{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46190/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46190","id":"gutenberg_46190","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46190","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: British Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Robin Hood (Legendary character) -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"=_Instructor Literature Series--No. 212_=\n\nThe Story of\n\nRobin Hood\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBy\n\nBERTHA E. BUSH\n\nPublished Jointly By\n\nF. A. OWEN PUB. CO., DANSVILLE, N. Y.\n\nHALL & McCREARY,--CHICAGO, ILL.\n\n\n\n\n  INSTRUCTOR LITERATURE SERIES\n\n  STORIES OF\n\n  ROBIN HOOD\n\n  BY\n\n  _Bertha E. Bush_\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n  PUBLISHED JOINTLY BY\n  F. A. OWEN PUB. CO., DANSVILLE, N. Y.\n\n  HALL & MCCREARY, CHICAGO, ILL.\n\n\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY\n  F. A. OWEN PUBLISHING CO\n\n  _Robin Hood_\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n  WINNING THE SHERIFF'S GOLDEN ARROW\n  HOW LITTLE JOHN JOINED ROBIN HOOD\n  ALLEN-A-DALE AND FRIAR TUCK\n  ROBIN HOOD AND THE SORROWFUL KNIGHT\n  ROBIN HOOD AND THE KING\n  DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD\n  ROBIN HOOD AND ALLEN-A-DALE\n\n\n\n\nStories of Robin Hood\n\n\n\"And what of Peter the Ploughman? He was a good friend of mine.\"\n\n\"Alack, Peter the Ploughman hath been hanged and his wife and little\nones turned out of their home to beg.\"\n\nThe father of young Robin Hood with his little son at his side, had\nmet a man from his old home and was eagerly questioning him about the\nwelfare of his old neighbors. But much of the news was sad, for the\ntimes were evil in England. The Normans had conquered the country and\nwere the lords and officials in the land, and they cruelly oppressed\nthe common people, who were Saxons. The father said not a word although\nhis face grew very sad, but the boy beside him burst out indignantly.\n\n\"But why should such a thing be done? Peter the Ploughman was one of\nthe best men I ever knew and his wife was as good and kind as an angel.\nWhy should such a dreadful thing be done to them?\"\n\n\"Because he shot deer in the king's forest. But indeed he had an excuse\nfor breaking the law if ever a man did. His crops had been destroyed\nby the huntsmen riding through them. The tax collector had taken all\nthat he had, and his children were crying for hunger. He shot the deer\nthat they might have food to eat; but the sheriff caught him and hung\nhim for it. As to the reason why his wife was turned out from her home\nwith her orphan children, the abbot wanted that bit of ground for an\nextension to his garden, so out the poor folks must go.\"\n\n\"It's a shame,\" cried the boy with flashing eyes. \"Such laws as that\nare wicked laws and ought to be broken. The greedy lords and rich,\nease-loving churchmen strip the people bare and go rolling in wealth\nwhile the rest of the people are starving.\"\n\n\"Hush, boy, hush,\" said the news-teller warningly. \"Our England is\nindeed cruelly misgoverned, but it is not safe to say so, for the very\nwalls have ears and many have been hanged because their tongues wagged\ntoo freely, as well as for shooting the king's deer.\"\n\n\"But the king,--the king is good,\" faltered the boy. He had been taught\nto love and reverence the king.\n\n\"The king would be a good king if he would stay at home and govern his\npeople. But he is off at war all the time, and the nobles and officers\nhe appoints grind the people as a miller grinds the wheat between his\ngreat millstones. They rob them continually, and the rich are growing\nricher and more greedy and the poor growing poorer and more miserable\nall the time.\"\n\n\"When I am a man,\" said the boy, Robin Hood, \"I will make the rich give\nup a portion of their wealth to the poor, and then all will be provided\nfor.\"\n\nIt was not strange, perhaps, considering the evils of the times, that\nthis boy, Robin Hood, when he became a man, did do just what he said,\nand gathered a band of men about him in the forest whose pledged\npurpose was to despoil the rich of ill-gotten wealth and lend a helping\nhand to the poor. The Normans called them \"highway robbers,\" but the\ncommon people called them \"the merry men of greenwood\" and loved them,\nfor they were often helped out of trouble by them. Their robbing was\ncertainly wrong according to our standards, but Robin Hood did not\nthink it was wrong. He took from the rich what they had wrung unjustly\nfrom the poor to give it back to the poor, and he thought that it was\nright. Outlaw though he was, he stood ever for justice and fairness\nas he saw it. He was loyal to the king, though he resisted the unjust\nexactions made in the king's name. He was loyal to the church and\nprayed most reverently for himself and his band. It was his pride\nthat he and his men had never harmed a woman, or burned a haystack,\nor robbed a husbandman, or hurt a parish priest. The Normans did all\nthese things. Compared with their actions, Robin Hood's standards were\nwonderfully high.\n\nHe was trying to be a reformer; and though he went about his work in a\nwrong way, still he did much good. As the quaint old ballad says about\nhim--in queer spelling which I revise,\n\n    \"Christ have mercy on his soul\n      That died on the rood!\n    For he was a good outlaw\n      And did poor men much good.\"\n\nHe was brave and kind and merry always, and all the English\npeople--except England's oppressors--loved him with all their hearts\nand delighted in his adventures. The story of what he did was put into\nsongs and sung at every fireside; and no man was better loved than this\noutlaw with a price upon his head.\n\nHere are a few stories of Robin Hood and his men, and a great many more\nmay be found which are well worth your reading.\n\n\n\n\nWINNING THE SHERIFF'S GOLDEN ARROW\n\n\nIt was very pleasant in Sherwood Forest to those who did not fear\nhardship, and Robin Hood and his men came to love every tree that grew\nand every bird that sang there. They did not mind that they had no\nhouses to live in. They made themselves shelters of bark and logs to\nkeep the rain off, and mostly they stayed in the open. They did not\nsigh for soft beds or fine tables and furnishings. They put down rushes\nand spread deer skins over them to lie on, and slept under the stars.\nThey cooked over a great fire built beside a big tree, and they sat and\nate on the ground.\n\nMore than a hundred men were in Robin Hood's band; every one was\ndevoted to him and obeyed his slightest word. They were the best\narchers, the best wrestlers, the best runners and the best wielders\nof cudgel and quarter-staff in all the country, and they grew better\ncontinually, for they practiced these things every day.\n\nRobin Hood was the best archer in all the land. Even the king had heard\nof his wonderful marksmanship, and even though he knew him an outlaw,\nhe had an admiring and almost kindly feeling for this bold outlaw\nwho shot so marvelously well. But the greedy lords and churchmen who\noppressed the people hated Robin Hood; and the sheriff of Nottingham\nhated him most of all, and wished above all things to hang him on the\ngallows.\n\nHe was a cruel, hard man with no kindness in his bosom, and all his\nspite was turned against Robin Hood, because every time that he tried\nto catch him, Robin outwitted him. Now he was especially angered, for\nhe had sent a messenger with a warrant to take Robin Hood and the merry\nRobin had met the messenger and feasted him, and then, while he was\nasleep after the feast, stolen the very warrant out of his pocket so\nthat he had to go back to the sheriff without man or warrant either. So\nthe sheriff of Nottingham used all his wits to get another plan to take\nRobin Hood. It was plainly of no use to send men, no matter how stout,\nwith warrants after him. He must be coaxed into their clutches.\n\n\"I have it,\" said the sheriff of Nottingham at last, with a very sour\nlook on his grim face. \"I'll catch him by craft. I'll proclaim a great\narchery festival, and get all the best archers in England to come here\nto shoot. I'll offer for the prize an arrow of beaten gold. That will\nbe sure to fetch Robin Hood and his men here, and then I'll catch them\nand hang them.