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Chapter 11. Vengeance on Sir Guy

“It’s no good going to Gamwell Hall, Robin”, said the old lady as she stopped working at her spinning-wheel to face the outlaw.

“Why not?” asked Robin, stretching himself lazily in the woman’s old fireside chair.

He had visited this aged friend while he was near Nottingham, and had told her of his intention of going to Gamwell Hall.

“Because it doesn’t belong to Squire Gamwell any longer”, was the old lady’s reply.

“Indeed?” cried Robin. “But what of Maid Marian, and Will Gamwell? I promised Maid Marian that I would return, and return I shall!”

“Squire Gamwell is dead”, said the old lady, quietly. “Sir Guy of Gisborne lives in the old Hall now”.

Robin could hardly believe her. It was not the knowledge that the kindly old squire had died that disturbed him; it was the news that Sir Guy of Gisborne, a knight hated by Squire Gamwell, should be in residence.

“But surely Squire Gamwell would have left the Hall to his own son?” questioned the outlaw.

“Ah, he would have done if he could”.

“What do you mean?”

“It was like this, Robin”, the old woman continued, “Sir Guy of Gisborne attacked Gamwell Hall in great force one day. There was a terrific battle, and it ended in the Squire being killed and the Hall taken by Sir Gay”.

“What happened to Maid Marian?” was Robin’s quick question.

“I don’t know”, replied the old woman. “Nobody knows”.

“You mean to say she has vanished?” Robin was astounded.

“Some say she was away at the time of the attack. Some say Sir Guy of Gisborne held her prisoner and married her. Some say he killed her”.

Robin started blindly out through the window. Could it be true that Maid Marian – his Maid Marian – was dead! No! That could never be. He reeled out into the sunlight. Revenge against Sir Guy of Gisborne filled his mind.

When he returned to his greenwood camp, he called about him all his men.

“We are going to attack Gamwell Hall”, he announced. “Sir Guy of Gisborne has captured the Hall and killed our friend, Squire Gamwell. What has become of Maid Marian and Will Gamwell nobody knows. We are going to find that out”.

“What plans have you, master?” asked Little John.

“None, except that we attack tonight!”

It was dark that dark that night. As Robin’s men set out through the forest they talked excitedly amongst themselves about the daring attack they were about to make. Robin led them to the outskirts of the greenwood, across fields, and along darkened country lanes. At last the lights of Gamwell Hall could be seen in the distance.

“Quiet, men”, ordered Robin. “Not a word until we have reached the Hall”.

All speech ended. Only the soft tread of stealthy footsteps could be heard on the night air.

“Here’s the moat”, whispered the outlaw leader, as the party halted on the bank.

The cold dark water, rippling now and then as the breeze touched it, looked forbidding as some of the lights from the Hall sent shafts of yellow through it.

“Little John and Will Scarlet”, breathed Robin, “I want you to swim the moat and then to creep up to the windows. Find out what is happening in the Hall and return to us. We shall cross the moat while you are gone and we’ll meet you on the far side”.

Little John and Will Scarlet slipped into the deep water and swam silently away from the party of men. They were not gone long. Robin’s men had crossed the moat and were silently waiting on the other side of the water when the two men met them.

“Sir Guy is holding a feast”, reported Little John. “They are making merry”.

“That’s lucky for us”, said Friar Tuck. “It will be Robin Hood and his Merrie Men against Sir Guy and his Merrie men”.

“They will not be so merry when they have felt our steel”, said Robin. “Now”, he added softly, “advance through the fence”.

Friar Tuck was the first to attempt to get through the fence. There was a hole in it, the hole that Little John and Will Scarlet had climbed through. But Friar Tuck was a man of very different proportions. His head and shoulders were through before he realized that his great girth would not allow the rest of him to follow. He was pulled back by those behind him. The fence was torn down bit by until a hole large enough for the men to climb through in pairs was made.

“I’m going alone to the door of the Hall”, said Robin, when all the men were standing in the grounds. “Keep silent and follow me in the shadows”.

Robin went on ahead. He reached the door, and knocked.

“What do you want?” asked the doorkeeper, peering through the darkness at his visitor.

“Is Sir Guy at Home?” asked Robin.

“He is”.

