"We have had no guests for a long time," said Robin Hood one day. "Let us go out and look for some. Little John, you go to the east and I will go to the west, and we will see if we do not find passing a greedy noble, or fat churchman who carries too much of this world's goods with him, and needs to be relieved for the good of the poor."
Now when Robin Hood and his men robbed a man—and they never molested any but the rich who had made their wealth by grinding down the poor—they brought him into the forest and made a feast for him. Then, after he had feasted, they told him he must pay his reckoning, and they took his goods or gold that he carried and divided these into three piles. One-third they gave back to him; one-third they kept for themselves; and the other third they distributed to the poor. The rich and grasping shuddered at the very mention of Robin Hood's feasts, but the poor breathed blessings on his name whenever they thought of them.
So Little John and his part of the band went to the east; and they were lucky, for they brought in the rich bishop of Hereford with five sumpter mules loaded with goods. But Robin Hood and his half found only a sorrowful knight who sighed as he rode along and seemed too sad to notice anything. Robin Hood laid his hand on his bridle, stopping his horse.
"Hold," he said. "I would speak with you."
"Now who are you who would stop a peaceful traveler on the king's highway?" asked the knight.
"Some call me an honest man and some call me a robber," answered Robin Hood. "At any rate, I and my men have an inn in the forest where we want you to stop and feast. But we let you know that we count upon our guests paying their reckoning."
"I take your meaning," answered the knight, "but I am no guest for you, for I have no money. Indeed, I am in great sorrow by reason of this very thing. Having great need of money to save the life of my son, I mortgaged my estate to the prior of Emmet and, though I could raise the money if he would give me more time, he will not give me a day, but means to seize the estate and turn me out a beggar."
"How much money did you borrow of him?" asked Robin Hood.
"Only four hundred pounds. The estate is worth many times that but he will show no mercy."
"Have you no friends who could lend you the money?" asked Robin Hood.