no
coward such as he takes me to be."
Then Little John said, "Good master, take thou me and Will Stutely,
and we will send yon fat Sheriff news of all this by a messenger
such as he doth not expect."
That day the Sheriff sat at meat in the great hall of his
house at Nottingham Town. Long tables stood down the hall,
at which sat men-at-arms and household servants and good stout
villains,[1] in all
fourscore and more. There they talked of
the day's shooting as they ate their meat and quaffed their ale.
The Sheriff sat at the head of the table upon a raised seat
under a
canopy, and beside him sat his dame.
[1] Bond-servants.
"By my troth," said he, "I did
reckon full roundly that that knave Robin Hood
would be at the game today. I did not think that he was such a
coward.
But who could that saucy knave be who answered me to my beard so bravely?
I wonder that I did not have him
beaten; but there was something about him
that spoke of other things than rags and tatters."
Then, even as he finished
speaking, something fell rattling among
the dishes on the table, while those that sat near started up wondering
what it might be. After a while one of the men-at-arms gathered courage
enough to pick it up and bring it to the Sheriff. Then everyone
saw that it was a blunted gray goose shaft, with a fine
scroll,
about the
thickness of a goose quill, tied near to its head.
The Sheriff opened the
scroll and glanced at it, while the veins upon
his
forehead swelled and his cheeks grew ruddy with rage as he read,
for this was what he saw:
"_Now Heaven bless Thy Grace this day
Say all in sweet Sherwood
For thou didst give the prize away
To merry Robin Hood_."
"Whence came this?" cried the Sheriff in a
mighty voice.
"Even through the window, Your Worship," quoth the man who had handed
the shaft to him.
Will Stutely Rescued by His Companions
NOW WHEN THE SHERIFF found that neither law nor guile could overcome
Robin Hood, he was much perplexed, and said to himself, "Fool that I am!
Had I not told our King of Robin Hood, I would not have
gotten myself
into such a coil; but now I must either take him
captive or have wrath
visited upon my head from his most
gracious Majesty. I have tried law,
and I have tried guile, and I have failed in both; so I will try what may
be done with might."
Thus communing within himself, he called his
constables together and told
them what was in his mind. "Now take ye each four men, all armed in proof,"
said he, "and get ye gone to the forest, at different points, and lie
in wait for this same Robin Hood. But if any
constable finds too many men
against him, let him sound a horn, and then let each band within hearing
come with all speed and join the party that calls them. Thus, I think,
shall we take this green-clad knave. Furthermore, to him that first meeteth
with Robin Hood shall one hundred pounds of silver money be given, if he be
brought to me dead or alive; and to him that meeteth with any of his band
shall twoscore pounds be given, if such be brought to me dead or alive.
So, be ye bold and be ye crafty."
So thus they went in
threescore companies of five to Sherwood Forest,
to take Robin Hood, each
constable wishing that he might be
the one to find the bold
outlaw, or at least one of his band.
For seven days and nights they hunted through the forest glades,
but never saw so much as a single man in Lincoln green; for tidings
of all this had been brought to Robin Hood by
trusty Eadom o'
the Blue Boar.
When he first heard the news, Robin said, "If the Sheriff dare send force
to meet force, woe will it be for him and many a better man besides,
for blood will flow and there will be great trouble for all.
But fain would I shun blood and battle, and fain would I not deal sorrow
to womenfolk and wives because good stout yeomen lose their lives.
Once I slew a man, and never do I wish to slay a man again,
for it is bitter for the soul to think thereon. So now we will
abide
silently in Sherwood Forest, so that it may be well for all,
but should we be forced to defend ourselves, or any of our band,
then let each man draw bow and brand with might and main."
At this speech many of the band shook their heads, and said to themselves,
"Now the Sheriff will think that we are
cowards, and folk will scoff
throughout the
countryside,
saying that we fear to meet these men."
But they said nothing aloud, swallowing their words and doing as
Robin bade them.
Thus they hid in the depths of Sherwood Forest for seven days and seven
nights and never showed their faces
abroad in all that time; but early in
the morning of the eighth day Robin Hood called the band together and said,
"Now who will go and find what the Sheriff's men are at by this time?
For I know right well they will not bide forever within Sherwood shades."
At this a great shout arose, and each man waved his bow aloft
and cried that he might be the one to go. Then Robin Hood's heart
was proud when he looked around on his stout, brave fellows,
and he said, "Brave and true are ye all, my merry men, and a right
stout band of good fellows are ye, but ye cannot all go, so I
will choose one from among you, and it shall be good Will Stutely,
for he is as sly as e'er an old dog fox in Sherwood Forest."
Then Will Stutely leaped high aloft and laughed loudly, clapping his
hands for pure joy that he should have been chosen from among them all.
"Now thanks, good master," quoth he, "and if I bring not news of those
knaves to thee, call me no more thy sly Will Stutely."
Then he clad himself in a friar's gown, and
underneath the robe he hung
a good broadsword in such a place that he could easily lay hands upon it.
Thus clad, he set forth upon his quest, until he came to the verge of
the forest, and so to the
highway. He saw two bands of the Sheriff's men,
yet he turned neither to the right nor the left, but only drew his cowl
the closer over his face, folding his hands as if in meditation.
So at last he came to the Sign of the Blue Boar. "For," quoth he to himself,
"our good friend Eadom will tell me all the news."
At the Sign of the Blue Boar he found a band of the Sheriffs
men drinking right lustily; so, without
speaking to anyone,
he sat down upon a distant bench, his staff in his hand,
and his head bowed forward as though he were meditating.
