BYENGLAND^S AID 
 
 G.A.HENtY 
 
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VJIU. 
 
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The London apprentices auke Fun of Lionel And Geoffrey.— Page 40- 
 Eng. Aid.] 
 
BY EliGLAND'S AID 
 
 THE FREEING OF THE NETHERLANDS 
 
 (1589-1604) 
 
 By G. a. HENTY, 
 
 Author of ** By Pike and Dyke," " The Lion of St. Mark," " Maori and Settler* 
 '• Bonnie Prince Charlie," "For the Temple" Etc. 
 
 WITH TEN PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED PEARSB 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 HURST & COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS. 
 
Eeci 
 
 C Ui J-.^-ti-w." 
 
 .Dj 
 
 HENTY SERIES FOR BOYS. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME. 
 
 By G. a. HENTY. 
 
 Among Malay Pirates. 
 
 Jack Archer. 
 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie. 
 
 Lion of St. Mark, Tbe. 
 
 Boy Knight, The. 
 
 Lion of the North, The. 
 
 Bravest of the Brave, The. 
 
 Lost Heir, The. 
 
 By England's Aid. 
 
 Maori and Settler. 
 
 By Pike and Dyke. 
 
 One of the a8th. 
 
 By Right of Conquest. 
 
 Orange and Green. 
 
 By Sheer Pluck. 
 
 Out on the Pampas. 
 St. George for England. 
 
 Captain Bayley's Heir. 
 
 Cat of Bubastes, The. 
 
 Sturdy and Strong. 
 
 Cornet of Horse. The. 
 
 Through the Fray. 
 Troe to the Old Flagr. 
 
 Dragon and the Raren. 
 
 FLcing Death. 
 
 Under Drake's Flag. 
 
 Final Reckoning, A. 
 For Name and Fame. 
 
 With Clive in India. 
 
 With Lee in Virginia. 
 With Wolfe in Canada. 
 
 For the Temple. 
 
 Friends, Though Dlvi<1e<1, 
 Golden Canon. The. 
 
 Young Buglers, The. 
 
 Young Carthaginian, The. 
 
 In Freedom's Cause. 
 
 Young Colonists, The. 
 
 In the Reign of Terror. 
 
 Young Franc-Tireurs, The, 
 Young Midshipman, The. 
 
 In Times of Peril 
 
 Price Post-Paid, jjc, each, or any three 
 
 books for Si.oo, 
 
 HURST & COMPANY 
 
 PUM-isHiRS, New York. 
 
 siPr 
 
T ->, to 
 
 PREFACE^ 
 
 My dear Lad?, 
 
 In my preface to By Pike and Dylce I promised in a 
 future story to deal with the closing events of the War of 
 Independence in Holland. The period over which that 
 war extended was so long, and the incidents were so nu- 
 merous and varied, that it was impossible to include the 
 whole within the limit of a single book. The former 
 volume brought the story of the struggle down to the 
 death of the Prince of Orange and the capture of Ant- 
 werp ; the present gives the second phase of the war, 
 when England, who had long unofficially assisted Holland, 
 threw herself openly into the struggle, and by her aid 
 mainly contributed to the successful issue of the war. In 
 the first part of the struggle the scene lay wholly among 
 the low lands and cities of Holland and Zeeland, and the 
 war was strictly a defensive one, waged against overpower- 
 ing odds. After England threw herself into the strife it 
 assumed far wider proportions, and the independence of the 
 Xetherlands was mainly secured by the defeat and destruc- 
 tion of the great Armada, by the capture of Cadiz and the 
 fatal blow thereby struck at the mercantile prosperity of 
 Spain, and by the defeat of the Holy League by Henry of 
 Xavarre, aided by English soldiers and English gold. For 
 the facts connected with the doings of Sir Francis Vere 
 and the British contingent in Holland, I have depended 
 much upon the excellent work by Mr. Clement Markham 
 entitled the Fighting Veres, In this full justice is done 
 
