TomFaggusalsojoinedusheartily，beingnowquitehealedofhiswound，exceptattimeswhenthewindwaseasterly。Hewasmadesecondincommandtome；andI
wouldgladlyhavehadhimfirst，asmorefertileinexpedients；buthedeclinedsuchrankonthepleathatIknewmostoftheseatofwar；besidesthatImightbeheldinsomemeasuretodrawauthorityfromtheKing。
AlsoUncleBencameovertohelpuswithhisadviceandpresence，aswellaswithabandofstoutwarehousemen，whomhebroughtfromDulverton。Forhehadneverforgiventheoldoutrageputuponhim；andthoughithadbeentohisinteresttokeepquietduringthelastattack，underCommanderStickles——forthesakeofhissecretgoldmine——yetnowhewasinapositiontogivefullventtohisfeelings。Forheandhispartnerswhenfully-assuredofthevalueoftheirdiggings，hadobtainedfromtheCrownalicencetoadventureinsearchofminerals，bypaymentofaheavyfineandayearlyroyalty。Thereforetheyhadnownolongeranycauseforsecrecy，neitherfordreadoftheoutlaws；
havingsoaddedtotheirforceastobeamatchforthem。AndalthoughUncleBenwasnotthemantokeephisminersidleanhourmorethanmightbehelped，hepromisedthatwhenwehadfixedthemomentforanassaultonthevalley，ascoreofthemshouldcometoaidus，headedbySimonCarfax，andarmedwiththegunswhichtheyalwayskeptfortheprotectionoftheirgold。
NowwhetheritwereUncleBen，orwhetheritwereTomFaggusorevenmyownself——forallthreeofusclaimedthesolehonour——ismorethanIthinkfairtosettlewithoutallowingthemavoice。Butatanyrate，acleverthingwasdevisedamongus；andperhapsitwouldbethefairestthingtosaythatthisbrightstratagemworthyofthegreatDukehimselfwascontributed，littlebylittle，amongtheentirethreeofus，allhavingpipes，andschnapps-and-water，inthechimney-corner。However，theworld，whichalwaysjudgesaccordingtoreputation，vowedthatsofineastrokeofwarcouldonlycomefromahighwayman；andsoTomFaggusgotallthehonour，atlessperhapsthanathirdofthecost。