CHAPTER XV
HOW ROBIN HOOD WAS TANNED OF THE TANNER
In Nottingham there lived a jolly tanner,
With a hey down, down, a down down!
His name was Arthur-a-Bland,
There was ne'er a squire in Nottinghamshire
Dare bid bold Arthur stand.
And as he went forth, in a summer's morning,
With a hey down, down, a down down!
To the forest of merrie Sherwood,
To view the red deer, that range here and there,
There met he with bold Robin Hood.
The Sheriff's daughter bided for several days in the faint hope
that she might hear tidings of the prattling tinker. But never a
word heard she, and she was forced to the conclusion that her
messenger had not so much as laid eyes upon the outlaw. Little
recked she that he was, even then, grinding sword-points and
sharpening arrows out in the good greenwood, while whistling
blithely or chatting merrily with the good Friar Tuck.
Then she bethought herself of another good man, one
Arthur-a-Bland, a tanner who dwelt in Nottingham town and was
far-famed in the tourneys round about. He had done some pretty
tricks at archery, but was strongest at wrestling and the
quarter-staff. For three years he had cast all comers to the
earth in wrestling until the famous Eric o' Lincoln broke a rib
for him in a mighty tussle. Howsoever, at quarter-staff he had
never yet met his match; so that there was never a squire in
Nottinghamshire dare bid bold Arthur stand.
With a long pike-staff on his shoulder,
So well he could clear his way
That by two and three he made men flee
And none of them could stay.
Thus at least runs the old song which tells of his might.
"This is just the man for me!" thought the Sheriff's daughter to
herself; and she forthwith summoned him to the Mansion House and
commissioned him to seek out Robin Hood.
The warrant was quite to Arthur's liking, for he was happiest
when out in the forest taking a sly peep at the King's deer; and
now he reckoned that he could look at them boldly, instead of by
the rays of the moon. He could say to any King's Forester who
made bold to stop him: "I am here on the King's business!"
"Gramercy! No more oak-bark and ditch-water and the smell of
half-tanned hides to-day!" quoth he, gaily. "I shall e'en see
what the free air of heaven tastes like, when it sweeps through
the open wood."
So the tanner departed joyfully upon his errand, but much more
interested in the dun deer of the forest than in any two-legged
rovers therein. This interest had, in fact, caused the Foresters
to keep a shrewd eye upon him in the past, for his tannery was
apt to have plenty of meat in it that was more like venison than
the law allowed. As for the outlaws, Arthur bore them no
ill-will; indeed he had felt a secret envy in his heart at their
free life; but he was not afraid to meet any two men who might
come against him. Nathless, the Sheriff's daughter did not
choose a very good messenger, as you shall presently see.
Away sped the tanner, a piece of bread and some wine in his
wallet, a good longbow and arrows slung across his shoulder, his
stout quarter-staff in his hand, and on his head a cap of trebled
raw-hide so tough that it would turn the edge of a broadsword.
He lost no time in getting out of the hot sun and into the
welcome shade of the forest, where he stalked cautiously about
seeking some sign of the dun deer.
Now it so chanced that upon that very morning Robin Hood had sent
Little John to a neighboring village to buy some cloth of Lincoln
green for new suits for all the band. Some of the money recently
won of the King was being spent in this fashion, 'gainst the
approach of winter. Will Scarlet had been sent on a similar
errand to Barnesdale some time before, if you remember, only to
be chased up the hill without his purchase. So to-day Little
John was chosen, and for sweet company's sake Robin went with him
a part of the way until they came to the "Seven Does," the inn
where Robin had recently played his prank upon Middle the tinker.
Here they drank a glass of ale to refresh themselves withal, and
for good luck; and Robin tarried a bit while Little John went on
his errand.
Presently Robin entered the edge of the wood, when whom should he
see but Arthur-a-Bland, busily creeping after a graceful deer
that browsed alone down the glade. "Now by Saint George and the
Dragon!" quoth Robin to himself. "I much fear that yon same
fellow is a rascally poacher come after our own and the King's
meat!"
For you must know, by a curious process of reasoning, Robin and
his men had hunted in the royal preserves so long that they had
come to consider themselves joint owners to every animal which
roamed therein.
