"Tom, lad," he said, "you are safer here; but I understand your
feelings. A man's first duty is to his mother if he have no wife.
And your mother is a good woman. Squire Tufton would never have
married her else.
"Listen to me, my lad. I like you. I would fain have you for a
comrade and friend; and I fear that you will not long be left in
peace at home. But you shall do this thing. You shall go to your
mother--"
"Ah, that is a good word!" cried Tom, now all eagerness. "I shall
at least see her once again!"
"Yes, you shall see her again; you shall make glad her heart. But,
Tom, tell her nothing of all this that has befallen you, nor of the
peril in which you stand. Let her never know, come what will, that
you may be driven to take to the forest, for fear of the unjust
rigour of the law and the machinations of unscrupulous foes."
"I would gladly be spared paining her by such a tale," said Tom
quickly; "but how--"
He paused, and Captain Jack took up the word.
"I know what you would say. How if you have suddenly to fly again?
How if aught should come to her ears? Now listen, Tom, and I will
tell you what I will do. I loved your father. I vowed in my heart
that if ever the day should come that I could serve him, I would do
so; and therefore I will do what I can for his son.
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