“‘Sir knight,’ exclaimed the noble king, ‘thou hast done wrong, but I
forgive thee; rise,—thy lands are restored to thee. As for thee, thou
valiant traitor, he continued, placing his hand on Robin Hood’s head, ‘on
one condition only can I grant thy pardon. Thou and thy men must follow
me to London, and be my royal archers.’ The outlaws shouted with rapture;
cries of ‘Long live King Richard’ rent the air, and every man bent his
knee to their royal master.
“The king then mounted his palfrey and retired, accompanied by Robin
Hood, Little John, and Will Scarlet, each of whom he soon afterwards
appointed to some place of dignity. Many of the foresters dispersed to
various parts, but fifty of the most faithful followed their beloved
master to London.
“Here, it is said, our brave hero assumed his title of earl of
Huntingdon, and lived in most noble style; but soon growing tired of
the confinement of the court, he asked permission to revisit the merry
woods. The king granted him seven days, but when Robin Hood breathed the
delightful air of Sherwood, and heard the songs of the sweet birds, he
could not tear himself away. He ranged through many a well-known thicket
and oft-frequented lawn, and in the ecstacy of his delight he set his
bugle horn to his mouth, and made the old trees re-echo with the blast.
To his great astonishment it was replied to, and four-score youths
bounded towards him. Several had deserted him in London, and many who
were at first disbanded had returned to their favourite haunts, and Robin
Hood was again acknowledged as the leader of a forest band. Little John
and Will Scarlet soon learned the intelligence, and with all speed joined
him with the rest.
“King Richard was enraged; he sent a renowned knight with two hundred
soldiers to capture the rebellious outlaw, and a desperate fight took
place upon a plain in Sherwood forest. It lasted from sun-rise to
sun-set, but neither party could boast of victory, and the knight lost
many of his men. Robin Hood himself was wounded by an arrow, and was
obliged to be taken to Kirkleys Nunnery, where he was treacherously
suffered to bleed to death by the prioress. As he found his end
approaching he called Little John to him. ‘Carry me into the woods, I
entreat thee,’ he said to him;
“‘And give me my bent bow in my hand,
And a broad arrow I’ll let flee;
And where this arrow is taken up
There shall my grave digged be.”
“The outlaw shot his last bow. His shaft flew feebly to a short distance,
and fell beneath an oak. He leaned back into the arms of his faithful
attendant—and died. His wish was complied with; and a stone was placed
upon the green sod to mark the last resting-place of the brave Robin
Hood; it bore this inscription:—
“Here, underneath this little stone,
Lies Robert, Earl of Huntingdon.
Ne’er archer was as he so good;
And people called him ‘Robin Hood.’
Such outlaws as he and his men
Will England never see again.”
I was obliged to hurry the latter part of my stories more than I could
have wished, but I had scarcely finished, before our faithful monitor,
the sonorous school bell, called us to our less pleasing, but more
important pursuits.
The holidays soon after commenced, and we all returned HOME.