“Great tarantulas!” growled Brad. “That gent certain deserved to be shot up some for making such foolish talk!”
“Do you really believe there was a Robin Hood, professor?” asked Dick, once more.
“I think there is no doubt that such a man lived,” answered the old man stiffly. “Perhaps he did not pass through all the stirring adventures credited to him, but I am satisfied that there was a Robin Hood. He was passionately attached to the chase, and he was bold enough to make free with the king’s deer, which angered the king, who summoned him to London. Thinking himself far safer here in this forest, which was then much more vast, having since been cut away to a great extent, he simply ignored the summons, upon which the king pronounced him an outlaw.”
The sun was low in the west, and the long shadows deepened in Sherwood Forest. Soon the sun set and night spread its wing over the ancient haunts of Robin Hood.
“How much farther to the tavern, driver?” asked Professor Gunn.
“Not hover four mile, sir,” was the answer.
Behind them on the hard road there sounded the clatter of hoofs and rumble of wheels. Looking round, they saw a closed carriage, drawn by two horses, rapidly approaching.
“Some one drives in a great hurry,” said Dick.
The horses were steaming as they whipped past at a favorable place for doing so. The curtains of the carriage were closely drawn, and not a soul save the muffled driver was to be seen.
“Those horses have been pushed right hard,” observed Buckhart. “Wonder who’s inside the old hearse.”