Page 93 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

opening that he could easily stoop and walk through it.
When the Steward saw what was done, he waxed mad
with rage; and, as Little John stooped to look within the
pantry, he seized him from behind by the nape of the neck,
pinching him sorely and smiting him over the head with
his keys till the yeoman’s ears rang again. At this Little John
turned upon the Steward and smote him such a buffet that
the fat man fell to the floor and lay there as though he would
never move again. ‘There,’ quoth Little John, ‘think well of
that stroke and never keep a good breakfast from a hungry
man again.’
So saying, he crept into the pantry and looked about him
to see if he could find something to appease his hunger. He
saw a great venison pasty and two roasted capons, beside
which was a platter of plover’s eggs; moreover, there was a
flask of sack and one of canary—a sweet sight to a hungry
man. These he took down from the shelves and placed upon
a sideboard, and prepared to make himself merry.
Now the Cook, in the kitchen across the courtyard,
heard the loud talking between Little John and the Stew-
ard, and also the blow that Little John struck the other, so
he came running across the court and up the stairway to
where the Steward’s pantry was, bearing in his hands the
spit with the roast still upon it. Meanwhile the Steward
had gathered his wits about him and risen to his feet, so
that when the Cook came to the Steward’s pantry he saw
him glowering through the broken door at Little John, who
was making ready for a good repast, as one dog glowers at
another that has a bone. When the Steward saw the Cook,

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood