1233 
just  as  you  said.  Robin  Hood  and  his 
band  lived  in  Sherwood  Forest  in  “Merrie 
England”  in  the  twelfth  century.  The 
book  about  Robin  Hood  was  started  first 
as  ballads  contributed  by  any  poet  who 
wished  to  add  a  new  adventure  to  the 
Robin  Hood  series.  Then  someone  col¬ 
lected  the  ballads  and  published  them  un¬ 
der  the  collective  name  of  “The  Adven¬ 
tures  of  Robin  Hood.”  In  the  original 
English  in  which  they  were  written  they 
would  have  been  too  hard  for  modern 
children  to  read,  so  now  there  are  many 
books  in  which  the  ballads  are  told  in 
story  form.  ELENA  D’AGOSTINO 
Connecticut.  ( 14  years ) . 
Robin  Hood  lived  in  the  time  of  Henry 
the  Second.  But  one  hundred  yeai'S  be¬ 
fore  the  time  of  Henry  the  Second  and 
liobin  Hood,  the  Normans,  a  French  peo¬ 
ple,  came  over  to  England  and  conquered 
the  Saxons,  as  the  English  people  at  that 
time  were  called.  The  Normans  so  op¬ 
pressed  the  Saxons  that  a  great  hatred 
arose  between  them.  The  Normans  made 
the  Saxons  slaves,  while  they  rode  about 
in  thick  armor  and  attended  games  and 
tournaments.  Those  high-spirited  young 
Saxons  who  were  descendants  of  rich  an¬ 
cestors  became  hunters  and  gained  their 
living  by  hunting.  Since  none  could  hunt 
in  the  king’s  forests  but  those  who  had 
the  king’s  permission,  these  hunters  be¬ 
came  outlaws. 
Robin  Hood  was  one  of  these  outlaws. 
He  and  his  “merry  men”  performed  so 
many  daring  deeds  that  he  became  a  hero 
to  the  common  people.  Robin  Hood  was 
a  descendant  of  a  noble  Saxon  family 
who  had  lost  their  property  when  the 
Normans  came  over.  He  learned  to  use 
the  bow  and  arrow  so  that  he  had  no 
equal  in  all  England.  As  he  grew  up  he 
became  a  tall  and  handsome  young  man 
who  was  loved  by  all  who  knew  him. 
New  York.  lillian  boh 
(16  years) . 
Robin  Hood  is  a  noted  character  in 
English  legendary  history.  He  typified 
the  spirit  of  the  early  -Saxons  who  were 
still  loyal  to  their  country.  With  his 
band  of  merry  men  dressed  in  Lincoln 
green,  Robin  ranged  up  and  down  the 
glades  of  Sherwood  Forest  near  Notting¬ 
ham,  England.  Their  deeds  are  recorded 
to  have  occurred  during  the  reigns  of 
King  Henry  II  and  his  sons.  King  Rich¬ 
ard  the  Lion-hearted,  and  Prince  John. 
Henry  II  laid  a  sum  of  twro  hundred 
pounds  ($1,000)  on  the  head  of  Robin 
Hood  for  killing  one  of  the  king’s  fallow 
deer.  Over  one  hundred  discontented 
men  flocked  to  him  and  made  the  forest 
their  home. 
Robin  Hood’s  lieutenant  was  Little 
John,  a  big  seven-footer.  The  two  men 
first  met  each  other  on  a  bridge  crossing 
a  stream.  The  two  met  half  way  and 
neither  would  give  way  for  the  other  to 
pass.  A  contest  with  staves  followed. 
Robin  was  knocked  jheadlong  off  the 
bridge  by  the  superior  strength  of  his  op¬ 
ponent.  Upon  the  request  of  the  bold 
leader,  John  Little,  afterwards  known  as 
Little  John,  was  received  into  the  band. 
No  one  could  speed  the  arrow  with 
swifter,  surer  aim  than  Robin  Hood,  and 
many  are  the  brave  and  noble  deeds  told 
of  him  and  his  merry  men.  King  Henry 
and  Queen  Eleanor  planned  a  shooting 
match  to  be  held  on  Finsbury  Field.  Chief 
among  the  contestants  were  Robin  Hood 
and  two  of  his  followers,  Will  Scarlet  and 
Little  John.  The  arrow  of  Little  John 
cleaved  the  willow  wand  exactly  in  the 
center.  Will  Scarlet’s  pierced  the  hole 
made  by  the  former,  while  Robin’s  arrow 
split  both  Will  Scarlet’s  arrow  and  the 
willow  wand. 
Rich  men  who  had  gained  their  wealth 
dishonestly  were  despoiled  should  they 
meet  this  jovial  crew;  but  the  innocent 
or  helpless  were  never  molested.  These 
faithful  followers  of  Robin  Hood  made  a 
large  cave  which  served  as  a  treasure 
house. 
