My father was a schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent education.

I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London.

One day my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them.

There was the point from which all my adventures started.

It was only by trying begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to base my articles.