“I started off and got the watch where I had left it. When I came back, the old gentleman was sitting behind his study table, with the little heap of gold in front of him.
“‘Here is your money,’ he said, and pushed it over.
“‘Here is your watch,’ said I.
“He was evidently delighted to get it back; and after examining it carefully, and assuring himself that it was none the worse, he put it into the watch-pocket of his coat with a grunt of satisfaction.
“‘Now, my lad,’ he said, ‘I know it was you that took the watch. Tell me how you did it, and I don’t mind giving you an extra five-pound note.’
“‘I wouldn’t tell you in any case,’ said I; ‘but especially I wouldn’t tell you when you have a witness hid behind that curtain.’ You see, I had all my wits about me, and it didn’t escape me that the curtain was drawn tighter than it had been before.
“‘You are too sharp for us,’ said he, good-humoredly. ‘Well, you have got your money, and that’s an end of it. I’ll take precious good care you don’t get hold of my watch again in a hurry. Good night—no; not that door,’ he added as I marched towards a cupboard. ‘This is the door,’ and he stood up and opened it. I brushed past him, opened the hall door, and was round the corner of the square in no time. I don’t know how long the old gentleman took to find it out, but in passing him at the door, I managed to pick his pocket for the second time, and next morning the family heirloom was in the melting-pot, after all. That wasn’t bad, was it?’”
The old war-horse had evidently forgotten all about his conversion now. There was a tone of triumph in the conclusion of his anecdote which showed that his pride in his smartness far surpassed his repentance of his misdeeds. He seemed pleased at the astonishment and amusement I expressed at his adroitness.
“Yes,” he continued with a laugh, “it was a capital joke. But sometimes the fun lies all the other way. Even the sharpest of us come to grief at times. There was one rather curious incident which occurred in my career. You may possibly have seen the anecdote, for it got into print at the time.”
“Pray let me hear it,” said I.