Part 34 (1/2)
”An thou likest not ing, for I tell thee plainly, my deeds match them”
”Nay, but I do like thy words, thou sweet, pretty thing,” quoth Robin, squatting down upon the grass in front of the other ”Moreover, I tell thee thy speech is witty and gamesome as any I ever heard in all lared upon Robin with a wicked and baleful look, such as a fierce dog bestows upon a aze with one of wide-eyed innocence, not a shadow of a s at the corners of histier broke the silence suddenly ”What is thy nalad to hear thee speak, for I began to fear the sight of me had stricken thee dumb As for my name, it may be this or it may be that; butthat thou art the greater stranger in these parts
Prythee, tell arb upon thy pretty body?” At these words the other broke into a short, harsh roar of laughter ”By the bones of the Daemon Odin,” said he, ”thou art the boldest-spoken man that ever I have seen in all my life I know not why I do not so I skewered anot half so arb, thou fool, to keep ood as a coat of steel against a common sword-thrust As for my name, I care not who knoweth it It is Guy of Gisbourne, and thou mayst have heard it before I come from the woodlands over in Herefordshi+re, upon the lands of the Bishop of that ilk I a by hook and by crook in asince the Bishop sent forthat the Sheriff of Nottinghaive ham Town and found my sweet Sheriff; and what thinkest thou he wanted of me? Why, forsooth, to come here to Sherwood to hunt up one Robin Hood, also an outlaw, and to take him alive or dead It seemeth that they have no one here to face that bold fellow, and so sent all the way to Herefordshi+re, and to , 'Set a thief to catch a thief' As for the slaying of this fellow, it galleth me not a whit, for I would shed the blood of my own brother for the half of two hundred pounds”
To all this Robin listened, and as he listened his gorge rose Well he knew of this Guy of Gisbourne, and of all the bloody and murderous deeds that he had done in Herefordshi+re, for his doings were fah he loathed the very presence of the man, he held his peace, for he had an end to serve ”Truly,” quoth he, ”I have heard of thy gentle doings Methinks there is no one in all the world that Robin Hood would rather ave another harsh laugh ”Why,” quoth he, ”it is ato think of one stout outlaw like Robin Hoodanother stout outlaw like Guy of Gisbourne Only in this case it will be an ill happening for Robin Hood, for the day he entle, merry spirit,” quoth Robin, ”dost thou not think that mayhap this saht well, and many think that he is one of the stoutest men hereabouts”
”He may be the stoutest of men hereabouts,” quoth Guy of Gisbourne, ”yet, I tell thee, fellow, this sty of yours is not the orld
I lay my life upon it I am the better man of the two He an outlaw, forsooth! Why, I hear that he hath never let blood in all his life, saving when he first careat archer; ainst him all the days of the year with a bow in reat archer,” said Robin Hood, ”but we of Nottinghah but a simple hand at the craft, would not fear to try a bout with thee”
At these words Guy of Gisbourne looked upon Robin ondering eyes, and then gave another roar of laughter till the woods rang ”Now,” quoth he, ”thou art a bold fellow to talk toup to arland, lad, and I will try a bout with thee”
”Tut, tut,” quoth Robin, ”only babes shoot at garlands hereabouts I will put up a good Nottingha to a hazel thicket not far off, he cut a wand about twice the thickness of athe point, stuck it up in the ground in front of a great oak tree Thence he ht him beside the tree where the other sat ”There,” quoth he, ”is the kind of ham yeomen shoot at Now let me see thee split that wand if thou art an archer”
Then Guy of Gisbourne arose ”Now out upon it!” cried he ”The Devil himself could not hit such a mark as that”
”Mayhap he could and mayhap he could not,” quoth merry Robin, ”but that we shall never know till thou hast shot thereat”
At these words Guy of Gisbourne looked upon Robin with knit brows, but, as the yeo, he bottled his words and strung his bow in silence Twice he shot, but neither ti it the first tiood palhed ”I see now,” quoth he, ”that the Devil himself could not hit that mark Good fellow, if thou art no better with the broadsword than thou art with the bow and arrow, thou wilt never overcolared savagely upon Robin Quoth he, ”Thou hast a ue, thou villain; but take care that thou makest not too free with it, or I may cut it out fro his bow and took his place with never a word, albeit his heartstrings quivered with anger and loathing Twice he shot, the first ti within an inch of the wand, the second ti the other a chance for speech, he flung his bow upon the ground ”There, thou bloody villain!”
