Thief

“ All these months you must have thought of me as a thief, condemned me as a thief; but that was not the only reason. There was—there is another, deeper, more vital——”
“A thief!” horror and surprise in her tone, her eyes. “A thief! How could I think that after that night in Wheaton? Why should I have thought such a thing?”
“Why shouldn’t you?” he said bitterly. “What else could you have thought of me when I turned over to you all your jewels with the exception of what was probably of the greatest value among them—a magnificent pigeon’s-blood ruby?” ”

“ He groped along as stealthily, with as cautious a tread, and as wary an outlook, as a thief entering a chamber where a man lies only half asleep—or, it may be, broad awake—with purpose to steal the very treasure which this man guards as the apple of his eye. ”

“ A thief is one who creeps behind your back, or into your tent, and rifles your pockets — a practice to which the low, base-born Fellah might stoop, but which the proud Bedawee would scorn. He is a lofty, high-minded robber, who meets you on the desert face to face, and if he attacks you, gives you the opportunity to defend yourself, and if he despoils you, it is by a right which is recognized in all nations, the right of the strongest. ”

“ If they are not thieves, if they are not tyrants, if they are not men-stealers, I should like to know what is their true character, and by what names they may be called. It is as mild an epithet to say that a thief is a thief, as it is to say that a spade is a spade. ”

“ And he saw a man creeping along a wall with noiseless steps, often casting a fearful glance behind him. The king concluded that this was the thief who all alone robbed the city, and went up to him. And the thief asked him who he was. The king replied: "I am a thief."
Then the thief said joyfully: "Good! You are my friend. Come to my house. I will treat you like a friend." So the king agreed and went with the thief to a house hidden in a grove and guarded by a wall, full of delightful and beautiful things, and bright with shining gems. ”

“ The thief does not come with strident voice, with thunderous noise, nor in open daylight, but between the midnight and the morn, with shodden feet, silently, softly, and takes the treasure while all in the house are sunken in the depths of sleep. ”

“ But in thy sleep A thief might slip up And steal slyly the ring.
Say, how wouldst thou save thyself then?
Alberich Most shrewd to himself seems Loge;
Others always Figure as fools. If I had to ask for Advice or aid On bitter terms, How happy the thief would be! ”

“ So the thief entered, he and the husband; and when they were both in the chamber, she locked on them the door, which was a stout one, and said to the thief, ‘Out on thee, O fool! Thou hast fallen [into the trap] and now I have but to cry out and the officers of the police will come and take thee and thou wilt lose thy life, O Satan!’ Quoth he, ‘Let me go forth;’ and she said, ‘Thou art a man and I am a woman; and in thy hand is a knife and I am afraid of thee.’ Quoth he, ‘Take the knife from me.’ So she took the knife from him and said to her husband, ‘Art thou a woman and he a man? ”

“ And the thief he starved that I might be fed, and his eyes were kind and mild.
Yet they were woefully wicked men, and often at night in pain
I heard the murderer speak of his deed and dream it over again;
I heard the poor thief sorrowing for the dead self he had slain. ”

“ LONDON DETECTIVE FORCE,
FROM
DICKENS’ “HOUSEHOLD WORDS.”
Part XI.
THE MODERN SCIENCE OF THIEF-TAKING. IF thieving be an Art (and who denies that its more subtle and delicate branches deserve to be ranked as one of the Fine Arts?) , thief-taking is a Science. All the thief’s ingenuity, all his knowledge of human nature; all his courage; all his coolness; all his imperturbable powers of face; all his nice discrimination in reading the countenances of other people; all his manual and digital dexterity; all his fertility in expedients, and promptitude in acting upon them ”

“ I asked a thief to steal me a peach
He turned up his eyest
I ask'd a lithe lady to lie her down
Holy & meek she cries—
5As soon as I went
An angel came.
He wink'd at the thief
And smild at the dame—
And without one word said
10Had a peach from the tree
And still as a maid
Enjoy'd the lady. ”

