whatever deficiency might have existed against them, was counterbalanced by the decided advantage of their position; the Normans were not slow to discover this, and made tremendous efforts to dislodge them, but were each time repulsed with a frightful sacrifice of human life. After the battle had raged for some time, without the Normans having gained the slightest advantage, which their superiority of numbers ought to have obtained for them, great shouts were suddenly heard in their rear, which proved to be Little John advancing with his band of merrie men. So soon as they came up and commenced fighting, with enthusiastic earnestness, it acted like an electric shock upon the Normans, who, attacked in front and rear by numbers, of which the excitement prevented them forming a calculation, conceived a great disposition to resign the contestespecially when a great cry arose that the high sheriff, the Lord Baron Fitz Alwine, was slain; and this soon proved to be a fact, for a party of men, led by Robin Hood, had cut their way to the spot where Sir Richard of the Lee and his son were stationed, and they succeeded in reaching it, and Robin with his sword cut asunder their bands and placed weapons in their hands. He found two energetic allies in them, especially in Herbert, who, with all the hot-headedness of youth, fought with an impetuosity nothing could withstand. Followed by a party of Sherwood men, who cheered him on, admiring proudly his

one of the merrie men, anxious to have the honour of deciding the contest, shot the baron through the neck with an arrow, then sprung upon him, hurled him from his horse, severed his head from his body, and elevated it at the point of his sword. He mounted the dead man's steed, and holding the head high in the air, he cried with a stentorian voice

haunt; when he reached it, he blew his bugle; it was answered quickly by a hundred men in person, who crowded delightedly round him. In a few words, he explained in what way he needed their services, and they were ready to do his bidding, heart and hand, as soon as his wishes to that effect left his lips. He had left Little John in command of the men whom he had brought with him from Barnsdale, with orders that as soon as they were ready to move, they should take the high way to Nottingham, keeping in the track of the sheriff, whom Robin hoped to intercept before he reached there, and if Little John came up in time, thus to place him between two fires. When everything was arranged, and whatever was done was done quickly, the merrie men, under the command of Robin and Will, quitted the haunt, and made for the highway, at a point not a very long distance from Nottingham. They reached it in a short time, and had the satisfaction of ascertaining from a wayfarer, that no troop had as yet passed there on the way to the town. Robin chose the most advantageous position the situation would afford, and gave his orders very distinctly and decidedly; for he had not a chance to throw away, having to sustain an unequal fight, the force of the sheriff surpassing his three times in number, until Little John brought his men into action. Robin ambushed a part of his men, and placed the remainder at a narrow part of the road nearer Nottingham; and when they were disposed as well as circumstances would allow, he waited coolly the ap-gallant daring, he fought his way to the sheriff; but proach of the would-be redoubtable sheriff. The arrival of half-a-dozen troopers in advance notified { the approach of him and his cavalcade, and a warm reception was prepared for them. The scouts had advanced considerably beyond the ambush ere a shaft was discharged, but when a solitary note of a horn rose on the air, the troop was saluted with a shower of arrows that took a terrific effect; they made an instant halt, and a division of men was sent on each side to clear the thickets, while the main body pushed on. The advance guard were easily captured, and the two divisions fighting at random against an unseen enemy, were also, after being galled by a fire of arrows which could not be surpassed for the dreadful precision of their aim, to save their lives, compelled to throw down their weapons, and surrender themselves prisoners; they were led away into the wood, where they were strongly bound and placed where they could not easily escape; the merrie men who had accomplished this feat hastening on their way to join their companions, who were engaged in desperate conflict with the main body of Fitz Alwine's men. The fight was maintained with desperate vigour on both sides, Robin and his men fighting for the honor of liberating the gentle knight and his son, as well as for the gratification, for their country's sake, of being opposed hand and sword to Normans, whom they viewed as the usurpers and oppressors of the land; who not only crushed and exercised the most tyrannous and despotic sway over the Saxons as a body, but were the principal cause of their (the merrie men) being tenants of the wood, instead of enjoying the comforts of a home situated within reach of the advantages of a village or a town. The Normans, on their side, fought desperately, because they hoped to retrieve the honour they had so decidedly and continuously lost, when opposed to Robin Hood; and that feeling was accelerated by the fact of their foes being Saxons, a race whom they hated with as much fervency as the Saxons detested them. The skill, the coolness, and the unerring correctness of their aim rendered the merrie men, though vastly unequal in numbers, almost an equal match for the troop, and