“Then tell him that Robin Hood has come to see him”.

Amazement showed on the doorkeeper’s face as the light from inside the Hall fell on his rugged features. He took a step backwards. Was this really Robin Hood in person?

“I – I’ll tell Sir Guy”, he stammered. “Are you alone?”

“Do I look as if I have anyone with me?”

Again the doorkeeper peered into the night. He could see nobody.

“Wait!” he said.

He ran into the Hall and told Sir Guy of Gisborne.

“Robin Hood, eh?” laughed Sir Guy. “Tell him to come in”.

“But he cannot be up to any good, sire”.

“If Robin Hood wants to put his head in a noose, let him do so”, shouted the knight.

“I fear he has some trick up his sleeve”.

“Admit him, I say!” cried Sir Guy, smiting the table with his fist.

The doorkeeper said no more. He went back to the entrance and opened the door again. While he had been talking to Sir Guy, the rest of Robin’s men had been slowly creeping towards the leader. Now they were all standing waiting at the door.

“You are enter”, said the doorkeeper. “Sir Guy will see you in the Hall”.

“Then out of our way”, cried Robin, thrusting the man aside. The Merrie Men followed Robin down the Hall to where Sir Guy was feasting at a trestle-table with many knights. Around the walls were posted a number of Sir Guy’s soldiers.

“Who gave leave for all those men to come in?” demanded Sir Guy.

He had expected the outlaw to come alone down the Hall, and here he intended to insult him before taking him captive. But the sight of all Robin’s archers made him rise up in terror.

“Villains!” he screamed. “Slay them! Let not a single man remain alive!”

“Every man for himself!” shouted Robin, and dashed for the knight.

A terrific fight followed. Sir Guy’s men were in the best position, for they had swords and battle-axes. These were more suitable for close-quarter fighting. But Robin and his men were strong, fresh and determined.

The two sides charged into each other furiously. Sir Gay’s soldiers were brave and strong. They were used to fighting; but Robin’s men were hardy, and they had sprung a great surprise by their sudden arrival. Robin’s words of encouragement rang in their ears as they sprang forward to attack. Whenever one of Sir Guy’s soldiers fell, his sword was snatched by one of Robin’s men. The soldiers were no match for the determined men from Sherwood Forest, and soon they falling back before the outlaws.

Suddenly Robin Hood cried a warning. An oil-lamp he had seen swinging dangerously as a sword crashed into it suddenly fell to the floor. Another followed. Then another. The Hall was rapidly getting darker as lamp after lamp crashed to the floor.

Robin was still grappling with Sir Guy of Gisborne when the last of the lamps was hit and the Hall plunged into darkness. In that moment Sir Guy acted with great cunning.

In the confusion, he slipped free of Robin and made for the door of the Hall. In the darkness it was impossible to follow him. Neither side could tell who was who.

Suddenly fire flared up. One of the oil-lamps had set light to part of the timbered wall of the Hall. The flames spread quickly. The whole building would be burning before long. Robin called his men together.

“Sir Guy has escaped”, he shouted. “It’s useless fighting on in this inferno. We must leave these rascals and return to the forest”.

As the flames spread, Robin’s men made their way out of the burning building and crossed the grounds to the most. Some were being helped along by others. Two of the men had to be left behind. They had been killed by the soldiers.

“This is a sad sight”, murmured Robin to Friar Tuck, as they stood for a moment on the side of the moat watching the flames leaping high into the air. “The gallant Gamwell Hall that I have loved for so many years will soon be no more”.

But Robin’s mind wandered from the Hall. He had set out to rescue the beautiful Maid Marian from Sir Guy of Gisborne; yet he had seen no sign of her.

“One thing is certain”, he reflected. “Maid Marian was not at the Hall tonight. Even if she were in another part of the building she would have come to find out the cause of the uproar”.

Then he thought that perhaps the story that Sir Guy had killed Maid Marian might be true, after all. What of Will Gamwell, too? These were disturbing questions.

As he wandered deeper into the forest towards his encampment, he asked himself again and again: “Where was Maid Marian?”

The answer to that question came some days later.

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Chapter 10. The Ambushed Abbot	\|	Chapter 12. Robin Hood’s Wedding.

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