Page 193 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

laughing, until they had come to a certain little church that
belonged to the great estates owned by the rich Priory of
Emmet. Here it was that fair Ellen was to be married on that
morn, and here was the spot toward which the yeomen had
pointed their toes. On the other side of the road from where
the church stood with waving fields of barley around, ran a
stone wall along the roadside. Over the wall from the high-
way was a fringe of young trees and bushes, and here and
there the wall itself was covered by a mass of blossoming
woodbine that filled all the warm air far and near with its
sweet summer odor. Then straightway the yeomen leaped
over the wall, alighting on the tall soft grass upon the other
side, frightening a flock of sheep that lay there in the shade
so that they scampered away in all directions. Here was a
sweet cool shadow both from the wall and from the fair
young trees and bushes, and here sat the yeomen down, and
glad enough they were to rest after their long tramp of the
morning.
‘Now,’ quoth Robin, ‘I would have one of you watch and
tell me when he sees anyone coming to the church, and the
one I choose shall be young David of Doncaster. So get thee
upon the wall, David, and hide beneath the woodbine so as
to keep watch.’
Accordingly young David did as he was bidden, the oth-
ers stretching themselves at length upon the grass, some
talking together and others sleeping. Then all was quiet
save only for the low voices of those that talked together,
and for Allan’s restless footsteps pacing up and down, for
his soul was so full of disturbance that he could not stand

1 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood