CHAPTER I

My father and mother. My mother dies and my father marries again. A bad time with stepmother. When nine years old I run away. My first “engagement.” Odd experiences. I try to be a photographer and come to grief. Another engagement--“A living head without a body.” With Bedell’s show at Whitby. My first “panto” part. How I got to London. I make the acquaintance of Morris Abrahams, who sends me home. Am engaged by Pablo Fangue, the circus proprietor. My training. Thanks to my face I am made a clown. Pablo Fangue an admirable master.