This time he knew two accomplices--women both, and
one his own sister! A paltry pair of boots was the clue of discovery,
and a goodly stretch was the proper reward of a clumsy indiscretion. So
for twenty years he wavered between the crowbar and the prison house,
now perfecting a brilliant scheme, now captured through recklessness or
drink. Once when a mistake at Manchester sent him to the Hulks, he owned
his failure was the fruit of brandy, and after his wont delivered (from
the dock) a little homily upon the benefit of sobriety.
Meanwhile his art was growing to perfection. He had at last discovered
that a burglary demands as diligent a forethought as a campaign; he had
learnt that no great work is achieved by a multitude of minds. Before
his boat carried off a goodly parcel of silk from Nottingham, he was
known to the neighbourhood as an enthusiastic and skilful angler. One
day he dangled his line, the next he sat peacefully at the same employ;
and none suspected that the mild mannered fisherman had under the
cloud of night despatched a costly parcel to London. Even the years of
imprisonment were not ill-spent. Peace was still preparing the great
achievement of his life, and he framed from solitary reflection as well
as from his colleagues in crime many an ingenious theory afterwards
fearlessly translated into practice. And when at last he escaped the
slavery of the gaol, picture-framing was the pursuit which covered
the sterner business of his life.
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