They stared at each other in silence, and Robin's knees
shook, and his hair bristled, with a mixture of pity and terror. Soon,
however, a bewildering excitement began to seize upon his mind; the
preceding adventures of the night, the unexpected appearance of the
crowd, the torches, the confused din and the hush that followed, the
spectre of his kinsman reviled by that great multitude- all this, and,
more than all, a perception of tremendous ridicule in the whole scene,
affected him with a sort of mental inebriety. At that moment a voice
of sluggish merriment saluted Robin's ears; he turned instinctively,
and just behind the corner of the church stood the lantern-bearer,
rubbing his eyes, and drowsily enjoying the lad's amazement. Then he
heard a peal of laughter like the ringing of silvery bells; a woman
twitched his arm, a saucy eye met his, and he saw the lady of the
scarlet petticoat. A sharp, dry cachinnation appealed to his memory,
and, standing on tiptoe in the crowd, with his white apron over his
head, he beheld the courteous little innkeeper. And lastly, there
sailed over the heads of the multitude a great, broad laugh, broken in
the midst by two sepulchral hems; thus, "Haw, haw, haw- hem, hem- haw,
haw, haw, haw!"
The sound proceeded from the balcony of the opposite edifice, and
thither Robin turned his eyes.
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