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 decided
sense of humor, and a failure to appreciate that there was anything
especially remarkable in what they related, their tales were always
entertaining.
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