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upon the town, I carried on my depredations under the very noses of the officers, without suspicion. Having therefore, at first no associate, I was obliged to quit the Theatre and conceal my first booty in some private spot before I could make (with prudence) a second attempt. Upon the whole I was very successful in this pursuit also, at least as to the number of articles I filched, and had their value been reasonably proportionate to what I expected, I need not long have followed so hazardous an employment. I have very frequently obtained nine or ten pocket-books, besides other articles, in an evening; and these being taken from gentlemen evidently of fortune and fashion, I had reason to expect I should sometime meet with a handsome sum in Bank-notes; but fortune did not favour me therein, for during near twelve months almost nightly attendance at one or other of the public places, I never found more than twenty pounds in a book, and that only on one occasion. I several times got five, ten, or eleven pounds, but commonly one, two, or three pounds, and most generally four books out of five contained nothing but letters, memorandums, and other papers, useless to me. At the same time I knew frequent instances of the common street pick-pockets getting booty of fifty, one hundred and sometimes three or four hundred pounds. However, I never failed to pay the expenses of the night, and if I gained nothing, I enjoyed at least a fund
