Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG Distributed Proofreaders THE HIGHWAYMAN BY H. C. BAILEY CONTENTS I. THE COMPLETE HERO II. THE HOUSE OF WAVERTON III. A MAN OF MANY WORLDS IV. A GENTLEMAN'S PURSE V. THE WORLD'S A MIRACLE VI. HARRY IS NOT GRATEFUL VII. GENEROSITY OF A FATHER VIII. MISS LAMBOURNE LOOKS SIDEWAYS IX. ANGER OF AN UNCLE X. YOUNG BLOOD XI. ABSENCE OF MR. WAVERTON XII. IN HASTE XIII. DISTRESS OF A MOTHER XIV. SPECTATORS OF PARADISE XV. MRS. BOYCE XVI. THE AFFAIR OF SIR GEORGE XVII. RETURN OF MR. WAVERTON XVIII. HARRY IS DISMISSED XIX. ALISON FINDS FRIENDS XX. RETURN OF CAPTAIN McBEAN XXI. CONSOLATIONS BY A FATHER XXII. TWO'S COMPANY XXIII. THE HOUSE IN KENSINGTON XXIV. QUEEN ANNE IS DEAD XXV. SAUVE QUI PEUT XXVI. REVELATIONS XXVII. VIRTUE IS ITS OWN REWARD XXVIII. IN THE TAP XXIX. ALISON KNEELS XXX. EMOTIONS BY MR. WAVERTON XXXI. CAPTAIN McBEAN TAKES HORSE XXXII. PERPLEXITIES OF CAPTAIN McBEAN XXXIII. REMORSE OF COLONEL BOYCE XXXIV. HARRY WAKES UP CHAPTER I THE COMPLETE HERO Harry Boyce addressed Queen Anne in glittering verse. She was not present. She had, however, no cause to regret that, for he was tramping the Great North Road at four miles by the hour--a pace far beyond the capacity of Her Majesty's legs; and his verses were Latin--a language not within the capacity of Her Majesty's mind. Her absence gave him no grief. In all his twenty-four years he could not remember being grieved by anyone's absence. His general content was never diminished at finding himself alone. He chose the Queen as the subject of his verses merely because he did not admire her. She appeared to him then, as to later generations, a woman ineffectual and without interest; a dull woman physically, mentally, and perhaps morally; just the woman upon whom it would be hardest to make an encomium of any splendour. So he was heartily ingenious over his alcaics, and relished them. From this you may divine much that you have to know about the soul of Harry Boyce. It was more given to mockery than enthusiasms, apter to criticisms than devotion, not very gentle nor very kind, and so quite satisfied with itself and by itself. To be sure, it was yet only twenty-four.