CHAPTER XV. AWAY TO THE FOREST.
Tom found no trouble in escaping from the house of the perruquierby the way suggested by Rosamund; and once in the dusky streets, hemade good use of his long legs to carry him out of the vicinity ofdanger.
He knew now that there must be a warrant out against him, and thatLondon was no place for him--that he must fly somewhere beyond thereach of pursuit. He remembered Lord Claud's promise about thetrusty mare, Nell Gwynne. Well, he would go once more to thisstrange friend of his, and see how he would stand by him indanger's hour.
Tom's blood was up. He felt like a man goaded into recklessness andcrime by the action of others. If they would not let him live as apeaceable citizen--well, he would give them something to rememberhim by!
Quickly he made his way along, running like a hare when the streetwas empty, but always observing caution, and only striding alonglike a man in haste when there were passers by to note him. He feltsure that Rosamund's quick wits would do much to gain time and givehim a start; and, sure enough, he reached the stable yard whereLord Claud's horses were kept without a sign or sound of pursuit.
As luck would have it, there was the master himself standing in theyard talking to his headman.
Tom strode straight up to him with a strange gleam in his eyes, forhe knew not even now whether this man were friend or foe.
"I am come for the mare," he said briefly; "you remember yourpromise?"
Lord Claud gave him a swift, keen glance, as though he heard a newnote in Tom's voice.
"I do. I will not fail you," he said very quietly.
Then to the man standing by, "Bring out Nell Gwynne. You have yourinstructions. See that nothing is forgotten."
The man vanished into the dark stable. Lord Claud turned to Tom.
"What has befallen?"
"There is a warrant out against me. They would have taken me inMaster Cale's house half an hour back, but for the shrewdness andquick wit of his daughter. This is no place for me. My head is indanger. I must forth with all speed; but whither?"
"I should take to the forest, Tom. Captain Jack will welcome yougladly," said Lord Claud, as calmly as though discussing someindifferent project. "It is just the life for you. You will make agreat name there. And that you will never do, my friend, in the gayworld of London."
"I have thought of that," said Tom between his shut teeth; "but itmeans the life of an outlaw--and a death on the gallows, perchance,to end it!"
"Pooh, nonsense! not for a fine strapping young fellow of yourthews and your wits! It means a few gay years of excitement andperil, a little influence in high places, which can always bebought with gold, and a free pardon and a return home. Leave thatpart of the business to me. I have played the game often enough tounderstand the moves. Meantime, you will be free and safe there.Elsewhere, the gates of a prison may yawn for you at any moment."
Tom shivered in spite of the warm night air.
"Death rather than that! But is it the only way? I had thought thesecret service might find me some task."
Lord Claud shook his head slightly.
"In time, perhaps, in time; but you are too sorely beset at thismoment for that. We will talk of that later. Now you must away withall speed. My house will be watched next. Indeed, I have had someill-looking fellows asking questions and hanging round already. Tothe forest with you, good Tom, to the forest. That is the only safeplace for you now. If you fled to Gablehurst, you would only bringsorrow and shame on all who love you. Lucky for you your motherstill reigns there. Leave it to me to set her mind, and that ofyour sister, at rest concerning you. But you must to the forest, mygood comrade, and to the free and merry life there. Egad! I couldwish that I were going with you myself! Indeed, I may perchancejoin you there ere long. But we must not vanish together, Tom. Wemust use caution and circumspection."
Tom set his teeth, and a fierce wave swept over him, half of rage,yet half of joy. The longing for freedom, struggle, adventure, wasstrong upon him. The restraint of the city, the bare thought ofcaptivity, put wild thoughts into heart and brain; but the sense ofhaving been betrayed--made a tool of--befooled by this handsome,imperious man beside him, set his blood boiling in his veins.
At that moment Nell Gwynne was led out, making sparks fly from herfeet as she plunged in passing beneath the doorway. She looked inperfect condition--sleek, mettlesome, strong, and beautiful. Tom'sheart leaped at the sight of the splendid creature, who turned aresponsive head at the sound of his voice, and dropped her velvetnose into his hand.
