Then came a foggy night. Necessity and Opportunity met, and I went away with a bundle of bank notes and some certified checks. The checks went into the first mailbox as an apology from Necessity to Opportunity.

Then began the toughest battle of my life. Opium, the Judas of drugs, that kisses and betrays, had a good grip on me, and I prepared to break it. The last words of my rescuer when he put me in the train rang in my ears:

“Goodbye and good luck, Blacky. And you’d better lay away from that hop or it’ll make a bum of you.”