\"\n\nNow Robin Hood and his men did come to the archery contest. But they\ndid not come in the suits of Lincoln green that they wore as men of\nthe forest. Each man dressed himself up to seem somebody else. Some\nappeared as barefoot friars, some as traveling tinkers or tradesmen,\nsome as beggars, and some as rustic peasants. Robin Hood was the\nhardest to recognize of all.\n\n\"Don't go, master,\" his men had begged. \"This archery contest is just\na trap to catch you. The sheriff of Nottingham and his men will be\nlooking for you and they will know you by your hair and eyes and face\nand height, even if you wear different clothes. The sheriff has made\nthis festival just to lure you to death. Don't go.\"\n\nBut Robin Hood laughed merrily.\n\n\"Why, as to my yellow hair, I can stain that with walnut stain. As to\nmy eyes, I can cover one of them with a patch and then my face will\nnot be recognized. I would scorn to be afraid, and if an adventure is\nsomewhat dangerous, I like it all the better.\"\n\nSo Robin Hood went, clad from top to toe in tattered scarlet, the\nraggedest beggarman that had ever been seen in Nottingham. The field\nwhere the contest was to be held was a splendid sight. Rows and rows\nof benches had been built on it for the gentlefolk to sit on, and they\nwore their best clothes and were gayer than birds of paradise. As for\nthe sheriff and his wife, they wore velvet, the sheriff purple and his\nlady blue. Their rich garments were trimmed with ermine. They wore\nbroad gold chains around their necks, and the sheriff had shoes with\nwondrously pointed toes that were fastened to his gold-embroidered\ngarters by golden chains. Oh! they were dressed very splendidly, and if\ntheir faces had been kind, they would have looked beautiful. But their\nfaces were full of pride and hate. The sheriff was looking everywhere\nwith spiteful glances for Robin Hood, and very cross he was that he did\nnot see Robin there.\n\nBut Robin was there, though the sheriff did not see him. There he stood\nin his ragged beggar's garments, not ten feet away from the sheriff.\n\nThe targets were placed eighty yards from where the archers were to\nstand. Pace that off, and see what a great distance it is. There were\na great number of archers to shoot and each was to have one shot. Then\nthe ten who shot best were to shoot two arrows each; and the three who\nshot best out of the ten were to shoot three arrows apiece. The one who\ncame nearest to the center of the target was to get a prize.\n\nThe sheriff looked gloweringly at the ten.\n\n\"I was sure that Robin Hood would be among them,\" he said to the\nman-at-arms at his side. \"Could no one of these ten be Robin Hood in\ndisguise?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered the man-at-arms. \"Six of these I know well. They are\nthe best archers in England. There is Gill o' the Red Cap, Diccon\nCruikshank, Adam o' the Dell, William o' Leslie, Hubert o' Cloud,\nand Swithin o'Hertford. Of the four beside, one is too tall and one\ntoo short and one not broad-shouldered enough to be Robin Hood. There\nremains only this ragged beggar, and his hair and beard are much too\ndark to be Robin Hood's, and beside, he is blind in one eye. Robin Hood\nis safe in Sherwood Forest.\"\n\nEven as he spoke, the man-at-arms was glad, for he was but a common\nsoldier, and he loved Robin Hood and wished no harm to come to him. One\nreason why Robin Hood got away from the sheriff so many times was that\nthe common people, even among the sheriff's own men, were friendly to\nhim and helped him all they could. The gatekeepers shut their eyes when\nRobin Hood went through the gates that they might say they had not seen\nhim enter. Hardly any one would betray him, and many, when they knew\nof evil being planned against him, sent warning to him. But even the\nman-at-arms who loved him did not recognize Robin Hood today.\n\nThe ten made wonderful shots. Not one arrow failed to come within the\ncircles that surrounded the center. But when the three shot, it was\nmore wonderful still. Gill o' the Red Cap's first arrow struck only a\nfinger's breadth from the center, and his second was nearer still. But\nthe beggar's arrow struck in the very center. Adam o' the Dell, who had\none more shot, unstrung his bow when he saw it.\n\n\"Fourscore years and more have I shot shaft, and beaten many\ncompetitors, but I can never better that,\" he said.\n\nThe prize of the golden arrow belonged to the tattered beggar, but the\nsheriff's face was very sour as he gave it to him. He tried to induce\nhim to enter his service, promising great wages.\n\n\"You are the best archer I have ever seen,\" he said. \"I trow you shoot\neven better than that rascal and coward of a Robin Hood who dared not\nshow his face here today. Will you join my service?\"\n\n\"No, I will not,\" answered the scarlet-clad stranger, and then the\nsheriff looked at him so spitefully that he knew it was well to get\naway. As he walked toward Sherwood Forest, the sheriff's words rankled.\n\n\"I cannot bear to have even my enemy think that I am a coward,\" he said\nto Little John. \"I wish there was a way to tell the sheriff that it was\nRobin Hood that won his golden arrow.\"\n\nAnd they found a way. That evening the sheriff sat at supper, and\nthough the supper was a fine one, his face was gloomy.\n\n\"I thought I could catch that rascal Robin Hood by means of this\narchery contest,\" he said to his wife, \"but he was too much of a coward\nto show his face here.\"\n\nJust then something came through the window and fell rattling among the\ndishes on the table. It was a blunted gray goose quill with a bit of\nwriting tied to it. The sheriff unfolded the writing. It told that it\nwas Robin Hood who had won the golden arrow. When the sheriff read it,\neven his wife thought best to slip away, for he was the crossest man in\nNottingham.\n\n\n\n\nHOW LITTLE JOHN JOINED ROBIN HOOD\n\n\nThis is the story of how Robin gained his right hand man and dearest\nfriend, Little John. Little John was one of the tallest and strongest\nyouths that ever walked through a forest. When Robin Hood first saw\nhim, he was walking in the edge of the forest and came to a narrow\nbridge across a stream. The bridge was so narrow that but one could go\nacross it at once, and it chanced that Robin Hood stepped upon it from\none side just as Little John stepped on the other end.\n\n\"Go back, and let the better man cross before you,\" called Robin Hood,\nnot because he cared a bit but rather with a mirthful wish to see what\nthe tall youth would do.\n\n\"Stand back yourself. I am the better man,\" cried the stranger.\n\n\"Let us fight for it,\" said Robin Hood, who loved a good bout more than\nhis dinner.\n\n\"With all my heart,\" answered the stranger.\n\nThen Robin cut him a stick of oak to serve as a quarter-staff, for he\nwould have held it a shame to use his bow and arrows when the other\nhad no such weapon, and they met as joyously as two boys wrestling for\nsport.\n\n\"The one who can knock the other into the water is the better man,\"\nsaid Robin. Then the fight with the staves began. What a fight it was!\nThey struck again and again, but so skilful was each one in warding off\nblows that neither could knock the other down. Many hard blows each one\ntook, until there were sore bones and bumps, and black and blue spots\nin plenty, but neither thought of stopping for that. A whole hour they\nfought there on the bridge, and neither could get the better of the\nother, then another hour. At last Robin gave the stranger a terrible\nwhack that made him stagger, but the stranger returned with a crack on\nthe crown that made the blood flow. Robin whacked back at him savagely,\nbut the stranger avoided the blow and gave one to Robin that tumbled\nhim fairly into the water.\n\nHe lay there looking up and laughing, for Robin Hood never bore any\nmalice.\n\n\"You have a right sturdy hand with the cudgel. Never have I been beaten\nbefore,\" he laughed. He splashed ashore and seized the stranger's hand.\n\n\"I like you well,\" he said. \"Now watch, and I will show you something.\"\n\nHe put his horn to his lips and blew, and up came two score of Robin\nHood's followers, all clothed in Lincoln green, and bearing bows and\narrows and swords.\n\n\"How is this, master?\" said the foremost. \"You are all bruised and wet\nto the skin.\"\n\n\"Yon sturdy fellow has given me a drubbing and tumbled me into the\nwater,\" he said.