be too hasty; she wears petticoats, and I would not tractive; besides, you know how strict Robin keeps harm anything or anyone that did so, if I could help the rule that no female shall be molested or meet it; besides, you don't know she's a witch, only from? with harm wherever he and the merrie men congre look there, Will, did you ever see a woman as tall as that, or stride i' that fashion?" cried Little John, pointing to Robin, who, in his haste to join his companions, had dropped the stooping gait and halting walk he had assumed, and now strode towards them as fast as he could walk. "A witch! a witch!" shouted Much, following Little John's example in bending a bow, and aiming an arrow at Robin. "By the Holy Mother, she comes not here to play any of her wicked and devilish pranks." "Hold thy hand!" cried the imaginary witch, at the top of his voice. "I am Robin Hood! Do you not know me?" and he pulled off his head-gear, displaying his well-known face, to the surprise of his followers: he was soon at their side. "I must have been changed indeed for you not to have known me," he continued. "You looked so ugly," returned Will, with a laugh. "What made you don such a disguise as that ?" "Who is that, yonder, who is commanding those, outlaws?" He expected the answer, for he was certain he recognised the form. 'Marry, my lord bishop, I should think it could be no other than he whom men call Robin Hood." "I thought so," groaned the bishop; "I thought it was he. Who, then, art thou, wretch?” "That can be of no consequence to thee. O thou wise in thine own conceit! thou man of blood and unmercifulness! thou who sellest Christian charity to him only who can pay thee best! what can it be to thee who I am? There stands he whom thou seekest to slay. Take him, if thou canst !" "Who art thou ?" demanded the bishop, chafing very much, "that I may know thee hereafter ?" "Aye, thy merciless errand hath turned upon thyself!" exclaimed the old lady, with persevering morality. "Hadst thou followed Robin Hood's good example-given to the poor what thou hast extorted" "If Robin Hood does thee justice, thou wilt know none but Satan hereafter; and were it not that I shall add to thy rage and discomfiture by answering thy question, thou shouldst not know. I am a woman, bold bishop; and thou hast expended all thy valour, and that of thy followers, in capturing a poor weak "I fell in with my Lord Bishop of Hereford, who old woman, as thou shalt presently see.' has a party of men, between fifty and sixty in num- "The curse of Satan upon thee, thou old hag! ber, as near as I can judge, with him, for the pur-Have I been deceived thus ?" cried the bishop, pose of capturing me. I came suddenly upon them, gnashing his teeth. was recognised, and a cottage, inhabited by an old woman, being near, I made my way for it. I reached it, disclosed my name and situation to her, and, by my request, she changed dress with me, even while the bishop and his followers were battering at the door. When we had arranged our disguises, I opened the door, the suddenness of which, I believe, caused his reverence's horse to fling him, and he arrived on his back near the middle of the room. He was assisted to rise, and, without investigating or questioning my representative, he ordered her to be seized, bound, mounted on horseback, and borne to the trysting tree, to be hung from one of the branches. Now we have not a moment to lose. Much, get me instantly a suit, that I may doff these women's gar- { ments. Little John, take as many of the merrie men as you can gather immediately, and to the trysting tree at once. Will, you gather such of the men who are not within immediate call as speedily as you can, and join us there. Away, all of you ?" 'Peace, hag!" roared the bishop. "I want none of thy cant. Ho, there, men! through the glade with ye! Fight through these outlaws! Cut thy path through them, thou gallant hearts! But the gallant hearts would have found it an easier task to be commanded to do this than to accomplish it, for at a signal from Robin, his men bent their bows and drew their arrows to the head, ready for instant discharge; and such was the repute of the terrible truth of their aim, that all the bishop's men instinctively shrunk in their saddles as they observed this movement on the part of the foresters. At this moment, too, Will Scarlet arrived with the remainder of the merrie men, and so completely commanded the avenue which formed the entrance to the glade, that it was easily seen it would be quite madness to attempt force a passage through them, and, therefore, his reverence's followers, at a call from Robin, laid down their arms. "Woe is me! woe is me!" exclaimed the bishop, wringing his hands; "that I should ever have seen this day." "Welcome, my Lord Bishop of Hereford," cried Robin Hood, advancing to him, "welcome to the green wood again. Hast thou liked thine entertainment a few days agone so well, that thou hast come again to prove my hospitality?" His orders were instantly obeyed, and in a few minutes Much returned with a suit of forest habilito ments, which Robin quickly changed for those of the old dame's. He then repaired to the trysting tree, where he found Little John posted with