Page 45 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

good folk never saw such archery as was done that day. Six
arrows were within the clout, four within the black, and
only two smote the outer ring; so that when the last arrow
sped and struck the target, all the people shouted aloud, for
it was noble shooting.
And now but ten men were left of all those that had shot
before, and of these ten, six were famous throughout the
land, and most of the folk gathered there knew them. These
six men were Gilbert o’ the Red Cap, Adam o’ the Dell, Dic-
con Cruikshank, William o’ Leslie, Hubert o’ Cloud, and
Swithin o’ Hertford. Two others were yeomen of merry
Yorkshire, another was a tall stranger in blue, who said he
came from London Town, and the last was a tattered strang-
er in scarlet, who wore a patch over one eye.
‘Now,’ quoth the Sheriff to a man-at-arms who stood near
him, ‘seest thou Robin Hood among those ten?’
‘Nay, that do I not, Your Worship,’ answered the man.
‘Six of them I know right well. Of those Yorkshire yeomen,
one is too tall and the other too short for that bold knave.
Robin’s beard is as yellow as gold, while yon tattered beggar
in scarlet hath a beard of brown, besides being blind of one
eye. As for the stranger in blue, Robin’s shoulders, I ween,
are three inches broader than his.’
‘Then,’ quoth the Sheriff, smiting his thigh angrily, ‘yon
knave is a coward as well as a rogue, and dares not show his
face among good men and true.’
Then, after they had rested a short time, those ten stout
men stepped forth to shoot again. Each man shot two ar-
rows, and as they shot, not a word was spoken, but all the

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood