Page 321 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

Woodstock, in Oxfordshire. Thence he turned his footsteps
northward, traveling for a great distance by way of War-
wick Town, till he came to Dudley, in Staffordshire. Seven
days it took him to journey thus far, and then he thought he
had gotten far enough to the north, so, turning toward the
eastward, shunning the main roads, and choosing byways
and grassy lanes, he went, by way of Litchfield and Ashby de
la Zouch, toward Sherwood, until he came to a place called
Stanton. And now Robin’s heart began to laugh aloud, for
he thought that his danger had gone by, and that his nostrils
would soon snuff the spicy air of the woodlands once again.
But there is many a slip betwixt the cup and the lip, and this
Robin was to find. For thus it was:
When the King’s men found themselves foiled at Saint
Albans, and that Robin and his men were not to be found
high nor low, they knew not what to do. Presently another
band of horsemen came, and another, until all the moonlit
streets were full of armed men. Betwixt midnight and dawn
another band came to the town, and with them came the
Bishop of Hereford. When he heard that Robin Hood had
once more slipped out of the trap, he stayed not a minute,
but, gathering his bands together, he pushed forward to the
northward with speed, leaving orders for all the troops that
came to Saint Albans to follow after him without tarrying.
On the evening of the fourth day he reached Nottingham
Town, and there straightway divided his men into bands
of six or seven, and sent them all through the countryside,
blocking every highway and byway to the eastward and the
southward and the westward of Sherwood. The Sheriff of

0 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood