H. C. Bailey

“ Borgia laughed. "D'you know, little man, I would like to see the babes thrash you," says he.
Raoul said nothing. He dropped behind Borgia and bit his lips and crushed the boy in his arms till the child gasped for breath. Raoul was not admiring himself. The sensation was new and unpleasant.
So the burgomaster's children came into the Spanish camp.
You are to see a little grim room in Lammen with candles flaring and sputtering, Borgia's bull neck and head, Valdez dark and pretty, and two children little and thin and wan. ”

“ His wisdom was proven. Leyden was open to the foe. An army might have marched through the breach.
But the army lay wearied out with no heart in it at The Hague.
Raoul slapped Valdez's florins in his breeches, and laughed and looked and laughed. He conceived himself justified to God and man. Then he turned westward. Driven by the great wind, swollen by the rain, the waters lay close below him. Boisot's boats were moving hither and thither sounding. Raoul waved his hat to them and shouted.
Loaded with thanks and kindly promises, Raoul was borne to a grand chamber in the burgomaster's house. ”

“ Blue eyes sunk in a wan, worn little face and a child's bosom bulging with apples abode with him all night long. At least, he complains so.
And the west wind howled all night, and all night the driven rain rattled upon the walls, and nearer and nearer came the beat of the waters.
When dawn broke late and pale it showed them little land left. Only the causeways to Zoeterwoude and The Hague kept back the foaming waves, and Boisot's fleet lay within gunshot of Lammen. Borgia, anxious, cursing, turned falconets upon them and drove them out of range, then hurried to counsel with Valdez. ”

“ Its fire signals shone through the dark across the flat lands of the Rhine mouth and cried aloud for help. William of Orange, William the Silent, brooding at Delft over the fate of his people, saw the red glare night by night; and at last: "Liever bedorven dan verloren Land," said he, "Better drown the land than lose it," and bade open the sluices and break the dikes and call the ocean in aid. And the gray waves rose over the land, and Boisot brought his wild Zeelanders in two hundred rowboats of war to bear Leyden bread across the waters. ”

“ It came to the camp before Raoul, and some drenched sentry saw it and challenged. While the sentry parleyed with it, Raoul came peaceably within the lines and was mildly grateful. Then he hid his drenched cloak and hat and wiped the mud off his boots and sauntered into Lammen House.
The quarter guard was gathered on the stair, and from above from the dining hall came Valdez's voice: "A woman, you say? Aha, funesta venustas—my fatal beauty, Borgia. Bring me the victim."
Raoul went up with the guard. They had a woman, a tall woman, white-faced, of a very noble bearing. ”

“ After a while a lean servant brought him a scrap of barley bread and a small steaming basin of stew. "Oh, you are too generous, friend," Raoul sneered.
"Then give me them back, master."
"Hum," says Raoul, and sniffed at the stew and probed it. "Now what is this?"
"Better not ask," growled the servant.
Raoul rubbed his chin and stared. "Hum," says he again. "And what is the vintage of your wine?"
"All the wine is kept for the women and the sick," said the servant, and left him.
"For the women who do not like it; for the sick who cannot taste it. Bah—and again bah!" ”

“ Borgia leaned forward to look at her.
"I am the burgomaster's daughter, and——"
"Good fortune!" cried Borgia, and snatched at her and caught her up. "Bring the other babe, you—Raoul." And he reined round.
Raoul, as he says, had done his possible. He never attempted more. He picked up the boy and marched off with him, kicking, struggling. And then (Raoul always took thought for himself) he began to boast of the capture. "I saw the little whelps come after the apples, colonel, and I thought I would catch them. One never knows what may be useful. But two pups of the burgomaster's litter! ”

“ By night and day, by land and wave, the Zeelanders fought the Grand Commander's armies, harpooned them like fishes, tore out their hearts and ate them.
On a morning just before the dawn, when nerves are tightest strained, the guard at the Eastern Watergate suffered a sore shock. ”