tion; and it may also be remembered, that, in the miscellaneous adventures of that gentleman, nothing had more delighted the juvenile imagination of the student, than the description of the forest cave, in which the gallant Turpin had been accustomed to conceal himself, his friend, his horse,
"And that sweet saint who lay by Turpin's side;"
or, to speak more domestically, the respectable Mrs. Turpin. So strong a hold, indeed, had that early reminiscence fixed upon our hero's mind, that, no sooner had he risen to eminence among his friends, than he had put the project of his childhood into execution. He had selected for the scene of his ingenuity an admirable spot. In a thinly-peopled country, surrounded by commons and woods, and yet (as Mr. Robins would say, if he had to dispose of it by auction,) "within an easy ride" of populous and well-frequented roads, it possessed all the advantages of secrecy for itself, and convenience for depredation. Very few of the gang, and those only who had been employed in its construction, were made acquainted with the secret of this cavern; and as our adventurers rarely visited it, and only on occasions
