Page 390 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

shire, who was a skillful leech, and he would have her open
a vein in his arm and take a little blood from him, for the
bettering of his health. Then he bade Little John make ready
to go also, for he might perchance need aid in his journey-
ing. So Little John and he took their leave of the others, and
Robin Hood bade Will Stutely be the captain of the band
until they should come back. Thus they came by easy stag-
es and slow journeying until they reached the Nunnery of
Kirklees.
Now Robin had done much to aid this cousin of his;
for it was through King Richard’s love of him that she had
been made prioress of the place. But there is nought in the
world so easily forgot as gratitude; so, when the Prioress of
Kirklees had heard how her cousin, the Earl of Hunting-
don, had thrown away his earldom and gone back again to
Sherwood, she was vexed to the soul, and feared lest her
cousinship with him should bring the King’s wrath upon
her also. Thus it happened that when Robin came to her and
told her how he wished her services as leech, she began plot-
ting ill against him in her mind, thinking that by doing evil
to him she might find favor with his enemies. Neverthe-
less, she kept this well to herself and received Robin with
seeming kindness. She led him up the winding stone stair
to a room which was just beneath the eaves of a high, round
tower; but she would not let Little John come with him.
So the poor yeoman turned his feet away from the door
of the nunnery, and left his master in the hands of the wom-
en. But, though he did not come in, neither did he go far
away; for he laid him down in a little glade near by, where