\n\n\"Then he shall get a ducking and a drubbing himself,\" said Will\nStutely, starting forth angrily, followed by half a dozen, all eager to\ncarry out his threat. But Robin Hood ordered him back.\n\n\"No,\" he said, \"it was a fair fight, and he won. I would not have you\nhurt him for anything. But he is a right brave and lusty youth and I\nwould fain have him in our band. Will you join yourself to my men?\" he\nasked of the wondering stranger. \"I am Robin Hood, and my band is the\nfinest in all England.\"\n\nHardly a man in the country but would have trembled at the name. But\nJohn Little, the strange youth, was afraid of no man.\n\n\"If there is any man among you who can shoot a better shaft than I, I\nwill,\" he said.\n\n\"Well, I will try,\" said Robin. He sent Will Stutely to set up a piece\nof white bark four fingers in breadth on an oak eighty yards away.\n\n\"Now choose any of our bows and arrows to shoot with,\" he said.\n\nThe stranger chose the very stoutest bow. Then he aimed his arrow\ncarefully and sent it down the path and it struck the very center of\nthe mark. All Robin Hood's followers caught their breaths in amaze.\n\n\"That is a fine shot indeed,\" said Robin Hood heartily. \"No one could\nbetter it; but perhaps I may mar it.\"\n\nThen he shot an arrow; and so true and swift it sped that it struck\nthe stranger's arrow and splintered it into pieces. And all who saw it\ncried out that there never was such shooting before.\n\n\"Now, will you not come into my band?\" said Robin Hood with a smile.\n\n\"With all my heart,\" answered the stranger; and from that minute he\nloved Robin as his dearest friend.\n\n\"What is your name?\" said Will Stutely, taking out a tablet as though\nhe would enroll it.\n\n\"John Little,\" answered the stranger youth.\n\n\"I like not the name,\" said merry Will. \"This fellow is too small to be\ncalled John Little. Let us christen him over, Little John.\"\n\nAnd so they had a christening and great sport; and from that day Little\nJohn was Robin's right hand man and second in command over the band.\nTrue and faithfully did he serve Robin for many years and loved him\nbetter with every year.\n\n\n\n\nALLEN-A-DALE AND FRIAR TUCK\n\n\nThis is the story of a merry friar and how he came to belong to Robin\nHood's band. But it begins with the story of a sad youth with a harp in\nhis hand, who could sing as sweetly as a thrush but who thought that he\nwould never sing again for his heart was breaking. Robin Hood and his\nmen found him in the forest, lying prone on the ground and sobbing as\nif he would weep his eyes out.\n\n\"Get up! Get up!\" shouted Will Stutely, poking him with his foot. \"I do\nhate to see a tall young fellow snivelling like a girl of fourteen over\na dead bird.\"\n\nBut Robin Hood bade the others stand back, and touched the boy kindly.\n\n\"You are in trouble,\" he said. \"Do not mind what these fellows say.\nThey are rough, but their hearts are kind. Come with me and tell me\nwhat is wrong.\"\n\n\"Everything is wrong,\" said Allen-a-Dale miserably, and it was true\nthat things were going very badly with him. For his true love and\npromised bride had been forced to give him up and promise her hand to a\nrich old knight who won her father's favor by means of his money.\n\n\"She will marry the old knight if her father bids her,\" cried\nAllen-a-Dale, \"for she thinks it right to be an obedient daughter; but\nI know it will break her heart and she will die.\"\n\n\"Now this thing shall not be,\" cried Little John, starting forward.\n\"Master, can we not prevent such a wrong?\"\n\n\"We will see,\" answered Robin Hood.\n\n\"But she is to be married in two days.\"\n\n\"Then we will go to the church and see that she is married to you\ninstead of the old knight. But we will need to find a priest who will\nmarry you.\"\n\n\"Then I know the very priest,\" said Will Scarlet. \"It is jolly Friar\nTuck who lives in Fountain Dale.\"\n\n\"Then let us go and get him at once. We have no time to lose,\" said\nRobin Hood; and out they started without delay. Little John, Will\nScarlet, young David of Doncaster, and Arthur-a-Bland went with him.\nThey wore their best clothes.\n\n\"For,\" said Robin Hood, \"we must look brave when we go to a wedding.\"\n\nAfter they had walked a whole morning, they came to the bend in the\nriver beyond which Friar Tuck dwelt. But his cell was across the river\nand to get to it they would have to wade through.\n\n\"Well,\" said Robin Hood, \"had I known I would have to wade the river I\nwould not have put on my best clothes.\"\n\nThen he left his men, bidding them listen if his bugle should sound,\nand went on alone. As soon as he was out of sight of them, he thought\nhe heard voices. There seemed to be two men talking on the river bank\nbelow, but the voices were wondrously alike. Robin Hood slipped to the\nedge and looked over.\n\nWith his broad back against a willow tree, sat a stout, brawny fellow\nin the robe of a friar, but no other man was by. He held a great pie in\nhis lap, made of tender, juicy meats, compounded with young onions and\nother toothsome vegetables, which he munched at sturdily. As he ate he\ntalked, and, listening to him, Robin Hood almost died of laughing. For\nthe merry friar was pretending to be two people. He would offer a piece\nof the pasty first to his right hand and then to his left, with much\npoliteness, and go through the same actions with a bottle of drink that\nhe had. Robin looked and listened till the pie was all gone and the\nbottle empty. Then the monk began to urge his imaginary companion to\nsing.\n\n\"Now, sweet lad,\" he said to himself, \"canst thou not tune me a song?\"\nAnd then he answered himself bashfully.\n\n\"La, I know not. I am but in ill voice this day. Prythee, ask me not:\ndost thou not hear how I croak like a frog?\"\n\nThen he spoke again as the first one.\n\n\"Nay, nay, thy voice is as sweet as any bullfinch. Come sing, prythee.\nI would rather hear thee sing than eat a fair feast.\"\n\nAnd so it went on till he began singing and that was as two persons,\ntoo. The song he sang was a duet between a youth and a maid, and he\nsung the maiden's part very high and squeaky and the youth's very deep\nand gruff. It was the funniest thing you can imagine, and when the last\nchorus was reached Robin Hood could hold in no more but joined in with\nthe singing lustily.\n\nThen the friar leaped forth, crying, \"What spy have we here?\" and from\nbeneath his monk's robe he drew forth a sword as heavy and stout as any\nthat Robin Hood's band carried.\n\n\"Put up thy sword, friend,\" called Robin. \"Folks that have sung\ntogether should not fight.\" And then he leaped down beside the friar.\n\n\"Do you know the country round about, good and holy man?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yes, somewhat,\" answered the friar cautiously.\n\n\"And do you know a spot called Fountain Dale, and a certain monk who is\ncalled the Curtal Friar of Fountain Abbey?\"\n\n\"Yes, somewhat.\"\n\n\"Is it across the river?\" asked Robin Hood.\n\n\"Yes,\" answered the monk.\n\n\"Do you know whether this friar is now on the other side of the river\nor on this side?\" asked Robin.\n\n\"That,\" answered the friar very deliberately, \"is something you will\nhave to find out for yourself.\"\n\nThis angered Robin, and indeed it was not at all civil.\n\n\"Well,\" he said, \"if I must cross the river, I must ask you to carry\nme across, for you can see that my clothes are such as the water would\ninjure.\"\n\nAt first the friar was angry at the request, but soon a different\nthought seemed to come to him and he laughed.\n\n\"Well,\" he said, \"if the holy St. Christopher carried pilgrims across\nthe river, perhaps I ought to do so also. Give me your sword that it\nmay not get wet, and I will carry you.\"\n\nSo he tucked his own sword and Robin's under his arm, bent his back for\nRobin to get on it, and waded across the water. He put Robin down very\ngently on the other bank, but he did not give him back his sword.\n\n\"Thanks, good father,\" said Robin. \"Give me my sword, and I will away.\"\n\n\"Nay, good youth,\" answered the friar, pointing the sword at Robin.\n\"You see, I got wet crossing the river. It is necessary for me to cross\nagain, but I fear if I got wet once more I might get a crick in my back\nthat would hinder my prayers. I pray thee, carry me back.\"\n\nHe had the sword, and there was nothing for Robin to do but to obey.