Page 182 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

fair and fast enow. Let me tell thee that not one of thy cloth
hath so hoodwinked me in all my life before. I might have
known from thy looks that thou wert no such holy man as
thou didst pretend to be.’
‘Nay,’ interrupted the Friar, ‘I bid thee speak not so scur-
rilously neither, lest thou mayst perchance feel the prick of
an inch or so of blue steel.’
‘Tut, tut,’ said Robin, ‘speak not so, Friar; the loser hath
ever the right to use his tongue as he doth list. Give me my
sword; I do promise to carry thee back straightway. Nay, I
will not lift the weapon against thee.’
‘Marry, come up,’ quoth the Friar, ‘I fear thee not, fel-
low. Here is thy skewer; and get thyself presently ready, for
I would hasten back.’
So Robin took his sword again and buckled it at his side;
then he bent his stout back and took the Friar upon it.
Now I wot Robin Hood had a heavier load to carry in
the Friar than the Friar had in him. Moreover he did not
know the ford, so he went stumbling among the stones, now
stepping into a deep hole, and now nearly tripping over a
boulder, while the sweat ran down his face in beads from
the hardness of his journey and the heaviness of his load.
Meantime, the Friar kept digging his heels into Robin’s
sides and bidding him hasten, calling him many ill names
the while. To all this Robin answered never a word, but,
having softly felt around till he found the buckle of the belt
that held the Friar’s sword, he worked slyly at the fasten-
ings, seeking to loosen them. Thus it came about that, by
the time he had reached the other bank with his load, the

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