hey make good cheer, and eat
delicious meat. Sometimes they want hams, and then they take a red
herring and hold it under the nose of a pig, which, allured by the
smell, would follow them to the world's end."

_Rouletiers_

Are fellows who plunder carriages of portmanteaus, imperials, &c.

"One day I followed a famous _rouletier_ named _Gosnet_. On reaching
the Rue Saint Denis, he jumped up on a coach, put on a cloak and cotton
cap which he found lying close to his hand, and in this dress got down
again with a portmanteau under his arm. It was not later than two
o'clock in the afternoon; but to elude all suspicion, Gosnet, on
alighting, went straight to the _conducteur_ (guard), and after
having spoken to him, turned down a street close at hand. I was in
waiting for him, he was apprehended and sentenced."

_Tireurs_,

Or pickpockets are as abundant as mushrooms.

"There was in Paris a thief of such incredible dexterity that he robbed
without an accomplice. He placed himself in front of a person, put his
hand behind him, and took either a watch or some other valuable. This
species of thievery is called the _vol a la chicane_.

"A fellow named Molin, alias _Moulin le Chapelier_, being under the
portico des Francais, was desirous of stealing a gentleman's purse: the
sufferer, who was near the wall, thought he felt some one picking his
pocket; Molin, full of presence of mind, effected his object in an
instant, the purse was torn from the pocket, he opened it, and taking
out a coin, asked for a ticket for the play. At the same moment the
person robbed said to him--'But, sir, you have taken my purse, give it
to me.'--'The devil I have,' replied Molin with an air of affected
surprise, 'are you quite sure?' Then looking attentively at it--'By
heavens! I thought it was mine. Oh! sir, I ask your pardon.'

"At the same time he returned the purse, and all the bystanders were
persuaded that he had done it involuntarily. This is being _fly_,
or I know nothing about it.

"At the time of the great fog, Molin and a _pal_ named Dorle were
stationed at the environs of the Place des Italiens. An old gentleman
passed, and Dorle stole his watch which he passed to Molin. The darkness
was so great that he could not discern if it were a repeater or not, and
to ascertain this, Molin pressed down the spring: the hammer instantly
struck on the bell, and by the sound the old man knew his watch, and
instantly cried out--'My watch! my