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two guineas for it; but he had the conscience, to offer me one pound which I considered so unfair a price that I refused to let him have it, and, leaving his shop, I proceeded to a pawn-broker's a few doors further, where I requited two guineas upon it; but the shopman assured me these articles were so liable to the caprice of the fashion, that it might scarce be saleable at all in a years time, except to convert to some other use; he therefore offered to lend me thirty shillings, which I accepted, to save further trouble. This was the most impudent act I could have been guilty of, as this pawnbroker's was in Drury-lane, and within a minute's walk of my employer's; and I had better have taken ten shillings from the Jew, where it would have been placed beyond the reach of discovery, than have pledged it for five times the sum. The consequence of this imprudence will be seen by-and-by.
On my return to Tavistock-street, I informed Mr. Pettit that I had seen the parcel safely booked. The same night after he had retired to bed, I selected a few of the most eligible articles in the shop as my farewell adventure, which I concealed in my bed till the next morning, Sunday, when I conveyed them to the usual place of disposal.
Monday being come, I attended in the shop till the hour of breakfast, when I went out as usual, but with no intention of returning. I had previously procured several patterns of fancy quilting for
