Forty Thieves

“ The men having been well chosen were fine examples of physique, and being armed with the snider rifle and carefully drilled, such a body of picked troops would form a nucleus for further development, and might become a dependable support in any emergency. This corps was commanded by an excellent officer, my aide-de-camp, Lieut.-Colonel Abd-el-Kader, but owing to the peculiar light-fingered character of the men, I gave it the name of "The Forty Thieves." ”

“ That night I gave a sumptuous supper to all the frequenters of the Jolly Thieves; and a jolly time we had of it, I'll assure you, comrades. The most respectable men in London were present at the feast; there were nine cracksmen, five highwaymen, twelve pickpockets, two murderers, three gentlemen who had escaped from transportation, and a smart sprinkling of small workmen, in the way of fogle hunters, (handkerchief thieves,) and body snatchers, (grave robbers) . Full forty of us sat down to a smoking supper of stewed tripe and onions,—ah, how my mouth waters to think of it now! ”

“ I now saw a native running like a deer, but chased like a good deerhound by one of the "Forty Thieves." The native was so hard pressed by this good runner, who was encumbered with clothes, rifle, and ammunition, that he had been obliged to throw away his bow and arrows, together with his lance. He now gained upon the soldier slightly, but they were not five paces apart when they disappeared in the high dhurra. That soldier was Ali Nedjar, of the "Forty Thieves," the strongest man, the best shot, and the fleetest runner of the force. ”

“ They occupied the neighbourhood in ambush. . .I would also lie in ambush. This system of ambuscade employed so generally by the Baris had created a wholesome alarm among the troops, which tended to obedience. They now began to appreciate the orders that no one should stray alone from the camp, and that the watering party should consist of a powerful guard. At the same time, the surprises that had occurred had somewhat shaken their confidence.
I called the "Forty Thieves" together. These fine fellows always took a great interest in their work. ”

“ I could not understand why my little station had not been attacked; but I subsequently heard that the natives were more afraid of the "Forty Thieves" than of the entire force. Added to this was the powerful reason that I had only a few cows for milk, while the attraction of many thousand head of cattle induced an attack on the camp at Gondokoro.
On the following morning before sunrise I rode up to camp to hear the news. It appeared that the natives had actually surprised the sentries. We had lost a corporal, killed; and a lieutenant and one soldier were wounded by arrows. ”

“ It is supposed that the number of persons who make a trade of thieving in London is not more than six thousand; of these, nearly two hundred are first-class thieves or swell-mobsmen, six hundred “macemen,” and trade swindlers, bill-swindlers, dog-stealers, &c.; About forty burglars, “dancers,” “garretteers,” and other adepts with the skeleton-keys. The rest are pickpockets, “gonophs—” mostly young thieves who sneak into areas, and rob tills—and other pilferers.
To detect and circumvent this fraternity, is the science of thief-taking. ”

“ While he was undergoing the punishment he yelled for mercy, saying, "I will confess-I will confess all. It was I who entered the Pacha's room at Tewfikeeyah. It was at me that the Pacha fired the pistol! Put me in irons, but don't flog me; I will confess all."
This man was an Egyptian belonging to the "Forty Thieves," and he now confessed his former delinquency. He was secured in irons and placed under a guard. The fellow had been a professional thief, and during the night he managed to slip off his irons and make his escape, no doubt with the connivance of the sentry. ”

“ Every man had done his duty. In the first onset, when about seven or eight thousand natives had suddenly attacked the station, the men had not only fallen into position for the defence of the camp with extraordinary alacrity, but they had behaved with extreme steadiness and coolness, and not a man had moved from his post without orders.
The attacking parties, formed exclusively of the "Forty Thieves," had exhibited an activity and elan for which this gallant little corps was eminently distinguished ”

“ F—— to her go-down (store-room) and saw all her stores in case of a siege—rice and flour—all in large earthen jars, that reminded one of the jars the forty thieves were put into, in "Ali Baba." Certain news reached us to-day that the enemy are closing round us; there are eight regiments with six guns at Nawab-Gunge, twenty miles from here; it is said they intend coming here, and encamping in the Dil Koosha.
Thursday, June 25th. Another day without a word of news, good or bad; even gentlemen begin to croak. ”

