When she came back Sir Robert Lee was with her, and the Queen’s cheeks were hot and the Queen’s eyes were bright, as though she had been talking with high words.  Then Sir Robert came straight forward to where Robin Hood stood, and he spoke to the yeoman in a cold, stern voice.  Quoth he, “Our gracious Sovereign the King hath mitigated his wrath toward thee, fellow, and hath once more promised that thou shalt depart in peace and safety.  Not only hath he promised this, but in three days he will send one of his pages to go with thee and see that none arrest thy journey back again.  Thou mayst thank thy patron saint that thou hast such a good friend in our noble Queen, for, but for her persuasion and arguments, thou hadst been a dead man, I can tell thee.  Let this peril that thou hast passed through teach thee two lessons.  First, be more honest.  Second, be not so bold in thy comings and goings.  A man that walketh in the darkness as thou dost may escape for a time, but in the end he will surely fall into the pit.  Thou hast put thy head in the angry lion’s mouth, and yet thou hast escaped by a miracle.  Try it not again.”  So saying, he turned and left Robin and was gone.

For three days Robin abided in London in the Queen’s household, and at the end of that time the King’s head Page, Edward Cunningham, came, and taking Robin with him, departed northward upon his way to Sherwood.  Now and then they passed bands of the King’s men coming back again to London, but none of those bands stopped them, and so, at last, they reached the sweet, leafy woodlands.

Robin Hood and Guy of Gisbourne

A LONG TIME passed after the great shooting match, and during that time Robin followed one part of the advice of Sir Robert Lee, to wit, that of being less bold in his comings and his goings; for though mayhap he may not have been more honest (as most folks regard honesty), he took good care not to travel so far from Sherwood that he could not reach it both easily and quickly.

Great changes had fallen in this time; for King Henry had died and King Richard had come to the crown that fitted him so well through many hard trials, and through adventures as stirring as any that ever befell Robin Hood.  But though great changes came, they did not reach to Sherwood’s shades, for there Robin Hood and his men dwelled as merrily as they had ever done, with hunting and feasting and singing and blithe woodland sports; for it was little the outside striving of the world troubled them.

The dawning of a summer’s day was fresh and bright, and the birds sang sweetly in a great tumult of sound.  So loud was their singing that it awakened Robin Hood where he lay sleeping, so that he stirred, and turned, and arose.  Up rose Little John also, and all the merry men; then, after they had broken their fast, they set forth hither and thither upon the doings of the day.