Thus he sat
waiting until he might see the
landlord apart, and Eadom
did not know him, but thought him to be some poor tired friar,
so he let him sit without
saying a word to him or molesting him,
though he liked not the cloth. "For," said he to himself,
"it is a hard heart that kicks the lame dog from off the sill."
As Stutely sat thus, there came a great house cat and rubbed
against his knee, raising his robe a palm's-breadth high.
Stutely pushed his robe quickly down again, but the
constablewho commanded the Sheriffs men saw what had passed,
and saw also fair Lincoln green beneath the friar's robe.
He said nothing at the time, but communed within himself in this wise:
"Yon is no friar of orders gray, and also, I wot, no honest
yeomangoeth about in priest's garb, nor doth a thief go so for nought.
Now I think in good sooth that is one of Robin Hood's own men."
So,
presently, he said aloud, "O holy father, wilt thou not take
a good pot of March beer to slake thy thirsty soul withal?"
But Stutely shook his head
silently, for he said to himself,
"Maybe there be those here who know my voice."
Then the
constable said again, "Whither goest thou, holy friar,
upon this hot summer's day?"
"I go a
pilgrim to Canterbury Town," answered Will Stutely,
speakinggruffly, so that none might know his voice.
Then the
constable said, for the third time, "Now tell me,
holy father, do
pilgrims to Canterbury wear good Lincoln green
beneath their robes? Ha! By my faith, I take thee to be
some lusty thief, and perhaps one of Robin Hood's own band!
Now, by Our Lady's grace, if thou movest hand or foot,
I will run thee through the body with my sword!"
Then he flashed forth his bright sword and leaped upon Will Stutely,
thinking he would take him
unaware; but Stutely had his own sword
tightly held in his hand, beneath his robe, so he drew it forth before
the
constable came upon him. Then the stout
constable struck a
mighty blow;
but he struck no more in all that fight, for Stutely, parrying the blow
right
deftly, smote the
constable back again with all his might.
Then he would have escaped, but could not, for the other, all dizzy
with the wound and with the flowing blood, seized him by the knees with
his arms even as he reeled and fell. Then the others rushed upon him,
and Stutely struck again at another of the Sheriff's men, but the steel
cap glanced the blow, and though the blade bit deep, it did not kill.
Meanwhile, the
constable, fainting as he was, drew Stutely downward,
and the others,
seeing the
yeoman hampered so, rushed upon him again,
and one smote him a blow upon the crown so that the blood ran down his face
and blinded him. Then, staggering, he fell, and all
sprang upon him,
though he struggled so manfully that they could hardly hold him fast.
Then they bound him with stout hempen cords so that he could not move
either hand or foot, and thus they
overcame him.
Robin Hood stood under the
greenwood tree, thinking of Will Stutely
and how he might be faring, when suddenly he saw two of his stout
yeomen come
running down the forest path, and betwixt them ran buxom
Maken of the Blue Boar. Then Robin's heart fell, for he knew they
were the bearers of ill tidings.
"Will Stutely hath been taken," cried they, when they had come
to where he stood.
"And is it thou that hast brought such
doleful news?"
said Robin to the lass.
"Ay, marry, for I saw it all," cried she, panting as the hare
pants when it has escaped the hounds, "and I fear he is
wounded sore, for one smote him main
shrewdly i' the crown.
They have bound him and taken him to Nottingham Town, and ere I
left the Blue Boar I heard that he should be hanged to
morrow day."
"He shall not be hanged to
morrow day," cried Robin; "or, if he be,
full many a one shall gnaw the sod, and many shall have cause
to cry Alack-a-day!"
Then he clapped his horn to his lips and blew three blasts right loudly,
and
presently his good yeomen came
running through the
greenwood until
sevenscore bold blades were gathered around him.
"Now hark you all!" cried Robin. "Our dear
companion Will Stutely
hath been taken by that vile Sheriff's men,
therefore doth it
behoove us to take bow and brand in hand to bring him off again;
for I wot that we ought to risk life and limb for him, as he hath
risked life and limb for us. Is it not so, my merry men all?"
Then all cried, "Ay!" with a great voice.
So the next day they all wended their way from Sherwood Forest,
but by different paths, for it behooved them to be very crafty;
so the band separated into parties of twos and threes,
which were all to meet again in a tangled dell that lay near
to Nottingham Town. Then, when they had all gathered together
at the place of meeting, Robin spoke to them thus:
"Now we will lie here in
ambush until we can get news, for it doth behoove
us to be
cunning and wary if we would bring our friend Will Stutely off
from the Sheriff's clutches."
So they lay
hidden a long time, until the sun stood high in the sky.
The day was warm and the dusty road was bare of travelers, except an aged
palmer who walked slowly along the highroad that led close beside
the gray castle wall of Nottingham Town. When Robin saw that no
other wayfarer was within sight, he called young David of Doncaster,
who was a
shrewd man for his years, and said to him, "Now get thee forth,
young David, and speak to yonder
palmer that walks beside the town wall,
for he hath come but now from Nottingham Town, and may tell thee news
of good Stutely, perchance."
So David
strode forth, and when he came up to the
pilgrim,
he saluted him and said, "Good
morrow, holy father, and canst thou
tell me when Will Stutely will be hanged upon the
gallows tree?
I fain would not miss the sight, for I have come from afar to see
so
sturdy a rogue hanged."
"Now, out upon thee, young man," cried the Palmer, "that thou
shouldst speak so when a good stout man is to be hanged for
nothing but guarding his own life!" And he struck his staff upon
the ground in anger. "Alas, say I, that this thing should be!