[Illustration: Robin ran into the arms of a huge fellow, who caught him up as if he had been a baby.]
"Hullo, giant!" cried the big man, "who are you?" And the party of men with him, armed with long bows and arrows, began to laugh merrily.
"Let me go—let me go!" cried the boy, struggling angrily.
"Steady, steady, my little Cock Robin," said the man, in his big bluff way; "don't fight, or you'll ruffle your feathers."
The boy ceased struggling directly.
"How did you know my name was Robin?" he said.
"Guessed it, little one. There, I shan't hurt you. Where do you come from?"
"Ellton," said the boy.
"But what are you doing here in the forest?"
"You came and fought David, and frightened him and the men away, and those are our mules and the cloth."