"Nay!" he added, "this must be looked into! That cow-skin cap in
sooth must hide a scurvy varlet!"
And forthwith he crept behind a tree, and thence to another,
stalking our friend Arthur as busily as Arthur was stalking the
deer.
This went on for quite a space, until the tanner began to come
upon the deer and to draw his bow in order to tickle the victim's
ribs with a cloth-yard shaft. But just at this moment Robin
unluckily trod upon a twig which snapped and caused the tanner to
turn suddenly.
Robin saw that he was discovered, so he determined to put a bold
face on the matter, and went forward with some smart show of
authority.
"Hold!" he cried: "stay your hand! Why, who are you, bold
fellow, to range so boldly here? In sooth, to be brief, ye look
like a thief that has come to steal the King's deer."
"Marry, it is scant concern of yours, what I look like!" retorted
Arthur-a-Bland. "Who are you, who speak so bravely?"
"You shall soon find out who I am!" quoth Robin, determining to
find some sport in the matter. "I am a keeper of this forest.
The King knows that I am looking after his deer for him; and
therefore we must stay you."
"Have you any assistants, friend?" asked the tanner calmly. "For
it is not one man alone who can stop me."
"Nay truly, gossip," replied Robin. "I have a good yew bow, also
a right sharp blade at my side. Nathless I need no better
assistant than a good oak-graff like unto yours. Give me a
baker's dozen of minutes with it and it shall pleasure me to
crack that pate of yours for your sauciness!"
"Softly, my man! Fair and softly! Big words never killed so
much as a mouse--least of all yon deer which has got away while
you were filling all the woods with your noisy breath. So choose
your own playthings. For your sword and your bow I care not a
straw; nor for all your arrows to boot. If I get but a knock at
you, 'twill be as much as you'll need."
"Now by our Lady! Will you listen to the braggart?" cried Robin
in a fine rage. "Marry, but I'll teach ye to be more mannerly!"
So saying he unbuckled his belt; and, flinging his bow upon the
ground he seized hold of a young sapling that was growing near
by. His hunting knife soon had it severed and lopped into shape.
"Now come, fellow!" said Arthur-a-Bland, seeing that he was
ready. "And if I do not tan your hide for you in better shape
than ever calf-skin was turned into top-boots, may a murrain
seize me!"
"Stay," said Robin, "methinks my cudgel is half a foot longer
than yours. I would have them of even length before you begin
your tanning."
"I pass not for length," bold Arthur replied; "my staff is long
enough, as you will shortly find out. Eight foot and a half,
and 'twill knock down a calf"--here he made it whistle in the
air--"and I hope it will knock down you."
Forthwith the two men spat on their hands, laid firm hold upon
their cudgels and began slowly circling round each other, looking
for an opening.
Now it so chanced that Little John had fared expeditiously with
his errand. He had met the merchant, from whom he was wont to
buy Lincoln green, coming along the road; and had made known his
wants in few words. The merchant readily undertook to deliver the
suits by a certain day in the following month. So Little John,
glad to get back to the cool shelter of the greenwood, hasted
along the road lately taken by Robin.
Presently he heard the sound of angry voices, one of which he
recognized as his captain's.
"Now, Heaven forfend," quoth he, "that Robin Hood has fallen into
the clutches of a King's man! I must take a peep at this fray."
So he cautiously made his way from tree to tree, as Robin had
done, till he came to the little open space where Robin and
Arthur were circling about each other with angry looks, like two
dogs at bay.
"Ha! this looks interesting!" muttered Little John to himself,
for he loved a good quarter-staff bout above anything else in
the world, and was the best man at it in all the greenwood. And
he crawled quietly underneath a friendly bush--much as he had
done when Robin undertook to teach Will Scarlet a lesson--and
chuckled softly to himself and slapped his thigh and prepared to
watch the fight at his ease.
Indeed it was both exciting and laughable. You would have
chuckled one moment and caught your breath the next, to see those
two stout fellows swinging their sticks--each half as long again
as the men were, and thick as their arm--and edging along
sidewise, neither wishing to strike the first blow.
