Page 364 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

his eyes were as blue as the summer sky. As he rode along
he bowed to the right hand and the left, and a mighty roar
of voices followed him as he passed; for this was King Rich-
ard.
Then, above all the tumult and the shouting a great voice
was heard roaring, ‘Heaven, its saints bless thee, our gra-
cious King Richard! and likewise Our Lady of the Fountain,
bless thee!’ Then King Richard, looking toward the spot
whence the sound came, saw a tall, burly, strapping priest
standing in front of all the crowd with his legs wide apart as
he backed against those behind.
‘By my soul, Sheriff,’ said the King, laughing, ‘ye have the
tallest priests in Nottinghamshire that e’er I saw in all my
life. If Heaven never answered prayers because of deafness,
methinks I would nevertheless have blessings bestowed
upon me, for that man yonder would make the great stone
image of Saint Peter rub its ears and hearken unto him. I
would that I had an army of such as he.’
To this the Sheriff answered never a word, but all the
blood left his cheeks, and he caught at the pommel of his
saddle to keep himself from falling; for he also saw the fel-
low that so shouted, and knew him to be Friar Tuck; and,
moreover, behind Friar Tuck he saw the faces of Robin
Hood and Little John and Will Scarlet and Will Stutely and
Allan a Dale and others of the band.
‘How now,’ said the King hastily, ‘art thou ill, Sheriff, that
thou growest so white?’
‘Nay, Your Majesty,’ said the Sheriff, ‘it was nought but a
sudden pain that will soon pass by.’ Thus he spake, for he