use, and from three distinct families. That in itself was a gem of
begging, but to Shorty's eyes it still lacked perfection; for, during
supper-time, he explained his homeless condition, and requested as
another favour that they would give him an old blanket and allow him
to sleep in the basement!

How it pleased my Uncle T---- to hear this, who is himself a good
beggar, but confines himself to Wales, with an occasional trip to an
adjoining county.

Some years ago my family always referred to me as a second Uncle
T----. In his young days he was a roofer, but through getting so
many black eyes in taking his own part, his sight failed him so much
that he could not follow his calling. It was then that he began to
hawk laces, etc., and found the life to be more pleasant than hard
labour. He has a strong dislike to navvies, because, I suppose, they
are the hardest workers. Whenever my Uncle T---- sees a gang of
navvies at work, he feels while passing through them like a comet
through a host of stars. It has quite upset him to hear that I have
degenerated into a worker; but he is pleased to know that it is
mental work, and that I never sweat or soil my hands.

It was a joy to meet him lately and hear his account of those
stirring days of 1905, during the revival in Wales, when beggars had
extraordinary success. His own success at that time almost ruined
him, all through the generosity of a lady that had been converted.
He had begged a house, and while the lady was feeding his body,
she enquired with much concern about my Uncle T----'s soul. He
immediately took advantage of this kind question by saying: "Lady,
if there is one religious man in Wales, it is me; and yet misfortune
follows me wherever I go." The upshot of this was that the lady took
a house for my Uncle T----, and furnished it, and kept him for a
whole month in idleness, supplying him with various sums from time to
time. Then, of course, the revival burned out, and the lady began to
cool towards my Uncle T----, and he began to see, to his indignation,
that 