\nSo he carried the friar back, and it was harder than for the friar to\ncarry him. But while they were in the stream he managed to loosen Friar\nTuck's sword belt so that when they got to land he snatched it off. Now\nRobin Hood had the two swords.\n\n\"Now carry me across again,\" he said.\n\nIt is a long story; but the end of it is that Friar Tuck carried Robin\nHood half way across the river, and there dumped him into the water \"to\ncool off,\" as he said. Then Robin fought with him; but, though they\nfought together with might and main for hours, neither could overcome\nthe other. And so they ceased to fight and became friends; and Friar\nTuck willingly consented to go with him and perform the marriage\nbetween Allen-a-Dale and his fair Ellen, no matter what a pother it\nraised.\n\nSo now Robin Hood and a score of his merry men set out to the wedding\nwhich was to be held in Emmet Church. Robin Hood was dressed as a\nstrolling minstrel, and across his shoulders he had slung a harp.\nLeaving the most of his followers in hiding a little distance from the\nchurch, he went in boldly.\n\nIt was to be a very grand wedding, and the Bishop of Hereford himself\nwas to perform the ceremony. He came with a long train of followers,\nand as he entered he saw Robin with his harp beside the door.\n\n\"Now, who are you?\" he asked, well pleased, for everybody loved to see\na minstrel.\n\n\"I am a harper from the north country,\" answered Robin Hood. \"I can\nplay such music as never another in all England can do. For there is\nmagic in my harping, and if I play at this wedding, it will insure that\nthe fair bride shall love the man she marries with her whole heart all\nher life long.\"\n\n\"Marry then, let him play,\" said Sir Stephen, the old bridegroom. He\nknew that it was her father's will instead of her own wish that made\nthe fair Ellen marry him. But he did not know that she loved another,\nfor her father had concealed it from him.\n\nAnd now the bride's father brought in the bride, and she was the most\nbeautiful maiden they had ever seen. But she was pale and wan and she\ndrooped on her father's arm like a broken lily.\n\n\"How is this?\" cried Robin Hood. \"A bride should be like a blushing\nrose. Maiden, is it of your own free will that you wed with this\nknight?\"\n\n\"No, no,\" sobbed fair Ellen. \"I wish to wed no one but my own true\nlove, Allen-a-Dale the minstrel.\"\n\n\"Then Allen-a-Dale ye shall wed,\" cried Robin Hood, and set his bugle\nto his lips and blew. The followers who had entered the church and\nFriar Tuck came running down the aisles and gathered around him. Then\ncame a scene of confusion. The bishop of Hereford, the prior of Emmet\nand all his train commanded the people to seize Robin Hood, but they\nwould not do it. The old knight who was the bridegroom sought to draw\nhis sword, but he wore no sword on his wedding day.\n\n\"At them and slay them,\" he cried to his men-at-arms. But just at that\nminute there came running up at double quick the rest of Robin Hood's\nmen, with swords drawn and bows and arrows hanging at their backs.\n\n\"I will depart,\" said the bridegroom to the bride's father. \"I would\nnot marry your daughter now for all the kingdom of England.\"\n\nHe spoke angrily, for he felt that he had been cheated, not knowing\nthat the maiden loved some one else. The prior of Emmet, calling his\ntrain, also departed in high displeasure, and the bishop of Hereford\nwould have gone too, but Robin bade him stay.\n\n\"Now,\" he said, \"we will have a wedding, and fair Ellen shall marry\nAllen-a-Dale.\"\n\n\"Ye cannot.\" The prior of Emmet turned back to say this. \"You have no\npriest to marry them.\"\n\n\"Am I not a priest?\" bellowed Friar Tuck, so fiercely that the prior\nshook in his pointed shoes and made haste to get away.\n\n\"But the banns have not been published,\" said the bride's father.\n\n\"I will publish them,\" roared Friar Tuck; and the old song says that he\ncried them three times, the number required by law, and then, lest that\nshould not be enough, he cried them six times more.\n\n\"But I cannot be married without my father's blessing,\" sobbed Ellen,\nfor she was ever an obedient daughter.\n\n\"There, there, don't cry,\" said Robin Hood gently. \"I will get your\nfather's blessing.\" Then he called to Will Stutely.\n\n\"Give me the two bags of gold I bade you bring.\" He strode up to\nEllen's father with a bag of gold in each hand.\n\n\"Here are two hundred golden angels,\" he said. \"If you give your\ndaughter your blessing on this her wedding day, I will give you these\nas her dower. If you give her not the blessing, she shall be married\njust the same, but not a cracked farthing shalt thou have.\"\n\nThe father looked at the gold and then at Robin Hood. He knew the\nknight was gone and would not come back.\n\n\"Well,\" he said, but not happily, \"I will give her my blessing.\"\n\nSo the wedding went on; and after it was over they went to Sherwood\nForest and held the merriest feast that ever was held in that merry\nplace. And Allen-a-Dale and his bride lived happy all the rest of their\nlives, and he sang such beautiful songs that his fame went all over\nEngland. As for Friar Tuck, he liked Robin Hood and his band so much\nthat he never went back to Fountain Dale but became one of Robin Hood's\nmerry men.\n\n\n\n\nROBIN HOOD AND THE SORROWFUL KNIGHT\n\n\n\"We have had no guests for a long time,\" said Robin Hood one day. \"Let\nus go out and look for some. Little John, you go to the east and I will\ngo to the west, and we will see if we do not find passing a greedy\nnoble, or fat churchman who carries too much of this world's goods\nwith him, and needs to be relieved for the good of the poor.\"\n\nNow when Robin Hood and his men robbed a man--and they never molested\nany but the rich who had made their wealth by grinding down the\npoor--they brought him into the forest and made a feast for him. Then,\nafter he had feasted, they told him he must pay his reckoning, and\nthey took his goods or gold that he carried and divided these into\nthree piles. One-third they gave back to him; one-third they kept for\nthemselves; and the other third they distributed to the poor. The rich\nand grasping shuddered at the very mention of Robin Hood's feasts, but\nthe poor breathed blessings on his name whenever they thought of them.\n\nSo Little John and his part of the band went to the east; and they\nwere lucky, for they brought in the rich bishop of Hereford with five\nsumpter mules loaded with goods. But Robin Hood and his half found only\na sorrowful knight who sighed as he rode along and seemed too sad to\nnotice anything. Robin Hood laid his hand on his bridle, stopping his\nhorse.\n\n\"Hold,\" he said. \"I would speak with you.\"\n\n\"Now who are you who would stop a peaceful traveler on the king's\nhighway?\" asked the knight.\n\n\"Some call me an honest man and some call me a robber,\" answered Robin\nHood. \"At any rate, I and my men have an inn in the forest where we\nwant you to stop and feast. But we let you know that we count upon our\nguests paying their reckoning.\"\n\n\"I take your meaning,\" answered the knight, \"but I am no guest for you,\nfor I have no money. Indeed, I am in great sorrow by reason of this\nvery thing. Having great need of money to save the life of my son, I\nmortgaged my estate to the prior of Emmet and, though I could raise the\nmoney if he would give me more time, he will not give me a day, but\nmeans to seize the estate and turn me out a beggar.\"\n\n\"How much money did you borrow of him?\" asked Robin Hood.\n\n\"Only four hundred pounds. The estate is worth many times that but he\nwill show no mercy.\"\n\n\"Have you no friends who could lend you the money?\" asked Robin Hood.\n\n\"Alas, no,\" answered the knight. \"When I was fortunate I had many\nfriends who crowded around me, but now that I have come to trouble they\nhave all deserted me.\"\n\n\"Well, the men who are in trouble always have friends in Sherwood\nForest,\" answered Robin Hood. \"Come with me as a free guest and we will\nfind a way to help you.\"\n\nSo they went on until they came to the great tree where Friar Tuck\nand half a dozen others were preparing the feast around a huge fire.\nAnd there in the light of the flames sat the bishop of Hereford under\nguard, with his sumpter mules with their loaded packs tied to the trees\naround.\n\n\"Have mercy,\" he whined. But Robin Hood answered sternly.