Page 323 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

the least like it—in a London paper.
John Rex, who had now fairly broken with dull respect-
ability, bid adieu to his home, and began to realize his
mother’s wishes. He was, after his fashion, a ‘gentleman”.
As long as the £80 lasted, he lived in luxury, and by the time
it was spent he had established himself in his profession.
This profession was a lucrative one. It was that of a swindler.
Gifted with a handsome person, facile manner, and ready
wit, he had added to these natural advantages some skill
at billiards, some knowledge of gambler’s legerdemain, and
the useful consciousness that he must prey or be preyed on.
John Rex was no common swindler; his natural as well as
his acquired abilities saved him from vulgar errors. He saw
that to successfully swindle mankind, one must not aim at
comparative, but superlative, ingenuity. He who is content-
ed with being only cleverer than the majority must infallibly
be outwitted at last, and to be once outwitted is—for a swin-
dler—to be ruined. Examining, moreover, into the history
of detected crime, John Rex discovered one thing. At the
bottom of all these robberies, deceptions, and swindles, was
some lucky fellow who profited by the folly of his confed-
erates. This gave him an idea. Suppose he could not only
make use of his own talents to rob mankind, but utilize
those of others also? Crime runs through infinite grades.
He proposed to himself to be at the top; but why should
he despise those good fellows beneath him? His speciality
was swindling, billiard-playing, card-playing, borrowing
money, obtaining goods, never risking more than two or
three coups in a year. But others plundered houses, stole

For the Term of His Natural Life