The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

"'I came, a bird on feathered wing,
From distant Faeryland
Where murmuring waters softly sing
Upon the golden strand,
Where sweet trees are forever green;
And there my mother is the queen.'
… … .
"No more May Ellen leaves her bower
To grace the blossoms fair;
But in the hushed and midnight hour
They hear her talking there,
Or, when the moon is shining white,
They hear her singing through the night.
"'Oh, don thy silks and jewels fine,'
May Ellen's mother said,
'For hither comes the Lord of Lyne
And thou this lord must wed.'
May Ellen said, 'It may not be.
He ne'er shall find his wife in me.'
"Up spoke her brother, dark and grim:
'Now by the bright blue sky,
E'er yet a day hath gone for him
Thy wicked bird shall die!
For he hath wrought thee bitter harm,
By some strange art or cunning charm.'
"Then, with a sad and mournful song,
Away the bird did fly,
And o'er the castle eaves, and through
The gray and windy sky.
'Come forth!' then cried the brother grim,
'Why dost thou gaze so after him?'
"It is May Ellen's wedding day,
The sky is blue and fair,
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And many a lord and lady gay
In church are gathered there.
The bridegroom was Sir Hugh the Bold,
All clad in silk and cloth of gold.
"In came the bride in samite white
With a white wreath on her head;
Her eyes were fixed with a glassy look,
Her face was as the dead,
And when she stood among the throng,
She sang a wild and wondrous song.
"Then came a strange and rushing sound
Like the coming wind doth bring,
And in the open windows shot
Nine swans on whistling wing,
And high above the heads they flew,
In gleaming fight the darkness through.
"Around May Ellen's head they flew
In wide and windy fight,
And three times round the circle drew.
The guests shrank in affright,
And the priest beside the altar there,
Did cross himself with muttered prayer.
"But the third time they flew around,
Fair Ellen straight was gone,
And in her place, upon the ground,
There stood a snow-white swan.
Then, with a wild and lovely song,
It joined the swift and winged throng.
"There's ancient men at weddings been,
For sixty years and more,
But such a wondrous wedding day,
They never saw before.
But none could check and none could stay,
The swans that bore the bride away."
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Not a sound broke the stillness when Allan a Dale had done, but all sat
gazing at the handsome singer, for so sweet was his voice and the music
that each man sat with bated breath, lest one drop more should come
and he should lose it.
"By my faith and my troth," quoth Robin at last, drawing a deep
breath, "lad, thou art—Thou must not leave our company, Allan! Wilt
thou not stay with us here in the sweet green forest? Truly, I do feel my
heart go out toward thee with great love."
Then Allan took Robin's hand and kissed it. "I will stay with thee al-
ways, dear master," said he, "for never have I known such kindness as
thou hast shown me this day."
Then Will Scarlet stretched forth his hand and shook Allan's in token
of fellowship, as did Little John likewise. And thus the famous Allan a
Dale became one of Robin Hood's band.
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Chapter
12
Robin Hood Seeks the Curtal Friar
T
HE STOUT YEOMEN of Sherwood Forest were ever early risers of
a morn, more especially when the summertime had come, for then
in the freshness of the dawn the dew was always the brightest, and the
song of the small birds the sweetest.
Quoth Robin, "Now will I go to seek this same Friar of Fountain Abbey
of whom we spake yesternight, and I will take with me four of my good
men, and these four shall be Little John, Will Scarlet, David of Doncaster,
and Arthur a Bland. Bide the rest of you here, and Will Stutely shall be
your chief while I am gone." Then straightway Robin Hood donned a
fine steel coat of chain mail, over which he put on a light jacket of Lin-
coln green. Upon his head he clapped a steel cap, and this he covered by
one of soft white leather, in which stood a nodding cock's plume. By his
side he hung a good broadsword of tempered steel, the bluish blade
marked all over with strange figures of dragons, winged women, and
what not. A gallant sight was Robin so arrayed, I wot, the glint of steel
showing here and there as the sunlight caught brightly the links of pol-
ished mail that showed beneath his green coat.
So, having arrayed himself, he and the four yeomen set forth upon
their way, Will Scarlet taking the lead, for he knew better than the others
whither to go. Thus, mile after mile, they strode along, now across a
brawling stream, now along a sunlit road, now adown some sweet forest
path, over which the trees met in green and rustling canopy, and at the
end of which a herd of startled deer dashed away, with rattle of leaves
and crackle of branches. Onward they walked with song and jest and
laughter till noontide was passed, when at last they came to the banks of
a wide, glassy, and lily-padded stream. Here a broad, beaten path
stretched along beside the banks, on which path labored the horses that
tugged at the slow-moving barges, laden with barley meal or what not,
from the countryside to the many-towered town. But now, in the hot si-
lence of the midday, no horse was seen nor any man besides themselves.
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