bread, half a Dutch cheese and a bottle 

 of pickles, and supply them with a couple of quarts of 

 colonial beer. They liked it better than anything and 

 somehow the fare seemed to appeal to them. Pocket- 

 knives were pulled out to cut up the cheese and to fish 

 in the bottle of pickles. There was the advantage, too, 

 that the meal could be on for an indefinite period in 

 case another " broke " happened to drop in. All of 

 them were gentlemen. 



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