with several valuable rose trees
and other plants which he had stolen out of the garden, and that a
ladder which had been discovered in the hayloft over the stable and
taken--by his instructions--to the 'yard' when the 'job' was finished
had not been missed.

Another circumstance which helped to compensate for the blinds was that
the brass fittings throughout the house, finger-plates, sash-lifts and
locks, bolts and door handles, which were supposed to be all new and
which the customer had paid a good price for--were really all the old
ones which Misery had had re-lacquered and refixed.

There was nothing unusual about this affair of the blinds, for Rushton
and Misery robbed everybody. They made a practice of annexing every
thing they could lay their hands upon, provided it could be done
without danger to themselves. They never did anything of a heroic or
dare-devil character: they had not the courage to break into banks or
jewellers' shops in the middle of the night, or to go out picking
pockets: all their robberies were of the sneak-thief order.

At one house that they 'did up' Misery made a big haul. He had to get
up into the loft under the roof to see what was the matter with the
water tank. When he got up there he found a very fine hall gas lamp
made of wrought brass and copper with stained and painted glass sides.
Although covered with dust, it was otherwise in perfect condition, so
Misery had it taken to his own house and cleaned up and fixed in the
hail.

In the same loft there were a lot of old brass picture rods and other
fittings, and three very good planks, each about ten feet in length;
these latter had been placed across the rafters so that one could walk
easily and safely over to the tank. But Misery thought they would be
very useful to the firm for whitewashing ceilings and other work, so he
had them taken to the yard along with the old brass, which was worth
about fourpence a pound.

There was another house that had to be painted inside: the people who
used to live there had only just left: they had moved to some other
town, and the house had been re-let before they vacated it. The new
tenant had agreed with the agent that the house was to be renovated
throughout before he took possession.

The day after the old tenants moved away, the agent gave Rushton the
key so that he could go to see what was to be done and give an estimate
for the work.

While Rushton and Misery were looking over the