n years old might hit yonder target with a headless
shaft; but," he added, walking deliberately to the other end of the
lists and sticking the willow wand upright in the ground, "he that hits
that rod at fivescore yards, I call him an archer fit to bear both bow
and quiver before a king, and it were the stout King Richard himself!"

"My grandsire," said Hubert, "drew a good bow at the battle of Hastings,
and never shot at such a mark in his life; neither will I. If this
yeoman can cleave that rod, I give him the bucklers--or, rather, I yield
to the devil that is in his jerkin, and not to any human skill. A man
can but do his best, and I will not shoot where I am sure to miss. I
might as well shoot at the edge of our parson's whittle, or at a wheat
straw, or at a sunbeam, as at a twinkling white streak which I can
hardly see."

"Cowardly dog!" exclaimed Prince John.--"Sirrah Locksley, do thou shoot;
but if thou hittest such a mark, I will say thou art the first man ever
did so. However it be, thou shalt not crow over us with a mere show of
superior skill."

"'A man can but do his best!' as Hubert says," answered Locksley.

So saying, he again bent his bow, but, on the present occasion, looked
with attention to his weapon, and changed the string, which he thought
was no longer truly round, having been a little frayed by the two former
shots. He then took his aim with some deliberation, and the multitude
awaited the event in breathless silence. The archer vindicated their
opinion of his skill: his arrow split the willow rod against which it
was aimed. A jubilee of acclamations followed: and even Prince John, in
admiration of Locksley's skill, lost for an instant his dislike to his
person.

"These twenty nobles," he said, "which with the bugle thou hast fairly
won, are thine own: we will make them fifty if thou wilt take livery and
service with us as a yeoman of our bodyguard, and be near to our person;
for never did so strong a hand bend a bow, or so true an eye direct a
shaft."

"Pardon me, noble prince," said Locksley; "but I have vowed that, if
ever I take service, it should be with your royal brother, King Richard.
These twenty nobles I leave to Hubert, who has this day drawn as brave a
bow as his grandsire did at Hastings. Had his modesty not refused the
trial, he would have hit the wand as well as I."

Hubert shook his head as he received with reluctance the bounty of the
stranger; and Locksley, anxious to es