of
his strong gray pony hung a basket full of meat.

In these days as there were no trains, everything had to be sent by
road. The roads were so bad that even carts could not go along them
very much, for the wheels stuck in the mud. Everything was carried on
horseback, in sacks or baskets called panniers.

The butcher rode gaily along, whistling as he went. Suddenly Robin
stepped from under the trees and stopped him.

"What have you there, my man?" he asked.

"Butcher's meat," replied the man. "Fine prime beef and mutton for
Nottingham market. Do you want to buy some?"

"Yes, I do," said Robin. "I'll buy it all and your pony too. How much
do you want for it? I should like to go to Nottingham and see what
kind of a butcher I will make:"

So the butcher sold his pony and all his meat to Robin. Then Robin
changed clothes with him. He put on the butcher's blue clothes and
leather belt, and the butcher went off in Robin's suit of Lincoln
green, feeling very grand indeed.

Then Robin mounted his pony and off he went to Nottingham to sell his
meat at the market.

When he arrived he found the whole town in a bustle. In those days
there were very few shops, so every one used to go to market to buy
and sell. The country people brought butter and eggs and honey to
sell. With the money they got they bought platters and mugs, pots and
pans, or whatever they wanted, and took it back to the country with
them.

All sorts of people came to buy: fine ladies and poor women, rich
knights and gentlemen, and humble workers, every one pushing and
crowding together. Robin found it quite difficult to drive his pony
through the crowd to the corner of the market-place where the butchers
had their stalls.

He got there at last, however, laid out his meat, and began to cry
with the best of them.

"Prime meat, ladies. Come and buy. Cheapest meat in all the market,
ladies. Come buy, come buy. Twopence a pound, ladies. Twopence a
pound. Come buy. Come buy."

"What!" said every one, "beef at twopence a pound! I never heard of
such a thing. Why it is generally tenpence."

You see Robin knew nothing at all about selling meat, as he never
bought any. He and his men used to live on what they shot in the
forest.

When it became known that there was a new butcher, who was selling
his meat for twopence a pound, every one came crowding round his stall
eager to buy. All the other butchers stood idle until Robin had no
more beef and mutton l