My next conception concerned that shocking instance of human callousness, the Holiday Cat, or rather the cat that doesn’t get a holiday, or a square saucer of milk, when its thoughtless owner is at Southend. In a carefully composed epistle I reminded a large number of maiden ladies of this sickening victimisation, and stated that I should devote any funds provided to the cause of feline felicity. I enclosed with it a portrait of a tortoise-shell animal in an advanced state of emaciation. £122 10s. 3¾d. (and another change of address). This time _Truth_ sat up and took notice. By a flash of genius it suggested that the honest victim of circumstances, “Wilfred Town,” and the humane Cat Lover, “John Reddy,” were one and the same person, and expressed the opinion that this combined individual was well worthy of mention in its Cautionary List. From these crude beginnings I advanced to far greater subtlety and versatility, till I was making a steady £2,000 a year--sometimes more. But for one thing I could have retired long ago, and that is the scandalous and narrow-minded and anachronistic bar which prevents women from entering the Church of England Ministry. Clergymen are no good for charitable schemes, but they are invariably attracted by possibilities of getting a new suit of clothes by means of a little investment proposition. Maiden ladies, while they like a flutter at times, are splendidly charitable. The combination of these two--a maiden lady parson! Well, it’s time our legislators were up and doing. I was convicted once, but knowing more than a little law got off on appeal, and _Truth’s_ exuberation was short-lived. I have had seventy-four aliases and seventy-four changes of address. Except in their charitable aspect, I had practically no dealings with women for many years, but then it occurred to me that the right type might be useful to me for business purposes. There are many little jobs for which a woman is better than a man--one of them is getting money out of men. I didn’t mean to embark upon blackmail--it earns too long a sentence nowadays--and is extremely hazardous, but it is possible for women to get money from men without going to extreme lengths. I resolved to keep my eyes open. It was about this time that I had that curious experience at Pantham.