a body of at least sixty archers. He arranged them in such a way that they effectually commanded the entrance to the glade, and all parts of the glade itself. They were hidden, in order that the bishop and his people might be completely in Robin's power, without a chance of helping themselves; and when they were suffered to depart, it should be upon terms highly advantageous to Robin and his men. A short time were they posted in their coverts when the sound of horse's footsteps met their ears, and told them his reverence was approaching; and when he had passed through the avenue leading to the glade, and all his men likewise, he was startled by the sound of a bugle, and the sudden appearance of a stream of men commanding the entrance, and taking up their places in all the tenable positions the spot afforded. A cold shudder passed through the bishop's frame as he looked on this terrible array of foresters, and noticing among them one habited in a scarlet tunic, to whose words the bowmen paid the most implicit attention, he turned to the false Robin, his prisoner, and in a voice which anticipations and misgivings of a most disagreeable nature made exceeding faint, demanded— The bishop groaned in reply: he could not articulate a word. The recollection of his degradation on that day was productive of rage and torment, and the probability that this day would see, if not his death, a similar outrage upon his clerical character, made his spirit quail within him. "How is it, my lord bishop, thou dost not seem so jovial as thou wert when we parted? What ails thee? Art thou not glad to be again in my society ?" con. tinued Robin, after waiting for an answer. "I cannot say I am," ejaculated the bishop, mournfully. "The position in which I am placed renders such a feeling impossible. You must know, by my armed followers, the reason of my being here, and, I expect, you will retaliate accordingly. I have only this to say, that if thou dost this time spare me, and let me and my followers pass unhurt, I will not, on any future occasion, under any circumstances, seek thy destruction, or that of those connected with thee; and I do not see but thou shouldst the more readily agree to this, as it will save thy soul from bearing an awful weight of sin, as thou wouldst, in slaying me, murder a high priest of the Holy Church." "It has never been my province to shed blood-all my actions prove it; and any assertion to the contrary, my lord bishop, is false. Nevertheless, it would be but justice that thou, who has sought my life for so long a period unrelentingly, even after partaking of my hospitality, should, when again in my power, be retaliated upon to the extent of pain thou wouldst have inflicted upon me." "I don't see that," mildly remonstrated the bishop. "I am afraid I do," returned Robin. "No," said the bishop, "our positions in society are so different. You are an outlaw, out of the pale of the law, against whom every loyal man should turn his hand. I am in the pale of the law, subject to all its benefits; I am, too, almost above it, being one of the high dignitaries of the Holy Church. In pursuing you, I did but fulfil, however painful to my feelings Hum!" coughed Will Scarlet, rather loudly. "I say, however painful to my feelings," continued the bishop, regardless of the interruption, "the duty of a good and true subject, and no other. You ought to consider this, and let it weigh in my favour accordingly." 66 Look you, bishop," returned Robin Hood, sternly, "I know by what standard to measure your loyalty I know how far you sacrifice personal interest for public weal; and were I to suffer that knowledge to influence my conduct to thee one jot, the next minute to this should see thee dangling to and fro from one of the limbs of the tree beneath whose broad boughs you stand; but, looking at your position in society, and knowing the good it is in your power to do unto others, I am inclined to waive the right which a strict observance of our forest law places in my grasp, and spare thee" power of doing it, and will insure the fulfilment of thy consent, in swearing thee by an oath of so sacred a character that even thou durst not break it-do you consent to this condition, my lord bishop? I have very little time to waste in argument; you must say yes or no, and according to your reply so shall I act. Now, yes or no?" “Why-a-yes—I will give what I can spare," answered the bishop, hesitatingly, letting the words fall from him as if he was losing in each a treasure. "I shall not trust to your estimate of what you can spare, but name the amount which you shall dispense weekly to the most needy and wretched your diocese affords." "You cannot do that; you do not know what I can afford; you don't know the calls upon my money. I know only how much I can devote of my income to such an unlooked-for purpose," energetically cried the bishop. But Robin proceeded to name a sum which the bishop vowed and protested he could not afford; and as he still persisted in such a declaration, Little John was directed to bring a twisted thong of deer hide, capable of bearing a weight as great as the bishops. Now, as he had a strong belief when he saw it that it would be strong enough to bear