Sir Tancred explained the transaction to Tinker; warned
him against laxness in matters of business; prepared for immediate
flight; and they caught the midnight mail from Euston. By the time an
indefatigable bailiff had ascertained next day that they had left
London, they were eating their dinner, in a secure peace, at Ardrochan
Lodge in Ardrochan forest, which Sir Tancred had borrowed for the while
from his friend Lord Crosland.
Hildebrand Anne was used to long periods unenlivened by companions of
his own age; and he began forthwith to make the best of the forest.
Some days he stalked the red deer with his father; some days were
devoted to his education, fencing, boxing, and gymnastics; and on the
others he explored the forest on a shaggy pony. It was of a
comfortable size, forty square miles or thereabouts, stretches of wild
heath, broken by strips of wood, craggy hills, and swamps, full of
streams, and abounding in many kinds of animals. It was an admirable
place for Indians, outlaws, brigands, and robber barons, and Tinker
practised all these professions in turn, with the liveliest
satisfaction.
At first it was something of a tax on his imagination to be a whole
band of these engaging persons himself; with one companion it would
have been easy enough, but his imagination presently compassed the
task.
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