In the course of time this young street pirate became
a terror to all boys in that part of London in which he lived, and by
beginning so early he acquired a great proficiency in dishonest and
cruel practices.
It is likely that young Low inherited his knavish disposition, for one
of his brothers became a very bold and ingenious thief, and invented a
new kind of robbery which afterwards was popular in London. This brother
grew to be a tall fellow, and it was his practice to dress himself like
a porter,--one of those men who in those days carried packages and
parcels about the city. On his head he poised a basket, and supporting
this burden with his hands, he hurriedly made his way through the most
crowded streets of London.
The basket was a heavy one, but it did not contain any ordinary goods,
such as merchandise or marketing; but instead of these it held a very
sharp and active boy seven years old, one of the younger members of the
Low family. As the tall brother pushed rapidly here and there among the
hurrying people on the sidewalks, the boy in the basket would suddenly
stretch out with his wiry young arm, and snatch the hat or the wig of
some man who might pass near enough for him to reach him. This done, the
porter and his basket would quickly be lost in the crowd; and even if
the astonished citizen, suddenly finding himself hatless and wigless,
beheld the long-legged Low, he would have no reason to suppose that that
industrious man with the basket on his head had anything to do with the
loss of his head covering.
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