So long as the
sky was fair, he lived under their amiable protection; but the summer
having chased the smarter gentry from town, the ladies could afford him
no more than would purchase a horse and a pair of pistols, so that Harry
was compelled to challenge fortune on the high road. His first journey
was triumphantly successful. A post-chaise and a couple of coaches
emptied their wealth into his hands, and, riding for London, he was able
to return the favours lavished upon him by Covent Garden. At the first
touch of gold he was transformed to a finished blade. He purchased
himself a silver-hilted sword, which he dangled over a discreet suit
of black velvet; a prodigious run of luck at the gaming-tables kept his
purse well lined; and he made so brilliant an appearance in his familiar
haunts that he speedily gained the name of 'Gentleman Harry.' But the
money, lightly won, was lightly spent. The tables took back more
than they gave, and before long Simms was astride his horse again,
flourishing his irons, and crying: 'Stand and deliver'! upon every road
in England.
Epping Forest was his general hunting-ground, but his enterprise took
him far afield, and if one night he galloped by starlight across
Bagshot Heath, another he was holding up the York stage with unbridled
insolence. He robbed, he roared, he blustered with praiseworthy
industry; and good luck coming to the aid of caution, he escaped for
a while the necessary punishment of his crimes. It was on Stockbridge
Downs that he met his first check.
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