Page:The London Guide and Stranger's Safeguard.djvu/50

34 running, the cloth being made smooth;, if not slippery, with grease, &c. their operations seldom commence until dusk; they never attack other than single persons; and the fall of the year, is the most prolific in this sort of crime.

If this be not "foot-pad robbery," I know not what is; the only difference seems to lie in that robber who demands the property in one case, in the other he takes it without asking. The genuine decent pickpocket, who does the trick in a neat way, deems himself insulted in being classed with those, as well as with the following description of street robbers: He decries the use of violence upon the person robbed, unless it be in self-defence, and to make his escape.

Women hustle at night, while bestowing their unasked for caresses, adroitly entering your pockets should you come in contact with them. A short lass, and a tall or big one, are the best adapted to this business: the former forcibly contending with thelatterthe promised enjoyment, seizes you round the middle lasciviously, when the business is done neatly; she hands over the things to her companion, who moves off instantly, while the other keeps you in tow until the booty is out of I each, and then she becomes uneasy until she herself is safely out of vour sight. But