CHAPTER I

EARLY EXPERIENCES PAGE Work as a telegraph messenger boy--First attempts at “public” entertainment--Small but appreciative audiences--I introduce the cycle to the post office--Christmas-boxing on my own-- I am rewarded with the “Order of the Sack”--Hard times--A home-made conjuring outfit--On tramp to Southend--Busking on the sands--Wrathful “niggers”--“Stage” fright--“Best clear, kid”--I clear--On the road back to London--Hunger and thirst--Four shows for fourpence--A “welcome” home--No food in the house and the brokers in--“Covering the spot”--Jimmy Jennings--I win watches--Beat a game and gain a friend--“A quick way of making money”--Learning to be a street patterer --Tricks of the showman’s trade--Nearly a riot--Jimmy grows anxious--Good-bye to London once more--A new pitch--And the beginning of a new life 3