\n\n\"What mercy have you ever shown to the poor? Men, open his packs!\"\n\nSo they opened the packs, which were full of rich goods and divided\nthem into three parts. Beside the packs of goods there was a box that\nheld fifteen hundred pounds in gold. Robin Hood took up the portion\ndivided out for the poor and gave it to the sorrowful knight.\n\n\"Since the churchmen have despoiled you, the churchmen shall help you,\"\nhe said.\n\n\"Oh, I thank you,\" cried the knight, his sorrowful face lighting up\nfor the first time that day. \"But I will not take it as a gift but as a\nloan. I will pay it back to the bishop or to you.\"\n\nThe bishop nodded and opened his mouth to say \"That is well,\" but Robin\nHood interrupted him shortly.\n\n\"Pay it to me,\" he said. \"I will help the poor with it. The bishop\nwould but crowd it into his own coffers, and use it to gain more money.\"\n\nSo the knight who had been so sorrowful departed with all his troubles\ncleared away. Sorely disappointed was the prior of Emmet for he had\nmade sure by cheating and craft that the poor knight who had fallen\ninto his clutches could not get the money to redeem his lands anywhere,\nand he counted them already in his grasp. But he had to give them up;\nand that is a story too, but we have not room to tell it here.\n\n\n\n\nROBIN HOOD AND THE KING\n\n\n\"I wish I could see Robin Hood,\" said King Richard. \"I wish I could\nsee him and his men shoot and wrestle and go through all the feats in\nwhich they have such wondrous skill. But if they heard that the king\nwas coming, they would think it was only to arrest them, and they would\nflee deep into the forest and I should never get a glimpse of them.\"\n\nKing Richard spoke kindly, for he was a king who loved all manly sports\nand those who excelled in them.\n\n\"I would give a hundred pounds to see Robin Hood and his men in the\ngreenwood,\" he said.\n\n\"I'll tell you how you can see him without a doubt,\" spoke up one of\nthe king's trusty companions with a laugh. \"Put on the robes of a fat\nabbot and ride through Sherwood Forest with the hundred pounds in your\npouch, and you will be sure to see him and be feasted by him.\"\n\n\"I'll do it,\" cried bluff King Richard, slapping his knee. \"It will be\na huge joke.\"\n\nSo he and seven of his followers dressed themselves as an abbot and\nseven black friars and rode out along the highway toward Sherwood\nForest. And Robin Hood and his men took them and brought them to the\nTrystal Tree, and there they searched them and took the pouch of gold.\nBut they gave half the gold back to the king, for it was not their\ncustom to leave any man in need. They were pleased with these travelers\nbecause they did not resist nor rail at them.\n\n\"Now we shall give you a feast that will be worth fifty pounds,\" said\nRobin Hood.\n\n\"I have a good appetite for a feast,\" said the pretended abbot, \"but\neven more do I desire to see the archery and wrestling and play with\nthe quarter-staff and all those things in which I am told you excel.\"\n\n\"You shall see the very best we can do,\" answered Robin Hood. \"But,\nI pray you, holy father, lay aside your cowl that you may enjoy this\nsweet evening air.\"\n\n\"No,\" answered the mock abbot. \"It may not be, for I and my brothers\nhave vowed not to let our faces be seen during this journey.\"\n\n\"Very well, then,\" said Robin Hood. \"I interfere with no man's vows.\"\nAnd he never dreamed that it was the king.\n\nThey gave them a splendid feast of roasted venison and pheasant and\nfish and wild fowls, all done to a turn over the roaring fire, and the\nbest of drink. Then they arranged the sports.\n\nThe target was a garland of leaves and flowers that was hung six score\npaces distant upon a stake. It was a mark that only the best of\narchers could hit at all.\n\n\"Now shoot!\" said Robin Hood. \"You shall each of you have three shots,\nand every one who fails to place his arrows within the garland shall\nforfeit the arrow and receive beside a box on the side of the head as\nstout as can be given.\"\n\n\"Can any one hit inside that little garland at such a distance?\" asked\nthe king in amaze.\n\n\"Look and see,\" answered Robin Hood proudly.\n\nFirst, David of Doncaster shot, and lodged all three arrows within the\ngarland, while the king looked on, astonished. Then Midge, the miller's\nson, and he also placed all his arrows inside of the garland. Then Wat\nthe Tinker drew his bow; but he was unlucky, for one of his arrows\nmissed the mark by the breadth of two fingers.\n\n\"Come here and take your punishment,\" called Robin Hood. The king\nsupposed that, since he had missed by so little, he would receive but\na light tap, but he got a blow that knocked him spinning across the\ngrass, heels over head.\n\n\"Ha, ha, ha!\" laughed his comrades, and \"O ho!\" thought King Richard,\n\"I am glad I am not in this.\" But he was much impressed with the way\nRobin Hood's men obeyed him.\n\n\"They are better to follow his commands than my servants are to follow\nmine,\" he thought.\n\nThe shooting went on, and most of the men shot their arrows within the\ngarland, but a few missed and received tremendous buffets.\n\nLast Robin Hood shot. His first shaft split off a piece of the stake\non which the garland was hung. His second lodged a scant inch from\nthe first. But the last arrow he shot was feathered faultily, and it\nswerved to one side, and smote an inch outside of the garland.\n\nThen all the company roared with good-natured laughter, for it was\nseldom indeed that they saw their master miss.\n\n\"Go and take your punishment, master,\" said Midge, the miller's son. \"I\nhope it will be as heavy as Wat's.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Robin Hood, \"I will forfeit my arrow to our guest and take\nmy buffet from him.\"\n\nNow the merry Robin was somewhat crafty in this, for, though he did\nnot mind hard knocks at all, he did not like the thought of being sent\nsprawling before his band. The hands of churchmen were soft, and their\nstrongest blows but feeble, for they did not work nor use their muscles\nmuch. But the pretended abbot bared an arm so stout and muscular that\nit made the yeomen stare. Robin Hood placed himself fairly in front of\nhim and he struck a blow that would have felled an ox. Down went Robin\nHood on the ground rolling over and over, and his men fairly shouted\nwith laughter.\n\n\"Well,\" said Robin Hood, sitting up, half dazed, \"I did not think that\nthere was an arm in England that could strike such a blow. Who are you,\nman? I'll warrant you are no churchman as you seem.\"\n\nThen Richard threw his cowl, and Robin knew his king. If he had been a\ndisloyal man as well as an outlaw, he would have trembled then. But,\nthough he knelt at the king's feet and signalled all his men to kneel,\nhis voice was not ashamed.\n\n\"Your majesty,\" he said, \"you have no subjects in all England more\nloyal to you than I and my merry men. We have done no evil except to\ncertain of the greedy and rich who oppressed your subjects. We crave\nyour pardon if we have done wrong, and we beg for your protection, and\nswear that we will ever serve you faithfully.\"\n\nThen the king looked down in amazement that an outlaw should speak so.\nBut he knew men, and he knew what people said of Robin Hood. And he\nknew, too, that he was the best archer in all England and he wanted him\nin his own train.\n\n\"I will forgive all your law-breaking,\" he said, \"if you will come with\nme to my court and serve me there. You shall take Little John and Will\nScarlet and Allen-a-Dale, who is the sweetest singer I ever heard; and\nthe rest of your men I will make into royal rangers, since I judge that\nthey can protect Sherwood Forest better than any others.\"\n\nSo Robin Hood left the greenwood and went to the king's court and he\nserved King Richard well. But he did not like the confinement of the\ncourt and could not abide the gaieties and jealousies of the courtiers.\nAfter King Richard died, his brother John took the throne, and he was\none of the worst kings that ever ruled England. Then Robin Hood went\nback to the forest and his merry men gathered around him once more, and\nagain they became outlaws. And there in the forest he lived till he\ndied.\n\n\n\n\nDEATH OF ROBIN HOOD\n\n\nNow the manner of Robin Hood's death was in this wise. He had grown to\nbe an old man, and he became ill of a fever.