The missing merchant was discovered living in a low-class foreign hotel in Soho. He gave no explanation of his conduct, but allowed himself to be taken to his son's house--the doctor's. Some time afterwards the doctor was astonished on returning home to find a man in possession of his home. The man had been put in for a debt of £600 which the merchant had contracted, stating that the house--the doctor's--was his residence. The doctor, with the aid of a solicitor, got rid of the bailiff, and eventually to avoid a scandal he and the barrister paid the £600 between them. A month later the doctor found another man in possession, this time for £100. His father had borrowed a hundred of a money-lender, giving his son's address as his own. An investigation made showed that the once prosperous merchant had so hopelessly involved his affairs that he was practically without resources, and it was impossible to ascertain what liabilities he was incurring. In five yean the sons between them paid over £10,000 to avoid the scandal which would have arisen had their father's peculiar business transactions come into court. For both of them life had become a constant harass and strain. They could not prevent their father getting credit by publicly advertising that he had no resources. Such a course would have brought about the very publicity they were anxious to avoid. And the father, finding that the sons eventually paid on every occasion, however much they protested at first, continued to incur liabilities. Many of his transactions were morally insane if not legally so. One of his last feats was to sign an acceptance for £500 and give it to a man he met in the smoking-room of an hotel to get discounted for him. He and this man divided the proceeds between them. He was introduced to his new financial agent one Monday afternoon by somebody whose name he forgot, and on Tuesday he handed him the bill. This time, when proceedings were taken on the bill, the sons father's newly-developed habits, and inquiries were made. But certain allegations were made, and, to avoid "unpleasantness," they compounded and paid £300 to get the bill back. When I last heard of the black sheep father he had been "converted," and was thinking of joining the Salvation Army. The sons are nervous. They have an idea that they will one day meet their father in a scarlet uniform beating a big drum. But even that would be a relief, if he devotes himself to music and abandons finance. In the lives of the people lie the Mysteries of modern London, and the Black Sheep go to the making of many of them. CHAPTER XVII--CHILDREN AND CRIME _The hereditary taint--Cain, as a child of fifteen--Because he wouldn't give her a toy--Playing with fire--A heartless lie for a threepenny-bit--Suicide among children_ |THERE is one phase in the mystery of life in the great City which I would gladly pass. But it is one of the strangest, one of the least known, and it is impossible to ignore it.