Part 20 (1/2)

_Alfred._ My good mistress, here comes a pilgrim boy to ask thy charity.

May I bestow one of these cakes on him?

_Switha._ Thou mayest do what thou wilt with thine own, man! but do not presume to give away my property to idle fellows like thyself.

_Alfred._ But, mistress, may I not give him that which was to have been my portion for dinner?

_Switha._ No, indeed! I have enough to do with feeding one vagrant without adding all the lazy pilgrims who pa.s.s by.

_Alfred._ See, mistress, my amulet! I will give thee this jewel, Switha, if thou wilt permit me to feed this poor pilgrim.

_Switha._ Very well, then. Give him thy portion while I go and hide the jewel.

[_Goes out as Odulph enters._]

_Alfred._ Welcome, Odulph! Tell me thy tidings. I hunger for good news.

_Odulph._ My tidings, royal Alfred, are these: Hubba, the Dane, the terror of England, is slain, and his banner of the Raven waves in my father's hall!

_Alfred._ What? Is thy father's castle in the possession of the Danes?

_Odulph._ Not so, my royal master; but the banner of the Danes, captured by your victorious Saxons, hangs in his hall. We were pent up in the castle by the Danes till our provisions failed. When the last loaf was eaten, and our archers had launched their last arrows, my valiant father led the garrison in an attack upon the foe.

_Alfred._ Brave Oscar! And you defeated them!

_Odulph._ Yes, because of the carelessness of the Danes. They believed they had us in their power, and they never dreamed we would leave the castle walls. Few as we were, we fell upon them and slew their chiefs.

The soldiers fled, and left our men victorious. Then my father raised the cry, ”Alfred the king!” All the country is calling, ”Alfred the king!”

_Alfred._ The time is ripe. I thank you, Odulph. Your father is a n.o.ble man, and I shall know how to show a king's grat.i.tude to you both. Shall we go?

_Odulph._ Lead on, King Alfred, England is ready. Soon you shall head your army shouting, ”Long live King Alfred!”

ROBIN HOOD AND THE SAD KNIGHT

PERSONS IN THE PLAY--ROBIN HOOD, LITTLE JOHN, MIDGE, WILL SCARLET, THE ABBOT, THE KNIGHT, THE PRIOR, THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, THE LADY

SCENE I.--_In the Greenwood._

[_Robin Hood and his men making arrows._]

_Robin Hood._ This feather is too short. Give me another, Little John.

This is a better one.

_Midge._ Making arrows is not a simple thing, is it, my master?

_Robin Hood._ Indeed, no; if the feathers be too short, the arrows will not keep true to their course; and if the feathers be too long, the arrows will not fly swiftly.

_Little John._ If all men knew how to make arrows, their skill in shooting would seem greater. Look to your arrows, say I, before you shoot.