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That time we escaped with whole
skins; and off we went, after dinner, to Vauxhall, where Jack was more
noticed than the fiercest of the bloods, and where he filled the heart of
George Barrington with envy Nor was he idle, despite his recent escape:
he brought away two watches and three purses from the Garden, so that
our necessities were amply supplied Ah, I should have been happy in
those days if only Jack had been faithful But he had a roving eye and a
joyous temperament; and though he loved me better than any of the
baggages to whom he paid court, he would not visit me so often as he
should Why, once he was hustled off to Bow Street because the watch
caught him climbing in at Doll Frampton’s window And she, the
shameless minx, got him off by declaring in open court that she would be
proud to receive him whenever he would deign to ring at her bell That is

A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
the penalty of loving a great man: you must needs share his affection with
a set of unworthy wenches Yet Jack was always kind to me, and I was
the chosen companion of his pranks
`Never can I forget the splendid figure he cut that day at replica miu miu Bagnigge
Wells We had driven down in our coach, and all the world marvelled at
our magnificence Jack was brave in a scarlet coat, a tambour waistcoat,
and white silk stockings From the knees of his breeches streamed the
strings (eight at each), whence he got his name, and as he plucked off his
lace-hat the dinner-table rose at him That was a moment worth living
for, and when, after his first bottle, Jack rattled the glasses, and declared
himself a highwayman, the whole company shuddered “But, my
friends,’ quoth he, “to-day I am making holiday, so that you have naught
to fear’ When the wine ‘s in, the wit ‘s out, and Jack could never stay his
hand from the bottle The more he drank, the more he bragged, until,
thoroughly fuddled, he lost a ring from his finger, and charged the
miscreants in the room with stealing it “However,’ hiccupped he, “’tis
a mere nothing, worth a paltry hundred pounds–less than a lazy evening’s
work So I’ll let the trifling theft pass’ But the cowards were not
content with Jack’s generosity, and seizing upon him, they thrust him neck
and crop through the window They were seventeen to one, the craven-
hearted loons; and I could but leave the marks of my nails on the cheek of
the foremost, and fendi spy bags follow my hero into the yard, where we took coach, and
drove sulkily back to Covent Garden
`And yet he was not always in a mad humour; in fact, Sixteen- String
Jack, for all his gaiety, was a proud, melancholy man The shadow of the
tree was always upon him, and he would make me miserable by talking of
his certain doom “I have a hundred pounds in my pocket,’ he would
say; “I shall spend that, and then I shan’t last long’ And though I never
thought him serious, his prophecy came true enough Only a few months
before the end we had visited Tyburn together With his usual
carelessness, he passed the line of constables who were on guard
“It is very proper,’ said he, in his jauntiest tone, “that I should be a
spectator on this melancholy occasion’ And though none of the dullards
took his jest, they instantly made way for him For my Jack was always

A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
a gentleman, though he was bred to the stable, and his bitterest enemy
could not have denied that he was handsome His open countenance was
as honest as the day, and the brown curls over his forehead were more
elegant than the smartest vintage omega watches wig Wherever he went the world did him
honour, and many a time my vanity was sorely wounded I was a pretty
girl, mind you, though my travels have not improved my beauty; and I had
many admirers before ever I picked up Jack Rann at a masquerade Why,
there was a Templar, with two thousand a year, who gave me a carriage
and servants while I still lived at the dressmaker’s in Oxford Street, and I
was not out of my teens when the old Jew in StMary Axe took me into
keeping But when Jack was by, I had no chance of admiration All the
eyes were glued upon him, and his poor doxy had to be content with a
furtive look thrown over a stranger’s shoulder At Barnet races, the year
before they sent me across the sea, we were followed by a crowd the
livelong day; and truly Jack, in his blue satin waistcoat laced with silver,
might have been a peer At any rate, he had not his equal on the course,
and it is small wonder that never for a moment were we left to ourselves
`But happiness does not last for ever; only too often we were gravelled
for lack of money, and Jack, finding his purse empty, could do naught else
than hire a hackney and take to the road again, while I used to lie awake
listening to the watchman’s raucous voice, and white chanel j12 watch praying God to send back
my warrior rich and scatheless So times grew more and more difficult
Jack would stay a whole night upon the heath, and come home with an
empty pocket or a beggarly half crown And there was nothing, after a
shabby coat that he hated half so much as a sheriff’s officer “Learn a
lesson in politeness,’ he said to one of the wretches who dragged him off
to the Marshalsea “When Sir John Fielding’s people come after me they
use me genteelly; they only hold up a finger, beckon me, and I follow as
quietly as a lamb But you bluster and insult, as though you had never
dealings with gentlemen’ Poor Jack, he was of a proud stomach, and
could not abide interference; yet they would never let him go free And
he would have been so happy had he been allowed his own way To pull
out a rusty pistol now and again, and to take a purse from a traveller–
surely these were innocent pleasures, and he never meant to hurt a fellow-

A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
creature But for all his kindness of heart, for all his love of splendour
and fine clothes, they took him at last
`And this time, too, it was a watch which was our chanel jumbo rui