"Normans! dogs! behold your leader! look upon your proud high sheriff! Down with you, curs! beg your lives, or ye shall all meet his "

The words died on his lips, for an arrow from the bow of a Norman pierced him through the brain, and with the ghastly head of the dead sheriff he fell a corse from the steed. However, the loss of their leader made the Normans cry quarter, and throw down their arms. The battle was thus won, and Robin moved here and there with the utmost speed to stop the fight in every place where it still lingered. The defeated men, being deprived of all their arms, were, under the escort of a hundred men, led on to Nottingham, bearing the body of their sheriff with them; while the rest gathered up the arms of their conquered enemy, and bore them to the haunt. As the body of the sheriff passed Robin, he approached and exclaimed, almost in a soliloquy

"Farewell for ever, thou man of an iron heart and a bloody mind. Thou hast at length met the doom I prophesied thee but a short time since. Evil didst thou ever while thou wert living; thy hand was against every man's, and no heart warmed kindly towards thee. In thy word, thy honour, the simplest act of trust, no confidence could be placed. Farewell! hated and execrated while living, thy memory loathed and despised when dead, thou goest to meet the reward of thy past deeds; and although thou didst never spare one when in thy power, may thy soul be mercifully dealt with by Him who extends His charity to all men, howe'er sinful and erring they may be."

And with a look which partook more of scorn than pity, he turned away and addressed Sir Richard of the Lee

"This is a sad day's work, Sir Richard," he ex

"Why?" asked Sir Richard, with astonishment. "Inasmuch," replied Robin, "that without my aid you might have gained your estates; and had you, you would have still retained them: but through harbouring me, a deed of gratitude done for a trifling obligation, thy liberty and life were first endangered, and now, though from that evil thou art rescued, thy estates will be taken from thee, and thou exiled perhaps for ever ; and this through being connected, { though slightly, with me."

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claimed, "although we be the conquerors, and have The evidences of the fight-such as dead bodies, succeeded in liberating thee; albeit we have done broken weapons, &c.,-were all removed, and Robin, this and thy life is saved, yet thy estates will be con- with the knight, his son, and half his men, returned fiscated as surely as thou standest where thou dost. { to Barnsdale. When Sir Richard of the Lee and his I would we had never met." son arrived at the castle, after an affecting meeting with his wife and Lilas, they despatched a special messenger to London, with orders to learn from such of the knight's family as had the greatest influence all that was to be put in force against him; and immediately he had gained possession of it, to spare neither whip, spur, nor horse, in his return to the castle of the Lee. The man obeyed his orders well, and he returned bearing news that the king was so exasperated at the defeat of his troops, that he had issued commands for a troop to proceed at once to the knight's castle, seize the principal inmates, hang them on the branches of the neighbouring trees; and the commander of the troops, a Norman soldier of fortune, had deeds granted him, which secured the possession of the castle and the estates to him and to his heirs for ever. Also, that notices were sent to the counties Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and Yorkshire, offering a great reward to any one, or any body of men, who would capture Robin Hood, and bring him, dead or alive, into the hands of the sheriff of either county. Sir Richard lost no time in acquainting Robin Hood with this intelligence, and, acting upon his advice, everything the castle contained which was moveable was carried away and placed in the haunt at Barnsdale-a spacious cave, comfortably fitted up. After everything had been safely transported, Sir Richard and his wife, Herbert and Lilas, quitted their home in the Lee, to dwell with Robin Hood and his merrie men in the green wood, until such times as the ban was removed from his head, and he could again enter his castle as its lord, without molestation.

