He would go forth.

He would see the world.

He would win fame and fortune.

He would never return to Gablehurst until he brought with him a name which should cause the ears of those who knew him to tingle by reason of the fame he had won! "Nay, but boast not of the future, my son," pleaded the mother, with a note of anxiety in her voice; "and be not over confident.
The times are perilous, and you are but an untried youth.

Boasting is not well." But Tom could not listen.