Page 338 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

Robin Hood and Guy

of Gisbourne

LONG TIME passed after the great shooting match,
A and during that time Robin followed one part of the
advice of Sir Robert Lee, to wit, that of being less bold in
his comings and his goings; for though mayhap he may not
have been more honest (as most folks regard honesty), he
took good care not to travel so far from Sherwood that he
could not reach it both easily and quickly.
Great changes had fallen in this time; for King Henry
had died and King Richard had come to the crown that
fitted him so well through many hard trials, and through
adventures as stirring as any that ever befell Robin Hood.
But though great changes came, they did not reach to Sher-
wood’s shades, for there Robin Hood and his men dwelled
as merrily as they had ever done, with hunting and feasting
and singing and blithe woodland sports; for it was little the
outside striving of the world troubled them.
The dawning of a summer’s day was fresh and bright,
and the birds sang sweetly in a great tumult of sound. So
loud was their singing that it awakened Robin Hood where
he lay sleeping, so that he stirred, and turned, and arose. Up
rose Little John also, and all the merry men; then, after they
had broken their fast, they set forth hither and thither upon