Page 150 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

twinkled, and then in spite of all he broke into a laugh.
Now when they saw their master laugh, the yeomen who
stood around could contain themselves no longer, and a
mighty shout of laughter went up from all. Many could not
stand, but rolled upon the ground from pure merriment.
‘What is thy name, good fellow?’ said Robin at last to the
Miller, who stood gaping and as though he were in amaze.
‘Alas, sir, I am Midge, the Miller’s son,’ said he in a fright-
ened voice.
‘I make my vow,’ quoth merry Robin, smiting him upon
the shoulder, ‘thou art the mightiest Midge that e’er mine
eyes beheld. Now wilt thou leave thy dusty mill and come
and join my band? By my faith, thou art too stout a man to
spend thy days betwixt the hopper and the till.’
‘Then truly, if thou dost forgive me for the blows I struck,
not knowing who thou wast, I will join with thee right mer-
rily,’ said the Miller.
‘Then have I gained this day,’ quoth Robin, ‘the three
stoutest yeomen in all Nottinghamshire. We will get us
away to the greenwood tree, and there hold a merry feast in
honor of our new friends, and mayhap a cup or two of good
sack and canary may mellow the soreness of my poor joints
and bones, though I warrant it will be many a day before I
am again the man I was.’ So saying, he turned and led the
way, the rest following, and so they entered the forest once
more and were lost to sight.
So that night all was ablaze with crackling fires in the
woodlands, for though Robin and those others spoken of,
only excepting Midge, the Miller’s son, had many a sore

1