At last the time came when Sir Richard must go, whereupon Robin Hood
called his band around him, and each man of the yeomen took a torch in
his hand to light the way through the woodlands. So they came to the
edge of Sherwood, and there the Knight kissed Robin upon the cheeks and
left him and was gone.
Thus Robin Hood helped a noble knight out of his dire misfortunes, that
else would have smothered the happiness from his life.
Little John Turns Barefoot Friar
COLD WINTER had passed and spring had come. No leafy thickness had yet
clad the woodlands, but the budding leaves hung like a tender mist about
the trees. In the open country the meadow lands lay a sheeny green, the
cornfields a dark velvety color, for they were thick and soft with the
growing blades. The plowboy shouted in the sun, and in the purple new-
turned furrows flocks of birds hunted for fat worms. All the broad
moist earth smiled in the warm light, and each little green hill clapped
its hand for joy.
On a deer's hide, stretched on the ground in the open in front of the
greenwood tree, sat Robin Hood basking in the sun like an old dog fox.
Pages:
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319