"She is yours, Tom, from this moment," said Lord Claud, signingaway the servant, and himself holding her head; "take her as thegift of one who is neither so indifferent nor so callous as you maythink. Here is a purse of gold, too, Tom--all your own, my lad, soshrink not from taking it. Tom, whatever be the end of thisfriendship betwixt us, believe that I have loved you. It is myluckless lot to bring misfortune at times to those who consort withme; yet methinks they have their fierce tastes of joy, too. Tom, Ishall not forget you. I shall hear of you. I shall sometimes seeyou; and I shall be your friend, whether or not you believe it now.You shall not always need to dwell in the forest. You shall returnthence with fame and fortune secure.
"But, for the present, farewell. Captain Jack will give youwelcome. He will be looking to see you. He will welcome you gladly.You will find it no such bad life, believe me. But delay notlonger. Be off!"
Tom was in the saddle, and the mare reared beneath him with a snortof glad anticipation. She had done no work this many a day, beingkept in readiness for Tom's use, with only the needful modicum ofexercise up and down within hail of her stable.
Lord Claud stretched out his hand, and Tom put his within it. Afterall, he loved this man in spite of all his faults and follies, andthe strange reputation which clave to him. He might be false, butTom had trusted him, and he desired to trust him to the end.
Then he rode forth in the soft summer darkness, turning the mare'shead westward at first, to get clear of the streets and houses, andonly heading her north and then east as he made a wide circuit ofthe city.
To ride through it would have been to court capture; and even as itwas, as he sprang forward upon the better road which lay straightfor the forest to the northeast, he had a suspicion of beingfollowed, although he could see nothing as he looked back.
The mare bounded beneath him with great, elastic strides. He couldafford to laugh pursuit to scorn. Perhaps this confidence made himcareless, for he noted not two motionless figures, lying as it werein ambush, one on either side of the road in front, just where aclump of great trees threw a deep shadow across the road. He hadthought of foes following behind; but he had not thought of theirforestalling his movements and waiting for him in advance.
The mare saw them first, and swerved violently. That swerve mostlikely saved her life, if not Tom's, for at that identical momenttwo shots rang out, and Bully Bullen with a shout of triumph sprangforward, certain that his bullet had found its billet, and that Tomwas in his power at last.
The fire long smouldering in Tom's breast burst out now into afierce flame. His eyes blazed. A smothered imprecation broke fromhis lips. He drew the pistol from his belt, and fired full at thefellow who had sought to seize the mare's rein.
He might almost have spared his fire, for Nell Gwynne would havedashed out his brains with her forefeet had he not fallen with agroan, a lifeless corpse. The other man, who had seemed about torush forward, too, now started back in terror and dismay.Sheltering himself behind a tree, he yelled out in a voice oftrembling fury:
"You shall swing for this, Tom Tufton! you shall feel the halterabout your neck right soon! The highway robber who is a murderer toboot will never escape the arm of the law! I will bring you to thegallows ere I have done with you!"
Tom knew the voice, and turned the mare's head towards the fellow,who, however, decamped so quickly amongst the trees that it washopeless to try and follow on horseback. Moreover, Tom did not knowthat he was not also pursued from behin
d; and if so, he must gainthe friendly shelter of the forest ere his enemies came up.
True, he had but slain this fellow in self-defence. He had beenwell-nigh the victim himself. But the crime thus forced upon himseemed to cut the last cable which bound him to the life of thepast. They might not be able to prove upon him the robbery of thegold, but at least one witness had seen him shoot down BullyBullen, and would doubtless swear that there had been noprovocation beyond that of seeking to take into custody a man uponwhose head a reward had been set.
He touched the mare with the spurs, and set her head straight forthe forest. The late moon was beginning to silver the world abouthim; Tom saw the ground gliding ghostlike beneath him as the noblecreature sprang forward.
