beyond that of seeking to take into custody a man upon
whose head a reward had been set.

He touched the mare with the spurs, and set her head straight for
the forest. The late moon was beginning to silver the world about
him; Tom saw the ground gliding ghostlike beneath him as the noble
creature sprang forward.

"Away to the forest! away to the forest!" seemed the tune beaten
out by the rhythm of her flying feet. No fear from pursuit now! Tom
sang and shouted in the strange tumult of his feelings, as he
galloped through the soft, scented night.

Lord Claud had been right. The forest was the place for him. He had
tried the life of the rustic, the life of the town exquisite; and
both had palled upon him. The clash of arms, the peril of the road,
adventure, battle, pursuit, victory--these things held him in
thrall. 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, which
would set their minds at rest for a while. Later, perhaps, when the
hue and cry for him was over, he would seek the shore, would find
his way to other lands, and by the power of his good right arm
would 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 a
man accomplish who had a purse of gold in his belt, a noble horse
beneath him, a trusty sword at his side?

Visions rose before his eyes of the things he would accomplish, the
fame he would acquire, the return home he would finally make with
laurels round his brow! Even here in the forest he would be no
common freebooter. He would show himself merciful to the poor and
oppressed; he would only take toll of the sleek and the fat, whose
wealth was doubtless as ill-gotten as that of those whose lives he
had watched of late.

"Men shall pay toll to Tom Tufton!" he cried, waving his sword
above his head in a fierce gesture of triumph; "but the poor and
the needy shall bless his name, and the oppressed shall find a
haven of refuge with him!"

By which it may be seen that Master Tom's self confidence was in no
way diminished by the vicissitudes through which he had passed, and
that he was looking forward once again to playing a leading part in
some new drama of life.

The border of the great forest loomed up before him. It looked dark
and solemn beneath the shade of the tre