“ Other yokers use a tactic borrowed from the dacoits, a murderous religious gang of India, throwing a cord over the victim’s head from behind and garroting him.
Some of these colored juvenile mobs have been in existence for 15 or 20 years. When boys and girls outgrow them and become adult criminals on their own, they are replaced by new children on the way up. Among the older and better-organized kid mobs are the Fastest Runners, the Forty Thieves, the Purple Cross Gang and the Protective Association. ”

“ One of the laws of Ina runs, “If a far-coming man, or a stranger, journey through a wood, out of the highway, and neither shout nor blow [8] his horn, he is to be held for a thief, either to be slain, or redeemed.” To come to later times—there is a tradition that the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds was instituted for the purpose of putting down thieves. ”

“ So the thief returned in haste to his fellows, who said, 'What is behind thee?' Quoth he, 'Get you gone and flee for your lives and save yourselves, O fools; for that much people of the dead are come to life and between them are words and contention.' So the thieves fled, whilst the two sharpers retained to Er Razi's house and made peace with one another and laid the thieves' purchase to the money they had gotten aforetime and lived a while of time. ”

“ Mothers, not venturing out on the stairs, cried down to those below to catch their children. Drunken men, suddenly roused, reeled fighting and blaspheming into the court. Thieves plied their trade even on their panic-stricken neighbours, and fell to blows over the plunder. ”

“ James’s Gazette, January 16, 1889, the corpse-candle superstition is still firmly enshrined among the tenets of thieves all over Europe. In reality, according to The Standard, we know little about the strange thoughts which agitate the minds of the criminal classes. Their creeds are legends. Most of them are the children and grandchildren of thieves who have been brought up from their youth in the densest ignorance, and who, constantly at war with society, seek the aid of those powers of darkness in the dread efficacy of which they have an unshaken confidence. ”

“ When Morgiana left off speaking, Ali Baba was so impressed with a sense of the great service she had done him, that he said to her, 'I will not die without rewarding you as you deserve. I owe my life to you, and I give you your liberty from this moment, till I can complete your recompense as I intend. I am persuaded, with you, that the forty robbers have laid all manner of snares for me. All that we have to do is to bury the bodies of these pests of mankind immediately, and with all the secrecy imaginable, that nobody may suspect what is become of them. ”

“ Except for my sword, with the damask work upon its blade and the ivory-and-horn hilt, and the silver in my girdle, no thief would covet aught of mine. Indeed, I have found that thieves come oftener to seek the goods of merchants and to hold them to ransom, than they come to trouble an old physician who would fetch a small price as a slave. ”

“ The crowd disperses in every direction, carriages rattle off, horsemen gallop away, foot-passengers hurry hither and thither, but not always nimbly enough to escape the sword or lasso of the bold thieves who murder or rob their hapless victims, and whose audacity is such that, even in open day, and with crowds looking on, they have been known to commit their crimes. ”

“ It is almost our daily experience to learn that, for the sake of obtaining gold and silver, doors are burst open, walls are pierced, wretched travellers are struck down by rapacious and cruel men born to theft, sacrilege, invasion, and robbery. We see thieves seized and strung up before us, sacrilegious persons burnt alive, the limbs of robbers broken on the wheel, wars waged for the same reason, which are not only destructive to those against whom they are waged, but to those also who carry them on. ”

“ And in he went, as he said, with the servant at his heels trembling like a leaf at what he had [245] heard. The old woman gave them some bread and meat to eat, and then hid them away in the great empty meal-chest in the corner, and there they lay as still as mice.
By-and-by in came the gang of thieves with a great noise and uproar, and down they sat to their supper. The poor servant lay in the chest listening to all they said of the dreadful things they had done that day—how they had cruelly robbed and murdered poor people. ”

