se bad
roads."

"I will go in and tell my dame to get breakfast for you," said the
landlord, "while you are looking after your horse. I like to see a man
treat his beast well, as you are doing; and you deserve the best rasher
my dame can cook for you."

The landlord was as good as his word; and when shortly afterwards Jack
entered the inn, he found a dish smoking on the board, and a tankard of
good ale standing by its side. His anxiety had not deprived him of his
appetite; and he resolved, if his horse could hold out, to push on till
nightfall. He, however, was not perfectly satisfied with the manner of
his host, and could not help fancying that he suspected him of being
either a highwayman or a fugitive from justice; and every time the door
opened, he expected to see a bailiff or a Government official of some
sort enter, to interrogate him as to what he was about and where he was
going. He fully experienced the truth of Shakspeare's saying,
"Conscience does make cowards of us all"! As soon, therefore, as he
thought his horse was in a condition again to take to the road, he
started up, and paying his score, walked out to the stables. The
landlord followed him, and touched him on the shoulder.

"I like your looks, young master," he said; "but still there are one or
two things about you which might excite suspicion. I would advise you,
therefore, not to stop at any large town, if you have again to put up
before you reach your destination."

Jack, while he thanked the landlord for his kind intentions, put on an
indifferent air, as if his advice was unnecessary, and springing into
the saddle, wished him good-day, and trotted at an easy pace till he was
out of sight of the inn. He then once again put spurs to his steed, and
away he flew along the road Master Pearson had not over-praised his
horse when he told him that at a push he could cover a long distance,
for, bad as was the road in many places, the good steed never stumbled
nor hesitated, but kept up his pace, as if well aware that much depended
on the progress he could make.

The farther north Jack advanced the better he knew the country; and as
he found that it would be impossible to get to the other side of
Nottingham that night, he turned aside off the high-road, to put up at
the house of a miller, where he had several times stopped when making
holiday excursions from Nottingham. The man was hearty and
good-natured, with a buxom, kind wife, and a pret