Year: 1875

Yes, yes, come back in an hour, honey, and I'll thry what I can do for yeeS. Then she'd send me off to play, and while, she was alone she would get the money out of some hiding place she did have somewhere.

 ''She was not very hard on me. must say that for her. She did cuff and bang me about a good deal when she was out of sorts or drunk, but she fed me well and clothed me comfortably, and taught me to read and write and reckon, for she was quoite a scholar, and had done something at forgery in her day.

 "It would have edifed you to see the old woman and me on our rounds in the streets. She went always in black, thread bare clothes. with never speck of dust on them, and the whitest and stiffest starcbed cap in all Dublin. She did look as decent as a church warden's widow. Her quare old eyes stared straight before her. She looked binder nor wooden col ---1 eI1a.. r,nr thea Lord I,iantenant,s castle. I wore nice, clean, patched jack ct and trousers, and close fitting skull cap. Oh, but wasn't the meek, dutiful little grandson, leading his poor blind grandmother, and didn't know how to blarney the kind gentlemen and beautiful ladies We didn't waste much time on the citizens, but devoted our attention mainly to the country gentlemen and coun- try traders and their good wives, who al- most always gave us something. We were the best beggars in Dublin. Old Mag used to say that, if one had talent for it, begging was far more profitable nor steal ing, to say nothing of the danger. Sure. the old body had right to know, for she had tried both. She had been in jail I don't know how often, and had spent fourteen years at Botany Bay.

 Sometimes we would go into house or shop to beg. If we got nothing else we were sure to get an observation of the premises that might be useful to the burglars. I believe Mag's only notion of honor was that 1t would be scaly trick to report house where the people had given her silver, to the burglars. But woe to those who gave her nothing, or coppers, if there was anything in the house worth stealing.

 ''These same burglars did use to bor- row me now and again of dark night, to lift me in at windows and poke me through holes where a man couldn't go.

 ''One morning when was about ten years old, or maybe eleven, lay in my bed of rags in one corner of our cellar long after I had walked up, wondering why the old woman didn't call me as she used to do. At last crawled out of my own accord, and went to see what ailed the old body. She was dead. I was a sharp little devil, and hunted the cellar through for Mag's money, before I called the neighbors. l only found few shil- lings;

 Homeless and penniless, had no re- source but to beg and steal in a small way, on my own account, and to help the burglars when they chose to employ me. l ate whatever could lay my hands on, and slept wherever could find shelter. Now and again would make little raise and buy me some decent second hand clothing, but most times I was the dirtiest and raggedest little vagabond ever seen out of Dublin. There were thousands of us little outcasts there, all bound for the gallows or Botany Bay. or some such end.

 "When was thirteen or whereabouts, I went to learn trade. My handiness at opening doors and windows from the in- side, after had been helped through sash where pane of glass had been taken out, attracted the attention of an eminent manufacturer of burglars tools His name was Durfee, and he was the most impu- dent rogue in all Ireland; and that same is saying great deal for h1m. His shop was on q respectable street. He pretend ed to be gunsmith. But his real bus1- ness, what kept his forge blazing and his hammer cinking and his file scraping in the little back shop, was making burglars tools, and such-like deviltry. No man could harden a bit of steel harder nor he could. He was mighty handy, too, work ing with other metals. He made splendid gold rings for pickpockets, with beautiful little spring-blades inthem, elegant for cut ting pockets with. He was the inventor of nice little circular saw which wound up like watch, and would cut off steel bar an inch thick with one winding; price, if ty 'guineas. l had the honor to discover an improvement In this beautiful imple ment, by which the number of revolutions per second could be doubled without in creasing the size of the toy. have one of them hidden in the heel of my left shoe now. If the saws we used up at Charile's hotel, beyond, hadn't been bet ter for the coarse, easy work we had to do there, we should have had recourse to the same

 ''Durfee's wife's brother was a police man, and lodged with us, and Ido believe the honest fellow Fever suspected that his brother-in-law made anything worse nor elegant dueling pistols, for which he was famous far and woide. stayed with him until I was about seventeen Then he, having made a poile of money, bought a nice place about fifteen miles from Dub lin. where he set up for a country gentle man and was made justice of the peace.

 Before that time had learned the art of coloring hair, from an old woman told you of. and out of pure mischief had tried it on several cats and dogs, and always with perfect success. The idea got hold of me that the art might be applied prof. itably to horses of the wrong color. Horse stealing ln Ireland is not so easy busi- ness as 1t Is here. Still, it is followed there to some extent. There was always in the thieves quarter in Dublin two or three horse-thieves from the country, stop ping there for their health. I got ac- quainted with one of these-one Johnston by name, hard-riding, hard drinking, red-nOsed old vagabOnd. When he could be kept sober, he was the greatest horse thief in Ireland. He had no skill in dis guising horses, but he could disguise him. self beautifully. He could take any char Gcter. from that of colonel of dragoons to that of an old woman, to the life, and 1t was said among his admirers that he could change characters with his horse on the run. His plan was to steal horse in one guise, sell him in another, and spena the money in his own proper character. When he and joined forces I brought my art of dying hore-hair into play, and we did a fine business for few months. We went all over Ireland. and extended OUT operations into England and Scot land. You see, when horse has changed color, you can go leisurely and sell him in the best market We might have done a fine business, but poor Johnston would get drunk. ran two narrow chances of being arrested and transported, through him, and one day he did get himself in limbo in country jail in Wales. snug gled in to him all the jail-breaking ma chimes had with me, and left the place. What ever became of him don't know. for just then the whim seized me to come to America, and I went straight to Liver pool and sailed for Philadelphia in the first vessel that cleared for America.

 '1 operated at house-breaking little -. Db11oI1n1rnh1o s-l~A n