Page 78 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

called upon was the Tinker that tried to serve his warrant
upon Robin Hood.
Then several yeomen came forward and spread cloths
upon the green grass, and placed a royal feast; while oth-
ers still broached barrels of sack and Malmsey and good
stout ale, and set them in jars upon the cloth, with drinking
horns about them. Then all sat down and feasted and drank
merrily together until the sun was low and the half-moon
glimmered with a pale light betwixt the leaves of the trees
overhead.
Then the Sheriff arose and said, ‘I thank you all, good
yeomen, for the merry entertainment ye have given me this
day. Right courteously have ye used me, showing therein
that ye have much respect for our glorious King and his
deputy in brave Nottinghamshire. But the shadows grow
long, and I must away before darkness comes, lest I lose my-
self within the forest.’
Then Robin Hood and all his merry men arose also, and
Robin said to the Sheriff, ‘If thou must go, worshipful sir, go
thou must; but thou hast forgotten one thing.’
‘Nay, I forgot nought,’ said the Sheriff; yet all the same his
heart sank within him.
‘But I say thou hast forgot something,’ quoth Robin. ‘We
keep a merry inn here in the greenwood, but whoever beco-
meth our guest must pay his reckoning.’
Then the Sheriff laughed, but the laugh was hollow. ‘Well,
jolly boys,’ quoth he, ‘we have had a merry time together to-
day, and even if ye had not asked me, I would have given you
a score of pounds for the sweet entertainment I have had.’