\n\n\"I will go to my cousin, the prioress of Kirklees, for she hath much\nknowledge of healing,\" he said. \"I will ask her to bleed me that I may\nbecome well.\"\n\nIn those days the women had more knowledge of healing than any others,\nfor it was the duty of every mother and daughter to learn as much as\nshe could about it that she might know what to do if her husband or\nher son were wounded. This cousin of Robin Hood's was greatly indebted\nto him, for he had got her her good place as prioress. But she loved\none of his enemies, and she dealt treacherously with him.\n\nShe opened a vein in his arm, but she did not close it up again. Then\nshe left him alone in a high room at the very top of the priory to\nbleed to death. All day long he bled till he was so weak that he could\nhardly move. But at evening he managed to lift his bugle to his lips\nand blow. The blast was but feeble, but Little John heard it, for,\nthough the prioress refused to let him in with Robin Hood, he had\nlingered as close to his dear master as he could get, all day long.\n\nThe prioress locked the great entry door so that he might not come\nin, and he seized a huge stone mortar that three men could not lift\nordinarily and hurled it against the door, crashing it in. Then he\ndashed up the winding stairs and none could stay him until he reached\nthe room under the eaves where his master lay. But he saw at a glance\nthat Robin Hood was dying.\n\n\"Master,\" he cried, \"I will burn the priory down over the heads of\nthese vile nuns whose mistress has done you such dreadful treachery.\"\n\n\"No, no,\" said Robin Hood, with a smile that was feeble but was\nwondrous sweet. \"I have never hurt a woman in my life nor allowed my\nfollowers to do it. I could not allow such a thing now.\"\n\nAnd with almost his last breath he made Little John promise to do no\ninjury to the treacherous nun who had killed him.\n\n\n\n\nThere are many more stories about Robin Hood. There is not space enough\nhere to put down half of them. I hope you will ask for them at the\nlibrary and read them all, and some of the quaint old ballads about him\ntoo. And I hope, most of all, that every boy who reads them will try to\nbe as kindly and as helpful and as generous and as brave and chivalrous\nto all woman-kind as Robin Hood was.\n\n\n\n\nROBIN HOOD AND ALLEN-A-DALE\n\n\n    Come listen to me, you gallants so free,\n      All you that love mirth for to hear,\n    And I will tell you of a bold outlaw,\n      That lived in Nottinghamshire.\n\n    As Robin Hood in the forest stood,\n      All under the greenwood tree,\n    There he was aware of a brave young man,\n      As fine as fine might be.\n\n    The youngster was clad in scarlet red,\n      In scarlet fine and gay;\n    And he did frisk it over the plain,\n      And chaunted a roundelay.\n\n    As Robin Hood next morning stood\n      Amongst the leaves so gay,\n    There did he espy the same young man\n      Come drooping along the way.\n\n    The scarlet he wore the day before\n      It was clean cast away;\n    And at every step he fetched a sigh\n      \"Alas! and a-well-a-day!\"\n\n    Then stepped forth brave Little John,\n      And Midge, the miller's son;\n    Which made the young man bend his bow,\n      When he saw them come.\n\n    \"Stand off! stand off!\" the young man said,\n      \"What is your will with me?\"\n    \"You must come before our master straight,\n      Under yon greenwood tree.\"\n\n    And when he came bold Robin before,\n      Robin asked him courteously,\n    \"Oh, hast thou any money to spare,\n      For my merry men and me?\"\n\n    \"I have no money,\" the young man said,\n      \"But five shillings and a ring;\n    And that I have kept this seven long years,\n      To have at my wedding.\n\n    \"Yesterday I should have married a maid,\n      But she was from me ta'en,\n    And chosen to be an old knight's delight,\n     Whereby my poor heart is slain.\"\n\n    \"What is thy name?\" then said Robin Hood,\n      \"Come tell me, without any fail.\"\n    \"By the faith of my body,\" then said the young man,\n      \"My name it is Allen-a-Dale.\"\n\n    \"What wilt thou give me,\" said Robin Hood,\n      \"In ready gold or fee,\n    To help thee to thy true love again,\n      And deliver her unto thee?\"\n\n    \"I have no money,\" then quoth the young man,\n      \"In ready gold nor fee,\n    But I will swear upon a book\n      Thy true servant for to be.\"\n\n    \"How many miles is it to thy true love?\n      Come tell me without guile.\"\n    \"By the faith of my body,\" then said the young man,\n      \"It is but five little mile.\"\n\n    Then Robin he hasted over the plain;\n      He did neither stint nor lin,\n    Until he came unto the church\n      Where Allen should keep his weddin'.\n\n    \"What dost thou here?\" the bishop then said,\n      \"I prithee now tell unto me.\"\n    \"I am a bold harper,\" quoth Robin Hood,\n      \"And the best in the north country.\"\n\n    \"Oh welcome, oh welcome,\" the bishop he said:\n      \"That music best pleaseth me.\"\n    \"You shall have no music,\" said Robin Hood,\n      \"Till the bride and bridegroom I see.\"\n\n    With that came in a wealthy knight,\n      Which was both grave and old,\n    And after him a finikin lass,\n      Did shine like the glistering gold.\n\n    \"This is not a fit match,\" quoth Robin Hood,\n      \"That you do seem to make here,\n    For since we are come into the church,\n      The bride shall choose her own dear.\"\n\n    Then Robin Hood put his horn to his mouth,\n      And blew blasts two or three;\n    When four-and-twenty yeomen bold\n      Came leaping over the lea.\n\n    And when they came into the churchyard,\n      Marching all in a row,\n    The first man was Allen-a-Dale\n      To give bold Robin his bow.\n\n    \"This is thy true love,\" Robin he said,\n      \"Young Allen, as I hear say;\n    And you shall be married this same time,\n      Before we depart away.\"\n\n    \"That shall not be,\" the bishop cried,\n      \"For thy word shall not stand;\n    They shall be three times ask'd in the church,\n      As the law is of our land.\"\n\n    Robin Hood pull'd off the bishop's coat,\n      And put it upon Little John;\n    \"By the faith of my body,\" then Robin said,\n      \"This cloth doth make thee a man.\"\n\n    When Little John went into the quire,\n      The people began to laugh;\n    He asked them seven times into church,\n      Lest three times should not be enough.\n\n    \"Who gives me this maid?\" said Little John,\n      Quoth Robin Hood, \"That do I;\n    And he that takes her from Allen-a-Dale,\n      Full dearly he shall buy.\"\n\n    And then having ended this merry wedding,\n      The bride looked like a queen;\n    And so they returned to the merry greenwood,\n      Amongst the leaves so green.\n\n                                    --_Author Unknown._\n\n\n\n\n\nINSTRUCTOR LITERATURE SERIES\n\n=5c--Supplementary Readers And Classics for All Grades--5c=\n\nA series of little books containing material needed for supplementary\nReading and Study. =Classified and Graded.= Large type for lower grades.\n\n_This list is constantly being added to. If a substantial number of\nbooks are to be ordered, or if other titles than those shown here are\ndesired, send for latest list._\n\n\n=FIRST GRADE=\n\n=Fables and Myths=\n\n  *6 Fairy Stories of the Moon\n  *27 Eleven Fables from \u00c6sop\n  *23 More Fables from \u00c6sop\n  *29 Indian Myths--_Bush_\n  *140 Nursery Tales--_Taylor_\n  *288 Primer from Fableland--_Maguire_\n\n=Nature=\n\n  *1 Little Plant People--Part I\n  *2 Little Plant People--Part II\n  *30 Story of a Sunbeam--_Miller_\n  *31 Kitty Mittens and Her Friends\n\n=History=\n\n  *32 Patriotic Stories (Story of the Flag, Story of Washington, etc.)