Though his early companions were scragged at Tyburn, the
light-fingered rascal was indifferent to their fate, and squandering
such booty as fell to his share, he bravely 'turned out' for more.
Tottenham Court Fair was the theatre of his childish exploits, and there
he gained some little skill in the picking of pockets. But a spell of
bad trade brought him to poverty, and he attempted to replenish an empty
pocket by the childish expedient of a threatening letter.
The plan was conceived and executed with a futility which ensured an
instant capture. The bungler chose a stranger at haphazard, commanding
him, under penalty of death, to lay five guineas upon a gun in Tower
Wharf; the guineas were cunningly deposited, and the rascal, caught
with his hand upon the booty, was committed to Newgate. Youth, and the
intercession of his grandmother, procured a release, unjustified by the
infamous stupidity of the trick. Its very clumsiness should have sent
him over sea; and it is wonderful that from a beginning of so little
promise, he should have climbed even the first slopes of greatness.
However, the memory of gaol forced him to a brief interlude of honesty;
for a while he wore the pink coat of Colonel Cunningham's postillion,
and presently was promoted to the independence of a hackney coach.
Thus employed, he became acquainted with the famous Cyprians of Covent
Garden, who, loving him for his handsome face and sprightly gesture,
seduced him to desert his cab for an easier profession.
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