4 PREFACE. ' ' 
 
 to the great English general and his followers, and it is 
 conclusively shown that some statements to the disparage- 
 ment of Sir Francis Vere by Mr. Motley are founded upon 
 a misconception of the facts. Sir Francis Vere was, in 
 the general opinion of the time, one of the greatest com- 
 manders of the age, and more, perhaps, than any other 
 man — with the exception of the Prince of Orange — con- 
 tributed to the successful issue of the struggle of Holland 
 to throw oil the yoke of Spain. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 G. A. HENTY. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 By England*^ Aid is indebted to John Lothrop Motley's History 
 of the United Netherlands, in the same way that its predecessor 
 By Pike and Dyke is to the Rise of the Dutch Republic. The 
 author depends, as every one must do who treats of this period, 
 either in romance or history, upon its most distinguished, not to 
 say its sole historian, for the historical data on which his work is 
 based ; and youthful readers of the adventures of the two Eng- 
 lish lads, whose thrilling experiences form the subject of the 
 story, may readily fill out the historical framework of the fiction 
 that interests them by turning to Motley's classic, where they will 
 find the chronicle of actual events as stimulating and inspiring 
 as the record of Mr. Henty's imaginary though admirably repre- 
 sentative heroes. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER. PAGE. 
 
 I. An Escursion 7 
 
 II. A Meeting in Chepe 26 
 
 III. In the Low Country , 47 
 
 lY. The Siege of Sluys 67 
 
 V. An Heroic Defense So 
 
 YI. The Loss of the " Susan " 102 
 
 YII. A Popish Plot 120 
 
 YIII. The Spanish Armada 132 
 
 IX. The Rout of the Armada 149 
 
 X. The War in Holland 165 
 
 XL In Spain 174 
 
 XII. Recruiting their Funds 191 
 
 Xni. The Festa at Seville 209 
 
 XIY. The Surprise of Breda 226 
 
 XY. A Slave in Barbary 244 
 
 XYL The Escape 261 
 
 XYII. A Spanish Merchant 278 
 
 XYIII. Ivry 2C*0 
 
 XIX. Steenwyk 310 
 
 XX. Cadiz 326 
 
 XXI. The Battle of Xieuport 343 
 
 XXII. Old Friends 3.54 
 
 XXin. The Siege of Ostend 367 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID: 
 
 OR, THE FREEING OF THE NETHERLANDS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 AN EXCURSION. 
 
 *' And we beseech Thee, Lord, to give help and snccor 
 to thy servants the people of Holland, and to deliver them 
 from the cruelties and persecutions of their wicked op- 
 pressors ; and grant Thy blessing, we pray Thee, upon the 
 arms of our soldiers now embarking to aid them in their 
 extremity/' These were the words with which the Rev. 
 John Vickars, rector of Hedingham, concluded the family 
 prayers on the morning of December 6th, 1585. 
 
 For twenty years the first portion of this prayer had 
 been repeated daily by him, as it had been in tens of thou- 
 sands of English households ; for since the people of the 
 Netherlands first rose against the Spanish yoke the hearts 
 of the Protestants of England had beat warmly in their ~ 
 cause, and they had by turns been moved to admiration at 
 the indomitable courage with which the Dutch struggled 
 for independence against the might of the greatest power 
 in Europe, and to horror and indignation at the pitiless 
 cruelty and wholesale massacres by which the Spaniards 
 had striven to stamp out resistance. 
 
 From the first the people of England would gladly have 
 
 7 
 
8 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 joined in the fray, and made common cause with their co- 
 religionists ; but the queen and her counselors had been 
 restrained by weighty considerations from embarking in 
 SQch a struggle. At the commencement of the war the 
 power of Spain overshadowed all Europe. Her infantry 
 were regarded as irresistible. Italy and Germany were 
 virtually her dependencies, and England was but a petty 
 power beside her. Since Agincourt was fought we had 
 taken but little part in wars on the Continent. The 
 feudal system was extinct ; we had neither army nor 
 military system ; and the only Englishmen with the 
 slightest experience of war were those who had gone 
 abroad to seek their fortunes, and had fought in the 
 armies of one or other of the continental powers. Xor 
 were we yet aware of our naval strength. Drake and 
 Hawkins and the other buccaneers had not yet commenced 
 their private war with Spain, on what was known as the 
 Spanish main— the waters of the West Indian Islands — 
 and no one dreamed that the time was approaching when 
 England would be able to hold her own against the 
 strength of Spain on the seas. 
 
