“And so thought I, also,” cried Robin Hood, bursting out of the thicket and shouting with laughter till the tears ran down his cheeks.  “O man, man!” said he, as well as he could for his mirth, “’a didst go over like a bottle knocked from a wall.  I did see the whole merry bout, and never did I think to see thee yield thyself so, hand and foot, to any man in all merry England.  I was seeking thee, to chide thee for leaving my bidding undone; but thou hast been paid all I owed thee, full measure, pressed down and overflowing, by this good fellow.  Marry, ’a did reach out his arm full length while thou stood gaping at him, and, with a pretty rap, tumbled thee over as never have I seen one tumbled before.”  So spoke bold Robin, and all the time Little John sat upon the ground, looking as though he had sour curds in his mouth.  “What may be thy name, good fellow?” said Robin, next, turning to the Tanner.

“Men do call me Arthur a Bland,” spoke up the Tanner boldly, “and now what may be thy name?”

“Ha, Arthur a Bland!” quoth Robin, “I have heard thy name before, good fellow.  Thou didst break the crown of a friend of mine at the fair at Ely last October.  The folk there call him Jock o’ Nottingham; we call him Will Scathelock.  This poor fellow whom thou hast so belabored is counted the best hand at the quarterstaff in all merry England.  His name is Little John, and mine Robin Hood.”

“How!” cried the Tanner, “art thou indeed the great Robin Hood, and is this the famous Little John?  Marry, had I known who thou art, I would never have been so bold as to lift my hand against thee.  Let me help thee to thy feet, good Master Little John, and let me brush the dust from off thy coat.”

“Nay,” quoth Little John testily, at the same time rising carefully, as though his bones had been made of glass, “I can help myself, good fellow, without thy aid; and let me tell thee, had it not been for that vile cowskin cap of thine, it would have been ill for thee this day.”

At this Robin laughed again, and, turning to the Tanner, he said, “Wilt thou join my band, good Arthur?  For I make my vow thou art one of the stoutest men that ever mine eyes beheld.”

“Will I join thy band?” cried the Tanner joyfully.  “Ay, marry, will I!  Hey for a merry life!” cried he, leaping aloft and snapping his fingers, “and hey for the life I love!  Away with tanbark and filthy vats and foul cowhides!  I will follow thee to the ends of the earth, good master, and not a herd of dun deer in all the forest but shall know the sound of the twang of my bowstring.”

“As for thee, Little John,” said Robin, turning to him and laughing, “thou wilt start once more for Ancaster, and we will go part way with thee, for I will not have thee turn again to either the right hand or the left till thou hast fairly gotten away from Sherwood.  There are other inns that thou knowest yet, hereabouts.”  Thereupon, leaving the thickets, they took once more to the highway and departed upon their business.