"Little John," said he,
"Little John, mine own dear friend, and him I love better than all
others in the world, mark, I prythee, where this arrow lodges, and there
let my grave be digged. Lay me with my face toward the East, Little
John, and see that my resting place be kept green, and that my weary
bones be not disturbed."
As he finished speaking, he raised himself of a sudden and sat upright.
His old strength seemed to come back to him, and, drawing the bowstring
to his ear, he sped the arrow out of the open casement. As the shaft
flew, his hand sank slowly with the bow till it lay across his knees,
and his body likewise sank back again into Little John's loving arms;
but something had sped from that body, even as the winged arrow sped
from the bow.
For some minutes Little John sat motionless, but presently he laid that
which he held gently down, then, folding the hands upon the breast and
covering up the face, he turned upon his heel and left the room without
a word or a sound.
Upon the steep stairway he met the Prioress and some of the chief among
the sisters.
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