"Away to the forest! away to the forest!" seemed the tune beatenout by the rhythm of her flying feet. No fear from pursuit now! Tomsang and shouted in the strange tumult of his feelings, as hegalloped through the soft, scented night.
Lord Claud had been right. The forest was the place for him. He hadtried the life of the rustic, the life of the town exquisite; andboth had palled upon him. The clash of arms, the peril of the road,adventure, battle, pursuit, victory--these things held him inthrall. These things meant life to him.
Better that he should not see mother or sister again at present.Better that Lord Claud should tell them some smooth tale, whichwould set their minds at rest for a while. Later, perhaps, when thehue and cry for him was over, he would seek the shore, would findhis way to other lands, and by the power of his good right armwould win himself a name amidst the din of battle.
The future seemed to unfold itself before him in glowing colours.Life held so many golden possibilities even yet. What might not aman accomplish who had a purse of gold in his belt, a noble horsebeneath him, a trusty sword at his side?
Visions rose before his eyes of the things he would accomplish, thefame he would acquire, the return home he would finally make withlaurels round his brow! Even here in the forest he would be nocommon freebooter. He would show himself merciful to the poor andoppressed; he would only take toll of the sleek and the fat, whosewealth was doubtless as ill-gotten as that of those whose lives hehad watched of late.
"Men shall pay toll to Tom Tufton!" he cried, waving his swordabove his head in a fierce gesture of triumph; "but the poor andthe needy shall bless his name, and the oppressed shall find ahaven of refuge with him!"
By which it may be seen that Master Tom's self confidence was in noway diminished by the vicissitudes through which he had passed, andthat he was looking forward once again to playing a leading part insome new drama of life.
The border of the great forest loomed up before him. It looked darkand solemn beneath the shade of the trees. Tom drew rein, andlooked keenly to right and left, for he knew that The Three Ravensinn could not be far away.
"Who goes there?" asked a voice which Tom's quick ear recognizedinstantly; and he cried out in tones of eager welcome:
"It is I, Tom Tufton--and you are Captain Jack!"
There was a movement of the brushwood, and a horseman stepped out,the horse having given an eager whinny at the sound of Tom's voice.
"It is Wildfire!" cried Tom, bending over to pat the sleek neck ofhis old favourite. "Well, good fellow, have you had a luckiercareer than your old master? And yet I scarce can say I wish itundone. I have tasted life; I have had my glorious days.
"Captain Jack, I am come to you for shelter. There is a price on myhead. I am outlawed in effect if not in reality."
"I have heard it. I expected you," answered Captain Jack in thefriendly fashion in which he had spoken before to Tom. "I have hadnews from Lord Claud. It is not the first time he has sent hispupils to me."
"Have I been his pupil?" asked Tom with a half laugh; "in sooth,methinks I have been rather his dupe!"
"A little of both," was the answer. "But we must all pay thepenalty of friendship with great men. Yet I think the price isworth the paying. And now, Tom, if that grand horse of yours is aslittle weary as she looks, let us forth together to some placewhere none may follow us. And let me tell you that it is not toevery one Lord Claud would present his favourite mare, trained likea human creature for her trade."
"You know her?" asked Tom eagerly.
"Nell Gwynne and I have been acquainted this many a day. There besome of her fierce tricks that have been learned from my hand. Ihave been teaching the same to Wildfire and Wildgoose. We shall notbe taken or overcome through lack of good beasts to bear us, Tom."
"You have Wildgoose, too?"
"Yes, I sent after him shortly. He was too grand a beast to bewasted upon a varlet of a serving man. If you have more of the samestock at home, Tom, we might make shift to get at them anon; butfor the present we are well enough mounted."
They rode side by side through the forest tracks, Nell Gwynne andWildfire making acquaintance with apparent mutual satisfaction asthey stepped pace for pace together, their riders talking in quietfashion over their heads.
