ed Robin. "Our dear companion Will Stutely hath
been taken by that vile Sheriff's men, therefore doth it behoove us to
take bow and brand in hand to bring him off again; for I wot that we
ought to risk life and limb for him, as he hath risked life and limb for
us. Is it not so, my merry men all?" Then all cried, "Ay!" with a great
voice.

So the next day they all wended their way from Sherwood Forest, but by
different paths, for it behooved them to be very crafty; so the band
separated into parties of twos and threes, which were all to meet again
in a tangled dell that lay near to Nottingham Town. Then, when they had
all gathered together at the place of meeting, Robin spoke to them thus:

"Now we will lie here in ambush until we can get news, for it doth
behoove us to be cunning and wary if we would bring our friend Will
Stutely off from the Sheriff's clutches."

So they lay hidden a long time, until the sun stood high in the sky. The
day was warm and the dusty road was bare of travelers, except an aged
palmer who walked slowly along the highroad that led close beside the
gray castle wall of Nottingham Town. When Robin saw that no other
wayfarer was within sight, he called young David of Doncaster, who was a
shrewd man for his years, and said to him, "Now get thee forth, young
David, and speak to yonder palmer that walks beside the town wall, for
he hath come but now from Nottingham Town, and may tell thee news of
good Stutely, perchance."

So David strode forth, and when he came up to the pilgrim, he saluted
him and said, "Good morrow, holy father, and canst thou tell me when
Will Stutely will be hanged upon the gallows tree? I fain would not miss
the sight, for I have come from afar to see so sturdy a rogue hanged."

"Now, out upon thee, young man," cried the Palmer, "that thou shouldst
speak so when a good stout man is to be hanged for nothing but guarding
his own life!" And he struck his staff upon the ground in anger.
"Alas, say I, that this thing should be! For even this day, toward
evening, when the sun falleth low, he shall be hanged, fourscore rods
from the great town gate of Nottingham, where three roads meet; for
there the Sheriff sweareth he shall die as a warning to all outlaws in
Nottinghamshire. But yet, I say again, Alas! For, though Robin Hood
and his band may be outlaws, yet he taketh only from the rich and the
strong and the dishonest man, while there is not a poor widow nor a
peasant wit