The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Huntingdon, had thrown away his earldom and gone back again to Sher-
wood, 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 plotting ill against him in her mind, thinking that by do-
ing evil to him she might find favor with his enemies. Nevertheless, 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 nun-
nery, and left his master in the hands of the women. 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 he could watch the place that Robin abided, like
some great, faithful dog turned away from the door where his master
has entered.
After the women had gotten Robin Hood to the room beneath the
eaves, the Prioress sent all of the others away; then, taking a little cord,
she tied it tightly about Robin's arm, as though she were about to bleed
him. And so she did bleed him, but the vein she opened was not one of
those that lie close and blue beneath the skin; deeper she cut than that,
for she opened one of those veins through which the bright red blood
runs leaping from the heart. Of this Robin knew not; for, though he saw
the blood flow, it did not come fast enough to make him think that there
was anything ill in it.
Having done this vile deed, the Prioress turned and left her cousin,
locking the door behind her. All that livelong day the blood ran from
Robin Hood's arm, nor could he check it, though he strove in every way
to do so. Again and again he called for help, but no help came, for his
cousin had betrayed him, and Little John was too far away to hear his
voice. So he bled and bled until he felt his strength slipping away from
him. Then he arose, tottering, and bearing himself up by the palms of his
hands against the wall, he reached his bugle horn at last. Thrice he soun-
ded it, but weakly and faintly, for his breath was fluttering through sick-
ness and loss of strength; nevertheless, Little John heard it where he lay
in the glade, and, with a heart all sick with dread, he came running and
leaping toward the nunnery. Loudly he knocked at the door, and in a
loud voice shouted for them to let him in, but the door was of massive
oak, strongly barred, and studded with spikes, so they felt safe, and bade
Little John begone.
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Then Little John's heart was mad with grief and fear for his master's
life. Wildly he looked about him, and his sight fell upon a heavy stone
mortar, such as three men could not lift nowadays. Little John took three
steps forward, and, bending his back, heaved the stone mortar up from
where it stood deeply rooted. Staggering under its weight, he came for-
ward and hurled it crashing against the door. In burst the door, and
away fled the frightened nuns, shrieking, at his coming. Then Little John
strode in, and never a word said he, but up the winding stone steps he
ran till he reached the room wherein his master was. Here he found the
door locked also, but, putting his shoulder against it, he burst the locks
as though they were made of brittle ice.
There he saw his own dear master leaning against the gray stone wall,
his face all white and drawn, and his head swaying to and fro with
weakness. Then, with a great, wild cry of love and grief and pity, Little
John leaped forward and caught Robin Hood in his arms. Up he lifted
him as a mother lifts her child, and carrying him to the bed, laid him ten-
derly thereon.
And now the Prioress came in hastily, for she was frightened at what
she had done, and dreaded the vengeance of Little John and the others of
the band; then she stanched the blood by cunning bandages, so that it
flowed no more. All the while Little John stood grimly by, and after she
had done he sternly bade her to begone, and she obeyed, pale and trem-
bling. Then, after she had departed, Little John spake cheering words,
laughing loudly, and saying that all this was a child's fright, and that no
stout yeoman would die at the loss of a few drops of blood. "Why,"
quoth he, "give thee a se'ennight and thou wilt be roaming the wood-
lands as boldly as ever."
But Robin shook his head and smiled faintly where he lay. "Mine own
dear Little John," whispered he, "Heaven bless thy kind, rough heart.
But, dear friend, we will never roam the woodlands together again."
"Ay, but we will!" quoth Little John loudly. "I say again, ay—out upon
it—who dares say that any more harm shall come upon thee? Am I not
by? Let me see who dares touch"—Here he stopped of a sudden, for his
words choked him. At last he said, in a deep, husky voice, "Now, if
aught of harm befalls thee because of this day's doings, I swear by Saint
George that the red cock shall crow over the rooftree of this house, for
the hot flames shall lick every crack and cranny thereof. As for these wo-
men"—here he ground his teeth—"it will be an ill day for them!"
But Robin Hood took Little John's rough, brown fist in his white
hands, and chid him softly in his low, weak voice, asking him since what
254