At last Robin could no longer forbear, and his good right arm
swung round like a flash. Ping! went the stick on the back of
the other's head, raising such a welt that the blood came. But
the tanner did not seem to mind it at all, for bing! went his own
staff in return, giving Robin as good as he had sent. Then the
battle was on, and furiously it waged. Fast fell the blows, but
few save the first ones landed, being met in mid-air by a
counter-blow till the thwacking sticks sounded like the steady
roll of a kettle-drum and the oak--bark flew as fine as it had
ever done in Arthur-a-Bland's tannery.
Round and round they fought, digging their heels into the ground
to keep from slipping, so that you would have vowed there had
been a yoke of oxen ploughing a potato-patch. Round and round,
up and down, in and out, their arms working like
threshing-machines, went the yeoman and the tanner, for a full
hour, each becoming more astonished every minute that the other
was such a good fellow. While Little John from underneath his
bushy covert had much ado to keep from roaring aloud in pure joy.
Finally Robin saw his chance and brought a full arm blow straight
down upon the other's head with a force that would have felled a
bullock. But Arthur's trebled cow-skin cap here stood him in
good stead: the blow glanced off without doing more than stunning
him. Nathless, he reeled and had much ado to keep from falling;
seeing which Robin stayed his hand--to his own sorrow, for the
tanner recovered his wits in a marvelous quick space and sent
back a sidelong blow which fairly lifted Robin off his feet and
sent him tumbling on to the grass.
"Hold your hand! hold your hand!" roared Robin with what little
breath he had left. "Hold, I say, and I will give you the
freedom of the greenwood."
"Why, God-a-mercy," said Arthur; "I may thank my staff for
that--not YOU."
"Well, well, gossip' let be as it may. But prithee tell me your
name and trade. I like to know fellows who can hit a blow like
that same last."
"I am a tanner," replied Arthur-a-Bland. "In Nottingham long
have I wrought. And if you'll come to me I swear I'll tan your
hides for naught."
"Odds bodikins!" quoth Robin ruefully. "Mine own hide is tanned
enough for the present. Howsoever, there be others in this wood
I would fain see you tackle. Harkee, if you will leave your
tan-pots and come with me, as sure as my name is Robin Hood, you
shan't want gold or fee."
"By the breath o' my body!" said Arthur, "that will I do!" and
he gripped him gladly by the hand. "But I am minded that I clean
forgot the errand that brought me to Sherwood. I was
commissioned by some, under the Sheriff's roof, to capture you."
"So was a certain tinker, now in our service," said Robin
smilingly.
"Verily 'tis a new way to recruit forces!" said the tanner
laughing loudly. "But tell me, good Robin Hood, where is Little
John? I fain would see him, for he is a kinsman on my mother's
side."
"Here am I, good Arthur-a-Bland!" said a voice; and Little
John literally rolled out from under the bush to the sward. His
eyes were full of tears from much laughter which had well-nigh
left him powerless to get on his feet.
As soon as the astonished tanner saw who it was, he gave Little
John a mighty hug around the neck, and lifted him up on his feet,
and the two pounded each other on the back soundly, so glad were
they to meet again.
"O, man, man!" said Little John as soon as he had got his
breath. "Never saw I so fine a sight in all my born days. You
did knock him over like as he were a ninepin!"
"And you do joy to see me thwacked about on the ribs?" asked
Robin with some choler.
"Nay, not that, master!" said Little John. "But 'tis the second
time I have had special tickets to a show from beneath the
bushes, and I cannot forbear my delight. Howsoever, take no
shame unto yourself, for this same Arthur-a-Bland is the best man
at the quarter-staff in all Nottinghamshire. It commonly takes
two or three men to hold him."
"Unless it be Eric o' Lincoln," said Arthur modestly; "and I well
know how you paid him out at the Fair."
"Say no more!" said Robin springing to his feet; "for well I know
that I have done good business this day, and a few bruises are
easy payment for the stout cudgel I am getting into the band.
Your hand again, good Arthur-a-Bland! Come! let us after the deer
of which I spoiled your stalking."
"Righty gladly!" quoth Arthur. "Come, Cousin Little John! Away
with vats and tan-bark and vile-smelling cowhides! I'll follow
you two in the sweet open air to the very ends of earth!"