"Had I lost everything in the world, save my gentle wife and my beloved children," returned the knight, with enthusiasm, "through what I had done { in return for thy great kindness to me, at a moment when I so much needed it, I could have smiled, nay, rejoiced, that I could show thee how dearly I esteemed what thou hadst done, nor thought the loss sufficient to express my inmost feelings. But I still retain my estates: I am restored to life and liberty, saved at the peril of thine own life, and at the loss of many gallant hearts, whose lives were each worth twenty such carrion as these Normans, who lay strewed round us. I have still my wife and children to cheer me with their pleasant words and happy faces, and if it should so occur that I walk from my home a naked man, having only my family with me, I shall still fervently bless the hour I knew and found a friend in Robin Hood."

"It is pleasant to hear thee say so," replied Robin, "and I will strive to think thou dost mean what thou sayest."

"I will pledge my life, heart and hand, for its truth!" interrupted Herbert, with startling energy; "and in speaking those words my father does but convey what Lilas and my dear mother feel, and I as earnestly and deeply as my father can himself."

When the troop, led on by the newly-created possessor of the castle in the Lee, arrived, they found nothing but the bare walls to greet them-no living soul was near. The commander was rather astonished "I thank thee, Herbert, honestly, for thy good to find the place so desolate and deserted; but, having feeling, so warmly expressed," said Robin, affected by all his life been compelled to adapt himself to circumhis warmth, "and can assure ye both, that the friend-stances, he made the best he could of his situation, liness of such as thee compensates richly for the evil { and was not long ere he succeeded in obtaining such thoughts which those who are high and wealthy in necessaries as he required. He, however, found his the land bear towards me. Believe me, I shall trea- vassals horribly refractory, and was not slow to dissure the memory of this in my breast, as in some cover that King Henry's gift was little more than a future hour, perhaps of sadness, it will cheer me to negative good; but, as his previous situation had been turn to it, and recall a time when there were some worse, it was not in their power to make him quit it, noble and pure-minded souls who were not ashamed and so he kept it, in spite of all the obstacles which to acknowledge me for a friend. Now, to change the were thrown in his way. subject, and refer to your situation: your estates, when the news of this day's work reaches London, will assuredly be confiscated, and, unless you keep away, your life forfeited. I have, therefore, only to offer you and those you love an asylum in the green wood here with us; and I can give you my word, that while the band continue together, thou and they will be safe."

"Your offer is noble, Robin," replied the knight; "but I scarce think there is so much danger to fear as you apprehend. I am closely allied to the Gowers, and they have influence at court, which they will exercise in my favour, and thus mitigate the king's wrath, who may impose a fine, but I think nothing further."

"I hope it may be no worse. However, do as you list; and should you find that affairs turn out as I surmise, the green wood shall still be a place of safety for thee."

"And should they, I shall proudly and thankfully accept your offer," rejoined the knight.

AUTHOR'S LARGE EDITION.

ROBIN

HOOD RECEIVING HIS BUFFET FROM RICHARD CŒUR DE LION.

"Smyte on boldely, sayd Robyn,

I give thee large leve.

Anone our kynge, with that worde,
He folde up his sleve.

"And sych a buffet he gave Robyn,
To ground he yede full nere.

I make myn avowe to God, sayd Robyn,
Thou arte a stalworthe frere."

