It became known
to the Rev. Mr. Jonas that there was a strong box in the old
gentleman's house, and the same was full of 'yellow shiners.' It was
secured, the clergyman observed, by three padlocks besides an
ordinary lock. In the picking of locks The Lifter was an expert by
instinct; and when the worthy father discovered this gift he at once
sent him to a locksmith in York for a period of six months.
'Make him as expert as you can in his trade by the end of that time,
and forty pounds shall be yours.'
The honest locksmith looked wonderingly at this burly cattle dealer
who would pay so much money for giving his son a smattering knowledge
of the trade. But he consented, and at the half-year's end The Lifter
came out, prepared, as he said with an oily chuckle 'to tackle any
lock.'
Well, as I have said, the scene of operations chosen for The Lifter
now was the house of this old man; and the money in the box was the
object.
'I am sorry that I have to go stealeen again,' the fellow said with
a sigh to Roland, and then he explained his mission.
'But that is more than stealing. That will be robbery; and if you
are obliged to enter the house after night, it will be burglary.
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