Another  time  Robin  Hood,  unaware  of 
the  act,  entertained  King  Richard  and 
his  retinue  disguised  as  monks.  Such 
feats  of  archery  were  displayed  that  Rich¬ 
ard  was  delighted.  Wishing  their  ser¬ 
vices  in  his  army,  he  made  himself  known 
to  the  carefree  archers,  and  promised  to 
pardon  them  if  they  would  only  serve  him 
faithfully.  This  they  agreed  to  do,  and 
were  allowed  by  their  lion-hearted  ruler 
the  privilege  of  sporting  in  their  favorite 
haunts  each  Summer  for  several  happy 
months. 
Falling  ill  of  a  fever,  Robin  Hood  died 
at  Kirkley  Ilall.  His  deeds  and  those  of 
his  brave  band  are  still  enjoyed  by  chil¬ 
dren  of  other  lands,  although  they  are 
supposed  to  have  occurred  so  many  years 
ago.  ANNA  GRAHAM 
Illinois.  (14  years). 
What  Book  is  This? 
Once  upon  a  time  a  little  girl  went  to 
live  with  her  two  aunts  who  were  going 
to  educate  her,  as  her  mother  could  not 
afford  it.  Her  father  was  dead  and  her 
mother  managed  a  farm.  She  was  a 
queer  child,  and  never  could  do  anything 
to  please  her  aunts.  She  went  through 
school  and  graduated.  She  was  going  to 
be  a  school  teacher  and  make  a  home  for 
her  mother,  brothers  and  sisters,  because 
they  expected  to  sell  the  farm  to  a  rail¬ 
road  which  wanted  the  land,  One  of  her 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  baby  rabbits  run  and  play — 
With  her  baby  rabbits  three. 
Mother  rabbit  sat  under  a  tree, 
Now  draw  the  picture  right  away. 
Drawn  by  Rebecca  Spencer  (13  Years), 
Maine 
Drawn  by  Stanley  Trimble  (13  Years), 
New  York 
Drawn  by  Arthur  Bloomer  (11  Years),  Drawn  by  Roberta  Duffy  (15  Years), 
Neto  Jersey  Louisiana 
Drawn  by  Myrtie  Hemenwaij 
(12  Years),  Maine 
Draicn  by  Louis  Wiederhold  (12  Yean), 
New  York 
New  York 
-  . 
Drawn  in  Pencil  by  Wilma  Smith 
(14  Years),  New  York 
Drawn  in  Pencil  by  Dorothy  Collins 
(8  Years),  Pennsylvania 
aunts  fell  sick  when  she  graduated,  but 
was  improving,  so  she  went  back  to  the 
farm  because  her  mother  was  seriously  in¬ 
jured  and  needed  her  help.  While  she 
was  there  her  other  aunt  wrote,  saying 
that  the  first  aunt  had  died.  So  the  girl 
went  back  and  learned  that  her  aunt  had 
left  all  she  owned  to  her,  including  the 
house  and  furniture.  She  was  happy  be¬ 
cause  now  her  mother  would  have  a  home 
and  the  children  could  be  educated  while 
she  worked.  Gertrude  kopaskie. 
New  York. 
Probably  most  of  our  girl  readers  and 
not  a  few  of  the  boys  will  recognize  this 
Book  Puzzle  at  once,  but  there  is  a  special 
reason  why  I  am  putting  it  in  at  this 
time,  and  I  hope  we  will  have  some  very 
good  write-ups  of  the  author’s  life.  When 
you  reply  be  sure  to  give  the  full  title  of 
the  book  and  the  author’s  name.  Per¬ 
haps  someone  will  send  a  drawing  of  the 
little  girl  who  is  the  heroine  of  the  story. 
Our  Artists 
The  heading  this  month  was  selected 
from  over  25  that  were  submitted.  They 
showed  a  great  deal  of  variety  and  orig¬ 
inality.  Very  special  credit  is  due  to 
William  Smith,  the  New  York  boy  whose 
heading  was  used  in  August.  He  sent  a 
drawing  that  must  have  taken  hours  to 
make.  I  wish  when  he  reads  this  that  he 
would  send  me  his  full  address  so  that  I 
might  write  him  a  personal  letter.  Others 
who  drawings  would  have  been  usable  had 
there  been  room  for  more  than  one  were 
Edna  Place  (15)  of  Maine,  Paula  Ilart- 
fiel  of  New  ‘Hampshire,  Doris  Forsman 
(15)  of  Massachusetts,  Helen  Upson 
(11)  and  Norman  Halloek  (16)  of  Con¬ 
necticut,  John  Henry  of  New  York,  Han¬ 
nah  Ross  (13)  and  Laura  Misner  (14) 
of  New  Jersey,  Agnes  Bergland  (14)  of 
Michigan,  and  Ruth  Duffy  (15)  of  Louis¬ 
iana. 
