ps of low huts, where dwelt the peasants,
charcoal-burners, and plough-men, and here and there some larger
clearing than usual told that the house of a yeoman was near. Now and
then as you passed through the forest you might ride by a splendid
abbey, and catch a glimpse of monks in long black or white gowns,
fishing in the streams and rivers that abound in this part of England,
or casting nets in the fish ponds which were in the midst of the abbey
gardens. Or you might chance to see a castle with round turrets and
high battlements, circled by strong walls, and protected by a moat
full of water.

This was the sort of England into which the famous Robin Hood was
born. We do not know anything about him, who he was, or where he
lived, or what evil deed he had done to put him beyond the King's
grace. For he was an outlaw, and any man might kill him and never pay
penalty for it. But, outlaw or not, the poor people loved him and
looked on him as their friend, and many a stout fellow came to join
him, and led a merry life in the greenwood, with moss and fern for
bed, and for meat the King's deer, which it was death to slay.
Peasants of all sorts, tillers of the land, yeomen, and as some say
Knights, went on their ways freely, for of them Robin took no toll;
but lordly churchmen with money-bags well filled, or proud Bishops
with their richly dressed followers, trembled as they drew near to
Sherwood Forest--who was to know whether behind every tree there did
not lurk Robin Hood or one of his men?

THE COMING OF LITTLE JOHN

One day Robin was walking alone in the wood, and reached a river which
was spanned by a very narrow bridge, over which one man only could
pass. In the midst stood a stranger, and Robin bade him go back and
let him go over. 'I am no man of yours,' was all the answer Robin got,
and in anger he drew his bow and fitted an arrow to it. 'Would you
shoot a man who has no arms but a staff?' asked the stranger in scorn;
and with shame Robin laid down his bow, and unbuckled an oaken stick
at his side. 'We will fight till one of us falls into the water,' he
said; and fight they did, till the stranger planted a blow so well
that Robin rolled over into the river. 'You are a brave soul,' said
he, when he had waded to land, and he blew a blast with his horn which
brought fifty good fellows, clad in green, to the little bridge. 'Have
you fallen into the river that your clothes are wet?' asked one; and
Robin made answe