_Showing that from an outlaw can be made a good and worthy citizen_.
Many years went by and Richard was now King of England. In
Nottingham Town all was noise and uproar because the great king
was to come to that town and visit the Sheriff. Crowds packed the
public square to welcome him as he passed by.
Robin Hood and all his men were there, but some were in disguise.
Friar Tuck and Little John stood boldly in the crowd and when the
Sheriff saw them he turned quite pale.
That night at the great banquet the king said:
“I have heard much of Robin Hood and his men hereabouts. I should
like to see him. They tell me he can shoot a bow wondrous well.”
“Very easily arranged,” said one of the heralds, “if you and a few
others will dress as Black Friars and go into Sherwood Forest.”
This pleased the king, and on the morrow he and several others
dressed as Black Friars, with hoods over their faces, and went into
the forest as though they were travelers. By and by the king said:
“Here we have come and brought nothing to drink. I am as thirsty as
though we were in a desert.” As he said that out stepped a man from
the roadside, and taking hold of the bridle of the horse on which
rode the supposed friar, said:
“Come with me, holy brother, and I shall lighten your purse and
give you a merry feast.”
The man was Robin Hood. Leading the king’s horse and guiding the
others, he led them all to his hiding place and gave them a feast,
though he was careful to take all the money that the supposed
friars carried.
They showed their guests their wonderful archery. Robin Hood
ordered that every man who missed his mark should have a buffet
on the ear. Some of them missed and were soundly cuffed for their
errors. Finally Robin Hood had to shoot, and by a strange chance he
missed his mark on account of a bad arrow.
“I will cuff thee myself,” said the king laughing, and baring his
mighty arm he gave Robin such a knock that the bold outlaw lay
stretched upon the grass rubbing the side of his head.
But the king had showed his face in doing this.
“Our king! King Richard!” they cried in dismay, and knelt at his
feet. But the king told them to rise, that he liked bold outlaws.
In fact, he pardoned them for all their misdeeds.
“Robin Hood and Little John and Will Scarlet and Allan-a-Dale must
come with me to the wars. The others may live here and be my loyal
foresters,” ordered the king.
And it was so. Robin Hood went away with the king that he loved so
much and became head of all the archers in the kingdom. The merry
men lived loyal and law-abiding in Sherwood Forest. And that was
the end of the outlaws.