Page 214 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

The day was well-nigh gone when they came near to the
greenwood tree. Even at a distance they saw by the num-
ber of men that Little John had come back with some guest,
but when they came near enough, whom should they find
but the Lord Bishop of Hereford! The good Bishop was in a
fine stew, I wot. Up and down he walked beneath the tree
like a fox caught in a hencoop. Behind him were three Black
Friars standing close together in a frightened group, like
three black sheep in a tempest. Hitched to the branches of
the trees close at hand were six horses, one of them a barb
with gay trappings upon which the Bishop was wont to ride,
and the others laden with packs of divers shapes and kinds,
one of which made Robin’s eyes glisten, for it was a box not
overlarge, but heavily bound with bands and ribs of iron.
When the Bishop saw Robin and those with him come
into the open he made as though he would have run toward
the yeoman, but the fellow that guarded the Bishop and the
three friars thrust his quarterstaff in front, so that his lord-
ship was fain to stand back, though with frowning brow
and angry speech.
‘Stay, my Lord Bishop,’ cried jolly Robin in a loud voice,
when he saw what had passed, ‘I will come to thee with all
speed, for I would rather see thee than any man in merry
England.’ So saying, he quickened his steps and soon came
to where the Bishop stood fuming.
‘How now,’ quoth the Bishop in a loud and angry voice,
when Robin had so come to him, ‘is this the way that thou
and thy band treat one so high in the church as I am? I and
these brethren were passing peacefully along the highroad

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