ficulty. The Bear
Garden, always her favourite resort, had made her acquainted with all
the divers and rumpads of the town. The time, moreover, was favourable
to enterprise, and once again was genius born into a golden age. The
cutting of purses was an art brought to perfection, and already the more
elegant practice of picking pockets was understood. The transition gave
scope for endless ingenuity, and Moll was not slow in mastering the
theory of either craft. It was a changing fashion of dress, as I have
said, which forced a new tactic upon the thief; the pocket was invented
because the hanging purse was too easy a prey for the thievish scissors.
And no sooner did the world conceal its wealth in pockets than the
cly-filer was born to extract the booty with his long, nimble fingers.
The trick was managed with an admirable forethought, which has been a
constant example to after ages. The file was always accompanied by a
bull, whose duty it was to jostle and distract the victim while his
pockets were rifled. The bung, or what not, was rapidly passed on to the
attendant rub, who scurried off before the cry of STOP THIEF! could be
raised.

Thus was the craft of thieving practised when Moll was enrolled a humble
member of the gang. Yet nature had not endowed her with the qualities
which ensure an active triumph. 'The best signs and marks of a happy,
industrious hand,' wrote the hoyden, 'is a long middle finger, equally
suited with that they call the fool's or first finger.' Now, though she
was never a clumsy jade, the practice of sword-play and quarterstaff had
not refined the industry of her hands, which were the rather framed
for strength than for delicacy. So that though she served a willing
apprenticeship, and eagerly shared the risks of her chosen trade, the
fear of Newgate and Tyburn weighed heavily upon her spirit, and she cast
about her for a method of escape. Avoiding the danger of discovery, she
was loth to forego her just profit, and hoped that intelligence might
atone for her sturdy, inactive fingers. Already she had endeared herself
to the gang by unnumbered acts of kindness and generosity; already her
inflexible justice had made her umpire in many a difficult dispute. If a
rascal could be bought off at the gallows' foot, there was Moll with
an open purse; and so speedily did she penetrate all the secrets of
thievish policy, that her counsel and comfort were soon indispensable.

Here, then, was her opportunity.