cess
in life had made him even more self-confident, and it was one of his
patent maxims that treading on other people's toes before they have a
chance to tread on yours is one of the secrets of success, and
moreover, saves the possessor of big feet a lot of pain. He was
not particular to save my feelings, at any rate, and was over-fond of
calling me the French equivalent of "bloody fool". One day he said it
once too often and I picked up a heavy inkstand with the intention of
slinging it at him. Fortunately someone seized my arm, but, of course,
the affair left me with no alternative other than handing in my
resignation. In fact, I was just able to say very quickly: "I'm getting
out of here," before he could utter: "You're fired."
Now,
I had saved nothing out of my small pay, for I had been helping a
younger brother who was serving his apprenticeship to a goldsmith in
Paris. There was nothing for me back in Vienna and in any case I had
too much pride to return there a failure. I decided to become a gem
broker in Paris on my own account.
There are two kinds of broker, the broker attitré and
the free-lance broker, in Paris. The first is attached to one firm as a
kind of commercial traveller working on a commission basis only, but
he is usually permitted to have a drawing account which tides him over
bad patches. The free lance, on the other hand, works for any firm that
will entrust him with goods. He has no drawing account to fall back on.
Before casting myself on the turbulent and shark-infested waters of the Paris gem trade, I sought to secure
