414 Tlie Wilderness Himter. 



toleration of all save the most extreme classes of wrone, and 

 were not given to inquiring too curiously into a strong man's 

 past, or to criticising him over-harshly for a failure to dis- 

 criminate in finer ethical questions. Moreover, not a few 

 of the men with whom I came in contact — with some of 

 whom my relations were very close and friendly — had at 

 different times led rather tough careers. This fact was 

 accepted by them and by their companions as a fact, and 

 nothing more. There were certain offences, such as rape, 

 the robbery of a friend, or murder under circumstances of 

 cowardice and treachery, which were never forgiven ; but 

 the fact that when the country was wild a young fellow 

 had gone on the road — that is, become a highwayman, or 

 had been chief of a gang of desperadoes, horse-thieves, 

 and cattle-killers, was scarcely held to weigh against him, 

 being treated as a regrettable, but certainly not shameful, 

 trait of youth. He was regarded by his neighbors with 

 the same kindly tolerance which respectable mediaeval 

 Scotch borderers doubtless extended to their wilder young 

 men who would persist in raiding English cattle even in 

 time of peace. 



Of course if these men were asked outright as to their 

 stories they would have refused to tell them or else would 

 have lied about them ; but when they had grown to regard 

 a man as a friend and companion they would often recount 

 various incidents of their past lives with perfect frankness, 

 and as they combined in a very curious degree both a de- 

 cided sense of humor, and a failure to appreciate that 

 there was anything especially remarkable in what they 

 related, their tales were always entertaining. 