other, as if their existence was centred in them. The change of years, too, had brought no alteration in Will Scarlet and Maude; he was as enthusiastic in her praise as heretofore, and she as tender and anxious to preserve his happiness as she had ever been, and so they dwelled happily among the trees and flowers, suffering nothing trivial to disturb their contentment, and gathering joy and pleasure from every little event which could offer in any way an opportunity for doing so. Little John and Much had reason to congratulate themselves upon their choice, and Will's brothers -absurd as the events connected with their marriage may appear had no cause to repent their hasty wedding. Ere we quit them for ever, there are two characters of whom we would speak-they are Allan and his wife, the Lady Christabel. They had commenced living together after their marriage in Linton Abbey as if they were not destined long for this earth, but had only a short time remaining to prove how dearly they loved each other. The house in which they were domiciled had been built by Allan, and he had exercised his utmost ingenuity and taste to render it as like a paradise as art and nature combined could make it, and he succeeded. He seemed to have nothing to wish for; time flew by unheeded, as if he were in a dream of the rarest and most exquisite nature; he never forgot that he had loved Christabel from childhood, and her memory was equally tenacious respecting him; nor did either forget they had endured a bitter separation for many years, and so strove to make up for the sadness of that time by the undeviating joy and sweetness of the present. Christabel bore him several children, who came among them like the budding forth of young flowers: they were always a sweet and choice addition to the beauty of the scene. Weeks flew by them like days, and days like hours. They would wander round their grounds, with their arms folded round each other, and, looking into each other's eyes, would fancy there was no other world but what they were then gazing on. Christabel had never seen her father since the morning on which she was married. He had refused every overture that had been made to him by her or Allan, and, although it was the only disquiet she knew, yet, as he had never {acted kindly to her-never, in his mildest moods, having acted as a father to her-her regret was less poignant than it must otherwise have been; and when she heard of his death she wept, but not with the bitterness she would have done had he perished under different circumstances, in relation to his previous conduct to her. Allan had intended to advance his claim to the Nottingham earldom and baronetcy, with its possessions, but the king seized it, and it was bestowed afterwards on Prince John, among other earldoms which Richard Coeur de Lion presented to him before he quitted England for the Crusade. Allan, happy and contented where he was, did not seek to dispute the claim, and satisfied himself by dwelling peaceably with his wife and children, beloved by all, unmolested, for it was known he was under the especial protection of Robin Hood and his merrie men, and as happy as man could be, or could hope to be.

A LYTELL GESTE OF ROBYN HODE. THE SEVENTH FYTTE, HREE years elapsed subsequent to the events last narrated, without aught of interest taking place connected with Robin, save a few in cidents similar to his meetings with Arthur-a-Bland and Gaspar-a-Tin. His band had increased in numbers, and his fame had spread over all England, as the bravest and gentlest outlaw the world e'er saw. The interval we are passing over, albeit not altering Robin's situation in any particular degree, was one replete with anxiety and woe to Englishmen. King Henry was dead. His son Richard had succeeded him, and, after exhausting the kingdom of almost all its wealth, had joined the Crusade, leaving his brother John regent, a prince who was noted for his dissipation, yet monstrous avarice, his craftiness and cunning, yet vacillating imbecility of mind. During the period he exercised his sway, England groaned under the miseries his conduct, and that of the selfish wretches who surrounded him, produced. So far as lay in his { power, Robin Hood relieved the heavy burden of the poorest classes around him, in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and in Nottinghamshire, and accordingly was idolised by them; but, for the money he disbursed to the woe-begone, the starved, and the homeless, he made terrible reprisals upon the wealthy churchmen and Normans he was fortunate enough to get in his power, suffering none to depart without paying a heavy ransom, and upon all occasions attacking every band of Norman troopers who came within his reach, even as Alfred the Great did the Danes, or, as he more fondly loved to consider, Hereward le Wake did the Normans in William the Conqueror's time, and, scattering them far and wide, proving himself in name and presence a terror to every one of Norman birth or extraction. With him, in the recesses of the wood, still dwelled Marian, the same in heart and in spirit, in manner and words, as she had been when he lived cheerfully on in the hope that she would one day be his; and in every thought and act they were still as gentle and affectionate to each other as they were when they were young and earnest lovers, who hung almost breathlessly on every word and look from each's

The constant attacks upon the Churchmen and Normans of any rank, by Robin and his men, at length grew to such an extent that it excited the peculiar notice of the Lord High Chancellor of England, Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, who had succeeded in getting the regency out of the hands of Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of Durham, a wealthy prelate, who had paid Richard an enormous sum for it, and lost it while Richard was yet in Normandy. Longchamp determined to put an end to the outlaws and their abode; so fitted out an expedition of five hundred