Page 329 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

‘Alas!’ quoth Robin Hood, ‘look ye there, now! See how
your ill-treatment hath curdled the wits of this poor lad and
turned them all sour! I, myself, am Quince, the Cobbler of
Derby Town.’
‘Is it so?’ said Quince. ‘Then, indeed, I am somebody else,
and can be none other than Robin Hood. Take me, fellows;
but let me tell you that ye ha’ laid hand upon the stoutest
yeoman that ever trod the woodlands.’
‘Thou wilt play madman, wilt thou?’ said the leader of
the band. ‘Here, Giles, fetch a cord and bind this knave’s
hands behind him. I warrant we will bring his wits back
to him again when we get him safe before our good Bishop
at Tutbury Town.’ Thereupon they tied the Cobbler’s hands
behind him, and led him off with a rope, as the farmer leads
off the calf he hath brought from the fair. Robin stood look-
ing after them, and when they were gone he laughed till
the tears rolled down his cheeks; for he knew that no harm
would befall the honest fellow, and he pictured to himself
the Bishop’s face when good Quince was brought before
him as Robin Hood. Then, turning his steps once more to
the eastward, he stepped out right foot foremost toward
Nottinghamshire and Sherwood Forest.
But Robin Hood had gone through more than he wot-
ted of. His journey from London had been hard and long,
and in a se’ennight he had traveled sevenscore and more of
miles. He thought now to travel on without stopping un-
til he had come to Sherwood, but ere he had gone a half a
score of miles he felt his strength giving way beneath him
like a river bank which the waters have undermined. He

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood