that I may look into it, and judge, to the best of my poor powers,
whether thou hast more
wealth about thee than our law allows.
For, as our good Gaffer Swanthold sayeth, `He who is fat from overliving
must needs lose blood.' "
All this time the youth had been sniffing at the rose that he held
betwixt his thumb and finger. "Nay," said he with a gentle smile,
when Robin Hood had done, "I do love to hear thee talk, thou pretty fellow,
and if, haply, thou art not yet done, finish, I
beseech thee.
I have yet some little time to stay."
"I have said all," quoth Robin, "and now, if thou wilt give me thy purse,
I will let thee go thy way without let or
hindrance so soon as I shall see
what it may hold. I will take none from thee if thou hast but little."
"Alas! It doth
grieve me much," said the other, "that I cannot do as thou
dost wish. I have nothing to give thee. Let me go my way, I prythee.
I have done thee no harm."
"Nay, thou goest not," quoth Robin, "till thou hast shown me thy purse."
"Good friend," said the other
gently, "I have business elsewhere.
I have given thee much time and have heard thee patiently.
Prythee, let me depart in peace."
"I have
spoken to thee, friend," said Robin
sternly, "and I now tell
thee again, that thou goest not one step forward till thou hast done
as I bid thee." So
saying, he raised his quarterstaff above his head
in a
threatening way.
"Alas!" said the stranger sadly, "it doth
grieve me that this thing
must be. I fear much that I must slay thee, thou poor fellow!"
So
saying, he drew his sword.
"Put by thy weapon," quoth Robin. "I would take no
vantage of thee.
Thy sword cannot stand against an oaken staff such as mine.
I could snap it like a
barley straw. Yonder is a good oaken thicket
by the
roadside; take thee a
cudgelthence and defend thyself fairly,
if thou hast a taste for a sound drubbing."
First the stranger measured Robin with his eye, and then
he measured the oaken staff. "Thou art right, good fellow,"
said he
presently, "truly, my sword is no match for that
cudgel of thine. Bide thee
awhile till I get me a staff."
So
saying, he threw aside the rose that he had been
holding all
this time,
thrust his sword back into the scabbard, and, with a
more hasty step than he had yet used, stepped to the
roadsidewhere grew the little clump of ground oaks Robin had
spoken of.
Choosing among them, he
presently found a
sapling to his liking.
He did not cut it, but, rolling up his sleeves a little way, he laid hold
of it, placed his heel against the ground, and, with one
mighty pull,
plucked the young tree up by the roots from out the very earth.
Then he came back, trimming away the roots and tender stems
with his sword as quietly as if he had done
nought to speak of.
Little John and the Tanner had been watching all that passed,
but when they saw the stranger drag the
sapling up from the earth,
and heard the rending and snapping of its roots, the Tanner
pursed his lips together,
drawing his
breath between them
in a long
inward whistle.
"By the
breath of my body!" said Little John, as soon as he
could gather his wits from their wonder, "sawest thou that, Arthur? Marry, I
think our poor master will stand but an ill chance with yon fellow.
By Our Lady, he plucked up yon green tree as it were a
barley straw."
Whatever Robin Hood thought, he stood his ground, and now he and the stranger
in
scarlet stood face to face.
Well did Robin Hood hold his own that day as a mid-country yeoman.
This way and that they fought, and back and forth,
Robin's skill against the stranger's strength.
The dust of the
highway rose up around them like a cloud,
so that at times Little John and the Tanner could see nothing,
but only hear the
rattle of the staves against one another.
Thrice Robin Hood struck the stranger; once upon the arm and twice
upon the ribs, and yet had he warded all the other's blows,
only one of which, had it met its mark, would have laid
stout Robin lower in the dust than he had ever gone before.
At last the stranger struck Robin's
cudgel so fairly in the middle
that he could hardly hold his staff in his hand; again he struck,
and Robin bent beneath the blow; a third time he struck,
and now not only fairly beat down Robin's guard, but gave him
such a rap, also, that down he tumbled into the dusty road.
"Hold!" cried Robin Hood, when he saw the stranger raising his staff
once more. "I yield me!"
"Hold!" cried Little John, bursting from his cover, with the Tanner
at his heels. "Hold! give over, I say!"
"Nay," answered the stranger quietly, "if there be two more of you,
and each as stout as this good fellow, I am like to have my hands full.
Nevertheless, come on, and I will
strive my best to serve you all."
"Stop!" cried Robin Hood, "we will fight no more. I take my vow,
this is an ill day for thee and me, Little John. I do
verilybelieve that my wrist, and eke my arm, are palsied by the jar
of the blow that this stranger struck me."
Then Little John turned to Robin Hood. "Why, how now,
good master," said he. "Alas! Thou art in an ill plight.
Marry, thy jerkin is all befouled with the dust of the road.
Let me help thee to arise."
"A
plague on thy aid!" cried Robin
angrily. "I can get to my feet
without thy help, good fellow."
"Nay, but let me at least dust thy coat for thee. I fear thy
poor bones are mightily sore," quoth Little John soberly,
but with a sly
twinkle in his eyes.
"Give over, I say!" quoth Robin in a fume. "My coat hath been dusted
enough already, without aid of thine." Then, turning to the stranger,
he said, "What may be thy name, good fellow?"
"My name is Gamwell," answered the other.
"Ha!" cried Robin, "is it even so? I have near kin of that name.
Whence camest thou, fair friend?"
"From Maxfield Town I come," answered the stranger.
"There was I born and bred, and
thence I come to seek my mother's
young brother, whom men call Robin Hood. So, if
perchance thou
mayst direct me--"
"Ha! Will Gamwell!" cried Robin, placing both hands upon
the other's shoulders and
holding him off at arm's length.
