…— I hurried on, urged whither I knew not. It seemed to me that I was seeking some familiar spot — some known harbour of refuge against a vague, unimagined danger that pursued me; and, as I pressed forward, the air grew more and more oppressive. Then I met things — horrible things with clammy hands that tried to keep me back; and as I felt their loathsome touch and foetid breath a great weakness filled my limbs.”God of mercy!” I cried, ”Help me, and keep me from these.”Then in some inexplicable manner a new strength came into my body. Taking courage, I leaped forward; I hurled aside my assailants, and I could hear them mocking and cursing as I broke through them.Just as the haven I longed-for came in sight — and I know not what it was or how I knew it — I saw a beautiful maiden…

it! Jim was a burglar, mister, a real top-sawyer in his profession, and there wasn’t his equal in London. I knew it when I first met him, and he knew all about me — that I was one of the cleverest filchers — pocket -pickers — in Whitechapel. Well, mister, we took to one another at first sight, and, after a few months courting, agreed that, if we were to marry and have a quiet time of it, we must give up our present line of business. Burglary is all very well for a single man, if he is ‘pinched’ no one misses him, but when it comes to seven years’ penal for a man with a wife and half a dozen children, it isn’t good enough. Jim and I were sensible enough to see that, mister, and we both came to the conclusion that, after one more haul, we…