“But why should he lower them down in the dark, if they are his own property?”

“Jack, I don’t ask whose property it is; all I know is that I come by it honestly.  I don’t steal it, and I can’t prove that the man does.  Why, Jack, if one is to be so nice as that, you can’t go into a grocer’s shop to buy sugar, or coffee, or pepper, or indeed into almost any shop, if you first want to know whether the people have come by the goods honestly before you buy of them.”

“Still, it is so plain that the man must have stolen them.”

“Suppose it is; how are so many poor people to find their livelihood and support their families, if they refuse to get a shilling or two when it is offered?  If we were only to live upon what we get honestly, why, we should starve; the rich take good care of that by grinding us down so close.  Why, Jack, how many thousands get their living on this river! and do you think they could all get their living honestly, as you call it?  No; we all plunder one another in this world[4].  You asked me who were Light Horsemen?—­that’s a name for one set of people who live by plunder.  That lighter will have a good slice of her cargo out to-night; for those who cut her adrift know what’s on board of her.  Then we have the Heavy Horsemen—­they do their work in the daytime, when they go on board as lumpers to clear the ships.  And then we’ve the Coopers and Bumboat men, and the Ratcatchers and the Scuffle Hunters, and the River Pirates; and, last of all, we have the Mudlarkers:  all different professions, Jack; never interfering with each other, and all living by their wits.  I’m too old now; I was a flash pirate once, but I’m now nearly eighty, and am only fit for a mudlarker.”

[Footnote 4:  These remarks of Grumble were, at the time, perfectly correct; it was before the Wet Docks or the River Police was established.  Previously to the West India, London, St. Katharine’s, and other docks having been made, all ships unloaded in the river, and the depredations were so enormous that Mr. Colquhoun, in his work, has estimated them at half a million sterling annually.  At present the river may be said to be comparatively honest; the police is strict, and the temptations are removed.]

“But,” exclaimed I, with astonishment, “are they not discovered and punished?”

“That’s very seldom, Jack; for you see we have receivers all down the river; some of them great men, and dining with the mayor and common council; others in a small way—­all sorts, Jack:  and then we have what we call Jew Carts, always ready to take goods inland, where they will not be looked after.  Old Nanny was a receiver and fence in a large way once.”

“Then the only honest people on the river are the watermen.”

Here old Grumble chuckled.  “Why, Jack, they be the worst of all, for they be both receivers and thieves.  Do you think the watermen live by their fares?  If you do, just wait on the steps one night, and you’ll find that their night work is worth more than the day work is.  We all must live, Jack; and now I’ve shown you a way by which you can earn more money in a night than you can in a fortnight by asking for halfpence.  Here’s five shillings for you, my boy; and when I want you again I’ll let you know.”