Page:Fortunes and misfortunes of the famous Moll Flanders.pdf/11

    of the Famous Moll Flanders. 11

diamond, and the other a plain one. Once a thief being purſu'd in Lom- abd ſtreet, dropped a bundle of ſilk, which I made off with, and diſpoſed of it to good advantage, and not as thieves generally do, for a ſong. Another time I ſtole a ſilver tank- ard out of an ale-houſe, which I ſold to a pawn-broker, who encouraged me in ſuch things, who ſhortly help- ed me to a miſtreſs, who made me more expert in the thieving art, but not more fortunate;. for ſhe herſelf, and one of her ſcholars, were ſoon ſent to Newgate for ſtealing two pie- ces of cambric from a linen-draper in Cheapſide. Both of them were con- demned to die, but only our tutoreſs was executed, the other coming off with a circuit pardon. I reflect much upon one crime I committed, in taking from the hands of a gentlewoman a bundle of plate, when her houſe was on fire, and con- veyed it to my own houſe. So fortunate was I in eſcaping, that it became remarkable among the thie- ves'; none ſo great as Moll Flanders: but at length being threated by ſome