at had been brought
to the door for them. Then the King bade the Sheriff be silent as to
their doings, and so they set forth upon their way. Onward they
traveled, laughing and jesting, until they passed through the open
country; between bare harvest fields whence the harvest had been
gathered home; through scattered glades that began to thicken as they
went farther along, till they came within the heavy shade of the forest
itself. They traveled in the forest for several miles without meeting
anyone such as they sought, until they had come to that part of the road
that lay nearest to Newstead Abbey.

"By the holy Saint Martin," quoth the King, "I would that I had a better
head for remembering things of great need. Here have we come away and
brought never so much as a drop of anything to drink with us. Now I
would give half a hundred pounds for somewhat to quench my thirst
withal."

No sooner had the King so spoken, than out from the covert at the
roadside stepped a tall fellow with yellow beard and hair and a pair of
merry blue eyes. "Truly, holy brother," said he, laying his hand upon
the King's bridle rein, "it were an unchristian thing to not give
fitting answer to so fair a bargain. We keep an inn hereabouts, and for
fifty pounds we will not only give thee a good draught of wine, but will
give thee as noble a feast as ever thou didst tickle thy gullet withal."
So saying, he put his fingers to his lips and blew a shrill whistle.
Then straightway the bushes and branches on either side of the road
swayed and crackled, and threescore broad-shouldered yeomen in Lincoln
green burst out of the covert.

"How now, fellow," quoth the King, "who art thou, thou naughty rogue?
Hast thou no regard for such holy men as we are?"

"Not a whit," quoth merry Robin Hood, for the fellow was he, "for in
sooth all the holiness belonging to rich friars, such as ye are, one
could drop into a thimble and the goodwife would never feel it with the
tip of her finger. As for my name, it is Robin Hood, and thou mayst have
heard it before."

"Now out upon thee!" quoth King Richard. "Thou art a bold and naughty
fellow and a lawless one withal, as I have often heard tell. Now,
prythee, let me, and these brethren of mine, travel forward in peace and
quietness."

"It may not be," said Robin, "for it would look but ill of us to let
such holy men travel onward with empty stomachs. But I doubt not that
thou hast a fat purse to pay thy score a