That is the most poisonous part of it,—“now that one calls to mind!” What is easier than to call to mind, out of the ten thousand remembrances of a man whose society we have shared for twenty years or more, one or two acts that at the time were regarded as “strange whims,” but now, regarded in the light that the damnable letter sheds on them, appear as parts of the very business so unexpectedly brought to light? Perhaps the man was privately charitable, and in benevolent objects expended a portion of his income, without making mention of how, when, and where, or keeping any sort of ledger account. How his means so mysteriously dwindled in his hands was a puzzle even to his most intimate friends—_now_ it is apparent where the money went! But there, it is no use discussing that now; he has gone to answer for all his sins, and it is to be devoutly wished that God, in the infinite stretch of His mercy, will forgive him even this enormous sin. Meanwhile it will never do to have this base creature coming as a tramping beggar, perhaps with her boy, and knocking at the door, desperately determined on being cared for by the man who was the cause of her ruin and her banishment. Better to send her ten pounds, with a brief note to the effect that Mr. — is now dead, and it will be useless her troubling again. This is what did _not_ happen in the case quoted, and for the reasons given; but it might, and in very many cases it doubtless has happened; and it would be worth a whole year’s catch of common begging-letter impostors if the Society for the Suppression of Mendicity could trap a member of the “Dead-lurk” gang, and hand him over to the tender mercies of the law. CHAPTER XIV. BEGGING “DODGES.” _The Variety and Quality of the Imposture_—_Superior Accomplishments of the Modern Practitioner_—_The Recipe for Success_—_The Power of_ “_Cheek_”—“_Chanting_” _and the_ “_Shallow Lay_”—_Estimates of their Paying Value_—_The Art of touching Women’s Hearts_—_The Half-resentful Trick_—_The London_ “_Cadger_”—_The Height of_ “_The Famine Season_.” THE “dodges” to which an individual resolved on a vagrant life will resort are almost past reckoning; and, as a natural consequence, the quality of the imposture in modern practice is superior to that which served to delude our grandfathers.