“ The king looked around in great astonishment. "Both in this room?" repeated he. "There is the thief," continued the doctor, pointing to the dog. Now the king was thoroughly amazed, and even angry; he thought the wise man made fun of him. "Kill the thief," said the doctor, sternly, "and you will be sure to find the ring." They did so at once, and, indeed, found the ring in the stomach of the animal. ”

“ The thief (if thief it were) must have already taken the alarm, and descended to the lowest regions. I fancied I could detect the same footsteps, but more distinctly marked, walk by me with a hurried, frightened movement, accompanied by a quick, sobbing breath; and, as I paused to consider what such a mystery could indicate, a pair of heavily-shod feet rushed past me, or seemed to rush, upon the stairs. I heard an angry shout commingle with a faint cry of terror below the landing whereon I stood; then, the discharge of a firearm, followed by a low groan of pain—and all was still. ”

“ The thief common and open are those that by such craft live, on whom one does judgment when one takes them. Of such there are many kinds on land and on sea. The hidden thief is he that steals in corners and secretly, great things or little by (their) fighting, or by treason, or by cunning. ”

“ When day dawned, they told the king: ‘A thief is caught in the trap, but he has no head.’ The king went himself, and saw that in truth the thief had no head, and he was amazed. How could a headless man thieve? Then he commanded them, saying: ‘Take his body and put it in the market place, with sentinels to guard it. Whoever passes by and weeps at the sight of it will be guilty, because it will be a sign of pity for the thief ”

“ Thief. I do it to accommodate you. Must I be even plainer? Imagine that I go away, refusing to take anything in spite of your protests. Imagine it's to-morrow. The police and the reporters have caught wind of the story. Something has been taken from every house in Sargent Road—except one. The nature of the articles shows that the thief is a man of rare discrimination. To be quite frank—a connoisseur.
Clara. A connoisseur of what? Humph!
Thief. And a connoisseur of such judgment that to have him pass your Rubens by is to cast doubt upon its authenticity. ”

“ The thief that follows a thief finds little by the road. We are under no obligation to search a prisoner remanded from another prison.”
Impulsively I wrung the hand of the dear sententious; I looked into his eyes.
“The Goddess of Reason disown thee!” I said. “Thou shalt never be acolyte to a harlot!—And I—if all goes well, I will remember. ”

“ 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." ”

“ The thief, who is moving about the circle of our cathedral cities with our American visitors, shows too intimate knowledge of the ways and manners of his victims in general, and makes too precise selections of those from whom he may make his invariably easy and profitable hauls, to be other than an American himself, born, bred, and travelled as such. ”

“ The Little Thief understood her; he saw through her cunning, and said: ‘What is the use of this morsel of flesh? Come with me and I can give thee a whole dishful. Thou canst eat and give to thy friends; it will be of service to thee.’ The old woman’s head swam with pleasure. She turned [95] back and went with the Little Thief. Whenever the deceitful old woman was enticed into the house, he drew out his dagger and cut off her head. Then he took her body, and buried it also under the couch. The king waited for news, but the old woman never came. ”

“ Suppose a boy steals an apple
From the tray at the grocery store,
And they all begin to call him a thief,
The editor, minister, judge, and all the people—
“A thief,” “a thief,” “a thief,” wherever he goes
And he can’t get work, and he can’t get bread
Without stealing it, why the boy will steal.
It’s the way the people regard the theft of the apple
That makes the boy what he is. ”

“ Another occasional excitement is the punishment of a thief, who, when detected, is, by the custom of the country, hunted like a mad dog through the town, the whole population following him full cry up and down the steep narrow streets till they are weary of the sport. ”

“ My fifth category is made up of what a friend calls "the unknown thief," whom he considers the most dangerous and despicable of all. He means, by the unknown thief, the man in official life, or in any position which permits of it, who protects, for the sake of compensation, the known thief. ”

“ Another thief was there before him, who, having plucked a bunch, let it down with a string to avoid noise. The second thief, when half-way up, caught the bunch (not perceiving the first thief) and exclaimed: "Hullo, what luck! a bunch before reaching the top." ”

