The King's Highway

yet days in which persons were not valued according to the precise mode of their dress or equipage, w

ration, were allowed more weight than they now possess, yet the minor circumstances of each individual,-the things that filled his pocket, the dishes up

at any distance from the capital itself, would have been the least ashamed to be seen with a lady

h one of the north-western counties of England, with a boy of about eight years of age mounted on a pillion behi

hly laced coat had given place to a plain dark one of greenish brown; the large riding boots remained; and the hat, though it kept its border of feathers, was divested of every other ornament. There were pistols at the saddle-bow, which indeed were ver

sty, stood at some distance back, while an impudent little portico with carved oak pillars, of quaint but not inelegant design, stood forth into the road, with steps leading down from it to the sill of the sunk doorway. An ostler ran out to take

ooke had given the boy into the charge of the hostess, had bidden her prepare some supper for him, and had intimated that he himself was going a little farther, but would soon return to sleep at her hospitable dwelling. He ordered to be brought in and given

rther from him, through which the wayfarer was bending his way. The line of undulating hills, the masses of a long line of woodland, some deep valleys and dells, a small village with its church and tower on an eminence, were all in deep blue sha

as a gay and buoyant one, not easily depressed, bearing the load lightly; but still he could not but feel the difficulties, the dangers, and the distresses of

nny, and who had failed to regain it by his courage. In the next place, for his devotion to that cause, he was a banished and an outlawed man, with his life at the merc

erbrooke was not to produce the wild, bright, visionary dreams and expectations which seem the peculiar offspring of the glowing morning, or of the bright and risen day; but it was the counterpart, the image, the reflection of that evening scene itself to which it gave rise in his heart. He felt tranquillized, he felt more resolute, more capable of enduring. Grief and anxiety subsided into melancholy and resolution, and the sweet influence of the hour had also

hand, led his mind on upon that path wherein it had already taken the first step, and had opened out before him a way of retrieval, instead of forcing him onward down the hill of destruction. But, alas! those were not times when the opportunity of doing better was likely to be allowed to him; nor were

y regret for the past, every better hope for the future, was connected with the thought of the beautiful boy he had left behind at the inn; and elevated by his love for a being in the bright purity of youth, he thought of him and his situation

ll; but surely, surely, he will protect and do something for the boy. What, though there have been faults committed and

n the top of the hill. At first the way was uninteresting enough, and the faint remains of twilight only served to show some square fields within their hedge-rows cut in the most prim and undeviating lines around. The wayfarer rode on, through that part of the scene, with his eyes bent down in deep thought; but when he came to the wood; and, following the path-which, now kept with high neatness and propriety, wound in and out amongst the trees, and then sweeping gently round the shoulder of the hill, exposed a beautiful deer park-he had before his eyes a fine

the wayfarer to himself, "like my

n loud enough, as the traveller's ears bore witness, yet they r

ain. "He must have grown miserly, as they say, indeed. Why I remember a doz

carefully withdrawn, and an old man in a white jacket, with a lantern

demanded the horseman, in appar

en answered slowly and somewhat bitterly, "Yes, he is at home-at his long home, f

with an air of surprise, and what we may call dismay; "indeed

my lord was not such a fool as to leave his property to be spent, an

k part of the house, chuckling as he went, and murmuring to himself, "I think I have paid him now for throwing me into the h

to suffer it to drive him from the strong-hold of silence. Sweeter or gentler feelings might have done it: he might have been tempted to speak aloud in cal

had reached the top, either from remembering that the beast was weary, or from some change in his own feelings, he slackened his pace, and gave himself up to meditation aga

er do! Years may bring better times!-Who knows? the attainder may be reversed; new fortunes may be gained or made! The right dies n

and the wooden gates; and entering the high road, was proceeding towards the inn, w

manifold small stars were twinkling in the sky; but the moon, the sweet moon, was at that time in her infancy, a babe of not two days old, so that the light she afforded to her wandering companions through the fields of space was of course not likely to be much. The stars twinkle

red against robbery; and the defence was on the inside and not on the out; so that-had he thought on the matter at all, which he did not do-he might very

e boy Wilton, occupied him entirely; and it was not till the noise of a horse's feet coming rapi

mounted on a remarkably fine horse, riding with ease and g

how far I am from the inn called the Buck's Hor

"on the left-hand side of the way, and you cannot m

there is no use of my riding so fast, riski

while the stranger, still reining in his horse

said the stranger, after

replied Sherbrooke, and the c

minutes more had passed, "as my conversation s

he seized the traveller's rein, uttering a whistle: two more horsemen instantly darted out from one side of the road

antly out of one of the holsters, pointed, and fired, and one of his assailants rolled over upon the ground, horse and man together. His heavy sword was free from the sheath the moment after; and exclaiming, "Now there's but two of you, I can manage you," he pushed on his h

istol at his head, but missed him in the darkness of night. At the same moment the other man at whom he was aiming the blow, and who being nearer t

erbrooke, "I would have told you

s every one, and let us see what mischief's done! Dick Harrison, I beli

at should I speak for? these are

t:-get up, brute, get up!" and he kicked the horse in the side to make him rise. Up started the beast upon his feet in a moment, trembling in every limb, but still apparently not much hurt; and upo

s with two of them as old friends, while the third was presented to him with all the form and ceremony of a new introduction. But such things, alas! were not uncommo

sing the one who had seized his horse

hat's all. When last you knew me, I was a gay Templer, in not bad practice, bamboozling the juries, deafening the judges, making love to

ys called the counterparts, you know; but what became of you after I left you, a year and

ne, till I heard he had come back to Ireland; then, of course, I went to join him, fared with the rest, lost everything, a

at you do is to attack a man who is just as likely to take as to give, and

ow; but what say you, if your condition be such, why not come and take a turn upon the road with us? It is the most honourable trade going now-a-days. Treason and treachery, indeed, carry off the ho

e plan not a bad one; I believe if I had met yo

, "call it soliciting from, or relieving.

d his eyes to the east and the west, to the north and the south, for the chance of one gleam of hope, for the prospect of any opening to escape. It was in vain, his last hope had been trampled out that night. He had not even money to fly, and seek, on some other shore, the means of support and existence. He had

Mudicot's inn, about four miles there: you ha

ittle inn down there: all that I have in the world is there, and

ide and speaking low, "I am a rich man, you know: I have

ut Bryerly insisted, saying, "

the money; and then bidding his companions adieu f

whole once more in the portmanteau, in a place where it was sure to be seen, if any inquisitive eye examined the contents of the receptacle, he turned the key and retired to rest. The whole of the following day he passed in playing with and amusing little Wilton; and so much childish gaiety was there in his demeanour, that the man seemed as young as the child. Towards evening, however, he ag