Page 171 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

forth upon their way, Will Scarlet taking the lead, for he
knew better than the others whither to go. Thus, mile after
mile, they strode along, now across a brawling stream, now
along a sunlit road, now adown some sweet forest path, over
which the trees met in green and rustling canopy, and at the
end of which a herd of startled deer dashed away, with rattle
of leaves and crackle of branches. Onward they walked with
song and jest and laughter till noontide was passed, when at
last they came to the banks of a wide, glassy, and lily-padded
stream. Here a broad, beaten path stretched along beside
the banks, on which path labored the horses that tugged
at the slow-moving barges, laden with barley meal or what
not, from the countryside to the many-towered town. But
now, in the hot silence of the midday, no horse was seen nor
any man besides themselves. Behind them and before them
stretched the river, its placid bosom ruffled here and there
by the purple dusk of a small breeze.
‘Now, good uncle,’ quoth Will Scarlet at last, when they
had walked for a long time beside this sweet, bright river,
‘just beyond yon bend ahead of us is a shallow ford which in
no place is deeper than thy mid-thigh, and upon the other
side of the stream is a certain little hermitage hidden amidst
the bosky tangle of the thickets wherein dwelleth the Friar
of Fountain Dale. Thither will I lead thee, for I know the
way; albeit it is not overhard to find.’
‘Nay,’ quoth jolly Robin, stopping suddenly, ‘had I
thought that I should have had to wade water, even were it
so crystal a stream as this, I had donned other clothes than I
have upon me. But no matter now, for after all a wetting will

1 0 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood