ide your time'--is good advice in such troubled times. I
therefore think that I should be very wary if I were you; but I still
think that there is no fear of either you or I going out of the forest
in our present dresses and under the name of Armitage. No one would
recognise us; you are grown tall, and so am I, and we are so tanned and
sunburnt with air and exercise that we do look more like children of the
forest than the sons of Colonel Beverley."

"Humphrey, you speak very sensibly, and I agree with you. I am not
quite so fiery as the old man thinks; and if my bosom burns with
indignation, at all events I have sufficient power to conceal my
feelings when it is necessary. I can oppose art to art, if it becomes
requisite, and which, from what you have said, I believe now is really
so. One thing is certain, that while King Charles is a prisoner, as he
now is, and his party dispersed or gone abroad, I can do nothing, and to
make myself known would only be to injure myself and all of us. Keep
quiet, therefore, I certainly shall, and also remain as I am now under a
false name; but still I must and will mix up with other people, and know
what is going on. I am willing to live in this forest and protect my
sisters as long as it is necessary so to do; but although I will reside
here, I will not be confined to the forest altogether."

"That's exactly what I think too, Edward, what I wish myself: but let us
not be too hasty even in this. And now, I will wish you a pleasant
ride; and, Edward, if you can, procure of the keepers some small shot
for me; I much wish to have some."

"I will not forget; good-bye, brother."

Humphrey returned home to attend his farm-yard, while Edward continued
his journey through the forest. Some estimate of the character of the
two boys may be formed from the above conversation. Edward was
courageous and impetuous--hasty in his resolves, but still open to
conviction. Brought up as the heir to the property, he felt, more than
Humphrey could be expected to do, the mortification of being left a
pauper, after such high prospects in his early days: his vindictive
feelings against the opposite party were therefore more keen, and his
spirit mounted more under the conviction which he laboured. His
disposition was naturally warlike, and this disposition had been
fostered by his father when he was a child--still a kinder heart or a
more generous lad never existed.

Humphrey was of a much more