Page 37 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

The Shooting Match at

Nottingham Town

HEN THE SHERIFF was very wroth because of this
Tfailure to take jolly Robin, for it came to his ears, as ill
news always does, that the people laughed at him and made
a jest of his thinking to serve a warrant upon such a one as
the bold outlaw. And a man hates nothing so much as being
made a jest of; so he said: ‘Our gracious lord and sovereign
King himself shall know of this, and how his laws are per-
verted and despised by this band of rebel outlaws. As for
yon traitor Tinker, him will I hang, if I catch him, upon the
very highest gallows tree in all Nottinghamshire.’
Then he bade all his servants and retainers to make ready
to go to London Town, to see and speak with the King.
At this there was bustling at the Sheriff’s castle, and men
ran hither and thither upon this business and upon that,
while the forge fires of Nottingham glowed red far into the
night like twinkling stars, for all the smiths of the town were
busy making or mending armor for the Sheriff’s troop of es-
cort. For two days this labor lasted, then, on the third, all
was ready for the journey. So forth they started in the bright
sunlight, from Nottingham Town to Fosse Way and thence
to Watling Street; and so they journeyed for two days, until
they saw at last the spires and towers of great London Town;

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood