extortion. He would as soon have turned his back upon an enemy as
demand a purse uncovered. For every man he had a quip, for every woman
a compliment; nor did he ever conceal the truth that the means were for
him as important as the end. Though he loved money, he still insisted
that it should be yielded in freedom and good temper; and while he
emptied more coaches than any man in England, he was never at a loss for
admirers.

Under Allen he served a brilliant apprenticeship. Enrolled as a servant,
he speedily sat at the master's right hand, and his nimble brains
devised many a pretty campaign. For a while success dogged the
horse-hoofs of the gang; with wealth came immunity, and not one of the
warriors had the misfortune to look out upon the world through a grate.
They robbed with dignity, even with splendour. Now they would drive
forth in a coach and four, carrying with them a whole armoury of
offensive weapons; now they would take the road apparelled as noblemen,
and attended at a discreet distance by their proper servants. But
recklessness brought the inevitable disaster; and it was no less a
personage than Oliver Cromwell who overcame the hitherto invincible
Allen. A handful of the gang attacked Oliver on his way from Huntingdon,
but the marauders were outmatched, and the most of them were forced
to surrender. Allen, taken red-handed, swung at Tyburn; Hind, with his
better mount and defter horsemanship, rode clear away.

The loss of his friend was a lesson in caution, and henceforth Hind
resolved to follow his craft in solitude. He had embellished his
native talent with all the instruction that others could impart, and he
reflected that he who rode alone neither ran risk of discovery nor
had any need to share his booty. Thus he began his easy, untrammelled
career, making time and space of no account by his rapid, fearless