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time Little John had thought of doing harm to women, even in ven-
geance. Thus he talked till, at last, the other promised, in a choking voice,
that no ill should fall upon the place, no matter what happened. Then a
silence fell, and Little John sat with Robin Hood's hand in his, gazing out
of the open window, ever and anon swallowing a great lump that came
in his throat. Meantime the sun dropped slowly to the west, till all the
sky was ablaze with a red glory. Then Robin Hood, in a weak, faltering
voice, bade Little John raise him that he might look out once more upon
the woodlands; so the yeoman lifted him in his arms, as he bade, and
Robin Hood's head lay on his friend's shoulder. Long he gazed, with a
wide, lingering look, while the other sat with bowed head, the hot tears
rolling one after another from his eyes, and dripping upon his bosom, for
he felt that the time of parting was near at hand. Then, presently, Robin
Hood bade him string his stout bow for him, and choose a smooth fair
arrow from his quiver. This Little John did, though without disturbing
his master or rising from where he sat. Robin Hood's fingers wrapped
lovingly around his good bow, and he smiled faintly when he felt it in
his grasp, then he nocked the arrow on that part of the string that the tips
of his fingers knew so well. "Little John," said he, "Little John, mine own
dear friend, and him I love better than all others in the world, mark, I
prythee, where this arrow lodges, and there let my grave be digged. Lay
me with my face toward the East, Little John, and see that my resting
place be kept green, and that my weary bones be not disturbed."
As he finished speaking, he raised himself of a sudden and sat upright.
His old strength seemed to come back to him, and, drawing the bow-
string to his ear, he sped the arrow out of the open casement. As the
shaft flew, his hand sank slowly with the bow till it lay across his knees,
and his body likewise sank back again into Little John's loving arms; but
something had sped from that body, even as the winged arrow sped
from the bow.
For some minutes Little John sat motionless, but presently he laid that
which he held gently down, then, folding the hands upon the breast and
covering up the face, he turned upon his heel and left the room without a
word or a sound.
Upon the steep stairway he met the Prioress and some of the chief
among the sisters. To them he spoke in a deep, quivering voice, and said
he, "An ye go within a score of feet of yonder room, I will tear down
your rookery over your heads so that not one stone shall be left upon an-
other. Bear my words well in mind, for I mean them." So saying, he
turned and left them, and they presently saw him running rapidly across
255

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the open, through the falling of the dusk, until he was swallowed up by
the forest.
The early gray of the coming morn was just beginning to lighten the
black sky toward the eastward when Little John and six more of the band
came rapidly across the open toward the nunnery. They saw no one, for
the sisters were all hidden away from sight, having been frightened by
Little John's words. Up the stone stair they ran, and a great sound of
weeping was presently heard. After a while this ceased, and then came
the scuffling and shuffling of men's feet as they carried a heavy weight
down the steep and winding stairs. So they went forth from the nunnery,
and, as they passed through the doors thereof, a great, loud sound of
wailing arose from the glade that lay all dark in the dawning, as though
many men, hidden in the shadows, had lifted up their voices in sorrow.
Thus died Robin Hood, at Kirklees Nunnery, in fair Yorkshire, with
mercy in his heart toward those that had been his undoing; for thus he
showed mercy for the erring and pity for the weak through all the time
of his living.
His yeomen were scattered henceforth, but no great ill befell them
thereafter, for a more merciful sheriff and one who knew them not so
well succeeding the one that had gone, and they being separated here
and there throughout the countryside, they abided in peace and quiet-
ness, so that many lived to hand down these tales to their children and
their children's children.
A certain one sayeth that upon a stone at Kirklees is an old inscription.
This I give in the ancient English in which it was written, and thus it
runs:
HEAR UNDERNEAD DIS LAITL STEAN LAIS ROBERT EARL OF
HUNTINGTUN NEA ARCIR VER AS HIE SAE GEUD AN PIPL
KAULD IM ROBIN HEUD SICK UTLAWS AS HI AN IS MEN VIL
ENGLAND NIDIR SI AGEN OBIIT 24 KAL. DEKEMBRIS 1247.
And now, dear friend, we also must part, for our merry journeyings
have ended, and here, at the grave of Robin Hood, we turn, each going
his own way.
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Food for the mind
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Document Outline

• Preface
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22