hard gold, so that I am bounder to him."

"Wilt thou not be my friend, Sir Sheriff?" said Sir Richard.

"Nay, 'fore Heaven," quoth the Sheriff of Nottingham, "this is no
business of mine, yet I will do what I may," and he nudged the Prior
beneath the cloth with his knee. "Wilt thou not ease him of some of his
debts, Sir Prior?"

At this the Prior smiled grimly. "Pay me three hundred pounds, Sir
Richard," said he, "and I will give thee quittance of thy debt."

"Thou knowest, Sir Prior, that it is as easy for me to pay four hundred
pounds as three hundred," said Sir Richard. "But wilt thou not give me
another twelvemonth to pay my debt?"

"Not another day," said the Prior sternly.

"And is this all thou wilt do for me?" asked the Knight.

"Now, out upon thee, false knight!" cried the Prior, bursting forth in
anger. "Either pay thy debt as I have said, or release thy land and get
thee gone from out my hall."

Then Sir Richard arose to his feet. "Thou false, lying priest!" said
he in so stern a voice that the man of law shrunk affrighted, "I am no
false knight, as thou knowest full well, but have even held my place
in the press and the tourney. Hast thou so little courtesy that thou
wouldst see a true knight kneel for all this time, or see him come into
thy hall and never offer him meat or drink?"

Then quoth the man of law in a trembling voice, "This is surely an
ill way to talk of matters appertaining to business; let us be mild in
speech. What wilt thou pay this knight, Sir Prior, to give thee release
of his land?"

"I would have given him two hundred pounds," quoth the Prior, "but since
he hath spoken so vilely to my teeth, not one groat over one hundred
pounds will he get."

"Hadst thou offered me a thousand pounds, false prior," said the Knight,
"thou wouldst not have got an inch of my land." Then turning to where
his men-at-arms stood near the door, he called, "Come hither," and
beckoned with his finger; whereupon the tallest of them all came forward
and handed him a long leathern bag. Sir Richard took the bag and shot
from it upon the table a glittering stream of golden money. "Bear in
mind, Sir Prior," said he, "that thou hast promised me quittance for
three hundred pounds. Not one farthing above that shalt thou get." So
saying, he counted out three hundred pounds and pushed it toward the
Prior.

But now the Prior's hands dropped at his sides and the Prior's head hung
upon his shoulder, for not only