 Thus, then, whatever the private sentiments of Elizabeth 
 and her counselors, they shrank from engaging England 
 in a life and death struggle with the greatest power of the 
 time ; though as the struggle went on the queen's sym- 
 pathy with the people of the Netherlands was more and 
 more openly shown. In 15T2 she was present at a parade 
 of three hundred volunteers who mustered at Greenwich 
 under Thomas Morgan and Roger Williams for service in 
 the Netherlands. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, half-brother of 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, went out a few months later with 1500 
 men, and from that time numbers of English volunteers 
 continued to cross the seas and join in the struggle against 
 the Spaniards. Xor were the sympathies of the queen 
 confined to allowing her subjects to take part in the fight- 
 ing ; for she sent out large sums of money to the Dutch, 
 
B Y ENGL A ND S AID. 9 
 
 and as far as she could, without openly joining them, gave 
 them her aid. 
 
 Spain remonstrated continually against these breaches 
 of neutrality, while the Dutch on their part constantly 
 implored her to join them openly ; but she continued to 
 give evasive answers to both parties until the assassination 
 of William of Orange on iOth July, 1584, sent a thrill of 
 horror through England, and determined the queen and 
 her advisers to take a more decisive part in the struggle. 
 In the following June envoys from the States arrived in 
 London, and were received with great honor, and a treats 
 between the two countries was agreed upon. Three 
 months later the queen published a declaration to her peo^ 
 pie and to Europe at large, setting forth the terrible per- 
 secutions and cruelties to which '^ our next neighbors, the 
 people of the Low Countries," the special allies and friends 
 of England, had been exposed, and stating her deter- 
 mination to aid them to recover their liberty. The 
 proclamation concluded : '' We mean not hereby to make 
 particular profit to ourself and our people, only desiring to 
 obtain, by God's favor, for the Countries, a deliverance of 
 them from war by the Spaniards and foreigners, with a 
 restitution of their ancient liberties and government. '' 
 
 Sir Thomas Cecil was sent out at once as governor of 
 Brill, and Sir Philip Sidney as governor of Flushing, these 
 towns being handed over to England as guaranties by the 
 Dutch. These two officers, with bodies of troops to serve 
 as garrisons, took charge of their respective fortresses in 
 Xovember. Orders were issued for the raising of an army 
 for service in the Low Countries, and Dudley, Earl of 
 Leicester, was appointed by the queen to its command. 
 The decision of the queen was received with enthusiasm 
 in England as well as in Holland, and although the Earl 
 of Leicester was not personally popular, volunteers flocked 
 to his standard. 
 
 Breakfast at Hedingham Rectory had been set at an 
 
10 BY ENGLAND ' 8 AID. 
 
 earlier hour than usual on the 6th of December, 1585. 
 There was an unusual stir and excitement in the village, 
 for young Mr. Francis Vere, cousin of the Earl of Oxford, 
 lord of Hedingham and of all the surrounding country, 
 was to start that morning to ride to Colchester, there to 
 Join the Earl of Leicester and his following as a volunteer. 
 As soon as breakfast was over young Geoffrey and Lionel 
 Vickars, boys of fourteen and thirteen years old, proceeded 
 to the castle close by, and there mounted the horses pro- 
 vided for them, and rode with Francis Vere to Colchester. 
 
 Francis, who was at this time twenty -five years old, was 
 accompanied by his elder brother, John, and his two 
 younger brothers, Robert and Horace, and by many other 
 friends ; and it was a gay train that cantered down the 
 valley of the Colne to Colchester. That ancient town was 
 all astir. Gentlemen had ridden in from all the country 
 seats and manors for many miles round, and the quiet 
 streets were alive with people. At two o'clock in the 
 afternoon news arrived that the earl was approaching, and, 
 headed by the bailiffs of the town in scarlet gowns, the 
 multitude moved out to meet the earl on the Lexden road. 
 Presently a long train was seen approaching ; for with 
 Leicester were the earl of Essex, Lords North and Audley, 
 Sir William Russell, Sir Thomas Shirley, and other volun- 
 teers, to the number of five hundred horse. All were 
 gayly attired and caparisoned, and the cortege presented a 
 most brilliant appearance. The multitude cheered lustily, 
 the bailiffs presented an address, and followed by his own 
 train and by the gentlemen who had assembled to meet 
 him, the earl rode into the town. He himself took up 
 his abode at the house of Sir Thomas Lucas, while his 
 followers were distributed among the houses of the towns- 
 folk. Two hours after the arrival of the earl, the party 
 from Hedingham took leave of Mr. Francis Vere. 
 
 *^' Good-bye, lads," he said to the young Vickars. ^'I 
 will keep my promise, never fear ; and if the struggle goes 
 
BY ENGLAND' S AID, 11 
 
 on till you are old enough to carry arms, I will, if I am 
 still alive, take you under my leading and teach you the 
 art of war." 
 