cried he fiercely, ”let that show thee how little thou knowest of ht, for the good earth hath been befouled long enough by thee, thou vile beast! This day, Our Lady willing, thou diest--I aht sword in the sunlight
For a tih bereft of wits; but his wonder quickly passed to a wild rage ”Art thou indeed Robin Hood?” cried he ”Now I alad to meet thee, thou poor wretch! Shrive thyself, for thou wilt have no ti, he also drew his sword
And now caht that ever Sherwood saw; for each man knew that either he or the other must die, and that no ht, till all the sweet green grass was crushed and ground beneath the tra of their heels More than once the point of Robin Hood's sword felt the softness of flesh, and presently the ground began to be sprinkled with bright red drops, albeit not one of them came from Robin's veins At last Guy of Gisbourne made a fierce and deadly thrust at Robin Hood, froht his heel in a root and fell heavily upon his back ”Now, Holy Mary aid rin of rage upon his face Fiercely Guy of Gisbourne stabbed at the other with his great sword, but Robin caught the blade in his naked hand, and, though it cut his palround close beside hiain, he leaped to his feet, with his good sword in his hand And now despair fell upon Guy of Gisbourne's heart in a black cloud, and he looked around hioing from him, Robin leaped forward, and, quick as a flash, struck a back-handed blow beneath the sword arrasp, and back he staggered at the stroke, and, ere he could regain hih his body Round he spun upon his heel, and, flinging his hands aloft with a shrill, wild cry, fell prone upon his face upon the green sod
Then Robin Hood wiped his sword and thrust it back into the scabbard, and, co to where Guy of Gisbourne lay, he stood over hi to himself the while ”This is the first s forester in the hot days of my youth I ofttimes think bitterly, even yet, of that first life I took, but of this I ah I had slain a wild boar that laid waste a fair country
Since the Sheriff of Nottinghaainst o forth to see whether I may not find his worshi+p, and perchance pay him back so, Robin Hood stripped the hairy garments from off the dead man, and put the the other's sword and dagger around his body and carrying his own in his hand, together with the ts of yew, he drew the cowl of horse's hide over his face, so that none could tell who he was, and set forth fro his steps toward the eastward and Nottingha the country roads, men, women, and children hid away from his had spread far and near
And now let us see what befell Little John while these things were happening
Little John walked on his way through the forest paths until he had come to the outskirts of the woodlands, where, here and there, fields of barley, corn, or green hroad and to where a little thatched cottage stood back of a cluster of twisted crab trees, with flowers in front of it Here he stopped of a sudden, for he thought that he heard the sound of someone in sorrow He listened, and found that it ca his footsteps thither, he pushed open the wicket and entered the place There he saw a gray-haired da herself to and fro and weeping bitterly
Now Little John had a tender heart for the sorrows of other folk, so, co her kindly upon the shoulder, he spoke co her cheer up and tell hi to ease theood dame shook her head; but all the same his kind words did soothe her somewhat, so after a while she told hi she had three as fair, tall sons beside her as one could find in all Nottinghamshi+re, but that they were now taken frohtway; that, want having coht before, into the forest, and had slain a hind in the ers had followed the blood upon the grass until they had coe, and had there found the deer's er sons would betray their brother, the foresters had taken all three away, in spite of the oldest saying that he alone had slain the deer; that, as they went, she had heard the rangers talking a that the Sheriff had sworn that he would put a check upon the great slaughter of deer that had been going on of late by hanging the very first rogue caught thereat upon the nearest tree, and that they would take the three youths to the King's Head Inn, near Nottingha that day, there to await the return of a certain fellow he had sent into Sherwood to seek for Robin Hood
To all this Little John listened, shaking his head sadly now and then
”Alas,” quoth he, when the good dame had finished her speech, ”this is indeed an ill case But who is this that goeth into Sherwood after Robin Hood, and why doth he go to seek him? But no matter for that now; only that I would that Robin Hood were here to advise us Nevertheless, no ti for him at this hour, if ould save the lives of thy three sons Tell me, hast thou any clothes hereabouts that I reen? Marry, if our stout Sheriff catcheth uise, I am like to be run up more quickly than thy sons, let me tell thee, dame”
Then the old woman told hiood husband, who had died only two years before These she brought to Little John, who, doffing his garb of Lincoln green, put the and false beard of uncarded wool, he covered his own brown hair and beard, and, putting on a great, tall hat that had belonged to the old peasant, he took his staff in one hand and his bow in the other, and set forth with all speed to where the Sheriff had taken up his inn