_In which a good man unwittingly commits an offence and becomes an
outlaw._
A long time ago in England in Sherwood Forest, there lived a famous
outlaw named Robin Hood. There was no one who could shoot an arrow
straighter or farther than Robin Hood. He was known far and near as
strong, brave, and generous.
He never robbed the poor nor did any mean thing. He and his “merry
men” lived in the depths of the forest, in a place where the king’s
men could not find them, and they passed their time in hunting the
king’s deer, in archery and other sports.
Though they were outlaws, Robin Hood and his men were much beloved
by the country people; for though he robbed the rich and the
oppressor, he always gave abundantly to the poor and needy.
Now, this is the way Robin Hood became an outlaw: He may have been
the son of a nobleman, but that nobody knows. However, when he was
eighteen years of age he knew that the Sheriff of Nottingham was
having a great shooting match for forty pieces of silver.
“Now, I will go and draw my bow and shoot a shaft for the bright
eyes of my lass. Besides that, I need the silver,” said Robin Hood,
and started off to Nottingham Town.
As he walked along whistling, and thinking of the sport before him,
he saw some foresters seated under a great tree. They were the
keepers of the king’s game. One of them called out:
“Here, my merry man! where are you going so fast with your penny
bow and your farthing arrows?”
Now, Robin Hood was very proud of his bow and arrows, so he
answered sharply:
“Where I go is my business--but I can shoot better than any one of
you.”
They all laughed aloud for they were famous shots. Robin became
angrier as they laughed.
“See that deer yonder--more than sixty rods away are they; but I
can bring one down from here,” cried he. They gave him permission.
Twang! went his shaft straight into the heart of the big stag.
It was a long and splendid shot, but, after all, he had killed a
king’s deer!
“Get thee gone from here, knave!” they cried, “or we will have thy
ears shaven close to thy head!” and they began to berate Robin and
beat him for they were afraid themselves. Robin ran, and as he ran
the foresters shot at him and narrowly missed him.
He was now in danger of his own life, so he stepped behind a tree
and fitted another arrow to his bow, and while his pursuers were
still far off, he sent a shaft into the breast of the foremost. He
fell dead and the others turned back.
Robin was now an outlaw. He had killed the king’s deer and had
slain one of the king’s foresters, and now Robin Hood had to hide
in Sherwood Forest.