The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

The thoughts of this booty put out all the thoughts of the first, and

the reflections I had made wore quickly off; poverty, as I have said,

hardened my heart, and my own necessities made me regardless of

anything. The last affair left no great concern upon me, for as I did

the poor child no harm, I only said to myself, I had given the parents

a just reproof for their negligence in leaving the poor little lamb to

come home by itself, and it would teach them to take more care of it

another time.

This string of beads was worth about twelve or fourteen pounds. I

suppose it might have been formerly the mother's, for it was too big

for the child's wear, but that perhaps the vanity of the mother, to

have her child look fine at the dancing-school, had made her let the

child wear it; and no doubt the child had a maid sent to take care of

it, but she, careless jade, was taken up perhaps with some fellow that

had met her by the way, and so the poor baby wandered till it fell into

my hands.

However, I did the child no harm; I did not so much as fright it, for I

had a great many tender thoughts about me yet, and did nothing but

what, as I may say, mere necessity drove me to.

I had a great many adventures after this, but I was young in the

business, and did not know how to manage, otherwise than as the devil

put things into my head; and indeed he was seldom backward to me. One

adventure I had which was very lucky to me. I was going through

Lombard Street in the dusk of the evening, just by the end of Three

King court, when on a sudden comes a fellow running by me as swift as

lightning, and throws a bundle that was in his hand, just behind me, as

I stood up against the corner of the house at the turning into the

alley. Just as he threw it in he said, 'God bless you, mistress, let

it lie there a little,' and away he runs swift as the wind. After him

comes two more, and immediately a young fellow without his hat, crying

'Stop thief!' and after him two or three more. They pursued the two

last fellows so close, that they were forced to drop what they had got,

and one of them was taken into the bargain, and other got off free.

I stood stock-still all this while, till they came back, dragging the

poor fellow they had taken, and lugging the things they had found,

extremely well satisfied that they had recovered the booty and taken

the thief; and thus they passed by me, for I looked only like one who

stood up while the crowd was gone.