Year: 1859

nation about booty, and warn him Of dan
ger. But to Judge by what people said,
he was ION the road at half dozen diff
erent places at once every day in his life ;
for you see when anybody was robbed of
his property, and found it convenient so to
account for it, why he laid it upon Tom
Rocket as sort of excuse for giving it up
easily, because you see no one thought of
resisting Tom. So it was, that all sorts of
conflicting descriptions of his person got
abroad One said that he was an awfuly
tall man, and had q voice like thunder /;
another that he was a mild little man. with
black eyes and light hair He was fiery
fat man, with blue eyes and black hair
with some be had jolly red face-he
was pale as death-his nose was Roman
one day--Grecian or snub the next. His
dress was all the colors of the rainbow,
and as for his horse that was of every
shape and breed ever heard off, an1 good
many more beside that have yet TO be found
out. He wore black half mask, but some
how or othert was always obliging enough
to slip of, so as to give each of his victims
a full view of his face only no two of them
could ever agree as to what it was like.


My father was Gloucestershire man.
He stood six feet three in his stockings
and measured thirty-six inches across the
chest. He could double up crown he.
tween finger and thumb, and was as brave
as lion. He many time and oft, when any
one talked of the dangers of the road set his
great teeth together shake his head, and
iuovv h.r ~ H., e. L.. a
could rob him on the highway and as l
said before, he did see him, and it was Tom
Rocket ...a.


My father was lawyer, and was at the
time l have mentioned engaged in a great
tithe case that was to be tried at Warwick
spring assizes So shortly before Christ
mas, be had to go over to look at the evil
dence. There was no cross country coach,
so be rode and being as / have said, a
brave man, he rode alone. He transacted
his business, and my poor mother being i'll,
and not liking to leave her alone longer
than he could help, he set ont to ride
home again about half past nine O'Clock
that same evening. 1t was as beautiful
winters night as ever You were ont in.
His nag was a frSt-rate hunter, as docile
as dog, and'ft to carry his weight over
or past anything. He carried q brace Of
excellent pistols in his holsters aud be
logged along, humming a merry tune, nei-
ther thinking nor caring for any robber un-
der the sun. All of sudden, it struck
him that the pretty barmaid of an inn Just
out of Warwick town, where he had stopp-
ed to have girth that he had broken
patched together, had been very busy with
those selfsame pistols; and suspecting that
she might have been tampering with them,
he drew the charges and reloaded them
carefully. This done, he logged on again
as before


He had ridden about ten miles, when he
came to a wooden bridge that there
was in those days over the Avon. just be-
yond it rose a selfish hill, at the top of
which was sudden bend in the road
just as my father reached this turn, a
horseman suddenly wheeled round upon him,
and hade him "Staad and delirer ". 1t
was Tom Rocket ! In second my fathers
pistols were out, cooked, and snapped with
in a yard Of the highwayman's chest; but,
one after the other, they missed fire The
pretty barmaid-a special favorte of Toms


was too sharp to rely upon the old dodge
of drawing the balls or damping the charge;
she thrust pin into each touch-hole, and
broke it short off.


Any more /? Tom inquired, as coolly
as you please, when my fathers second
pistol flashed in the pan.


Yes ? shouted my father, in a fury,
'one for your mob ? And seizing the wea-
pon last used by the muzzle, he hurled it
with all his might and main at Rockets
head Tom ducked the pistol flew over
the hedge, and my father, thrown out of
balance by his exertion, lost his seat, and
fell heavily upon the grass by the roadside.
In less time than it takes to say so, Tom
dismounted, seized my father by the collar,
and presenting pistol within an inch of
his face as he lay, bade him be quiet, or it
would be the worse for him.


You've given deal of tr' uble,' said
Tom, so just hand over the purse without
any ado, or by - I'll send bullet
through your skull, just there : and he
laid the muzzle of his pistol on my fathers
forehead just between his eyes,


1t is bad enough to have to look down
the barrel of loaded fre-arm upon full
cock with hlghWayman's huger upon the
trigger but to have the cold muzzIe pac-
ed upon your head-ugh it makes me
creep to think Of it.


My father made a virtue of necessity,
aud quietly gave up his purse.


Much good may it do you" he said,
for there's only three and sixpence in it,


Now for your poeket-book,' said Tom
not needing him.


'POcket-boOk p inquired my father, turn
ing little pale.


Aye, pocket-book,' Tom repeated "a
thick black one it is in the left-hand pOck.
ct of your riding coat


Here it is,' said my father, you know so
much about it that perhaps you can tell
what its contents are worth p


Pll see,' Tom replied, quickly taking out
and unfolding half dozen legal-looking
documents.


They are law papers-not worth rush
to you or any one else,' said my fBther.


Then Tom replied, Il man tear them
up and he made as though he would do
SO.


Hold on your life p my father shout