CLASSIC CRIMES
prove a useful associate for one of Mr. Brodie's unconventional
pursuits* It was soon arranged that they should work to-
gether; and when Smith was sufficiently recovered, the bad
companions, "in consequence of this concert, were in use to
go about together in order to find out proper places where
business could be done with success." The fruits of their
alliance are fully set forth in my report of the trial, and may
here be mentioned briefly. One night in October a gold-
smith's shop near the Council Chambers—where by day the
Deacon gravely administered the town's affairs—was broken
into and many valuable articles were carried off. In November
two visits were paid to the premises of one H'Kain, a merchant
in the South Bridge. Among the goods removed was a red
pocket-book, which Smith bestowed upon the daughter of
his host, Michael Henderson, as a mark of his regard-
Through the good offices of his new friend, Smith was now
established as a householder in the city, his wife keeping
ostensibly a grocery shop in the Cowgate* Messrs. Ainslie
and Brown lodged together at their own charges in Burnet's
Close, waiting, like Mr* Micawber, for something to turn up.
W* S. Gilbert, with that profound knowledge of human
nature which distinguishes all his work, has acutely observed:—
When the enterprising burglar's not a-burgling,
When the cut-throat isn't occupied in crime,
He loves to hear the little brook a-gurgling,
And listen to the merry village chime.
In the Auld Reekie of the eighteenth century no gurgling fluid
was to be heard save the perennial pouring out of liquor, and
the lugubrious jangle of the Tron Kirk bell—anathematized
of the poet Fergusson—was the only available chime. These
amenities, such as they were, did Brown and Ainslie enjoy
to the full in the chosen place of their recreation: Clark's
tavern in the Fleshmarket Close, where most of their leisure
hours were spent* Not unprofitably; for there was generally
an odd guinea to be won by means of marked cards and
loaded dice~r-provided always that they played with strangers,
unaware of their peculiar practices. Smith and Brodie, too*
were regular in their attendance, but knowing their men*
refrained personally from putting the skill of these experts to
the proof.
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