"'Henceforth my roof shall be the broad expanse of heaven, an' all tyrants shall learn to tremble at my name!' Doesn't that sound fine, Uncle ****? I tried to get Ben, you know, the gardener's boy - to come an' live in the 'greenwood' with me a bit an' help to make 'tyrants' tremble, but hesaid he was 'fraid his mother might find him some day, an' he wouldn't, so I'm going to make them tremble all by myself, unless you will come an' be Little John, like you were once before - oh, do!"Before I could answer, hearing footsteps, I looked round, and my heart leaped, for there was Lisbeth coming down the path.
Her head was drooping and she walked with a listless air. Now, as I watched I forgot everything but that she looked sad, and troubled, and more beautiful than ever, and that I loved her. Instinctively I rose, lifting my cap. She started, and for the fraction of a second her eyes looked into mine, then she passed serenely on her way. I might have been a stick or stone for all the further notice she bestowed.
Side by side, the Imp and I watched her go, until the last gleam of her white skirt had vanished amid the green. Then he folded his arms and turned to me.
"So be it!" he said, with an air of stern finality; "an' now, what is a 'blasted oak,' please?""A blasted oak!" I repeated. "If you please, Uncle ****.""'Well, it's an oak-tree that has been struck by lightning.""Like the one with the 'stickie-out' branches, where I once hid Auntie Lis - Her stockings?"I nodded, and sitting down, began to pack up my fishing rod and things.
"I'm glad of that," pursued the Imp thoughtfully. "Robin Hood was always saying to somebody, 'Hie thee to the blasted oak at midnight!' an' it's nice to have one handy, you know."I thought that under certain circumstances, and with a piece of rope, it would be very much so, "blasted" or otherwise, but I only said, "Yes" and sighed.
"'Whence that doleful visage,' Uncle **** - I mean Little John? Is Auntie angry with you, too?""Yes," I answered, and sighed again.
"Oh!" said the Imp, staring, "an' do you feel like - like - wait a minute- and once more he drew out and consulted the tattered volume - "'do you feel like hanging yourself in your sword-belt to the arm of yonder tree?'" he asked eagerly, with his finger upon a certain paragraph. "Very like it, my Imp.""Or - or 'hurling yourself from the topmost pinnacle of yon lofty crag?'""Yes, Imp; the 'loftier' the better!"
"Then you must be in love, like Alan-a-Dale; he was going to hang himself, an' 'hurl himself oft the topmost pinnacle,' you know, only Robin Hood said, 'Whence that doleful visage,' an' stopped him - you remember?""To be sure," I nodded.
"An' so you are really in love with my Auntie Lisbeth, are you?" "Yes.""Is that why she's angry with you?" "Probably."The Imp was silent, apparently plunged once more in a profound meditation.
"'Fraid there's something wrong with her," he said at last, shaking his head; "she's always getting angry with everybody 'bout something - you an' me an' Mr. Selwyn"Mr. Selwyn!" I exclaimed."Imp, what do you mean?""'Well, she got cross with me first - an' over such a little thing, too! We were in the orchard, an' I spilt some lemonade on her gown - only about half a glass, you know, an' when she went to wipe it off she hadn't a handkerchief, an' 'course I had none. So she told me to fetch one, an' I was just going when Mr. Selwyn came, so I said, 'Would he lend Auntie Lisbeth his handkerchief, 'cause she wanted one to wipe her dress?' an' he said, 'Delighted!' Then auntie frowned at me an' shook her head when he wasn't looking. But Mr. Selwyn took out his handkerchief, an' got down on his knees, an' began to wipe off the lemonade, telling her something 'bout his 'heart,' an' wishing he could 'kneel at her feet forever!' Auntie got awfull' red, an' told him to stand up, but he wouldn't; an' then shelooked at me so awfull' cross that I thought I'd better leave, so while she was saying, 'Rise, Mr. Selwyn-do!' I ran away, only I could tell she was awfull' angry with Mr. Selwyn - an' that's all!"I rose to my knees and caught the Imp by the shoulders.
"Imp," I cried, are you sure - quite sure that she was angry with Mr. Selwyn yesterday morning?""'Course I am. I always know when Auntie Lisbeth's angry. An' now let's go an' play at 'Blasted Oaks.'
"Anything you like, Imp, so long as we find her." "You're forgetting your fishing rod an' - ""Fishing rod be - blowed!" I exclaimed, and set oft hurriedly in the direction Lisbeth had taken.
The Imp trotted beside me, stumbling frequently over his "trusty sword" and issuing numberless commands in a hoarse, fierce voice to an imaginary "band of outlaws." As for me, I strode on unheeding, for my mind was filled with a fast-growing suspicion that I had judged Lisbeth like a hasty fool.
In this manner we scoured the neighbourhood very thoroughly, but with no success. However, we continued our search with unabated ardour - along the river path to the water stairs and from thence by way of the gardens to the orchard; but not a sign of Lisbeth. The shrubbery and paddock yielded a like result, and having interrogated Peter in the harness- room, he informed us that "Miss Helezabeth was hout along with Miss Dorothy." At last, after more than an hour of this sort of thing, even the Imp grew discouraged and suggested "turning pirates."Our wanderings had led by devious paths, and now, as luck would have it, we found ourselves beneath "the blasted oak."We sat down very solemnly side by side, and for a long time there was silence.
"It's fine to make 'tyrants tremble,' isn't it Uncle ****?" said the Imp at last.
"Assuredly." I nodded.
"But I should have liked to kiss Auntie Lisbeth good-bye first, an'
Dorothy, an' Louise - "
"What do you mean, my Imp?"
