The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

It was after those adventures in Ireland, and when she was pretty well

known in that country, that she left Dublin and came over to England,

where, the time of her transportation being not expired, she left her

former trade, for fear of falling into bad hands again, for then she

was sure to have gone to wreck. Here she set up the same trade she had

followed in Ireland, in which she soon, by her admirable management and

good tongue, arrived to the height which I have already described, and

indeed began to be rich, though her trade fell off again afterwards, as

I have hinted before.

I mentioned thus much of the history of this woman here, the better to

account for the concern she had in the wicked life I was now leading,

into all the particulars of which she led me, as it were, by the hand,

and gave me such directions, and I so well followed them, that I grew

the greatest artist of my time and worked myself out of every danger

with such dexterity, that when several more of my comrades ran

themselves into Newgate presently, and by that time they had been half

a year at the trade, I had now practised upwards of five years, and the

people at Newgate did not so much as know me; they had heard much of me

indeed, and often expected me there, but I always got off, though many

times in the extremest danger.

One of the greatest dangers I was now in, was that I was too well known

among the trade, and some of them, whose hatred was owing rather to

envy than any injury I had done them, began to be angry that I should

always escape when they were always catched and hurried to Newgate.

These were they that gave me the name of Moll Flanders; for it was no

more of affinity with my real name or with any of the name I had ever

gone by, than black is of kin to white, except that once, as before, I

called myself Mrs. Flanders; when I sheltered myself in the Mint; but

that these rogues never knew, nor could I ever learn how they came to

give me the name, or what the occasion of it was.

I was soon informed that some of these who were gotten fast into

Newgate had vowed to impeach me; and as I knew that two or three of

them were but too able to do it, I was under a great concern about it,

and kept within doors for a good while. But my governess--whom I

always made partner in my success, and who now played a sure game with

me, for that she had a share of the gain and no share in the hazard--I

say, my governess was something impatient of my leading such a useless,

unprofitable life, as she called it; and she laid a new contrivance for

my going abroad, and this was to dress me up in men's clothes, and so

put me into a new kind of practice.