Tom told the whole story of his adventures since arriving in Londonin October; and hard indeed was it to believe that months and notyears had rolled over his head during that time.
"Not bad, not bad! Well done for a young cockerel! Ah, we shallmake a man of you, Tom! It is in your blood, I can see well!"
Such were the comments of Captain Jack as he heard the tale; andTom spoke with an unconscious pride in his own daring, whichplainly betokened an undaunted spirit and a thirst after moreadventure and distinction.
Angry and hot against those who had "driven him forth," as hecalled it, reckless of consequences, with boundless selfconfidence, he was just the tool fit for the hand of Captain Jack,who patted him upon the back in a friendly fashion, and said:
"Yes, yes, Tom, you shall learn how to take toll. We will haveanother story of Tom Tufton's Toll ere we part company. There aregood men enough amid the bands that infest these forest glades--mensuffering unjustly, men falsely accused, men who have broken fromthose noisome prisons, which breed disease and death, and who wouldsooner put a bullet through their head than return to the filth anddegradation of such a life. Ah, it is the hardness of the lawswhich drives men to be freebooters on the road! The rich may fattenand batten, rob, cheat, bleed their fellows to death; but let oneof us lesser men dare to lay hands upon their fat purses, full ofother men's gold, and we are branded as felons, and pay the ransomwith our lives! That is not justice. That is not to be bornepatiently. I tell you, Tom, that I have seen enough of theinjustice of the law to turn my heart to molten metal and my bloodto gall. We want fellows of your mould to wage the war and win thevictory. The day may come when you will win for yourself a greatname, and shine forth upon the world admired, courted, feared--evenlike Lord Claud!"
A thrill of gratified vanity ran through Tom's frame. He threw tothe winds the last scruple of conscience. He flung back his headand set his teeth.
"Ride on--I follow!" he cried, in a strange, hoarse voice; "Ifollow unto the world's end!"
So side by side the two men vanished into the deep gloom of theforest; and Captain Jack led his companion to one of those secrethaunts of his own, where no pursuing foot had ever yet penetrated.Tom drew a long breath as of relief, feeling that here at least hewas safe.
And yet, when he sought to compose himself to rest after all theexcitements of the past four-and-twenty hours, he found himselfunable to sleep. The face of his mother, loving, wistful,reproachful, seemed ever rising before him. Was it not due to herthat he should see her once again, even though he might beafterwards obliged to fly back to the forest? Was there not achance--just a chance--that his enemies might not follow him to hisown home?--might not even know where that home lay? At least, mighthe not see whether he was followed before he abandoned the idea ofseeing once more the mother and sister who loved him so well?
With the first light of dawn he woke up Captain Jack, and put thecase to him; and the elder man sat cogitating deeply, as Tom movedabout making ready the morning meal.
"
Tom, lad," he said, "you are safer here; but I understand yourfeelings. A man's first duty is to his mother if he have no wife.And your mother is a good woman. Squire Tufton would never havemarried her else.
"Listen to me, my lad. I like you. I would fain have you for acomrade and friend; and I fear that you will not long be left inpeace at home. But you shall do this thing. You shall go to yourmother--"
"Ah, that is a good word!" cried Tom, now all eagerness. "I shallat least see her once again!"
"Yes, you shall see her again; you shall make glad her heart. But,Tom, tell her nothing of all this that has befallen you, nor of theperil in which you stand. Let her never know, come what will, thatyou may be driven to take to the forest, for fear of the unjustrigour of the law and the machinations of unscrupulous foes."
"I would gladly be spared paining her by such a tale," said Tomquickly; "but how--"
He paused, and Captain Jack took up the word.
