He was in desperate straits, though to the world's eye he was a man of wealth.

A gambler, with no inexpensive tastes, he had been always in need of money.

The rights in his patent he had mortgaged long ago.

He was not an idler; he was no sham foisted as a great man on an ignorant public.

He had really some touch of genius, and he cultivated it assiduously.