Arthur Conan Doyle

“ And yet,” he added wistfully, “there are times when I long for the old trade again, and fancy myself strolling out on a cloudy night with my jimmy in my pocket. I left a name behind me in my profession, sir. I was one of the old school, you know. It was very seldom that we bungled a job. We used to begin at the foot of the ladder, the rope ladder, if I may say so, in my younger days, and then work our way up, step by step, so that we were what you might call good men all through.” ”

“ You will remember my name, won’t you? John Wilkie. I am pleased to have met you. Is my umbrella behind you?” he added, stretching across. “No; I beg your pardon. Here it is in the corner;” and with an affable smile, the ex-cracksman stepped out, bowed, and disappeared among the crowd upon the platform.
I lit another cigar, laughed as I thought of my late companion, and lifted up the “Times,” which he had left behind him. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ After getting out of sight of the house, I crouched down behind a hedge; and, as I expected, in less than a quarter of an hour the colonel came swinging past me on his chestnut mare. Now, there is another accomplishment I possess which I have not mentioned to you yet, and that is, that I can copy any handwriting that I see. It is a very easy trick to pick up if you only give your mind to it. I happened to have come across one of Colonel Morley’s letters some days before, and I can write so that even now I defy an expert to detect a difference between the hands. ”

“ We drove right off into the next county, got a down-train to London, and before midnight the colonel’s silver was fused into a solid lump.”
I could not help laughing at the versatility of the old scoundrel. “It was a daring game to play,” I said.
“It is always the daring game which succeeds best,” he answered.
At this point the train began to show symptoms of slowing down, and my companion put on his overcoat and gave other signs of being near the end of his journey. ”

“ We had a good look at the front of the house; and then Jim went round to the garden side. He came running back in a minute or two in a great state of delight. ‘Why, Bill,’ he said, gripping me by the arm, ‘there never was such a bit of luck! They’ve been repairing the roof or something, and they’ve left the ladder standing.’ We went round together, and there, sure enough, was the ladder towering above our heads, and one or two laborers’ hods lying about, which showed that some work had been going on during the day. ”

“ Has never been engaged in any real physical work, I should think. No tanning on the backs of the hands; on the contrary, they are very white, with blue projecting veins and long, delicate fingers. Couldn’t be an artist with that face, and yet he has the hands of a man engaged in delicate manipulations. ”

“ It was not until she had been gone some time that I found out that in drawing out my hand in that hurried manner the new and ill-fitting ring had slipped over my finger and remained in the young lady’s pocket. I sprang out and ran in the direction in which she had gone with the intention of picking her pocket once again. She had disappeared, however; and from that day till this I have never set eyes on her. To make the matter worse, there was only four pence half-penny in coppers inside the purse. Sarve me right for trying to rob such a pretty girl ”

“ General appearance, vulgar; fairly opulent and extremely self-possessed; looks like a man who could out-chaff a bargee, and yet be at his ease in middle-class society. Eyes well set together and nose rather prominent ”