"Well, Robin, well," he renewed, as he kissed the face of his steed,--
"well, we will have some days like our old ones yet; thou shalt say, Ha!
ha! to the trumpet, and bear thy master along on more glorious
enterprises than he has yet thanked thee for sharing. Thou wilt now be
my only familiar, my only friend, Robin; we two shall be strangers in a
foreign land. But thou wilt make thyself welcome easier than thy lord,
Robin; and thou wilt forget the old days and thine old comrades and thine
old loves, when--Ha!" and Clifford turned abruptly to his attendant, who
addressed him; "It is late, you say. True! Look you, it will be unwise
for us both to quit London together. You know the sixth milestone; join
me there, and we can proceed in company!"

Not unwilling to linger for a parting cup, the comrade assented to the
prudence of the plan proposed; and after one or two additional words of
caution and advice, Clifford mounted and rode from the yard of the inn.
As he passed through the tall wooden gates into the street, the imperfect
gleam of the wintry sun falling over himself and his steed, it was
scarcely possible, even in spite of his disguise and rude garb, to
conceive a more gallant and striking specimen of the lawless and daring
tribe to which he belonged; the height, strength, beauty, and exquisite
grooming visible in the steed; the sparkling eye, the bold profile, the
sinewy chest, the graceful limbs, and the careless and practised
horsemanship of the rider.

Looking after his chief with a long and an admiring gaze, the robber said
to the hostler of the inn, an aged and withered man, who had seen nine
generations of highwaymen rise and vanish,--

"There, Joe, when did you ever look on a hero like that? The bravest