The  rabbit  rhyme  called  forth  over  170 
drawings,  from  which  the  10  that  are 
printed  had  to  be  chosen.  This  was  no 
easy  task,  for  it  seemed  that  most  of  the 
“artists”  could  draw  I’abbits  very  well  in¬ 
deed.  I  wish  to  give  Honorable  Mention 
to  Edna  Place  (15)  of  Maine,  Camilla 
Roy  (12)  of  Vermont,  Paula  Hartfiel  of 
New  Hampshire,  Helen  Upson  (11)  of 
Connecticut,  Franklin  Aker  (6),  Mar¬ 
garet  Samascott,  Genevieve  Harvey 
(13),  Lynwood  Ilowe  (13),  Charlotte 
Booth  (15)  and  Ruth  Watts  (16)  of 
New  York,  Helen  Ehst  (9),  Mariam 
Kachel  (14)  and  Emma  Blakeslee  (15) 
of  Pennsylvania,  Lydia  Thompson  (8) 
of  Ohio  and  Anna  Graham  (14)  of  Illi¬ 
nois,  whose  drawings  were  considered  in 
the  final  selection. 
Next  month  you  all  have  free  rein  to 
try  your  skill  at  Hallowe’en  decorations 
and  drawings,  and  I  shall  look  for  some 
fine  work.  One  girl  has  asked  a  rather 
difficult  question  about  just  what  is  an 
original  drawing.  Of  course  to  take  thin 
paper  and  trace  a  picture  is  pure  copying, 
and  that  we  do  not  want.  But  she  asks 
whether  it  is  not  permissible  to  look  at 
pictures  and  perhaps  copy  parts  of  them 
freehand,  just  as  an  artist  uses  a  model. 
I  think  we  could  grant  this,  because  you 
can  often  gain  skill  in  design  and  ar¬ 
rangement  in  that  way,  but  it  would  be 
well  always  to  acknowledge  when  you 
send  in  the  drawing  that  you  drew  free¬ 
hand  from  copy.  Best  of  all,  however,  is 
the  really  original  drawing,  made  up  of 
your  own  ideas  and  designs.  Take  the 
rabbits,  for  example.  You  might"  have 
spent  some  time  in.  studying  rabbit  pic¬ 
tures,  and  in  copying  them  until  you  had 
a  fairly  good  idea  of  what  a  rabbit  really 
looks  like,  and  how  to  draw  one  in  dif¬ 
ferent  positions;  then,  putting  aside  all 
copy,  you  could  have  set  to  work  and 
made  an  original  drawing  to  fit  the  rhyme 
with  much  greater  success  than  if  you 
had  never  practiced.  I  hope  this  will 
make  the  question  a  little  clearer. 
PU2ZI0 
A  surprisingly  large  number  sent  the 
correct  answer  to  last  month’s  Bird  Puz¬ 
zle,  which  was  as  follows:  (1)  meadow¬ 
lark,  (2)  killdeer,  (3)  bunting,  (4)  duck, 
(5)  thrasher,  (6)  flicker.  Another  very 
clever  answer  given  more  than  once  for 
No.  2  was  butcher  bird,  and  several 
thought  that  No.  3  might  be  bluebird,  as 
indeed  its  picture  is  used  in  all  kinds  of 
ways  for  decoration.  It  is  fun  to  work 
out  such  puzzles  as  this,  and  they  make 
ns  think  a  bit.  It  is  even  more  fun  to 
try  your  hand  at  making  up  some  kind  of 
a  puzzle  that  will  relate  to  out-of-door  or 
country  life. 
The  new  puzzle  this  time  is  called  the 
Hidden  Fruit  Puzzle.  The  name  of  a 
well-known  fruit  can  be  found  in  each 
of  the  following  sentences  without  chang¬ 
ing  the  order  of  the  letters : 
1.  Book  on  the  map  please. 
2.  Will  you  have  fruit  or  angel  cake  for 
dessert ? 
3.  This  problem  on  fractions  is  easy. 
4.  It  will  appear  this  week. 
5.  I  will  help  each  child  over  the  fence. 
6.  That  chap  lumbering  along  must  be 
tired.  ESTHER  wright 
Maryland.  (9  years) . 
Notes 
Roy  Bergman,  an  11-year-old  New 
York  reader,  sent  the  words  for  the  Box 
this  month.  You  are  just  starting  off  to 
school  as  I  write  this,  but  when  you  read 
it  several  weeks  will  have  passed,  and  you 
will  be  well  settled  into  the  work.  We 
have  said  a  good  deal  from  time  to  time 
about  the  value  of  an  education,  and 
there  is  no  need  to  repeat  it  again  just 
now.  But  I  am  sure  that  every  boy  and 
girl  who  reads  Our  Page  is  glad  to.  be  able 
to  go  to  school,  and  is  doing  his  best  and 
her  best  to  make  this  school  year  the  hap¬ 
piest  and  most  worthwhile  of  all. 
The  list  of  contributors  this  month  will 
be  found  on  page  1241.  There  are  always 
many  interesting  things  in  your  letters 
that  never  find  their  way  into  print,  but 
your  editor  is  glad  to  have  them  all,  glad 
to  think  that  you  like  to  write  him  of 
your  good  times  and  your  work,  glad  to 
feel  that  Our  Page  stands  for  warm 
friendships  and  steady  growth  in  all 
wholesome  ways. 
