into trouble soon, and no one will help him out of it again.'—And this prophecy would come true. I was therefore alarmed at the mere idea of deceiving Old Death—or rather, attempting to deceive him; and, though my companions often jeered me and urged me to '_set up on my own account_,' I lacked the moral courage to break with Mr. Benjamin Bones. "I was very expert in the art of pickpocketing, and seldom had to disappoint Old Death when I met him in the evening. If I did, he gave me my money all the same: I suppose I was too useful to him to be lost; and perhaps he knew that I always did my best. He allowed me three shillings and sixpence for each day's expenses; and this money was usually laid out in the way I will now explain:— _Breakfast._—Pint of coffee, 2_d._; loaf of bread, 2_d._; 0_s._ 5_d._ butter, 1_d._ _Dinner._—Beef, 3_d._; potatoes, 1_d._; bread, 1_d._; beer, 0 7 2_d._ _Tea._—Half-pint tea, 1½_d._; toast, 3_d._ 0 4½ _Supper._—Leg of beef, 3_d._; bread, 1_d._; potatoes, 0 7 1_d._; beer, 2_d._ Gin and water, 1_s._; bed, 4_d._ 1 4 —— —— 3 3½ —leaving me 2½_d._ a day for any casual expense. This allowance of 3_s._ 6_d._ may perhaps seem rather liberal; but it was seldom that my _earnings_ during the day were not of sufficient value to produce Old Death at least fifteen or twenty shillings—and often a great deal more.