you go into any place where hats, coats, or umbrellas are left in
the lobby, you can take a new 'tog,' or a new hat, by mistake for your
own. That is 'twisting,' or ringing the changes. Then the
'fence-master' is the fellow who buys stolen property. I will give you
the names of some of these blokes in London before you go out. You must
know where to dispose of a 'super,'[16] or whatever you get, or it would
be of no use to you. You know what 'buzzing,' or pocket-picking is, of
course; and you have heard of working on the 'stop,' most likely. Which
means picking pockets when the party is standing still; but it is more
difficult on the 'fly.' You must remember that. I remember once going
along Oxford Street, and I prigged an old woman's 'poke,'[17] on the
'fly.' She missed it very quick, and was coming after me when I slipped
it into an old countryman's pocket as I was passing. She came up and
accused me with stealing her purse. I, of course, allowed her to search
me, and asked her to fetch a 'bobby,' if she was not satisfied. Well, I
followed the old countryman and accused him of stealing my purse. And,
my Crikey! if you had only seen how the old codger looked when he found
the purse in his pocket. I threatened to give him in charge of the
first 'copper' I saw; and he was so frightened that I actually got a
'quid' out of him to let him off."

[16] Watch.

[17] Purse.

"Well now, tell me about 'snyde-pitching.'"

"Snyde, you know, means counterfeit or bad, anything bad we call
snydey. Snyde-pitching is passing bad money; and is a capital racket,
especially if you can get rid of 'fins.'"

"What are 'fins?'"

"Five pound notes, or flash notes. I can give you the address of one or
two fellows who make bad coins, and you can pass one or two when you
see a fair chance."

"What do they charge for sovereigns, for instance?"

"The charge depends on the quality, you can get them at from six to
fifteen shillings. Those at fifteen shillings no one can discover. They
are the weight, the size, and all that is required. The low-priced ones
of course you must run more risk with. Making bad coins is one of the
best games out, and you can carry it on with less risk. For instance
you can have your place where you work so blocked up that before anyone
can enter, you will have time to destroy all your dies and tools; and
melt or 'plant' your metal, and without them they cannot convict you. I
know a bloke in Birmingham