By this time, they were nearing some of the big palaces which gave this section of the country the name of “The Dukeries,” from the fact that so many noblemen have lived there. Earl Manvers, the Duke of Newcastle, and the Duke of Portland, all have tremendous estates between the towns of Worksop and Edwinstowe. Some of the stately houses were pointed out in the distance behind the trees, but neither Barbara nor Betty, Philip nor John, paid the slightest heed to them. Their minds were fixed on Robin Hood, and they saw only the Sherwood Forest which he knew. When Betty looked at Clumber House, across a pretty little lake, she only said:
“Perhaps near that lake was where Robin found Alan-a-Dale, the dear minstrel.”
“Oh, no, Betty; it was by a fountain that he found Alan-a-Dale,” Barbara politely corrected.
“Yes, that’s so, Barbara,” Betty replied, in all seriousness. “I forgot.”
There was one thing upon the estate of the Duke of Portland which did greatly interest the party, however; that is, an old gnarled oak which is called “Robin Hood’s Larder.”
“Ye see, ’e came ’ere to store ’is venison, and to ’ang it up to dry. ’E was a clever chap, ’e was. ’E ’id it inside the trunk.” The driver grinned from ear to ear, as he gave this valuable information.
Getting out to explore, the children found that the huge tree is hollow, and propped up to postpone the sad day when it will surely collapse altogether. Many old tree-trunks, all over Sherwood Forest, are like this, and in some of them John could stretch his full length upon the ground. Near “Robin Hood’s Larder” is the spot where, according to Scott, the outlaw met with King Richard of the Lion Heart,—or, at least, so say the local guidebooks.
“Yes,” said Mrs. Pitt, understanding at once; “don’t you remember that in Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe’? Another version of this famous meeting is in Howard Pyle’s book. King Richard was at Nottingham Town, you know, and having a curious desire to meet with Robin Hood, he and his friends went into Sherwood Forest, dressed as friars. Robin and his men found them, of course, and made them guests at a feast. Later, there was shooting, and Robin Hood, having once missed the mark, applied to the King, whom he did not recognize, for a punishment. Thereupon King Richard arose, rolled up his sleeve, and gave such a blow as Robin had never felt before. It was afterwards that Sir Richard of the Lea appeared upon the scene, and disclosed the identity of the powerful stranger. Then Robin Hood, Little John, Will Scarlet, and Alan-a-Dale followed the King to London at the royal wish, and left Sherwood for many a long day.”
They were now passing through a very dense part of the wood. Close about the feet of the oaks, a thick, tangled underbrush grows. Some of the old trees seem to be gray with age, and their whitish, twisted branches offer a sharp contrast to the dark shadows, and make a weird, ghostlike effect.
“Oh!” exclaimed Betty, “it must have been in just such a spot as this in the forest that Gurth in ‘Ivanhoe’ suddenly came upon a company of Robin Hood’s men. Gurth was the Saxon, you know. He had been to Isaac, the Jew, at York, and was carrying back the ransom money to his master, Ivanhoe. Of course, poor Gurth thought he would surely be robbed, when he discovered in whose society he was; but as you said, Mrs. Pitt, Robin Hood never took money from honest men, especially when it was not their own. They led Gurth farther and farther into the depths of Sherwood. I can just imagine it was a place like this,—where the moonlight lit up these ghostly trees, and the red glow of the camp-fire showed Gurth’s frightened face. He was quite safe, though, for he proved that the money was his master’s, and Robin let him go, and even showed him the way to the ‘skirts of the forest,’ as he did the Sheriff of Nottingham.”