"Surely, it can be none other! I might have known thee by that
pretty
maiden air of thine--that
dainty, finicking manner of gait.
Dost thou not know me, lad? Look upon me well."
"Now, by the
breath of my body!" cried the other, "I do believe from
my heart that thou art mine own Uncle Robin. Nay, certain it is so!"
And each flung his arms around the other, kissing him upon the cheek.
Then once more Robin held his kinsman off at arm's length and
scanned him
keenly from top to toe. "Why, how now," quoth he,
"what change is here? Verily, some eight or ten years ago I left
thee a stripling lad, with great joints and ill-hung limbs, and lo!
here thou art, as tight a fellow as e'er I set mine eyes upon.
Dost thou not remember, lad, how I showed thee the proper way
to nip the goose
feather betwixt thy fingers and throw out thy bow
arm
steadily? Thou gayest great promise of being a keen archer.
And dost thou not mind how I taught thee to fend and parry
with the
cudgel?"
"Yea," said young Gamwell, "and I did so look up to thee, and thought thee
so above all other men that, I make my vow, had I known who thou wert,
I would never have dared to lift hand against thee this day.
I trust I did thee no great harm."
"No, no," quoth Robin
hastily, and looking sideways at Little John,
"thou didst not harm me. But say no more of that, I prythee.
Yet I will say, lad, that I hope I may never feel again such a blow
as thou didst give me. By'r Lady, my arm doth
tingle yet from
fingernail to elbow. Truly, I thought that I was palsied for life.
I tell thee, coz, that thou art the strongest man that ever I
laid mine eyes upon. I take my vow, I felt my
stomach quake
when I
beheld thee pluck up yon green tree as thou didst.
But tell me, how camest thou to leave Sir Edward and thy mother?"
"Alas!" answered young Gamwell, "it is an ill story, uncle, that I
have to tell thee. My father's
steward, who came to us after old
Giles Crookleg died, was ever a saucy varlet, and I know not why
my father kept him, saving that he did oversee with great judgment.
It used to gall me to hear him speak up so
boldly to my father, who,
thou knowest, was ever a patient man to those about him, and slow
to anger and harsh words. Well, one day--and an ill day it was for
that saucy fellow--he sought to berate my father, I
standing by.
I could stand it no longer, good uncle, so, stepping forth, I gave
him a box o' the ear, and--wouldst thou believe it?--the fellow
straightway died o't. I think they said I broke his neck, or something o'
the like. So off they packed me to seek thee and escape the law.
I was on my way when thou sawest me, and here I am."
"Well, by the faith of my heart," quoth Robin Hood, "for anyone
escaping the law, thou wast
taking it the most easily that ever
I
beheld in all my life. Whenever did anyone in all the world
see one who had slain a man, and was escaping because of it,
tripping along the
highway like a
dainty court damsel,
sniffing at a rose the while?"
"Nay, uncle," answered Will Gamwell, "overhaste never churned good butter,
as the old
saying hath it. Moreover, I do
verily believe that this
overstrength of my body hath taken the nimbleness out of my heels.
Why, thou didst but just now rap me
thrice, and I thee never a once,
save by overbearing thee by my strength."
"Nay," quoth Robin, "let us say no more on that score.
I am right glad to see thee, Will, and thou wilt add great honor
and credit to my band of merry fellows. But thou must change
thy name, for warrants will be out
presently against thee;
so, because of thy gay clothes, thou shalt
henceforth and for aye
be called Will Scarlet."
"Will Scarlet," quoth Little John, stepping forward and reaching out his
great palm, which the other took, "Will Scarlet, the name fitteth thee well.
Right glad am I to
welcome thee among us. I am called Little John;
and this is a new member who has just joined us, a stout
tanner named
Arthur a Bland. Thou art like to
achieve fame, Will, let me tell thee,
for there will be many a merry
ballad sung about the country, and many a merry
story told in Sherwood of how Robin Hood taught Little John and Arthur
a Bland the proper way to use the quarterstaff;
likewise, as it were,
how our good master bit off so large a piece of cake that he choked on it."
"Nay, good Little John," quoth Robin
gently, for he liked ill to have
such a jest told of him. "Why should we speak of this little matter?
Prythee, let us keep this day's
doings among ourselves."
"With all my heart," quoth Little John. "But, good master,
I thought that thou didst love a merry story, because thou hast
so often made a jest about a certain increase of fatness on my joints,
of flesh gathered by my abiding with the Sheriff of--"
"Nay, good Little John," said Robin
hastily, "I do
bethink me
I have said full enough on that score."
"It is well," quoth Little John, "for in truth I myself have tired
of it somewhat. But now I
bethink me, thou didst also seem minded
to make a jest of the rain that
threatened last night; so--"
"Nay, then," said Robin Hood testily, "I was mistaken.
I remember me now it did seem to
threaten rain."
"Truly, I did think so myself," quoth Little John, "therefore, no doubt,
thou dost think it was wise of me to abide all night at the Blue Boar Inn,
instead of venturing forth in such stormy weather; dost thou not?"
"A
plague of thee and thy
doings!" cried Robin Hood. "If thou wilt
have it so, thou wert right to abide
wherever thou didst choose."
"Once more, it is well," quoth Little John. "As for myself,
I have been blind this day. I did not see thee drubbed;
I did not see thee tumbled heels over head in the dust;
and if any man says that thou wert, I can with a clear conscience
rattle his lying tongue betwixt his teeth."
"Come," cried Robin,
biting his
nether lip, while the others
could not
forbear laughing. "We will go no farther today,
but will return to Sherwood, and thou shalt go to Ancaster
another time, Little John."
So said Robin, for now that his bones were sore, he felt as though
a long journey would be an ill thing for him. So, turning their backs,