a different life; but in the end I came
back to the one I love the best--the free life of the road. But
believe me, Tom Tufton, your father's act of clemency has never
been forgotten. I too have shown mercy many a time and oft. I have
my own code of honour and chivalry. I want money badly enough; but
I will touch none of yours. I want a good horse; but I will lay no
finger on yours. Go your way in peace, and drink your fill of the
world's pleasures; but remember that if the time should come when
you want a friend and a place of refuge, ask at The Three Ravens
tavern on the skirts of this forest for news of Captain Jack, and
whensoever you may come to me, I will share my last penny and my
last crust with you, for love of the good man your father, who
saved my unworthy life."

The man spoke with visible emotion and Tom was moved also, he
scarce knew why. A sudden sense of liking--almost of love--sprang
up in his heart towards this freebooter. He laid a hand upon his
arm.

"Take me clear of this forest," he said, "and I will leave Wildfire
in your hands as a token of gratitude. I have bethought me often
that in London town he would pine his heart away. He loves the
green glades of the woodland, and the free air of the fields and
forests. Methinks you would be a kind master; and he is a loving
and faithful creature. I might even lose him in London, where, they
tell me, rogues abound. I would sooner leave him in your hands; and
if I want him back some day, I will ask him of Captain Jack."

The bargain was struck. Captain Jack accompanied Tom to the
farthest limits of the forest, giving him meantime much information
about life in London, and astonishing him by the intimate knowledge
he possessed of life in every grade of society.

Tom listened in wonder and amaze; but Captain Jack answered his
questions in such a way as to leave him little the wiser. He
managed, however, to make friends with Wildfire almost as quickly
as with his master; for the two men rode by turns, and Captain
Jack's horsemanship was of that finished kind which every horse
understands and responds to.

"You are right not to take such a creature into London," said
Captain Jack, after trying the paces of Wildfire over a stretch of
springy turf. "Some sharper would soon make away with him; but it
will be a clever man who filches him from me! I will guard him as
my greatest treasure, and he will be worth more to me than the
guineas you carry in your ba