Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. The Autobiography of a Thief. The Autobiography of a Thief Recorded by HUTCHINS HAPGOOD Author of "The Spirit of the Ghetto," etc. NEW YORK FOX, DUFFIELD & COMPANY 1903 Copyright, 1903, BY FOX, DUFFIELD & COMPANY Entered at the Library of Congress, Washington, U. S. A. Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England. Published May, 1903. "_Oh, happy he who can still hope to emerge from this sea of error!_" FAUST. "_There is no man doth a wrong for the wrong's sake, but thereby to purchase himself profit, or pleasure, or honour, or the like; therefore why should I be angry with a man for loving himself better than me? And if any man should do wrong merely out of ill-nature, why, yet it is but like the thorn or briar, which prick and scratch because they can do no other._" BACON. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE Editor's Note 9 I. Boyhood and Early Crime 15 II. My First Fall 34 III. Mixed Ale Life in the Fourth and Seventh Wards 50 IV. When the Graft Was Good 73 V. Mamie and the Negotiable Bonds 89 VI. What the Burglar Faces 107 VII. In Stir 132 VIII. In Stir (Continued) 154 IX. In Stir and Out 182 X. At the Graft Again 202 XI. Back to Prison 228 XII. On the Outside Again 255 XIII. In the Mad-House 300 XIV. Out of Hell 332 Editor's Postscript 348 Editor's Note.