\n\n=Literature=\n\n  *104 Mother Goose Reader\n  *228 First Term Primer--_Maguire_\n  *230 Rhyme and Jingle Reader for Beginners\n\n\n=SECOND GRADE=\n\n=Fables and Myths=\n\n  *33 Stories from Andersen--_Taylor_\n  *34 Stories from Grimm--_Taylor_\n  *36 Little Red Riding Hood--_Reiter_\n  *37 Jack and the Beanstalk--_Reiter_\n  *38 Adventures of a Brownie\n\n=Nature and Industry=\n\n  *3 Little Workers (Animal Stories)\n  *39 Little Wood Friends--_Mayne_\n  *40 Wings and Stings--_Halifax_\n  *41 Story of Wool--_Mayne_\n  *42 Bird Stories from the Poets\n\n=History and Biography=\n\n  *43 Story of the Mayflower--_McCabe_\n  *45 Boyhood of Washington--_Reiter_\n  *204 Boyhood of Lincoln--_Reiter_\n\n=Literature=\n\n  *72 Bow-Wow and Mew-Mew--_Craik_\n  *142 Child's Garden of Verses--_Stevenson_\n  *206 Picture Study Stories for Little Children\n  *220 Story of the Christ Child\n  *262 Four Little Cotton-Tails--_Smith_\n  *268 Four Little Cotton Tails in Winter--_Smith_\n  *269 Four Little Cotton Tails at Play--_Smith_\n  *270 Four Little Cotton-Tails in Vacation--_Smith_\n  *290 Fuzz in Japan--A Child-Life Reader\n\n\n=THIRD GRADE=\n\n=Fables and Myths=\n\n  *46 Puss in Boots and Cinderella\n  *47 Greek Myths--_Klingensmith_\n  *48 Nature Myths--_Metcalf_\n  *50 Reynard the Fox--_Best_\n  *102 Thumbelina and Dream Stories\n  *146 Sleeping Beauty and Other Stories\n   174 Sun Myths--_Reiter_\n   175 Norse Legends, I--_Reiter_\n   176 Norse Legends, II--_Reiter_\n  *177 Legends of the Rhineland--_McCabe_\n  *282 Siegfried, The Lorelei, and Other Rhine Legends--_McCabe_\n\n=Nature and Industry=\n\n  *49 Buds, Stems and Fruits--_Mayne_\n  *51 Story of Flax--_Mayne_\n  *52 Story of Glass--_Hanson_\n  *53 Adventures of a Little Water Drop--_Mayne_\n  *133 Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard--Part I. Story of Tea and the Teacup\n  *135 Little People of the Hills (Dry Air and Dry Soil Plants)--_Chase_\n  *137 Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard--Part II. Story of Sugar, Coffee and\n       Salt\n  *138 Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard--Part III. Story of Rice, Currants\n       and Honey\n  *203 Little Plant People of the Waterways--_Chase_\n\n=History and Biography=\n\n  *4 Story of Washington--_Reiter_\n  *7 Story of Longfellow--_McCabe_\n  *21 Story of the Pilgrims--_Powers_\n  *44 Famous Early Americans (Smith, Standish, Penn)--_Bush_\n  *54 Story of Columbus--_McCabe_\n   55 Story of Whittier--_McCabe_\n   57 Story of Louisa M. Alcott--_Bush_\n  *59 Story of the Boston Tea Party--_McCabe_\n  *60 Children of the Northland--_Bush_\n  *62 Children of the South Lands--I (Florida, Cuba, Puerto Rico)\n  *63 Children of the South Lands--II (Africa, Hawaii, The\n      Philippines)--_McFee_\n  *64 Child Life in the Colonies--I (New Amsterdam)--_Baker_\n  *65 Child Life in the Colonies--II (Pennsylvania)--_Baker_\n  *66 Child Life in the Colonies--III (Virginia)\n  *68 Stories of the Revolution--I (Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain\n      Boys)--_McCabe_\n  *69 Stories of the Revolution--II (Around Philadelphia)--_McCabe_\n  *70 Stories of the Revolution--III (Marion, the Swamp Fox)--_McCabe_\n  *132 Story of Franklin--_Faris_\n  *164 The Little Brown Baby and Other Babies\n  *165 Gemila, the Child of the Desert, and some of Her Sisters\n  *166 Louise on the Rhine and in Her New Home.\n       (_Nos. 161, 163, 166 are the stories from \"Seven Little Sisters\"\n       by Jane Andrews_)\n  *167 Famous Artists--I--(Landseer and Bonheur)\n\n=Literature=\n\n  *35 Goody Two Shoes\n   58 Selections from Alice and Phoebe Cary\n  *67 The Story of Robinson Crusoe\n  *71 Selections from Hiawatha (Five Grades)\n  *227 Our Animal Friends and How to Treat Them\n  *233 Poems Worth Knowing--Book I--Primary\n\n\n=FOURTH GRADE=\n\n=Nature and Industry=\n\n  *75 Story of Coal--_McKane_\n  *76 Story of Wheat--_Halifax_\n  *77 Story of Cotton--_Brown_\n  *134 Conquests of Little Plant People\n  *136 Peeps into Bird Nooks--I--_McFee_\n  *181 Stories of the Stars--_McFee_\n  *205 Eyes and No Eyes and The Three Giants\n\n=History and Biography=\n\n  *5 Story of Lincoln--_Reiter_\n  *56 Indian Children Tales--_Bush_\n  *78 Stories of the Backwoods\n  *79 A Little New England Viking--_Baker_\n  *81 Story of De Soto--_Halfield_\n  *82 Story of Daniel Boone--_Reiter_\n  *83 Story of Printing--_McCabe_\n  *84 Story of David Crockett--_Reiter_\n   85 Story of Patrick Henry\n  *86 American Inventors--I (Whitney and Fulton)--_Faris_\n  *87 American Inventors--II (Morse and Edison)--_Faris_\n  *88 American Naval Heroes (Jones, Perry, Farragut)--_Bush_\n   89 Fremont and Kit Carson--_Judd_\n  *91 Story of Eugene Field--_McCabe_\n  *178 Story of Lexington and Bunker Hill--_Baker_\n  *182 Story of Joan of Arc--_McFee_\n  *207 Famous Artists--II--Reynolds and Murillo\n  *213 Famous Artists--III--Millet\n  *248 Makers of European History\n\n=Literature=\n\n  *90 Fifteen Selections from Longfellow--(Village Blacksmith,\n      Children's Hour, and others)\n  *95 Japanese Myths and Legends\n   103 Stories from the Old Testament\n  *111 Water Babies (Abridged)\n  *159 Little Lame Prince (Cond.)--_Mulock_\n  *171 Tolmi of the Treetops--_Grimes_\n  *172 Labu the Little Lake Dweller--_Grimes_\n  *173 Tara of the Tents--_Grimes_\n  *195 Night before Christmas and Other Christmas Poems and Stories\n       (Any Grade)\n  *201 Alice's First Adventures in Wonderland\n  *202 Alice's Further Adventures in Wonderland--_Carroll_\n  *258 Rolo the Cave Boy--_Grimes_\n  *257 Kwasa the Cliff Dweller--_Grimes_\n\n\n=FIFTH GRADE=\n\n=Nature and Industry=\n\n  *92 Animal Life in the Sea--_McFee_\n  *93 Story of Silk--_Brown_\n  *94 Story of Sugar--_Reiter_\n  *96 What We Drink (Tea, Coffee and Cocoa)\n  *139 Peeps into Bird Nooks--II\n   210 Snowdrops and Crocuses\n   263 The Sky Family--_Denton_\n  *280 Making of the World--_Herndon_\n  *281 Builders of the World--_Herndon_\n  *283 Stories of Time--_Bush_\n\n=History and Biography=\n\n   *16 Explorations of the Northwest\n    80 Story of the Cabots--_McBride_\n   *97 Story of the Norsemen--_Hanson_\n    98 Story of Nathan Hale--_McCabe_\n    99 Story of Jefferson--_McCabe_\n   100 Story of Bryant--_McFee_\n   101 Story of Robert E. Lee--_McKane_\n   105 Story of Canada--_McCabe_\n  *106 Story of Mexico--_McCabe_\n  *107 Story of Robert Louis Stevenson\n   110 Story of Hawthorne--_McFee_\n   112 Biographical Stories--_Hawthorne_\n   141 Story of Grant--_McKane_\n  *144 Story of Steam--_McCabe_\n   145 Story of McKinley--_McBride_\n   157 Story of Dickens--_Smith_\n  *179 Story of the Flag--_Baker_\n  *185 Story of the First Crusade\n   190 Story of Father Hennepin\n   191 Story of LaSalle--_McBride_\n  *217 Story of Florence Nightingale\n   *28 Story of Peter Cooper--_McFee_\n   219 Little Stories Of Discovery--_Halsey_\n   232 Story of Shakespeare--_Grames_\n  *265 Four Little Discoverers in Panama--_Bush_\n  *287 Life in Colonial Days--_Tillinghast_\n\n=Literature=\n\n    *8 King of the Golden River--_Ruskin_\n    *9 The Golden Touch--_Hawthorne_\n   *61 Story of Sindbad the Sailor\n  *108 History in Verse (Sheridan's Ride, Independence Bell, the Blue\n       and the Gray, etc.)\n  *113 Little Daffydowndilly and Other Stories--_Hawthorne_\n  *180 Story of Aladdin and of Ali Baba\n  *183 A Dog of Flanders--_De La Ramee_\n  *184 The Nurnberg Stove--_La Ramee_\n  *186 Heroes from King Arthur--_Graves_\n   194 Whittier's Poems--Selected.\n  *199 Jackanapes--_Ewing_\n  *200 The Child of Urbino--_La Ramee_\n  *208 Heroes of Asgard--Selections--_Keary_\n  *212 Stories from Robin Hood--_Bush_\n  *234 Poems Worth Knowing--Book II--Intermediate--_Faxon_\n   255 Chinese Fables and Stories\n   277 At the Back of the North Wind, Selection from--_Macdonald._\n\n\n=SIXTH GRADE=\n\n=Nature and Industry=\n\n  *109 Gifts of the Forests (Rubber, Cinchona, Resins, etc.)