y and some shouted for Elwyn; but Elwyn's
total mark was declared the better. Whereupon the King turned to the
Queen. "What say you now?" quoth he in some triumph. "Two out of the
three first rounds have gone to my men. Your outlaws will have to shoot
better than that in order to save your wager!"

The Queen smiled gently.

"Yea, my lord," she said. "But the twain who are left are able to do the
shooting. You forget that I still have Little John and Robin Hood."

"And you forget, my lady, that I still have Tepus and Gilbert."

So each turned again to the lists and awaited the next rounds in silent
eagerness. I ween that King Harry had never watched the invasion of an
enemy with more anxiety than he now felt.

Tepus was chosen to go next and he fell into the same error with Will
Scarlet. He held the string a moment too long, and both his first and
second arrows came to grief. One of them, however, came within the black
rim, and he followed it up by placing his third in the full center,
just as Stutely had done in his last. These two centers were the fairest
shots that had been made that day; and loud was the applause which
greeted this second one. But the shouting was as nothing to the uproar
which followed Little John's shooting. That good-natured giant seemed
determined to outdo Tepus by a tiny margin in each separate shot; for
the first and the second shafts grazed his rival's on the inner side,
while for the third Little John did the old trick of the forest: he
shot his own arrow in a graceful curve which descended from above upon
Tepus's final center shaft with a glancing blow that drove the other out
and left the outlaw's in its place.

The King could scarce believe his eyes. "By my halidom!" quoth he, "that
fellow deserves either a dukedom or a hanging! He must be in league with
Satan himself! Never saw I such shooting."

"The score is tied, my lord," said the Queen; "we have still to see
Gilbert and Robin Hood."

Gilbert now took his stand and slowly shot his arrows, one after
another, into the bull's-eye. 'Twas the best shooting he had yet
done, but there was still the smallest of spaces left--if you looked
closely--at the very center.

"Well done, Gilbert!" spoke up Robin Hood. "You are a foeman worthy of
being shot against." He took his own place as he spoke. "Now if you had
placed one of your shafts _there_"--loosing one of his own--"and another
_there_"--out sped the second--"and another _there_"--