"As might be expected, the first thing he tried to impress on the minds of his children was the necessity of getting money.
"To be sure, he did not tell us to steal, as the word is generally understood; for he wanted us to keep clear of the clutches of the law. Could we only succeed in doing this, it mattered little to him, how the desired object was secured.
"He found in me an easy convert to his doctrine, so far as the getting of money was concerned; but in the propriety of hoarding the money as he did when it was obtained, I had no faith.
"The best use I thought that money could be put too, was to spend it.
"Here my father and I were at swords' points, and had it not been that notwithstanding this failing, as he called it, I had become useful to him in his business, he would have banished me long before I took into my head to be beforehand with him, and become a voluntary exile from the parental roof.
"The way of it was this. As I have intimated, according to my father's notions all the wealth in the world was common property, and every one was entitled to all he could lay his hands on.
"Now, believing in this doctrine, it occurred to me that my father had more money than he could ever possibly make use of, and that if I could possess a portion of it without exposing myself to any great danger, I should only be carrying out his own doctrine.
"Acting upon this thought, I set about helping myself as opportunity offered, sometimes by false entries, and in various ways that I need not explain.
"This game I carried on for some time, but I knew that it would not last forever. I should be found out at last, and I must be out of the way before the crash came.
"Luckily a chance of escape presented itself.