“ Half a dozen men seemed literally to jump out of it upon the shoulders of the trio. They were men, too, of powerful north-country build, almost ox-like in their strength, and the three thieves had about as much chance amongst them as rats in the mouths of trained dogs. They had time to make only the faintest show of fight before they were lifted bodily into the capacious police-car, with hefty constables practically sitting on them to keep them quiet. ”

“ Where beaten mothers and starving children dare hardly aspire to the pure air and sunlight, the whole world for them being enshrined in a crust of bread. Where thieves mount upwards on ladders beaten from pilfered gold, and command cities and sway nations. ”

“ Some of the more courageous and determined of them ventured out themselves at night; but the thieves—never at a loss in conceiving an ingenious and ready means of escape—slipped, so to speak, out of their would-be captors' hands by going semi-clothed about their work, greasing their flesh and garments until they were as difficult to catch as eels. ”

“ The reason for this disparity between a thief by night and one in the day is, that the power and intention of a nightly thief are uncertain, and whether he may not have come for the purpose of committing murder; and that by night, if thieves are resisted, they often proceed to murder in their rage ”

“ The Mischief that one Man can do as a Thief, is a very Trifle to what he may be the Occasion of, as an Agent or Concealer of Felons. [9] The longer this Practice continues, the more the Number of Rogues must hourly encrease; and therefore it is high Time that regular Book-keeping of stolen Goods should cease, and that all Gangs and Knots of Thieves should be broke and destroy'd as much as is possible, at least, none of them suffer'd to form themselves into Societies that are under Discipline, and act by Order of a Superior. ”

“ Can you tell us, please, if there is any particular line in which you excel?"
"Yes," said the second Thief; "I am able to cut the soles off a man's boots as he walks across the road without his being aware of what has happened. What can you two do, pray?"
"I," replied the first Thief, "can withdraw the eggs from under a sitting hen without disturbing her." ”

“ Hardened murderers, thieves, and assassins were here associated with boys in their teens who were undergoing imprisonment for some trifling robbery. It was not pleasant to rub elbows with miscreants who lounged past, almost smiling defiance, whilst the slim warder, in his straw hat, shirt sleeves, and drawers told you how such a fellow had murdered his mother, how another had killed a policeman, or a third had destroyed no less than three persons in a few moments. ”

“ Shall we call them thieves if, while their wives and children and loved ones are starving, they boldly descend and, in the face of Winchester rifles, take what to them seems a product of their own country? ”

“ Thieves were numerous and murders were frequent, so that every one in the city was afraid to go out into the streets at night. Worse than all else, was the report that oni or imps were prowling around in the dark to seize people by the hair of the head. ”

“ He envisioned the pandemonium that would reign when girl, man, and robot marched through the village to the council house, and he chuckled. "I think that I shall be the next Chief Commoner," he said. "And my councilmen will all be thieves."
"Thieves!" she gasped. "Why?"
"Thieves who are not afraid to steal the knowledge of the gods—and become technologists, to kindle the Blaze of the Winds."
"What is a 'technologist', Asir?" she asked worshipfully. ”

“ Their mode of life forces upon them the character of thieves, and all their waking moments are devoted to the one object of making a raid. Whether it be on the meat in the igloo or the storehouse, or the bag of blubber for the lamps, or the seal-skin clothing, it is all the same. They know from experience that the severest penalty will be enforced as a punishment for their offence but to them the pleasure of theft and the exquisite bliss of greasing their stomachs with a slice of blubber outweighs every other consideration. ”

“ Sandboys exchanged glances of mutual horror.
“Hence you see, sir, there may be strictly said to be only three classes of thieves, namely, the cracksman and the rampsman, who constitute what may be termed the thieves’ aristocracy—there being usually a certain amount of courage required in the execution of their depredations. Then the tail-buzzers and wires may be said to belong to the skilled or middle-class of thieves; while the sneaksmen or lurkers, who display neither dexterity nor bravery in their peccadiloes, may be regarded, with the exception of beggars, as the lowest class of all.” ”