him, and as he had no very earnest desire to test its suspensory capabi{lities, he declared the argument conclusive, and gave his consent, very reluctantly it is true, but still he gave it. There was an outrider which Robin affixed to it-a kind of codicil, which was, that the bishop, independent of this alms-day, should at all times be charitable to the poor, be kind and good, fulfil sincerely and truly the functions of his sacred character, ministering to the wants of the wretched in body and spirit, by such consolation and sympathy as the religion afforded, and with whose dictates he was bound to comply; visiting the weary couch of the sick, listening attentively and tenderly to the sad his{tories of the miserable and wicked, cheering them with the mild doctrines of the Holy Word, and easing the anguish of their spirits by gentle words of balm and hope; to forswear also the vile and infaNoble forester!" interrupted the bishop. mous practices carried on by those of his order, to "Upon certain conditions, to which, if you sub- a horrible extent, under the cloak of religion, of temptscribe, I swear by the Holy Mother that you and youring young and innocent maidens and young wives to followers shall pass free." sin-practices daily productive of misery and wretchedness, of blightings and heart breakings to all concerned, save those who had produced it. With some little restiveness. the bishop conceded to this condition, and Robin swore him by a most fearful oath, which the bishop, ascustomed as he was to coin and administer vows of a tremendously binding nature, shuddered as he took; but he inwardly resolved that he would take the first opportunity of getting absolved from it by the Pope; it was a compulsory oath, and, therefore he did not choose to consider quite binding. When, however, he had taken it, Robin exclaimed "Name them," muttered the bishop, in a tone of misgiving, an indefinable dread of an exaction of almost impossibilities passing through his mind, 'name them," he ejaculated faintly, "and if I can subscribe I will." cr "If you do not subscribe to them, you shall most assuredly, in less than an hour from this time, depart to the next world full swing; and unless you have a fancy for immediately trying the warmth of the climate you must ultimately visit, I have little doubt but you will agree to my conditions." 'Pray proceed with them," groaned the prelate. Firstly, you at once give over lying, and swear to impose upon thyself a most rigid penance for every lie you utter," commenced Robin. Agreed," returned the Bishop readily, not caring whether he kept it or not. Secondly, you establish an alms-giving day to the poor of your diocese-the alms to come from your private property." "I have very little private property," urged the bishop. "To see how firmly the habit of lying grafts itself on those who have accustomed themselves to use it!" said Robin. "I did not ask thee for a lie, but to agree to the condition. I am quite satisfied as to thy "Well, bishop, that is done-you have subscribed to that; you must now swear that you will not on any occasion seek to injure me or those connected with me at any time, or under any circumstances." "I have already promised it," he answered. "But you must swear it!" "I do, by St. Paul!" "That will not do; swear by our Holy Lady to forfeit all hopes of worldly enjoyment, and all escape from the fangs of his majesty, the foul fiend, in the next world!" so-right glad am I. Bid my men to mount, and let us away!" "Will you not stay and take some refreshment ?" "No, no, none-not any; I am anxious to be gone," cried the bishop, quickly, fearing a repetition of the previous entertainment he experienced at Robin's hands. think you had better pay it, and look as agreeable as you can over it." "I cannot help myself; take what you will, and let me go." "There is one more request which I have to make," said Little John, looking at Robin Hood for approbation; "it is that as our spiritual director is not "You had better have a pasty; you are a fasting,{with us at Barnsdale, and we have been for some time man ?" "Not a bit." "Will you neither eat nor drink with me?" "I am neither an hungered nor athirst; I have no appetite. Pray let me be gone. You told me I was free to depart; you will not therefore detain me, after giving me a promise to suffer my free departure?" you please; I seek not to detain you. Little John, his lordship wishes to depart." As "Certainly, noble master, since you permit it," said Little John, advancing; "and for my part, I like his lordship's company so little, that I will not seek to { detain him a moment longer than necessary; therefore, master bishop, you will perhaps settle at once?" "Settle!" echoed the bishop, in a low tone of surprised enquiry; "what do you mean by settle?" "Does your lordship forget that you are at our hostel; and though you have taken no refreshment, your people will, and your horses have already; you cannot expect to occupy our premises, and not to pay for so doing; besides, though our noble chief permits you to depart free, we must have a largess for your people, who are our prisoners. Do you understand?" "I do," moaned the bishop; "take what you will, and let me depart quickly." "Is