Besides his loan office, which paid much
better than you would imagine, he had a turf commission agency, which
brought him in a good deal of money, and shortly after I met him he became
part proprietor of a club in Soho. He very soon talked to me in the
frankest way of all his doings; I think he was glad to be on friendly terms
with me simply because I was better educated and could behave decently. I
don't think he ever did anything illegal, and he had plenty of good
feeling,--but that didn't prevent him from squeezing eighty per cent, or so
out of many a poor devil who had borrowed to save himself or his family
from starvation. That was all business; he drew the sharpest distinctions
between business and private relations, and was very ignorant. I never knew
a man so superstitious. Every day he consulted signs and omens. For
instance, to decide whether the day was to be lucky for him--in betting and
so on--he would stand at a street corner and count the number of white
horses that passed in five minutes; if he had made up his mind on an even
number, and an even number passed, then he felt safe in following his
impulses for the day; if the number were odd, he would do little or no
speculation.
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