and the foresters' venison, and there will be Kit Scrapesqueak
with his fiddle, and little Tom Whistlerap with his fife and tabor,

and Sam Trumtwang with his harp, and Peter Muggledrone with
his bagpipe, and how I shall dance with Will Whitethorn!"

added the girl, clapping her hands as she spoke, and bounding
from the ground with the pleasure of the anticipation.

A tall athletic young man approached, to whom the rustic maidens
courtesied with great respect; and one of them informed Sir Ralph

that it was young Master William Gamwell. The young gentleman
invited and conducted the knight to the hall, where he introduced

him to the old knight his father, and to the old lady his mother,
and to the young lady his sister, and to a number of bold yeomen,

who were laying siege to beef, brawn, and plum pie around a ponderous table,
and takingcopious draughts of old October. A motto was inscribed

over the interior door,--
EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY:

an injunction which Sir Ralph and his squire showed remarkable alacrity
in obeying. Old Sir Guy of Gamwell gave Sir Ralph a very cordial welcome,

and entertained him during supper with several of his best stories, enforced
with an occasional slap on the back, and pointed with a peg in the ribs;

a species of vivacious eloquence in which the; old gentleman excelled,
and which is supposed by many of that pleasant variety of the human spectes,

known by the name of choice fellows and comical dogs, to be the genuine
tangible shape of the cream of a good joke.

CHAPTER VI
What! shall we have incision? shall we embrew? Henry IV.

Old Sir Guy of Gamwell, and young William Gamwell, and fair
Alice Gamwell, and Sir Ralph Montfaucon and his squire,

rode together the next morning to the scene of the feast.
They arrived on a village green, surrounded with cottages peeping

from among the trees by which the green was completely encircled.
The whole circle was hung round with one continuous garland

of flowers, depending in irregular festoons from the branches.
In the centre of the green was a May-pole hidden in boughs

and garlands; and a multitude of round-faced bumpkins and
cherry-checked lasses were dancing around it, to the quadruple

melody of Scrapesqueak, Whistlerap, Trumtwang, and Muggledrone:
harmony we must not call it; for, though they had agreed to a partnership

in point of tune, each, like a true painstaking man, seemed determined
to have his time to himself: Muggledrone played allegretto,

Trumtwang allegro, Whistlerap presto, and Scrapesqueak prestissimo.
There was a kind of mathematicalproportion in their discrepancy:

while Muggledrone played the tune four times, Trumtwang played
it five, Whistlerap six, and Scrapesqueak eight; for the latter

completely distanced all his competitors, and indeed worked his
elbow so nimbly that its outline was scarcely distinguishable

through the mistiness of its rapid vibration.
While the knight was delighting his eyes and ears with these

pleasant sights and sounds, all eyes were turned in one direction;
and Sir Ralph, looking round, saw a fair lady in green and

gold come riding through the trees, accompanied by a portly
friar in grey, and several fair damsels and gallant grooms.

On their nearer approach, he recognised the lady Matilda and her
ghostly adviser" target="_blank" title="n.顾问 =advisor">adviser, brother Michael. A party of foresters arrived

from another direction, and then ensued cordial interchanges
of greeting, and collisions of hands and lips, among the Gamwells

and the new-comers,--"How does my fair coz, Mawd?" and "How does
my sweet coz, Mawd?" and "How does my wild coz, Mawd?" And "Eh!

jolly friar, your hand, old boy:" and "Here, honest friar:"
and "To me, merry friar:" and "By your favour, mistress Alice:"

and "Hey! cousin Robin:" and "Hey! cousin Will:"
and "Od's life! merry Sir Guy, you grow younger every year,"--

as the old knight shook them all in turn with one hand, and slapped
them on the back with the other, in token of his affection.

A number of young men and women advanced, some drawing,
and others dancing round, a floral car; and having placed a crown

of flowers on Matilda's head, they saluted her Queen of the May,
and drew her to the place appointed for the rural sports.

A hogshead of ale was abroach under an oak, and a fire was blazing
in an open space before the trees to roast the fat deer which the

foresters brought. The sports commenced; and, after an agreeable series
of bowling, coiling, pitching, hurling, racing, leaping, grinning,

wrestling or friendly dislocation of joints, and cudgel-playing
or amicable cracking of skulls, the trial of archery ensued.

The conqueror was to be rewarded with a golden arrow from the hand
of the Queen of the May, who was to be his partner in the dance till

the close of the feast. This stimulated the knight's emulation:
young Gamwell supplied him with a bow and arrow, and he took his

station among the foresters, but had the mortification to be out-shot
by them all, and to see one of them lodge the point of his arrow

in the golden ring of the centre, and receive the prize from the hand
of the beautiful Matilda, who smiled on him with particular grace.

The jealousknight scrutinised the successful champion with
great attention, and surely thought he had seen that face before.

In the mean time the forester led the lady to the station.
The luckless Sir Ralph drank deep draughts of love from the matchless

grace of her attitudes, as, taking the bow in her left hand,
and adjusting the arrow with her right, advancing her left foot,

and gently curving her beautiful figure with a slight motion of her head
that waved her black feathers and her ringleted hair, she drew the arrow

to its head, and loosed it from her open fingers. The arrow struck
within the ring of gold, so close to that of the victoriousforester

that the points were in contact, and the feathers were intermingled.
Great acclamations succeeded, and the forester led Matilda to the dance.

Sir Ralph gazed on her fascinatingmotions till the torments of baffled
love and jealous rage became unendurable; and approaching young Gamwell,

he asked him if he knew the name of that forester who was leading
the dance with the Queen of the May?

"Robin, I believe," said young Gamwell carelessly" target="_blank" title="ad.粗心地；疏忽地">carelessly; "I think they
call him Robin."

"Is that all you know of him?" said Sir Ralph.
"What more should I know of him?" said young Gamwell.

"Then I can tell you," said Sir Ralph, "he is the outlawed Earl of Huntingdon,
on whose head is set so large a price."

"Ay, is he?" said young Gamwell, in the same careless manner.
"He were a prize worth the taking," said Sir Ralph.

"No doubt," said young Gamwell.
"How think you?" said Sir Ralph: "are the foresters his adherents?"

"I cannot say," said young Gamwell.
"Is your peasantry loyal and well-disposed?" said Sir Ralph.

"Passing loyal," said young Gamwell.
"If I should call on them in the king's name," said Sir Ralph,

"think you they would aid and assist?"
"Most likely they would," said young Gamwell, "one side or the other."

"Ay, but which side?" said the knight.
"That remains to be tried," said young Gamwell.

"I have King Henry's commission," said the knight, "to apprehend this
earl that was. How would you advise me to act, being, as you see,

without attendant force?"
"I would advise you," said young Gamwell, "to take yourself off without delay,

unless you would relish the taste of a volley of arrows, a shower of stones,
and a hailstorm of cudgel-blows, which would not be turned aside by a God

save King Henry."
Sir Ralph's squire no sooner heard this, and saw by the looks

of the speaker that he was not likely to prove a false prophet,
than he clapped spurs to his horse and galloped off with might

and main. This gave the knight a good excuse to pursue him,
which he did with great celerity, calling, "Stop, you rascal."

When the squire fancied himself safe out of the reach of pursuit,
he checked his speed, and allowed the knight to come up with him.