"I have often seen the wicked in great prosperity; but their downfall comes at last." "Do you call Lord Claud wicked ?" asked Tom rather hotly.
"No," was the quiet reply; "I judge no man; but I do say that worldly prosperity is no test of true merit.

The wicked may be fat and flourishing for long; but the Lord will avenge at the last." "But, father," cried pretty Rosamund eagerly, "for what crimes were the poor young men hanged of whom you spoke just now ?" "Most of them suffered for the crime of robbery on the king's highway." Tom again flushed rather deeply.

He had heard hints and innuendoes before this, and his wits were beginning now to piece things together.

He was angry, yet he scarce knew why.
"Do you mean to say, Master Cale," he asked, "that men accuse Lord Claud of being the accomplice of highwaymen and footpads ?" And then he himself remembered the words of the message with which Captain Jack had entrusted him, and a strange thrill seemed to run down his spine.
"Men say nought of him openly," answered Cale, "but they whisper among themselves.

For my part, I know nothing of Lord Claud and his doings.