ake of Robin's hospitality; and if they come not willingly they
shall be compelled; and the rich man shall pay well for his fare; and
the poor man shall feast scot free, and peradventure receive bounty in
proportion to his desert and necessity.

"The article of Chivalry is one:

"I. Every forester shall, to the extent of his power, aid and protect
maids, widows, and orphans, and all weak and distressed persons
whomsoever: and no woman shall be impeded or molested in any way; nor
shall any company receive harm which any woman is in.

"The article of Chastity is one:

"I. Every forester, being Diana's forester and minion of the moon, shall
commend himself to the grace of the Virgin, and shall have the gift of
continency on pain of expulsion: that the article of chivalry may be
secure from infringement, and maids, wives, and widows pass without fear
through the forest.

"The article of Courtesy is one:

"I. No one shall miscall a forester. He who calls Robin Robert of
Huntingdon, or salutes him by any other title or designation whatsoever
except plain Robin Hood; or who calls Marian Matilda Fitzwater, or
salutes her by any other title or designation whatsoever except plain
Maid Marian; and so of all others; shall for every such offence forfeit
a mark, to be paid to the friar.

"And these articles we swear to keep as we are good men and true.
Carried by acclamation. God save King Richard.

"LITTLE JOHN, Secretary."

"Excellent laws," said the baron: "excellent, by the holy rood. William
of Normandy, with my great great grandfather Fierabras at his elbow,
could not have made better. And now, sweet Mawd----"

"A fine, a fine," cried the friar, "a fine, by the article of courtesy."

"Od's life," said the baron, "shall I not call my own daughter Mawd?
Methinks there should be a special exception in my favour."

"It must not be," said Robin Hood: "our constitution admits no
privilege."

"But I will commute," said the friar; "for twenty marks a year duly paid
into my ghostly pocket you shall call your daughter Mawd two hundred
times a day."

"Gramercy," said the baron, "and I agree, honest friar, when I can get
twenty marks to pay: for till Prince John be beaten from Nottingham, my
rents are like to prove but scanty."

"I will trust," said the friar, "and thus let us ratify the stipulation;
so shall our laws and your infringement run together in an amicable
parallel."

"But," said Little John, "this is a ba