with three years left in his indenture; James pledged five years in exchange for a reduced premium, to be paid over time. James and Jennie had two boys before James’s new barber died, leaving James with dismal prospects once again.
Then, one steel-grey October afternoon, thinking to ask at the apothecary about a job, James made off with a pair of children’s shoes a young mother had dropped outside that apothecary. He did so entirely on impulse. The chemist happened to see, from inside, James take something – and that James’ “body language” was that of someone doing a misdeed. The chemist hurried out to the street, emerging whilst both James and the mother were in earshot, going separate directions on Cable Street. The chemist, certainly with little hope of success, nevertheless shouted for someone to “stop! Thief!” The words brought James to an immediate halt on his own, dropping his chin to his chest sadly. The mother happened to hear the chemist, too and started back towards him, he by then summoning her with a waving arm. James shuffled back. The mother saw what he was carrying, and gasped. This let James know the shoes were hers, and he gave them back to her, apologizing earnestly.
His oldest had outgrown his shoes, and James and Jennie had decided three nights before, setting priorities for their survival, that little James Jr. would go without. The decision, while sound, boiled inside James. Rage against the moneyed class, fate, and whichever of Death’s lieutenants was responsible for barbers, had not been productive, and now an impulsive theft had not, either. The judge and jury heard rather more about the bear baiting operation in court than my readers read in my Account, and that was likely the reason he was sentenced to hang by the neck until dead – for about 40 yards’ worth of stealing a pair of shoes for his son.