One day she was going to church to hear a sermon from a great
preacher, and she begged the Shifty Lad, as the neighbours called
him from the tricks he played, to come with her. But he only
laughed and declared that he did not like sermons, adding:

'However, I will promise you this, that the first trade you hear
named after you come out from church shall be my trade for the
rest of my life.'

These words gave a little comfort to the poor woman, and her
heart was lighter than before as she bade him farewell.

When the Shifty Lad thought that the hour had nearly come for the
sermon to be over, he hid himself in some bushes in a little path
that led straight to his mother's house, and, as she passed
along, thinking of all the good things she had heard, a voice
shouted close to her ear 'Robbery! Robbery! Robbery!' The
suddenness of it made her jump. The naughty boy had managed to
change his voice, so that she did not know it for his, and he had
concealed himself so well that, though she peered about all round
her, she could see no one. As soon as she had turned the corner
the Shifty Lad came out, and by running very fast through the
wood he contrived to reach home before his mother, who found him
stretched out comfortably before the fire.

'Well, have you got any news to tell me?' asked he.

'No, nothing; for I left the church at once, and did not stop to
speak to anyone.'