Page 342 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

thinks it is more meet for thee to tell me thine, seeing that
thou art the greater stranger in these parts. Prythee, tell me,
sweet chuck, why wearest thou that dainty garb upon thy
pretty body?’ At these words the other broke into a short,
harsh roar of laughter. ‘By the bones of the Daemon Odin,’
said he, ‘thou art the boldest-spoken man that ever I have
seen in all my life. I know not why I do not smite thee down
where thou sittest, for only two days ago I skewered a man
over back of Nottingham Town for saying not half so much
to me as thou hast done. I wear this garb, thou fool, to keep
my body warm; likewise it is near as good as a coat of steel
against a common sword-thrust. As for my name, I care
not who knoweth it. It is Guy of Gisbourne, and thou mayst
have heard it before. I come from the woodlands over in
Herefordshire, upon the lands of the Bishop of that ilk. I
am an outlaw, and get my living by hook and by crook in a
manner it boots not now to tell of. Not long since the Bish-
op sent for me, and said that if I would do a certain thing
that the Sheriff of Nottingham would ask of me, he would
get me a free pardon, and give me tenscore pounds to boot.
So straightway I came to Nottingham Town and found my
sweet Sheriff; and what thinkest thou he wanted of me?
Why, forsooth, to come here to Sherwood to hunt up one
Robin Hood, also an outlaw, and to take him alive or dead.
It seemeth that they have no one here to face that bold fel-
low, and so sent all the way to Herefordshire, and to me, for
thou knowest the old saying, ‘Set a thief to catch a thief.’ As
for the slaying of this fellow, it galleth me not a whit, for I
would shed the blood of my own brother for the half of two

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