On leaving school, he worked for the Civil Service and had a successful career until an occasion when he lost his temper and had to leave. With the savings from his employment, he enrolled for a course at the Sorbonne, in Paris (apparently on a whim). However, he quickly ran out of money and began busking in the streets to support himself, playing the guitar and singing Lead Belly songs and Scottish folk songs. Some sources claim that he pretended to be a blind blues singer: a white stick enhanced the disguise.