Page 320 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

tected in twenty-four hours. Forgeries by clerks, however
easily detected, are unfortunately not considered to add to
the attractions of a banking-house, and the old-established
firm decided not to prosecute, but dismissed Mr. John Rex
from their service. The ex-valet, who never liked his legal-
ized son, was at first for turning him out of doors, but by the
entreaties of his wife, was at last induced to place the prom-
ising boy in a draper’s shop, in the City Road.
This employment was not a congenial one, and John Rex
planned to leave it. He lived at home, and had his salary—
about thirty shillings a week— for pocket money. Though
he displayed considerable skill with the cue, and not in-
frequently won considerable sums for one in his position,
his expenses averaged more than his income; and having
borrowed all he could, he found himself again in difficul-
ties. His narrow escape, however, had taught him a lesson,
and he resolved to confess all to his indulgent mother, and
be more economical for the future. Just then one of those
‘lucky chances’ which blight so many lives occurred. The
‘shop-walker’ died, and Messrs. Baffaty & Co. made the
gentlemanly Rex act as his substitute for a few days. Shop-
walkers have opportunities not accorded to other folks, and
on the evening of the third day Mr. Rex went home with a
bundle of lace in his pocket. Unfortunately, he owed more
than the worth of this petty theft, and was compelled to
steal again. This time he was detected. One of his fellow-
shopmen caught him in the very act of concealing a roll of
silk, ready for future abstraction, and, to his astonishment,
cried ‘Halves!’ Rex pretended to be virtuously indignant,

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