 Upon the following day the Earl of Leicester and his 
 following rode to Manningtree, and took boat down the 
 Stour to Harwich, where the fleet, under Admiral Wil- 
 liam Borough, was lying. Here they embarked, and on 
 the 9th of December sailed for Flushing, where they were 
 joined by another fleet of sixty ships from the Thames. 
 
 More than a year passed. The English had fought 
 sturdily in Holland. Mr. Francis Vere had been with 
 his cousin. Lord Willoughby, who was in command of 
 Bergen-op-Zoom, and had taken part in the first brush with 
 the enemy, when a party of the garrison marched out and 
 attacked a great convoy of four hundred and fifty wag- 
 ons going to Antwerp, killed three hundred of the enemy, 
 took eighty prisoners, and destroyed all their wagons 
 except twenty-seven, which they carried into the town. 
 Leicester provisioned the town of Grave, which was be- 
 sieged by the Duke of Parma, the Spanish commander-in- 
 chief. Axel was captured by surprise, the volunteers 
 swimming across the moat at night, and throwing open 
 the gates. Doesburg was captured, and Zutphen besieged. 
 
 Parma marched to its relief, and, under cover of a 
 thick fog, succeeded in getting close at hand before it was 
 known that he was near. Then the English knights and 
 volunteers, 200 in number, mounted in hot haste and 
 charged a great Spanish column of 5000 horse and foot. 
 They were led by Sir William Russell, under whom were 
 Lords Essex, Xorth, Audley, and Willoughby, behind the 
 last of whom rode Francis Vere. For two hours this little 
 band of horse fought desperately in the midst of the 
 Spanish cavalry, and forced them at last to fall back, but 
 were themselves obliged to retreat when the Spanish in- 
 fantry came up and opened fire upon them. The English 
 loss was 34 killed and wounded, while 250 of the Spaniards 
 
12 BT ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 were slain, and three of their colors captured. Among 
 the wounded on the English side wa5 the very noble knight 
 Sir Philip Sidney, who was shot by a musket-ball, and 
 died three weeks afterwards. 
 
 The successes of the English during these two years were 
 counterbalanced by the cowardly surrender of Grave by its 
 governor, and by the treachery of Sir William Stanley, 
 governor of Deventer, and of Roland Yorke, who com- 
 manded the garrisons of the two forts known as the Zut- 
 phen Sconces. Both these officers turned traitors and 
 delivered up the posts they commanded to the Spaniards. 
 Their conduct not only caused great material loss to the 
 allies, but it gave rise to much bad feeling between the 
 English and Dutch, the latter complaining that they re- 
 ceived but half-hearted assistance from the English. 
 
 It was not surprising, however, that Leicester was unable 
 to effect more with the little force under his command, for 
 it was necessary not only to raise soldiers, but to invent regu- 
 lations and discipline. The Spanish system was adopted, 
 and this, the first English regular army, was trained 
 and appointed precisely upon the system of the foe with 
 whom they were fighting. It was no easy task to convert 
 a body of brave knights and gentlemen and sturdy country- 
 men into regular troops, and to give them the advantages 
 conferred by discipline and order. But the work was ren- 
 dered the less difficult by the admixture of the volunteers 
 who had been bravely fighting for ten years under Morgan, 
 Rowland Williams, John Xorris, and others. These had 
 had a similar experience on their first arrival in Holland. 
 Several times in their early encounters with the Spaniards 
 the undisciplined young troops had behaved badly ; but 
 they had gained experience from their reverses, and had 
 proved themselves fully capable of standing in line even 
 against the splendid pikemen of Spain. 
 
 While the English had been drilling and fighting in 
 Holland things had gone on quietly at Hedingham. The 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 13 
 
 village stands near the head waters of the Colne and Stonr, 
 in a rich and beautiful country. On a rising ground be- 
 hind it stood the castle of the Veres, which was approached 
 from the village by a drawbridge across the moat. There 
 were few more stately piles in England than the seat of 
 the Earl of Oxford. On one side of the great quadrangle 
 was the gate-house and a lofty tower, on another the great 
 hall and chapel and the kitchens, on a third the suites 
 of apartments of the officials and retinue. In rear were 
 the stables and granaries, the butts and tennis-court, be- 
 yond which was the court of the tournaments. 
 
