"
At this speech the Cobbler stared and gaped more than ever, for there
was such a threshing of thoughts going on within his poor head that his
wits were all befogged with the dust and chaff thereof. Moreover, as he
looked at Robin Hood, and saw the yeoman look so like what he knew
himself to be, he began to doubt and to think that mayhap he was the
great outlaw in real sooth. Said he in a slow, wondering voice, "Am I in
very truth that fellow?--Now I had thought--but nay, Quince, thou art
mistook--yet--am I?--Nay, I must indeed be Robin Hood! Yet, truly, I
had never thought to pass from an honest craftsman to such a great
yeoman."
"Alas!" quoth Robin Hood, "look ye there, now! See how your ill-
treatment hath curdled the wits of this poor lad and turned them all
sour! I, myself, am Quince, the Cobbler of Derby Town."
"Is it so?" said Quince. "Then, indeed, I am somebody else, and can be
none other than Robin Hood. Take me, fellows; but let me tell you that
ye ha' laid hand upon the stoutest yeoman that ever trod the woodlands."
"Thou wilt play madman, wilt thou?" said the leader of the band.
Pages:
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429