"Oh, I forgot you hadn’t heard," was Robin’s rejoinder. "I’ve been reading to-day in my history-book about Robin Hood. He was an outlaw--a splendid one--who lived in the woods, and he and his followers were always dressed in green, and had bows and arrows and hunted the king’s deer. I’ll be Robin Hood, because of course it’s my name, and will you be one of my merry men, Julius?" "I don’t think an outlaw is a nice kind of man," was the reply. "They were generally hanged, weren’t they?" "Robin Hood was a _good_ outlaw," responded Robin earnestly. "He used to do all sorts of kind things to the poor, and they loved him and would never tell where he was hid." "My coat has a greenish lining," remarked Julius. "Do you think if I turned it inside out that it would do?" "Perhaps it would," answered Robin doubtfully. "I’ll ask mother to lend you her green scarf to tie round your waist, and we’ll pretend it’s all that colour." This weighty matter arranged, the two boys sallied forth to the little wood which lay at the back of the cottage. "The first thing to do is to find a cave, or some place to sleep in," was the leader’s order, "and then we’ll have a look at the king’s deer." "I’m sure there aren’t any deer here," remarked Julius, "and if there were, we’d get into a jolly row if we killed them." "There are lots of rabbits, and they’ll do just as well," replied Robin cheerfully. "Of course we won’t kill them really, we’ll only make-believe they are dead." It was not long before an ideal site was found for the hiding-place of the merry men. A high bank had been dug into long ago to obtain gravel, leaving a hollow of about six feet square. Young saplings and briars had sprung up all around making an arch of green above the level floor. Robin gave a shout of triumph when he discovered the spot. "If we can drag some branches here to make a roof, it will be just like a real house," he said. "We might make a wall in front with these stones which are lying about, and only leave one little hole for the door, so that it will be nice and warm inside, and nobody will be able to see us, even if they pass quite near." It took longer than he had calculated to carry out the grand idea--indeed for a whole week the king’s deer were permitted to go unmolested, Robin Hood and his follower being too busily engaged in building operations to turn their thoughts to the chase.