--_McFee_\n   249 Flowers and Birds of Illinois--_Patterson_\n\n=Agricultural=\n\n  *271 Animal Husbandry--Horses and Cattle\n  *272 Animal Husbandry--Sheep and Swine\n\n=Geography=\n\n  *114 Great European Cities--I (London and Paris)--_Bush_\n  *115 Great European Cities--II (Rome and Berlin)--_Bush_\n  *168 Great European Cities--III (St. Petersburg and\n       Constantinople)--_Bush_\n  *246 What I Saw in Japan--_Griffis_\n  *247 The Chinese and Their Country\n  *285 Story of Panama and the Canal--_Nida_\n\n=History and Biography=\n\n   *73 Four Great Musicians--_Bush_\n   *74 Four More Great Musicians\n  *116 Old English Heroes (Alfred, Richard the Lion-Hearted, The Black\n       Prince)--_Bush_\n  *117 Later English Heroes (Cromwell, Wellington, Gladstone)--_Bush_\n  *160 Heroes of the Revolution\n  *163 Stories of Courage--_Bush_\n   187 Lives of Webster and Clay\n  *188 Story of Napoleon--_Bush_\n  *189 Stories of Heroism--_Bush_\n   197 Story of Lafayette--_Bush_\n   198 Story of Roger Williams--_Leighton_\n  *209 Lewis and Clark Expedition\n  *224 Story of William Tell--_Hallock_\n   253 Story of the Aeroplane--_Galbreath_\n  *266 Story of Belgium--_Griffis_\n   267 Story of Wheels--_Bush_\n  *286 Story of Slavery--_Booker T. Washington_\n\n=Stories of the States=\n\n   508 Story of Florida--_Bauskett_\n   509 Story of Georgia--_Derry_\n   511 Story of Illinois--_Smith_\n   512 Story of Indiana--_Clem_\n   513 Story of Iowa--_McFee_\n   515 Story of Kentucky--_Eubank_\n   520 Story of Michigan--_Skinner_\n   521 Story of Minnesota--_Skinner_\n   523 Story of Missouri--_Pierce_\n  *525 Story of Nebraska--_Mears._\n  *528 Story of New Jersey--_Hutchinson_\n   533 Story of Ohio--_Galbreath_\n  *536 Story of Pennsylvania--_March_\n   540 Story of Tennessee--_Overall_\n   542 Story of Utah--_Young_\n   546 Story of West Virginia--_Shawkey_\n   547 Story of Wisconsin--_Skinner_\n\n=Literature=\n\n   *10 The Snow Image--_Hawthorne_\n   *11 Rip Van Winkle--_Irving_\n   *12 Legend of Sleepy Hollow--_Irving_\n   *22 Rab and His Friends--_Brown_\n   *24 Three Golden Apples--_Hawthorne_ [+]\n   *25 The Miraculous Pitcher--_Hawthorne_ [+]\n   *26 The Minotaur--_Hawthorne_\n  *118 A Tale of the White Hills and Other Stories--_Hawthorne_\n  *119 Bryant's Thanatopsis, and other Poems\n  *120 Ten Selections from Longfellow--(Paul Revere's Ride, The\n       Skeleton in Armour, and other poems)\n   121 Selections from Holmes (The Wonderful One Hoss Shay, Old\n       Ironsides, and others)\n  *122 The Pied Piper of Hamelin\n   161 The Great Carbuncle, Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe,\n       Snowflakes--_Hawthorne_\n   162 The Pygmies--_Hawthorne_\n  *211 The Golden Fleece--_Hawthorne_\n  *222 Kingsley's Greek Heroes--Part I. The Story of Perseus\n  *223 Kingsley's Greek Heroes--Part II. The Story of Theseus\n  *225 Tennyson's Poems--Selected (For various grades)\n   229 Responsive Bible Readings--_Zeller_\n   264 The Story of Don Quixote--_Bush_\n   250 Thrift Stories--_Benj. Franklin and Others_\n   278 A Child's Dream of a Star, and other Stories\n  *284 Story of Little Nell--_Dickens_\n\n\n=SEVENTH GRADE=\n\n=Literature=\n\n  *13 Courtship of Miles Standish\n  *14 Evangeline--_Longfellow_ [+]\n  *15 Snowbound--_Whittier_ [+]\n  *20 The Great Stone Face, Rill from the Town Pump--_Hawthorne_\n   123 Selections from Wordsworth (Ode on Immortality, We are Seven,\n       To the Cuckoo, and other poems)\n   124 Selections from Shelley and Keats\n   125 Selections from The Merchant of Venice\n  *147 Story of King Arthur, as told by Tennyson--_Hallock_\n  *149 Man Without a Country, The--_Hale_ [+]\n  *192 Story of Jean Valjean--_Grames_\n  *193 Selections from the Sketch Book--_Irving_\n   196 The Gray Champion--_Hawthorne_\n   213 Poems of Thomas Moore--(Selected)\n   214 More Selections from the Sketch Book--_Irving_\n  *216 Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare--Selected\n  *231 The Oregon Trail (Condensed from Parkman)--_Grames_\n  *235 Poems Worth Knowing--Book III--Grammar--_Faxon_\n  *238 Lamb's Adventures of Ulysses--Part I\n  *239 Lamb's Adventures of Ulysses--Part II\n  *241 Story of the Iliad--_Church_ (Cond.)\n  *242 Story of the \u00c6neid--_Church_ (Cond.)\n  *251 Story of Language and Literature--_Heilig_\n  *252 The Battle of Waterloo--_Hugo_\n   254 Story of \"The Talisman\" (Scott)--_Weekes_\n  *259 The Last of the Mohicans (abridged)\n   261 Selected Tales of a Wayside Inn--_Longfellow_ [+]\n  *260 Oliver Twist (abridged)--_Dickens_\n\n=Nature=\n\n  226 Mars and Its Mysteries--_Wilson_\n  279 True Story of the Man in the Moon--_Wilson_\n\n\n=EIGHTH GRADE=\n\n=Literature=\n\n  *17 Enoch Arden--_Tennyson_ [+]\n  *18 Vision of Sir Launfal--_Lowell_ [+]\n  *19 Cotter's Saturday Night--_Burns_ [+]\n  *23 The Deserted Village--_Goldsmith_\n  *126 Rime of the Ancient Mariner [+]\n  *127 Gray's Elegy and Other Poems\n  *128 Speeches of Lincoln\n   129 Julius C\u00e6sar--Selections\n   130 Henry the VIII--Selections\n   131 Macbeth--Selections\n  *142 Scott's Lady of the Lake--Canto I [+]\n   154 Scott's Lady of the Lake--Canto II [+]\n   143 Building of the Ship and other Poems--_Longfellow_\n   148 Horatius, Ivry, The Armada--_Macaulay_\n  *150 Bunker Hill Address and Selections from Adams and Jefferson\n       Oration--_Webster_ [+]\n  *151 Gold Bug, The--_Poe_\n   153 Prisoner of Chillon and other poems--_Byron_ [+]\n   155 Rhoecus and Other Poems--_Lowell_ [+]\n   156 Edgar Allan Poe--Biography and selected poems--_Link_\n  *158 Washington's Farewell Address and Other Papers [+]\n   169 Abram Joseph Ryan--Biography and selected poems--_Smith_\n   170 Paul H. Hayne--Biography and selected poems--_Link_\n   215 Life of Samuel Johnson--_Macaulay_ [+]\n  *221 Sir Roger de Coverley Papers--_Addison_ [+]\n  *236 Poems Worth Knowing--Book IV--Advanced--_Faxon_\n   237 Lay of the Last Minstrel--_Scott_. Introduction and Canto I [+]\n\n[+] _These have biographical sketch of author, with introduction or\nexplanatory notes._\n\n=Price 5 Cents Each. Postage, 1 cent per copy extra. Order by Number=\n\nTwelve or more copies sent =prepaid= at 60 cents per dozen or $5.00 per\nhundred.\n\n*=Limp Cloth Binding.= The titles indicated by (*) are supplied also in\nlimp cloth binding at =10 cents per copy=.\n\n\n\n\nEXCELSIOR LITERATURE SERIES\n\n=Annotated Classics and Supplementary Readers=\n\n   1 =Evangeline.= Biography, introduction, oral\n     and written exercises and notes.        =10c=\n\n   3 =Courtship of Miles Standish.= Longfellow.\n     With introduction and notes.            =10c=\n\n   5 =Vision of Sir Launfal.= Lowell. Biography,\n     introduction, notes, outlines.          =10c=\n\n   7 =Enoch Arden.= Tennyson. Biography, introduction,\n     notes, outlines, questions.             =10c=\n\n   9 =Great Stone Face.= Hawthorne. Biography,\n     introduction, notes, outlines.          =10c=\n\n  11 =Browning's Poems.= Selected poems with\n     notes and outlines for study.           =10c=\n\n  13 =Wordsworth's Poems.= Selected poems\n     with introduction, notes and outlines.  =10c=\n\n  15 =Sohrab and Rustum.= Arnold. With introduction,\n     notes and outlines.                     =10c=\n\n  17 =The Children's Poet.= Study of Longfellow's\n     poetry for children, with poems.        =10c=\n\n  19 =A Christmas Carol.= Charles Dickens.\n     Complete with notes.                    =10c=\n\n  21 =Cricket on the Hearth.= Chas. Dickens.\n     Complete with notes.                    =10c=\n\n  23 =Familiar Legends.= McFee. Old tales retold\n     for young people.                       =10c=\n\n  25 =Some Water Birds=. McFee. Description,\n     and stories of, Fourth to Sixth grades. =10c=\n\n  27 =Hiawatha.= Introduction and notes.     =15c=\n\n  29 =Milton's Minor Poems.= Biography, introduction,\n     notes, questions, critical comments\n     and pronouncing vocabulary.             =10c=\n\n  31 =Idylls of the King.= (Coming of Arthur,\n     Gareth and Lynette, Lancelot and Elaine,\n     Passing of Arthur.) Biography, introduction,\n     notes, questions, critical comments, and\n     pronouncing vocabulary.                 =15c=\n\n  33 =Silas Marner.= Eliot. Biography, notes,\n     questions, critical comments, bibliography,\n     238 pages. Paper.                       =20c=\n\n  34 Same in cloth binding.                  =30c=\n\n  35 =Lady of the Lake.= Scott. Biography, introduction\n     and extended notes, pronouncing\n     vocabulary.                             =15c=\n\n  37 =Literature of the Bible=--Heilig.      =15c=\n\n  59 =The Sketch Book= (Selected)--Irving. Biography,\n     introduction and notes.                 =15c=\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\n\nAdded table of contents.\n\nItalics are represented with _underscores_, bold with =equal signs=.\n\nMoved advertising from inside front cover to end of book.\n\nPage 4, added missing close quote after \"miserable all the time.\"\n\nPage 7, changed \"walunt\" to \"walnut.\"\n\nPage 17, changed \"the managed\" to \"he managed.\"\n\nPage 18, moved punctuation inside quotes for \"How is this?\"\n\nPage 24, changed \"Sherwod Forest\" to \"Sherwood Forest\" at top of page.\n\nPage 27, added missing quote after \"better than any others.\"\n\nPage 29, added missing period after \"obeyed him.\"\n\nBack cover, added missing period after Dickens in Cricket on the Hearth\nlisting; changed \"Familar Legends\" to \"Familiar Legends.\"","title":"Stories of Robin Hood","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":11126}