Londons Underworld | Page 8

and address to all the lodging-house inmates, and advising them to call
on me. And I have not the slightest doubt that the rascal watched them
come to my door, enjoyed their disappointment, and gloried in my
irritation.
Yes, I have made the acquaintance of many undesirable fellows. and
our introduction to each other has sometimes been brought about in a
very strange manner. Sometimes they have forced themselves upon me
and insisted upon my seeing much of them, and "knowing all about
them" they would tell me of their struggles and endeavours to "go
straight" and would put their difficulties and hopes before me. Specious
clever rascals many of them were, far too clever for me, as I sometimes
found out to my cost. One young fellow who has served a well-earned
and richly merited sentence of five years' penal servitude, quite
overpowered me with his good intentions and professions of rectitude.
"No more prison for me," he would say; he brought his wife and
children to see me, feeling sure that they would form a passport to my
sympathy and pocket.
He was not far wrong, for I substantially and regularly helped the wife.
I had strong misgivings about the fellow, consequently what help I

gave I took care went direct to his wife.
Sometimes he would call at my office, and with tears would thank me
for the help given to his wife and children. I noticed a continual
improvement in his clothing and appearance till he became quite a
swell. I felt a bit uneasy, for I knew that he was not at work. I soon
discovered, or rather the police discovered that he had stolen a lot of
my office note-paper of which he had made free use, and when arrested
on another charge several blank cheques which had been abstracted
from my cheque book were found upon him. He had made himself so
well known to and familiar with the caretaker of the chambers, that one
night when he appeared with a bag of tools to put "Mr. Holmes' desk
right," no questions were asked, and he coolly and quite deliberately,
with the office door open, operated in his own sweet way. Fortunately,
when trying the dodge in another set of chambers, he was arrested in
the act, and my blank cheques among many others were found upon
him.
Another term of penal servitude has stopped his career and put an end
to, I will not say a friendship but an acquaintance, that I am not at any
rate anxious to renew.
They come a long way to see me do some of my friends, and put
themselves to some trouble in the matter, and not a little expense if they
are to be believed. Why they do so I cannot imagine, for sometimes
after a long and close questioning I fail to find any satisfactory reason
for their doing so. I have listened to many strange stories, and have
received not a few startling confessions! Some of my friends have gone
comforted away when they had made a clean breast and
circumstantially given me the details of some great crime or evil that
they had committed. I never experienced any difficulty, or felt the least
compunction in granting them plenary absolution; I never betrayed
them to the police, for I knew that of the crime confessed they were as
guiltless as myself. Of course there is a good deal of pathos about their
actions, but I always felt a glow of pleasure when I could send poor
deluded people away comforted; and I am sure that they really believed
me when I told them that under no circumstances would I betray their

confidence, or acquaint the police without first consulting them. I never
had any difficulty in keeping my promise, though sometimes my
friends would, after a long absence, remind me of it.
But occasionally one of my friends has compelled me to seek the
advice of an astute detective, for very clever rogues, real and dangerous
criminals, have been my companions and have boasted of my
friendship, whilst pursuing a deplorably criminal course. But I never
had the slightest compunction with regard to them when I knew beyond
doubt what they were at. Friends and associates of criminals have more
than once waited on me for the purpose of enlisting my sympathy and
help for one of their colleagues who was about to be released from
prison, and the vagabonds have actually informed detectives that "Mr.
Holmes was going to take him in hand." What they really meant was,
that they had taken Mr. Holmes in hand for the purpose of lulling the
just suspicions of the police. One day not long ago a woman,
expensively dressed and possessed of a whole mass of