“ A thief, detected in the commission of a robbery, has been known by this sort of finesse, aided by a genteel appearance and polite manners, to persuade his accusers of his innocence, and not only to get off with a good grace, but induce them to apologize for their supposed mistake, and the affront put upon him. ”

“ And the thief answered, “I will not take aught but the whole.” “Take half,” rejoined the traveller, “and let me go.” But the robber replied, “I will take nought but the whole, and I will slay thee [to boot] .” ”

“ Now, I would not trust either of those men with a box of matches; and so I said to the Great American Identifier: "You are the meanest, most despicable thief in the whole stir. I'd respect you if you had the nerve to rob a live man, but you always stole from a cadaver." He was horrified at my language and began to talk of a favorite subject with him—his wealthy relatives. ”

“ If such a warning is so clearly given, how can He be said to come as a thief? He Himself teaches us perfectly clearly that the meaning of the illustration is that, as the thief comes without giving notice, so He will return without previously giving any such notice of His approach as will arouse the sleepers. The thief does not tell you when he is coming; and when he comes, he neither knocks the door nor rings the bell. But he comes quietly. He does nothing to disturb those that are asleep, and His object is to enter unobserved. ”

“ Quoth the thief, ‘That makes three hundred dirhems.’ And the woman said, ‘O my dear one, when the girl is married, thou wilt need money for winter expenses, charcoal and firewood and other necessaries.’ ‘What wouldst thou have?’ asked the thief ”

“ The thieves knock at doors during church hours; if nobody answers, they know that nobody is in. Should any one answer the door, the thief asks for a glass of water, or would they be kind enough to tell him in what part of the street Mr. So-and-so lives? But we must not omit to say that houses are frequently watched for several Sundays together; and when the habits of the inmates are ascertained, the thieves take their measures accordingly. ”

“ The young thief thought that the voice must be the voice of a maid-servant reciting a story, as he had learnt was the custom in the palace every night, for composing the king and queen to sleep. But how to get up into the third loft? The inner doors were all closed, and there were guards everywhere. But the young thief had with him nails and a hammer: why not drive the nails into the wall and climb up by them? ”

“ On the night previous to your intended departure, a thief enters your house, takes possession of all you have, and makes off, and you never hear of it more. Or suppose you are already on your journey, and after many days of fatiguing travel, find yourself near the place of your destination; when you are met by the highwayman, who, with a pistol at your breast, robs you of your last farthing.—Now I suppose this would be a case, where theft and robbery would stand out in their worst features. ”

“ And what work art thou upon, lord?" "I am hanging a thief that I caught robbing me," said he. "What manner of thief is that?" asked the scholar. "I see a creature in thy hand like unto a mouse, and ill does it become a man of rank equal to thine to touch a reptile such as this. ”

“ That a sneak thief should be caught as he was escaping from a house with a few dollars’ worth of plunder, will attract the average reader much less than the fact that he jumped through a plate-glass window in his effort to escape, or that he gained access to the house by wearing a Salvation Army uniform, or that he carried away a pie as part of his booty. ”

“ May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two
Guiltier than him they try. What’s open made to justice,
That justice seizes. What knows the laws
That thieves do pass on thieves? ”

“ In theory, a thief could escape by hanging four days, after which the executioner would pull out the nails. Sometimes a culprit managed it, but when the nails were pulled, the thing that toppled was already a corpse.
The sun was sinking in the west, and it blinded him. Asir knew about the sun—knew things the stupid council failed to know. A thief, if successful, frequently became endowed with wisdom, for he memorized more wealth than a score of honest men. ”

“ The eldest boy said he liked one man, and the second the other, but the third preferred the thief! [118]
“Well,” said the Priest, “if you prefer the thief, you yourself must be a thief. Where is the third ruby?” ”

“ Dacre.'
'In years perhaps; in feelings but a day. My forefathers came over to steal, and, lord! how well they accomplished it. They stole the whole country—something like a theft, say I—under that prince of robbers whom you have well named the Conqueror. In our secret hearts we all admire a great thief, and if not a great one, then an expert one, who covers his tracks so perfectly that the hounds of justice are baffled in attempting to follow them. ”