"By the hilt of my sword," said stout King Richard, "this is as bold
and merry a knave as ever I heard tell of. Marry, I must take this
matter in hand and do what thou
couldst not do, Sheriff, to wit,
clear the forest of him and his band."
That night the King sat in the place that was set apart for his
lodging while in Nottingham Town. With him were young Sir Henry
of the Lea and two other knights and three barons of Nottinghamshire;
but the King's mind still dwelled upon Robin Hood. "Now," quoth he,
"I would
freely give a hundred pounds to meet this roguish fellow,
Robin Hood, and to see somewhat of his
doings in Sherwood Forest."
Then up spake Sir Hubert of
gingham, laughing: "If Your Majesty
hath such a desire upon you it is not so hard to satisfy.
If Your Majesty is
willing to lose one hundred pounds,
I will engage to cause you not only to meet this fellow,
but to feast with him in Sherwood."
"Marry, Sir Hubert," quoth the King, "this pleaseth me well.
But how wilt thou cause me to meet Robin Hood?"
"Why, thus," said Sir Hubert, "let Your Majesty and us here present
put on the robes of seven of the Order of Black Friars, and let
Your Majesty hang a purse of one hundred pounds beneath your gown;
then let us
undertake to ride from here to Mansfield Town tomorrow,
and, without I am much
mistaken, we will both meet with Robin Hood
and dine with him before the day be passed."
"I like thy plan, Sir Hubert," quoth the King
merrily, "and tomorrow we
will try it and see whether there be
virtue in it."
So it happened that when early the next morning the Sheriff came
to where his liege lord was abiding, to pay his duty to him,
the King told him what they had talked of the night before,
and what merry adventure they were set upon
undertaking that morning.
But when the Sheriff heard this he smote his
forehead with his fist.
"Alas!" said he, "what evil
counsel is this that hath been given thee!
O my
gracious lord and King, you know not what you do!
This
villain that you thus go to seek hath no
reverence either
for king or king's laws."
"But did I not hear aright when I was told that this Robin Hood hath shed no
blood since he was outlawed, saving only that of that vile Guy of Gisbourne,
for whose death all honest men should thank him?"
"Yea, Your Majesty," said the Sheriff, "you have heard aright. Nevertheless--"
"Then," quoth the King, breaking in on the Sheriffs speech,
"what have I to fear in meeting him, having done him no harm?
Truly, there is no danger in this. But mayhap thou wilt go
with us, Sir Sheriff."
"Nay," quoth the Sheriff
hastily, "Heaven forbid!"
But now seven habits such as Black Friars wear were brought,
and the King and those about him having clad themselves therein,
and His Majesty having hung a purse with a hundred golden
pounds in it beneath his robes, they all went forth and mounted
the mules that had been brought to the door for them.
Then the King bade the Sheriff be silent as to their
doings,
and so they set forth upon their way. Onward they
traveled,
laughing and jesting, until they passed through the open country;
between bare
harvest fields
whence the
harvest had been gathered home;
through scattered glades that began to
thicken as they went farther
along, till they came within the heavy shade of the forest itself.
They
traveled in the forest for several miles without meeting
anyone such as they sought, until they had come to that part
of the road that lay nearest to Newstead Abbey.
"By the holy Saint Martin," quoth the King, "I would that I
had a better head for remembering things of great need.
Here have we come away and brought never so much as a drop
of anything to drink with us. Now I would give half a hundred
pounds for somewhat to
quench my
thirstwithal."
No sooner had the King so
spoken, than out from the covert
at the
roadside stepped a tall fellow with yellow beard and
hair and a pair of merry blue eyes. "Truly, holy brother,"
said he, laying his hand upon the King's
bridle rein, "it were an
unchristian thing to not give
fitting answer to so fair a bargain.
We keep an inn hereabouts, and for fifty pounds we will not
only give thee a good
draught of wine, but will give thee
as noble a feast as ever thou didst
tickle thy gullet
withal."
So
saying, he put his fingers to his lips and blew a
shrill whistle.
Then
straightway the bushes and branches on either side of
the road swayed and crackled, and
threescore broad-shouldered
yeomen in Lincoln green burst out of the covert.
"How now, fellow," quoth the King, "who art thou, thou
naughty rogue?
Hast thou no regard for such holy men as we are?"
"Not a whit," quoth merry Robin Hood, for the fellow was he, "for in sooth
all the
holiness belonging to rich friars, such as ye are, one could drop into
a
thimble and the goodwife would never feel it with the tip of her finger.
As for my name, it is Robin Hood, and thou mayst have heard it before."
"Now out upon thee!" quoth King Richard. "Thou art a bold and
naughty fellow
and a
lawless one
withal, as I have often heard tell. Now, prythee, let me,
and these brethren of mine, travel forward in peace and quietness."
"It may not be," said Robin, "for it would look but ill of us
to let such holy men travel
onward with empty stomachs.
But I doubt not that thou hast a fat purse to pay thy score at our
inn since thou offerest
freely so much for a poor
draught of wine.
Show me thy purse,
reverend brother, or I may
perchance have
to strip thy robes from thee to search for it myself."
"Nay, use no force," said the King
sternly. "Here is my purse,
but lay not thy
lawless hands upon our person."
"Hut, tut," quoth merry Robin, "what proud words are these?
Art thou the King of England, to talk so to me? Here, Will,
take this purse and see what there is within."
Will Scarlet took the purse and counted out the money. Then Robin bade
him keep fifty pounds for themselves, and put fifty back into the purse.
This he handed to the King. "Here, brother," quoth he, "take this half
of thy money, and thank Saint Martin, on whom thou didst call before,
that thou hast fallen into the hands of such gentle rogues that they will not
strip thee bare, as they might do. But wilt thou not put back thy cowl?
For I would fain see thy face."
"Nay," said the King,
drawing back, "I may not put back my cowl,
for we seven have vowed that we will not show our faces for four
and twenty hours." ,
"Then keep them covered in peace," said Robin, "and far be it
from me to make you break your vows."
So he called seven of his yeomen and bade them each one take
a mule by the
bridle; then, turning their faces toward the depths
of the woodlands, they journeyed
onward until they came to the open
glade and the
greenwood tree.
Little John, with
threescore yeomen at his heels, had also gone forth that
morning to wait along the roads and bring a rich guest to Sherwood glade,
if such might be his luck, for many with fat purses must travel the roads
at this time, when such great
doings were going on in Nottinghamshire,
but though Little John and so many others were gone, Friar Tuck and twoscore
or more stout yeomen were seated or lying around beneath the great tree,
and when Robin and the others came they leaped to their feet to meet him.
"By my soul," quoth merry King Richard, when he had
gotten down from
his mule and stood looking about him, "thou hast in very truth a fine
lot of young men about thee, Robin. Methinks King Richard himself
would be glad of such a bodyguard."
"These are not all of my fellows," said Robin
proudly, "for
threescoremore of them are away on business with my good
right-hand man,
Little John. But, as for King Richard, I tell thee, brother, there is
not a man of us all but would pour out our blood like water for him.
Ye churchmen cannot
rightly understand our King; but we yeomen
love him right loyally for the sake of his brave
doings which are
so like our own."