driven to the same street, in Westminster in
which I first saw the light. To my astonishment,
he entered the shop of my first master:
—how well I remembered the place, and the
coarse countenance of its proprietor! Ascending
to the top of the house, we entered the
room, to which the reader has been already
introduced,—the scene of so much secret, toil.

A long conversation, in a very low tone,
now took place between the pair, from which
I gleaned some interesting particulars. I
discovered that the respectable gentleman,
who now possessed me, was the coiner's
partner,—his being the "issue" department,
which his trade transactions, and unimpeachable
character, enabled him to undertake very
effectively.

"Let your next batch be made as perfectly
as possible," I heard him say to his partner.
"The last seems to have gone very well: I
have heard of only a few detections, and one
of those was at my own shop to-day. One of
my fellows made the discovery, but not until
after the purchaser had left the shop."

"That, you see, will 'appen now and then,"
was the answer; "but think o' the number
on 'em as is about, and how sharp some
people is getting—thanks to them noospapers,
as is always a interfering with wot
don't concern 'em. There's now so much of
our metal about, that it's almost impossible
to get change for a sufr'rin nowhere without
getting some on it. Everybody's a-taking of
it every day; and as for them that's detected,
they're made only by the common chaps as
ain't got our masheenery,"—and he glanced
proudly at his well-mounted galvanic
battery. "All I wish is, that we could find
some dodge for milling the edges better—it
takes as much time now as all the rest of the
work put together. Howsomever, I've sold
no end on 'em in Whitechapel and other
places, since I saw you. And as for this here
neighbourhood, there's scarcely a shop where
they don't deal in the article more or less."

"Well," said Mr. Niggles (which, I learned
from his emblazoned door-posts, was the name
of my respectable master), "be as careful about
these as you can. I am afraid it's through
some of our money that that young girl has
been found out."

"Wot, the young 'ooman as has been
remanded so often at the p'lese court?"

"The same. I shall know all about it
tomorrow. She is to be tried at the Old Bailey,
and I am on the jury as it happens."

Mr. Niggles then departed to his suburban
villa, and passed the remainder of the evening
as became so respectable a man.

The next morning he was early at business;
and, in his capacity of citizen, did not
neglect his duties in the court, where he
arrived exactly two minutes before any of the
other jurymen.

When the prisoner was placed in the dock,
I saw at once that she was the sister of my
first possessor. She had attempted to pass
two bad shillings at a grocer's shop. She had
denied all knowledge that the money was bad,
but was notwithstanding arrested, examined,
and was committed for trial. Here, at the
Old Bailey, the case was soon despatched.
The evidence was given in breathless haste:
the judge summed up in about six words,
and the jury found the girl guilty. Her
sentence was, however, a very short
imprisonment.

It was my fortune to pass subsequently
into the possession of many persons, from
whom I learnt some particulars of the afterlife
of this family. The father survived his
daughter's conviction only a few days. The
son was detained in custody; and as soon as
his identity became established, charges were
brought against him, which led to his being
transported. As for his sister—I was once,
for a few hours, in a family where there was
a governess of her name. I had no opportunity
of knowing more; but—as her own
nature would probably save her from the
influences to which she must have been
subjected in jail—it is but just to suppose, that
some person might have been found to brave
the opinion of society, and to yield to one so
gentle, what the law calls "the benefit of a
doubt."

The changes which I underwent in the
course, of a few months were many and
various—now rattling carelessly in a cashbox;
now loose in the pocket of some careless
young fellow, who passed me at a theatre;
then, perhaps, tied up carefully in the corner
of a handkerchief, having become the sole
stock-in-hand of some timid young girl. Once
I was given by a father as a "tip" or present,
to his little boy; when, I need scarcely add,
that I found myself ignominiously spent in
hardbake ten minutes afterwards. On another
occasion, I was (in company with a sixpence)
handed to a poor woman, in payment for the
making of a dozen shirts. In this case I was
so fortunate as to sustain an entire family, who
were on the verge of starvation. Soon afterwards,
I formed one of seven, the sole stock of
a poor artist, who contrived to live upon my six
companions for many days. He had reserved
me until the last—I believe because I was the
brightest and best-looking of the whole; and
when he was at last reduced to change me, for
some coarse description of food, to his and my
horror I was discovered!

The poor fellow was driven from the shop;
but the tradesman, I am bound to say, did not
treat me with the indignity that I expected.
On the contrary, he thought my appearance
so deceitful, that he did not scruple to pass
me next day, as part of change for a sovereign.

Soon after this, somebody dropped me on
the pavement, where, however, I remained
but a short time. I was picked up by a child,
who ran instinctively into a shop for the
purpose of making an investment in figs. But,
coins of my class had been plentiful in that
neighbourhood, and the grocer was a