The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

and send a note by a porter to the tavern, thatthe gentleman's horse that was lost such a time was left at such aninn, and that he might be had there; that the poor woman that held him,having led him about the street, not being able to lead him back again,had left him there. We might have waited till the owner had publishedand offered a reward, but we did not care to venture the receiving thereward.

  So this was a robbery and no robbery, for little was lost by it, andnothing was got by it, and I was quite sick of going out in a beggar'sdress; it did not answer at all, and besides, I thought it was ominousand threatening.

  While I was in this disguise, I fell in with a parcel of folks of aworse kind than any I ever sorted with, and I saw a little into theirways too. These were coiners of money, and they made some very goodoffers to me, as to profit; but the part they would have had me haveembarked in was the most dangerous part. I mean that of the veryworking the die, as they call it, which, had I been taken, had beencertain death, and that at a stake--I say, to be burnt to death at astake; so that though I was to appearance but a beggar, and theypromised mountains of gold and silver to me to engage, yet it would notdo. It is true, if I had been really a beggar, or had been desperateas when I began, I might perhaps have closed with it; for what carethey to die that can't tell how to live? But at present this was notmy condition, at least I was for no such terrible risks as those;besides, the very thoughts of being burnt at a stake struck terror intomy very soul, chilled my blood, and gave me the vapours to such adegree, as I could not think of it without trembling.

  This put an end to my disguise too, for as I did not like the proposal,so I did not tell them so, but seemed to relish it, and promised tomeet again. But I durst see them no more; for if I had seen them, andnot complied, though I had declined it with the greatest assurance ofsecrecy in the world, they would have gone near to have murdered me, tomake sure work, and make themselves easy, as they call it. What kindof easiness that is, they may best judge that understand how easy menare that can murder people to prevent danger.

  This and horse-stealing were things quite out of my way, and I mighteasily resolve I would have to more to say to them; my business seemedto lie another way, and though it had hazard enough in it too, yet itwas more suitable to me, and what had more of art in it, and more roomto escape, and more chances for a-coming off if a surprise shouldhappen.

  I had several proposals made also to me about that time, to come into agang of house-breakers; but that was a thing I had no mind to ventureat neither, any more than I had at the coining trade. I offered to goalong with two men and a woman, that made it their business to get intohouses by stratagem, and with them I was willing enough to venture.But there were three of them already, and they did not care to part,nor I to have too many in a gang, so I did not close with them, butdeclined them, and they paid dear for their next attempt.

  But at length I met with a woman that had often told me what adventuresshe had made, and with success, at the waterside, and I closed withher, and we drove on our business pretty well. One day we came amongsome Dutch people at St. Catherine's, where we went on pretence to buygoods that were privately got on shore. I was two or three times in ahouse where we saw a good quantity of prohibited goods, and mycompanion once brought away three pieces of Dutch black silk thatturned to good account, and I had my share of it; but in all thejourneys I made by myself, I could not get an opportunity to doanything, so I laid it aside, for I had been so often, that they beganto suspect something, and were so shy, that I saw nothing was to bedone.

  This baulked me a little, and I resolved to push at something or other,for I was not used to come back so often without purchase; so the nextday I dressed myself up fine, and took a walk to the other end of thetown. I passed through the Exchange in the Strand, but had no notionof finding anything to do there, when on a sudden I saw a greatcluttering in the place, and all the people, shopkeepers as well asothers, standing up and staring; and what should it be but some greatduchess come into the Exchange, and they said the queen was coming. Iset myself close up to a shop-side with my back to the counter, as ifto let the crowd pass by, when keeping my eye upon a parcel of lacewhich the shopkeeper was showing to some ladies that stood by me, theshopkeeper and her maid were so taken up with looking to see who wascoming, and what shop they would go to, that I found means to slip apaper of lace into my pocket and come clear off with it; so thelady-milliner paid dear enough for her gaping after the queen.

