Two of them (husband and wife) obtained engagements in another company, and I was included in the bargain The new manager by whom I was employed was a drunkard and a brute.

One night I made a trifling mistake in the course of the performances--and I was savagely beaten for it.

Perhaps I had inherited some of my father's spirit--without, I hope, also inheriting my father's pitiless nature.

However that may be, I resolved (no matter what became of me) never again to serve the man who had beaten me.

I unlocked the door of our miserable lodging at daybreak the next morning; and, at ten years old, with my little bundle in my hand, I faced the world alone.
"My mother had confided to me, in her last moments, my father's name and the address of his house in London.