Page 144 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

mill over beyond Nottingham Town, nigh to the Salisbury
road?’
‘Thou art right; that is the man,’ said Little John.
‘A good stout fellow,’ quoth Robin. ‘I saw him crack Ned
o’ Bradford’s crown about a fortnight since, and never saw I
hair lifted more neatly in all my life before.’
By this time the young miller had come so near that they
could see him clearly. His clothes were dusted with flour,
and over his back he carried a great sack of meal, bending so
as to bring the whole weight upon his shoulders, and across
the sack was a thick quarterstaff. His limbs were stout and
strong, and he strode along the dusty road right sturdily
with the heavy sack across his shoulders. His cheeks were
ruddy as a winter hip, his hair was flaxen in color, and on
his chin was a downy growth of flaxen beard.
‘A good honest fellow,’ quoth Robin Hood, ‘and such an
one as is a credit to English yeomanrie. Now let us have a
merry jest with him. We will forth as though we were com-
mon thieves and pretend to rob him of his honest gains.
Then will we take him into the forest and give him a feast
such as his stomach never held in all his life before. We will
flood his throat with good canary and send him home with
crowns in his purse for every penny he hath. What say ye,
lads?’
‘Truly, it is a merry thought,’ said Will Scarlet.
‘It is well planned,’ quoth Little John, ‘but all the saints
preserve us from any more drubbings this day! Marry, my
poor bones ache so that I—‘
‘Prythee peace, Little John,’ quoth Robin. ‘Thy foolish

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