The idle 'prentice return'd from sea & in a garret with a common prostitute [graphic]

Tom Idle sits up in a bed as if in a fright, his hair on end and his hands raised in alarm. He looks bugged-eyed at the door that has been secured by two planks wedging it shut. At his side is a prostitute, her back turned towards him as she calmly examines her booty, an earring dangling in her fingers; its pair, two watches and other objects are spread out on a cloth at her side. The two pistols on the floor show that Tom and his companion have been involved in robbery. The rat that runs over the pistols is pursued by a cat leaping from the chimney. The bed has collapsed at the foot, a broken jug and a pipe on the floor along with the remains of a meal. The left of the frame is decorated with a scourge, manacles and a hangman's rope; on the right frame hang the mace of the City of London, the alderman's gold chain and a sword of state