ts good night, and by
half-past ten the front door of No. 5, East Terrace, Evelina Road, would
be locked and bolted, and the house plunged in darkness.

Not that it must be supposed that family life at No. 5, East Terrace,
was without its jars. These were due chiefly to the drunken habits of
Mrs. Thompson. Peace was willing to overlook his mistress' failing
as long as it was confined to the house. But Mrs. Thompson had an
unfortunate habit of slipping out in an intoxicated condition, and
chattering with the neighbours. As she was the repository of many a
dangerous secret the inconvenience of her habit was serious. Peace was
not the man to hesitate in the face of danger. On these occasions
Mrs. Thompson was followed by Peace or his wife, brought back home and
soundly beaten. To Hannah Peace there must have been some satisfaction
in spying on her successful rival, for, in her own words, Peace never
refused his mistress anything; he did not care what she cost him in
dress; "she could swim in gold if she liked." Mrs. Thompson herself
admitted that with the exception of such punishment as she brought on
herself by her inebriety, Peace was always fond of her, and treated her
with great kindness. It was she to whom he would show with pride the
proceeds of his nightly labours, to whom he would look for a smile when
he returned home from his expeditions, haggard and exhausted

Through all dangers and difficulties the master was busy in the practice
of his art. Night after night, with few intervals of repose, he would
sally forth on a plundering adventure. If the job was a distant one, he
would take his pony and trap. Peace was devoted to his pony, Tommy,
and great was his grief when at the end of six months' devotion to duty
Tommy died after a few days' sickness, during which his master attended
him with unremitting care. Tommy had been bought in Greenwich for
fourteen guineas, part of a sum of two hundred and fifty pounds which
Peace netted from a rich haul of silver and bank-notes taken from a
house in Denmark Hill. Besides the pony and trap, Peace would take with
him on these expeditions a violin case containing his tools; at other
times they would be stuffed into odd pockets made for the purpose in
his trousers. These tools consisted of ten in all--a skeleton key, two
pick-locks, a centre-bit, gimlet, gouge, chisel, vice jemmy and knife; a
portable ladder, a revolver and life preserver completed his equipment.

The range o