Bertha Evangeline Bush

“ He had been taught to love and reverence the king.
"The king would be a good king if he would stay at home and govern his people. But he is off at war all the time, and the nobles and officers he appoints grind the people as a miller grinds the wheat between his great millstones. They rob them continually, and the rich are growing richer and more greedy and the poor growing poorer and more miserable all the time."
"When I am a man," said the boy, Robin Hood, "I will make the rich give up a portion of their wealth to the poor, and then all will be provided for." ”

“ ALLEN-A-DALE AND FRIAR TUCK
This is the story of a merry friar and how he came to belong to Robin Hood's band. But it begins with the story of a sad youth with a harp in his hand, who could sing as sweetly as a thrush but who thought that he would never sing again for his heart was breaking. Robin Hood and his men found him in the forest, lying prone on the ground and sobbing as if he would weep his eyes out.
[Pg 14]
"Get up! Get up!" shouted Will Stutely, poking him with his foot. "I do hate to see a tall young fellow snivelling like a girl of fourteen over a dead bird." ”

“ Robin Hood placed himself fairly in front of him and he struck a blow that would have felled an ox. Down went Robin Hood on the ground rolling over and over, and his men fairly shouted with laughter.
"Well," said Robin Hood, sitting up, half dazed, "I did not think that there was an arm in England that could strike such a blow. Who are you, man? I'll warrant you are no churchman as you seem."
Then Richard threw his cowl, and Robin knew his king. If he had been a disloyal man as well as an outlaw, he would have trembled then. ”

“ But they did not come in the suits of Lincoln green that they wore as men of the forest. Each man dressed himself up to seem somebody else. Some appeared as barefoot friars, some as traveling tinkers or tradesmen, some as beggars, and some as rustic peasants. Robin Hood was the hardest to recognize of all.
"Don't go, master," his men had begged. "This archery contest is just a trap to catch you. The sheriff of Nottingham and his men will be looking for you and they will know you by your hair and eyes and face and height, even if you wear different clothes. ”

“ They were pleased with these travelers because they did not resist nor rail at them.
"Now we shall give you a feast that will be worth fifty pounds," said Robin Hood.
"I have a good appetite for a feast," said the pretended abbot, "but even more do I desire to see the archery and wrestling and play with the quarter-staff and all those things in which I am told you excel."
"You shall see the very best we can do," answered Robin Hood. "But, I pray you, holy father, lay aside your cowl that you may enjoy this sweet evening air."
"No," answered the mock abbot. ”

“ As he walked toward Sherwood Forest, the sheriff's words rankled.
"I cannot bear to have even my enemy think that I am a coward," he said to Little John. "I wish there was a way to tell the sheriff that it was Robin Hood that won his golden arrow." ”

“ The estate is worth many times that but he will show no mercy."
"Have you no friends who could lend you the money?" asked Robin Hood.
"Alas, no," answered the knight. "When I was fortunate I had many friends who crowded around me, but now that I have come to trouble they have all deserted me."
"Well, the men who are in trouble always have friends in Sherwood Forest," answered Robin Hood. "Come with me as a free guest and we will find a way to help you."
So they went on until they came to the great tree where Friar Tuck and half a dozen others were preparing the feast around a huge fire. ”

“ But Robin Hood ordered him back.
"No," he said, "it was a fair fight, and he won. I would not have you hurt him for anything. But he is a right brave and lusty youth and I would fain have him in our band. Will you join yourself to my men?" he asked of the wondering stranger. "I am Robin Hood, and my band is the finest in all England."
Hardly a man in the country but would have trembled at the name. ”

“ Now when Robin Hood and his men robbed a man—and they never molested any but the rich who had made their wealth by grinding down the poor—they brought him into the forest and made a feast for him. Then, after he had feasted, they told him he must pay his reckoning, and they took his goods or gold that he carried and divided these into three piles. ”

“ But John Little, the strange youth, was afraid of no man.
"If there is any man among you who can shoot a better shaft than I, I will," he said.
"Well, I will try," said Robin. He sent Will Stutely to set up a piece of white bark four fingers in breadth on an oak eighty yards away.
"Now choose any of our bows and arrows to shoot with," he said.
The stranger chose the very stoutest bow. Then he aimed his arrow carefully and sent it down the path [Pg 13] and it struck the very center of the mark. All Robin Hood's followers caught their breaths in amaze. ”

“ But she was pale and wan and she drooped on her father's arm like a broken lily.
"How is this?" cried Robin Hood. "A bride should be like a blushing rose. Maiden, is it of your own free will that you wed with this knight?"
"No, no," sobbed fair Ellen. "I wish to wed no one but my own true love, Allen-a-Dale the minstrel."
"Then Allen-a-Dale ye shall wed," cried Robin Hood, and set his bugle to his lips and blew. The followers who had entered the church and Friar Tuck [Pg 19] came running down the aisles and gathered around him. ”

“ So he and seven of his followers dressed themselves as an abbot and seven black friars and rode out along the highway toward Sherwood Forest. And Robin Hood and his men took them and brought them to the Trystal Tree, and there they searched them and took the pouch of gold. But they gave half the gold back to the king, for it was not their custom to leave any man in need. ”

“ More than a hundred men were in Robin Hood's band; every one was devoted to him and obeyed his slightest word. They were the best archers, the best wrestlers, the best runners and the best wielders of cudgel and quarter-staff in all the country, and they grew better continually, for they practiced these things every day. ”

“ You shall take Little John and Will Scarlet and Allen-a-Dale, who is the sweetest singer I ever heard; and the rest of your men I will make into royal rangers, since I judge that they can protect Sherwood Forest better than any others."
So Robin Hood left the greenwood and went to the king's court and he served King Richard well. But he did not like the confinement of the court and could not abide the gaieties and jealousies of the courtiers. After King Richard died, his brother John took the throne, and he was one of the worst kings that ever ruled England. ”

“ The prior of Emmet, calling his train, also departed in high displeasure, and the bishop of Hereford would have gone too, but Robin bade him stay.
"Now," he said, "we will have a wedding, and fair Ellen shall marry Allen-a-Dale."
"Ye cannot." The prior of Emmet turned back to say this. "You have no priest to marry them."
"Am I not a priest?" bellowed Friar Tuck, so fiercely that the prior shook in his pointed shoes and made haste to get away. ”

“ It was not strange, perhaps, considering the evils of the times, that this boy, Robin Hood, when he became a man, did do just what he said, and gathered a band of men about him in the forest whose pledged purpose was to despoil the rich of ill-gotten wealth and lend a helping hand to the poor. ”

“ The target was a garland of leaves and flowers that was hung six score paces distant upon a stake. It was [Pg 25] a mark that only the best of archers could hit at all.
"Now shoot!" said Robin Hood. "You shall each of you have three shots, and every one who fails to place his arrows within the garland shall forfeit the arrow and receive beside a box on the side of the head as stout as can be given."
"Can any one hit inside that little garland at such a distance?" asked the king in amaze. ”

“ But much of the news was sad, for the times were evil in England. The Normans had conquered the country and were the lords and officials in the land, and they cruelly oppressed the common people, who were Saxons. ”

“ There he stood in his ragged beggar's garments, not ten feet away from the sheriff.
The targets were placed eighty yards from where the archers were to stand. Pace that off, and see what a great distance it is. There were a great number of archers to shoot and each was to have one shot. Then the ten who shot best were to shoot two arrows each; and the three who shot best out of the ten were to shoot three arrows apiece. The one who came nearest to the center of the target was to get a prize. ”