Cornwall;
ye'll never git there without a liftin'."

"I'll have a good try, anyway," rejoined Helmsley. "Good-night!"

He turned towards Tom o' the Gleam.

"Good-night!"

"Good-night!" And Tom's dark eyes glowed upon him with a sombre
intentness. "You know the old proverb which says, 'It's a long lane
which has never a turning'?"

Helmsley nodded with a faint smile.

"Your turning's near at hand," said Tom. "Take my word for it!"

"Will it be a pleasant turning?" asked Helmsley, still smiling.

"Pleasant? Ay, and peaceful!" And Tom's mellow voice sank into a softer
tone. "Peaceful as the strong love of a pure woman, and as sweet with
contentment as is the summer when the harvest is full! Good-night!"

Helmsley looked at him thoughtfully; there was something poetic and
fascinating about the man.

"I should like to meet you again," he said impulsively.

"Would you?" Tom o' the Gleam smiled. "So you will, as sure as God's in
heaven! But how or when, who can tell!" His handsome face clouded
suddenly,--some dark shadow of pain or perplexity contracted his
brows,--then he seemed to throw the feeling, whatever it was, aside, and
his features cleared. "You are bound to meet me," he continued. "I am as
much a part of this country as the woods and hills,--the Quantocks and
Brendons know me as well as Exmoor and the Valley of Rocks. But you are
safe from me and mine! Not one of our tribe will harm you,--you can
pursue your way in peace--and if any one of us can give you help at any
time, we will."

"You speak of a community?"

"I speak of a Republic!" answered Tom proudly. "There are thousands of
men and women in these islands whom no king governs and no law
controls,--free as the air and independent as the birds! They ask
nothing at any man's hands--they take and they keep!"

"Like the millionaires!" suggested Bill Bush, with a grin.

"Right you are, Bill!--like the millionaires! None take more than they
do, and none keep their takings closer!"

"And very miserable they must surely be sometimes, on both their takings
and their keepings," said Helmsley.

"No doubt of it! There'd be no justice in the mind of God if
millionaires weren't miserable," declared Tom o' the Gleam. "They've
more money than they ought to have,--it's only fair they should have
less happiness. Compensation's a natural law that there's no getting
away from,--that's why a gypsy's merrier than a king!"

Helmsley smiled assent, and with ano