Then the herald stood forth and loudly proclaimed the rules of the game as follows: 

“Shoot each man from yon mark, which is sevenscore yards and ten from the target.  One arrow shooteth each man first, and from all the archers shall the ten that shooteth the fairest shafts be chosen for to shoot again.  Two arrows shooteth each man of these ten, then shall the three that shoot the fairest shafts be chosen for to shoot again.  Three arrows shooteth each man of those three, and to him that shooteth the fairest shafts shall the prize be given.”

Then the Sheriff leaned forward, looking keenly among the press of archers to find whether Robin Hood was among them; but no one was there clad in Lincoln green, such as was worn by Robin and his band.  “Nevertheless,” said the Sheriff to himself, “he may still be there, and I miss him among the crowd of other men.  But let me see when but ten men shoot, for I wot he will be among the ten, or I know him not.”

And now the archers shot, each man in turn, and the good folk never saw such archery as was done that day.  Six arrows were within the clout, four within the black, and only two smote the outer ring; so that when the last arrow sped and struck the target, all the people shouted aloud, for it was noble shooting.

And now but ten men were left of all those that had shot before, and of these ten, six were famous throughout the land, and most of the folk gathered there knew them.  These six men were Gilbert o’ the Red Cap, Adam o’ the Dell, Diccon Cruikshank, William o’ Leslie, Hubert o’ Cloud, and Swithin o’ Hertford.  Two others were yeomen of merry Yorkshire, another was a tall stranger in blue, who said he came from London Town, and the last was a tattered stranger in scarlet, who wore a patch over one eye.

“Now,” quoth the Sheriff to a man-at-arms who stood near him, “seest thou Robin Hood among those ten?”

“Nay, that do I not, Your Worship,” answered the man.  “Six of them I know right well.  Of those Yorkshire yeomen, one is too tall and the other too short for that bold knave.  Robin’s beard is as yellow as gold, while yon tattered beggar in scarlet hath a beard of brown, besides being blind of one eye.  As for the stranger in blue, Robin’s shoulders, I ween, are three inches broader than his.”

“Then,” quoth the Sheriff, smiting his thigh angrily, “yon knave is a coward as well as a rogue, and dares not show his face among good men and true.”

Then, after they had rested a short time, those ten stout men stepped forth to shoot again.  Each man shot two arrows, and as they shot, not a word was spoken, but all the crowd watched with scarce a breath of sound; but when the last had shot his arrow another great shout arose, while many cast their caps aloft for joy of such marvelous shooting.

“Now by our gracious Lady fair,” quoth old Sir Amyas o’ the Dell, who, bowed with fourscore years and more, sat near the Sheriff, “ne’er saw I such archery in all my life before, yet have I seen the best hands at the longbow for threescore years and more.”