h
I can tell you. But the name fits, and he wears it with a grace.
There be ladies in high places, too, who would not be averse to
share it with him, and be my Lady Claud, even though no other name
might be hers."

"But he is very rich; and rich men--"

"Rich!--ay, verily; and so should I be rich, if every time my purse
was empty I helped myself to Her Majesty's gold, as it traversed
the road from place to place!"

Tom stopped short as though he had been shot.

"A highwayman!" he gasped.

Harry bestowed upon him a sage glance and a mocking laugh.

"That is your word, not mine, my friend. Breathe it not before his
lordship! But there be many who swear that he is none other than a
grandson of the famous Claud Duval of olden days, and that he rolls
in the wealth he has filched from royalty itself."

"And yet he lives like a prince, and all the world pays him court!"

"Oh yes--it is the way of the world; a successful villain is as
much an idol as a successful general. The tide may turn. All high
positions have their dangers. Remember nothing has ever been proved
against him; but men think and whisper, though not in his presence.
Town talk may or may not be true; and the ladies like him none the
less for the tales that circulate about him. But come now, no more
questions, or we shall be late for the play!"

CHAPTER V. WITH LORD CLAUD.

Cale shook his head; but Tom was resolute. He had fallen under the
spell of the so-called Lord Claud's personality--like many another
before him--and whatever the upshot of the matter might be, he was
going to accept the invitation accorded him, and visit that
personage in his lodgings.

"Have a care, lad, have a care," advised the little perruquier.
"All is not gold that glitters; and many a fine lad has been led to
his ruin ere now by following some headlong fancy of his own."

"I will be careful," answered Tom, with the careless confidence of
inexperience. "Did I not come back last night with nothing spent
save the price of the theatre and my coffee and supper? You said
yourself I had done well. So give me now ten guineas, and I will be
gone; for I was told to be early."

Tom had no difficulty, once he had reached the Mall, in finding
Lord Claud's rooms; for everybody knew where they were situated,
and looked with some respect upon Tom for inquiring. He was
received at the door by a very fine lackey, and taken up a wide
staircase, so richly carpeted that the footfall