l,' he said, and got up to go back to the
cave. So then I thought my time was come, and following him inside said:

'Dear Master Elzevir, you have watched over me all this while and tended
me kinder than any father could his son; and 'tis to you I owe my life,
and that my leg is strong again. Yet I am restless this night, and beg
that you will give me leave to climb the shaft and walk abroad. It is two
months and more that I have been in the cave and seen nothing but stone
walls, and I would gladly tread once more upon the Down.'

'Say not that I have saved thy life,' Elzevir broke in; ''twas I who
brought thy life in danger; and but for me thou mightst even now be
lying snug abed at Moonfleet, instead of hiding in the chambers of these
rocks. So speak not of that, but if thou hast a mind to air thyself an
hour, I see little harm in it. These wayward fancies fall on men as they
get better of sickness; and I must go tonight to that ruined house of
which I spoke to thee, to fetch a pocket compass Master Ratsey was to put
there. So thou canst come with me and smell the night air on the Down.'

He had agreed more readily than I looked for, and so I pushed the
matter, saying:

'Nay, master, grant me leave to go yet a little farther afield. You know
that I was born in Moonfleet, and have been bred there all my life, and
love the trees and stream and very stones of it. And I have set my heart
on seeing it once more before we leave these parts for good and all. So
give me leave to walk along the Down and look on Moonfleet but this once,
and in this ploughboy guise I shall be safe enough, and will come back to
you tomorrow night'

He looked at me a moment without speaking; and all the while I felt he
saw me through and through, and yet he was not angry. But I turned red,
and cast my eyes upon the ground, and then he spoke:

'Lad, I have known men risk their lives for many things: for gold, and
love, and hate; but never one would play with death that he might see a
tree or stream or stones. And when men say they love a place or town,
thou mayst be sure 'tis not the place they love but some that live there;
or that they loved some in the past, and so would see the spot again to
kindle memory withal. Thus when thou speakest of Moonfleet, I may guess
that thou hast someone there to see--or hope to see. It cannot be thine
aunt, for there is no love lost between ye; and besides, no man ever
perilled his life to bid adieu to an au