with his father's former master, a clerkship in an
old-established city banking-house. Mrs. Rex was intensely fond of her
son, and imbued him with a desire to shine in aristocratic circles. He
was a clever lad, without any principle; he would lie unblushingly, and
steal deliberately, if he thought he could do so with impunity. He was
cautious, acquisitive, imaginative, self-conceited, and destructive. He
had strong perceptive faculties, and much invention and versatility, but
his "moral sense" was almost entirely wanting. He found that his fellow
clerks were not of that "gentlemanly" stamp which his mother thought so
admirable, and therefore he despised them. He thought he should like to
go into the army, for he was athletic, and rejoiced in feats of muscular
strength. To be tied all day to a desk was beyond endurance. But John
Rex, senior, told him to "wait and see what came of it." He did so, and
in the meantime kept late hours, got into bad company, and forged the
name of a customer of the bank to a cheque for twenty pounds. The fraud
was a clumsy one, and was detected in twenty-four hours. Forgeries by
clerks, however easily detected, are unfortunately not considered to
add to the attractions of a banking-house, and the old-established firm
decided not to prosecute, but dismissed Mr. John Rex from their service.
The ex-valet, who never liked his legalized son, was at first for
turning him out of doors, but by the entreaties of his wife, was at last
induced to place the promising boy in a draper's shop, in the City Road.

This employment was not a congenial one, and John Rex planned to leave
it. He lived at home, and had his salary--about thirty shillings a
week--for pocket money. Though he displayed considerable skill with the
cue, and not infrequently won considerable sums for one in his position,
his expenses averaged more than his income; and having borrowed all
he could, he found himself again in difficulties. His narrow escape,
however, had taught him a lesson, and he resolved to confess all to his
indulgent mother, and be more economical for the future. Just then
one of those "lucky chances" which blight so many lives occurred. The
"shop-walker" died, and Messrs. Baffaty & Co. made the gentlemanly Rex
act as his substitute for a few days. Shop-walkers have opportunities
not accorded to other folks, and on the evening of the third day Mr. Rex
went home with a bundle of lace in his pocket. Unfortunately, he owed