  I went off from the shop, as if driven along by the throng, andmingling myself with the crowd, went out at the other door of theExchange, and so got away before they missed their lace; and because Iwould not be followed, I called a coach and shut myself up in it. Ihad scarce shut the coach doors up, but I saw the milliner's maid andfive or six more come running out into the street, and crying out as ifthey were frightened. They did not cry 'Stop thief!' because nobodyran away, but I could hear the word 'robbed,' and 'lace,' two or threetimes, and saw the wench wringing her hands, and run staring to andagain, like one scared. The coachman that had taken me up was gettingup into the box, but was not quite up, so that the horse had not begunto move; so that I was terrible uneasy, and I took the packet of laceand laid it ready to have dropped it out at the flap of the coach,which opens before, just behind the coachman; but to my greatsatisfaction, in less than a minute the coach began to move, that is tosay, as soon as the coachman had got up and spoken to his horses; so hedrove away without any interruption, and I brought off my purchase,which was work near #20.

  The next day I dressed up again, but in quite different clothes, andwalked the same way again, but nothing offered till I came into St.James's Park, where I saw abundance of fine ladies in the Park, walkingin the Mall, and among the rest there was a little miss, a young ladyof about twelve or thirteen years old, and she had a sister, as Isuppose it was, with her, that might be about nine years old. Iobserved the biggest had a fine gold watch on, and a good necklace ofpearl, and they had a footman in livery with them; but as it is notusual for the footman to go behind the ladies in the Mall, so Iobserved the footman stopped at their going into the Mall, and thebiggest of the sisters spoke to him, which I perceived was to bid himbe just there when they came back.

  When I heard her dismiss the footman, I stepped up to him and askedhim, what little lady that was? and held a little chat with him aboutwhat a pretty child it was with her, and how genteel and well-carriagedthe lady, the eldest, would be: how womanish, and how grave; and thefool of a fellow told me presently who she was; that she was Sir Thomas----'s eldest daughter, of Essex, and that she was a great fortune;that her mother was not come to town yet; but she was with Sir William----'s lady, of Suffolk, at her lodging in Suffolk Street, and a greatdeal more; that they had a maid and a woman to wait on them, besidesSir Thomas's coach, the coachman, and himself; and that young lady wasgoverness to the whole family, as well here as at home too; and, inshort, told me abundance of things enough for my business.

  I was very well dressed, and had my gold watch as well as she; so Ileft the footman, and I puts myself in a rank with this young lady,having stayed till she had taken one double turn in the Mall, and wasgoing forward again; by and by I saluted her by her name, with thetitle of Lady Betty. I asked her when she heard from her father; whenmy lady her mother would be in town, and how she did.

  I talked so familiarly to her of her whole family that she could notsuspect but that I knew them all intimately. I asked her why she wouldcome abroad without Mrs. Chime with her (that was the name of herwoman) to take of Mrs. Judith, that was her sister. Then I enteredinto a long chat with her about her sister, what a fine little lady shewas, and asked her if she had learned French, and a thousand suchlittle things to entertain her, when on a sudden we saw the guardscome, and the crowd ran to see the king go by to the Parliament House.

  The ladies ran all to the side of the Mall, and I helped my lady tostand upon the edge of the boards on the side of the Mall, that shemight be high enough to see; an
d took the little one and lifted herquite up; during which, I took care to convey the gold watch so cleanaway from the Lady Betty, that she never felt it, nor missed it, tillall the crowd was gone, and she was gotten into the middle of the Mallamong the other ladies.

  I took my leave of her in the very crowd, and said to her, as if inhaste, 'Dear Lady Betty, take care of your little sister.' And so thecrowd did as it were thrust me away from her, and that I was obligedunwillingly to take my leave.

  The hurry in such cases is immediately over, and the place clear assoon as the king is gone by; but as there is always a great running andclutter just as the king passes, so having dropped the two littleladies, and done my business with them without any miscarriage, I kepthurrying on among the crowd, as if I ran to see the king, and so I gotbefore the crowd and kept so till I came to the end of the Mall, whenthe king going on towards the Horse Guards, I went