the portmanteau in the same place as usual ?" asked Little John, with a laugh. "It is there,” said the bishop, pointing to a small leathern case affixed to the saddle-bow of his steed. "It feels heavier than the last did," said Little John, unfastening it and lifting it from its place. "There's more in it," said the bishop, quietly, making desperate efforts at an air of resignation. "I am very glad to hear it," replied Little John; "how much more ?" cr "Two hundred golden merks more." "Two hundred! aha! why then, here is five hundred golden merks ?" "Even that sum. But you will not rob me of it all ?" appealed the bishop, with a look, in which the question, whether it was not better to be hanged than submit to all this quietly, appeared to be strongly debated; but the desire to live had it, and making a strong gulp, he tried to be resigned to his fate. "Rob you of it!" cried little John, scornfully. "You do not understand the distinction between robbing and taking property from a'man which is not his, in order to restore it to its proper owners. You have wrung this money by the vilest species of robberytaking it under false pretences-from those who cannot spare it, and we take it from you to give it back unto them; therefore your vile charge is a base lie!" "That's forest philosophy," laughed Robin. "Its legality is questionable, though," muttered the bishop. "That may be," said Robin; "there are many abstract laws of justice and right, which those framed by men incited by self-interest make illegal; but we are not governed by your laws, we keep to the good old primitive notion of right and wrong, and do our best to fulfil its dictates. The point respecting the money is one on which we are more than particular, so I without the benefit of his religious aid, you, my Lord Bishop of Hereford, sing us a Mass." "Gross impiety! profane request! I would rather die than comply with it!" said the bishop, energetically. "It is your duty to aid us in offering up our worship at all times," said Robin, quietly but firmly; "Little John says truly; we have not heard Mass for some time, and an opportunity like the present should not be thrown away. Come, my lord bishop, prepare to oblige us, for we will hear a Mass before you go." "Not from me. It would be a mockery so monstrous, a sin so mortal, a wickedness so tremendous, that I should expect to be stricken dead by the lightnings of the Almighty's wrath,” cried the bishop angrily. "My lord bishop," said Robin, sternly and gravely, "judge not of us by those whose stations are high and mighty in the land: we reverence humbly and respectfully the religion, which is the guide in all our acts; too deeply, too sincerely do we worship, to make a mockery, or think of making one, of aught so holy. Believe me, within the walls of your vast cathedral you will find none who will be more earnest or devoted auditors than myself and those around you, who are my followers. Come, my lord bishop, let me lead you to the altar, for we have one in this green wood; and believe me, while the Mass is proceeding, you will not be interrupted by anything profane or irreverent." May I believe you?" said the bishop, doubtingly. "I am not given to lying at any time," answered he bitterly, "especially upon religious matters; follow me." He led the way to an enclosed spot, a short distance from the glade, and there upraised, in the centre of a kind of dell, was erected an altar of earth; it was dressed after the fashion of those in the chapels, abbeys, and cathedrals; and everything upon it, and connected with it, was so well arranged, that his reverence could not but wonder at it, and commenced the Mass with much less repugnance than he had before expressed. It was a touching sight to see in that small dell an hundred and fifty men kneeling, bareheaded, reverently to hear the Holy Word, without uttering word or sound, save when it was their duty to make a response, and to see the bishop, assisted by some of the younger members of the band, and his own people, before that forest altar of grassed earth and small flowers, performing the ceremonies of the Mass with all the fervour, and less of the ostentation which he exhibited in his splendid cathedral. way was he disturbed while it proceeded, and when it concluded, he received the thanks of the merrie men, heartily but honestly expressed. They showed their gratification in taking most of the bishop's retainers to the glade where stood the trysting tree, and in a very short space of time placing before them venison, dressed in all fashions, with plenty of ale to wash it down. In a few words Robin desired Much to see a repast spread for the bishop, while he kept him in conversation. The prelate was so astonished by the strict attention and quiet, but earnest devotion the merrie men exhibited during mass, that he could not help asking a variety of questions relative to their In no wwwww method of living in the green wood. Robin gave ing, and trying vainly to articulate sentences, in a him a diffuse account, and during it gradually led him state of helpless drunkenness, to be placed upon his to the trysting tree, the scene of his former merri-horse, and bound to it, with his back to its head, and