"I know what you would say. How if you have suddenly to fly again?How if aught should come to her ears? Now listen, Tom, and I willtell you what I will do. I loved your father. I vowed in my heartthat if ever the day should come that I could serve him, I would doso; and therefore I will do what I can for his son. Hear me, Tom. Ihave means of knowing many things. I can set my scouts to work.Therefore, go you home to your mother. I will meantime set my mento the task. I will communicate with Lord Claud. If peril threaten,you shall have warning. Tell your mother that the Duke ofMarlborough may have need of you again for the secret service, andthat at any moment you may be forced to quit the house suddenly andsecretly. Having made her understand that, enjoy your stay at homewith a free heart. I will undertake that you have four hours' startof any pursuing foe. If you receive message or token from me--orfrom Lord Claud--you will know what to do. Take your horse, setspurs in her flanks, and draw not rein till you find yourself hereonce more. Note the road as you fare forth, and return by it again.You will find safety here--and a friend. This do, and you shallmeantime be safe."
Captain Jack had some of Lord Claud's power of commandingconfidence; and, indeed, in this case Tom felt a greater sense ofsecurity in the promise of this highway robber than in that of hismysterious friend and leader in London.
"I will go," he said. "I believe you. I take you at your word. Iwill return home to my mother and sister, and rejoice their hearts.And there will I abide till I receive your message; after which Iwill fly back to the forest. Captain Jack, I have that within mewhich tells me that I shall come back--that my adventures are notended yet. But let me once more go home to those I love, and I asknothing more."
"You shall go, Tom Tufton, you shall go. A mother's happiness andher blessing are not things to be lightly thrown away. Go, and Iwill keep watch. Till you hear from me, you are safe."
So Tom rode away in the gray light of dawn, and quickly findinghimself in familiar haunts, put spurs to his good steed, and beforenoon found himself close beside the village which had been his homeall his life till this past adventurous year of travel.
As he went clattering up the long avenue to the house, it seemed tohim as though the birds of the air must have been at work; forthere was his mother standing upon the steps to receive him, whilstRachel was running towards him with flying feet.
"O Tom, Tom, Tom! we knew it could be no one but you! O dearestTom, so you have come home at last!"
He swung himself from the saddle, and put his arm about his sister.
"Yes, I have come home," he said a little huskily, "come home tosee you all once more. The old place never changes--nor you and mymother!"
"Why should we?" asked Rachel softly.
And he kissed her again, with a strange feeling of the unreality ofeverything human.
The servants were flocking out by this time. His mother's arms wereoutstretched in welcome. There was something like a sob in Tom'sthroat as he felt them clasped about his neck.
"My dear, dear boy--my only son! Thank God that you have comesafely through all threatened perils, and have come home to usagain!"
Tom held her close in his arms. He would not speak a word to dashfrom her those fond hopes which she so plainly cherished. He wouldnot speak of the peril overshadowing him, which might at any momentbecome imminent.
"It is good to be home, mother!" he said, and kissed her manytimes.
The servants raised a cheer for the young Squire. Tom turned andsmiled at them, and spoke a few words of thanks. How familiar itall was! How had he ever despised the love of the people round him,and of those two faithful women who loved him so truly and so well?
"Dear mother," he said tenderly, "you are so much better to me thanever I deserve; I will try to live to be a comfort to you some day.I have given you little but sorrow and pain as yet."
"Nay, Tom, you have served your country, and that should satisfy amother's pride. Come in, my son, and tell us your adventures. Youhave seen foreign lands and fine folks since last we met. Come andtell us all about it, as you rest and refresh yourself from yourjourney."
So Tom gave one last look round at the eager faces grouped aboutthe door, and turned into the great hall with a smile and a sigh.It was very like a dream, this eager welcome, and these familiarsights and sounds. The sense of insecurity which hung over him madeeverything seem unreal, and yet in one way dearer to him than everbefore.
"Yes, this is home!" he said to himself, as be turned to follow hismother; "my travels are ended. I have come home. Whatever maybetide in the future, I am safe at home now!"
If any reader desire to know the sequel to Tom Tufton's story, andhow he took toll on the king's highway, that story shall be toldanother day. For the present his travels had terminated, and he wasbeneath his own roof tree--a sadder and a wiser man than he hadsallied forth.
THE END.
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