ment. Here he found his men eating with all the his face to the tail, which was given him to hold vigour a good appetite could produce, and quaffing instead of the reins. with strong evidence of much thirst. The sight of their joviality fired him; he instantly experienced the gnawing of a fine appetite himself, and licked his lips with sympathy, as he saw a fellow make a full quart of ale disappear down his capacious gullet. "Your men are well employed," observed Robin, pointing out a knot of the most voraciously inclined he could clap his eye upon. "I am just about to eat a little," he continued, "and you had better share what is spread there with me." "I had better not," said the bishop, with a faint effort of resistance, remembering what had transpired beneath that tree; "I had better not, albeit I feel rather hungry"-he meant famished. "Never stay thy appetite," observed Robin, with an air of seriousness, "it is bad for thy health. Come, sit thee down with me, and eat thy fill; and when thou hast done that you can depart instantly, and I swear to thee it shall be unconditional and without molestation." "Well, I suppose I must," exclaimed the bishop, rubbing his hands, his mouth watering, and preparing to sit down beneath the trysting tree, where plenty of esculents were laid. With something like a wicked spirit of tantalization, Robin laid his hand upon his arm and stopped him. "There is no compulsion," said he; "you are not compelled. If you dislike to sit down and partake of that rich venison pasty, moistened with some choice wine, pray abstain; it is worse to force the appetite than to check it." "Oh, but my appetite is very good-and-you say it is bad for the health to fast too long; therefore, since it is here, and I feel so well disposed to eat, it is perhaps better that I should," argued the bishop, now almost as afraid that he should lose his dinner, as he had previously been that he would be compelled to eat one. “Well, then, in the Holy Mary's name, sit down and eat thy fill," exclaimed Robin. "Ha ha!-hic! ho!" he muttered, almost unintelligibly, as he received the tail. "I did-hic! I did'nt know-hic! I was-stand still, sir-how the beast prances-hic! and turns round, and round, and round, and-hic! I did'nt know-hic! I was so near the mane-hic! I've mixed 'em all up together, reins and all-hic! What makes him hold his head down so-hic! heigh! hold up your head, you brute. How he plunges ; no matter, good bye, you-hic! you jolly rogues-hic! you funny fellows-hic-hurrah!" The lash was applied to the steed, and away he galloped with the bishop, who hallooed and swore he was "backing," and called on them to stop. He was followed by his men, who raised three cheers for Robin and his merrie men; and drunk with liquor and excitement, almost to madness, galloped on, shouting, roaring, whooping, and swearing, until they reached the Abbey of St. Mary's again; and the Lord Bishop of Hereford was once more consigned to the arms of the abbots and the monks, in a worse plight than before, to wake the next morning eaten with rage, shame, and mortification. CHAPTER III. "Now labyrinths, which but themselves can pierce, "For Robin Hood disguised himself, "Like to a friar Robin Hood, Was accoutred in array; With hood, gown, beads, and crucifix, CAMPBELL. "He had not gone past miles two or three, Robin Hood's Golden Prize. "The sheriff he saddled his good palfrey, * * * * "Then Robin he brought him through the wood, O have me commended to your wife at home. No further pressing did the bishop need: down he squatted at once, and commenced, as if it was exactly that day six months since he had tasted anything, drinking proportionably. Robin was as profuse in his liberality as heretofore, and he plied the jovial ecclesiastic with so much food and wine, that he found it uncomfortable to move, and wished heartily that the skin of his portly stomach had patent elastic expansive powers, which would enable it to distend to any extent required; but as that did not happen to be the nature of his skin, and to prevent the danger of what is vulgarly termed bursting, he thought it prudent to leave off eating-drinking he could not —he was naturally addicted to it; long indulgence had made it necessary to him, and the flavour of the wine Robin placed before him was so peculiarly good, that it was impossible to forego the pleasure of imbibing a very large quantity of it. It is not perhaps an extraordinary fact, that the fumes of wine will mount to the brain, and the more one drinks, the greater the chance of one's getting incontestibly drunk; this law applied to the Bishop of Hereford; for after an hour's indulgence in deep potations, he was quite as much intoxicated as on the previous occasion, and behaved quite as extravagantly. When Robin thought the scene had been acted long enough, he ordered the merrie men to see the bishop's retainers mounted, and his reverence, who lay laugh- by Little John and Much, was proceeding, after 66 I'll have a palmer's weed; * * * "Then he got out of the beggar's cloak "But found he in the beggar's bag, Little John and the Four Beggars. WONDER how my Lord Bishop of Hereford finds his head this morning?" said Will Scarlet, as he, accompanied |