 In the center of the quadrangle rose the great keep, 
 which still stands, the finest relic of Xorman civil archi- 
 tecture in England. It possessed great strength, and at 
 the same time was richly ornamented with carving. The 
 windows, arches, and fireplaces were decorated with chev- 
 ron carvings. A beautiful spiral pattern enriched the 
 doorway and pillars of the staircase leading to galleries 
 cut in the thickness of the wall, with arched openings 
 looking into the hall below. The outlook from the keep 
 extended over the parishes of Castle Hedingham, Sybil 
 Hedingham, Kirby, and Tilbury, all belonging to the 
 Teres — whose property extended far down the pretty valley 
 of the Stour — with the stately Hall of Long Melford, the 
 Priory of Clare, and the little town of Lavenham ; indeed 
 the whole country was dotted with the farmhouses and 
 manors of the Veres. Seven miles down the valley of the 
 Colne lies the village of Earl's Colne, with the priory, 
 where ten of the earls of Oxford lie buried with their 
 wives. 
 
 The parish church of Castle Hedingham stood at the end 
 of the little village street, and the rectory of Mr. Vickars 
 was close by. The party gathered at morning prayers con- 
 sisted of Mr. Vickars and his wife, their two sons, Geof- 
 frey and Lionel, and the maid-servants, Euth and Alice. 
 The boys, now fourteen and fifteen years old respectively. 
 
14 1 y ENGLAND 'S A^V. 
 
 were strong-grown and sturdy lads, and their lather haa 
 long since owned with a sigh that neither of them was 
 likely to follow his profession and fill the pulpit at Hed- 
 ingham Church when he was gone. Xor was this to be 
 wondered at, for lying as it did at the entrance to the great 
 castle of the Veres, the street of the little village was con- 
 stantly full of armed men, and resounded with the tramp 
 of the horses of richly-dressed knights and gay ladies. 
 
 Here came great politicians, who sought the friendship 
 and support of the powerful earls of Oxford, nobles and 
 knights, their kinsmen and allies, gentlemen from the wide- 
 spreading manors of the family, stout fighting-men who 
 wished to enlist under their banner. At night the sound 
 of music from the castle told of gay entertainments and 
 festive dances, while by day parties of knights and ladies 
 with dogs and falcons sallied out to seek sport over the 
 wide domains. It could hardly be expected, then, that 
 iads of spirit, brought u]) in the midst of sights and sounds 
 like these, should entertain a thought of settling down to 
 the tranquil life of the church. As long as they could re- 
 member, their minds had been fixed upon being soldiers, 
 and fighting some day under the banner of the Veres. 
 They had been a good deal in the castle ; for Mr. Vickars 
 had assisted Arthur Golding, the learned instructor to 
 young Edward Vere, the 17th earl, who was born in 1550, 
 and had succeeded to the title at the age of twelve, and he 
 had afterwards been tutor to the earl's cousins, John, 
 Francis, Robert, and Horace, the sons of Geoffrey, fourth 
 son of the loth earl. These boys were born in 1558, 
 1560, 1562, and 1565, and lived with their mother at Kir- 
 by Hall, a mile from the castle of Hedingham. 
 
 The earl was much attached to his old instructor, and when 
 he was at the castle there was scarce a day but an invita- 
 tion came down for Mr. Vickars and his wife to be present 
 either at banquet or entertainment. The boys were free 
 to come and go as they chose, and the earFs men-at-arms 
 
BT ENGLAND ' S AID. 15 
 
 nad orders to afford them all necessary teaching in the use 
 of weapons. 
 
 Mr. Vickars considered it his duty to accept the inrita- 
 tions of his friend and patron, but he sorely grudged the 
 time so abstracted from his favorite books. It was, indeed, 
 a relief to him when the earl, whose love of profusion and 
 luxury made serious inroads even into the splendid pos- 
 sessions of the Veres, went up to court, and peace and 
 quietness reigned in the castle. The rector was fonder of 
 going to Kirby, where John, Geoffrey^s eldest son, lived 
 quietly and soberly, his three younger brothers having, 
 when mere boys, embraced the profession of arms, placing 
 themselves under the care of the good soldier Sir William 
 Browne, who had served for many years in the Low Coun- 
 tries. They occasionally returned home for a time, and 
 were pleased to take notice of the sons of their old tutor, 
 although Geoffrey was six years junior to Horace, the 
 youngest of the brothers. 
 
 The young Vickars had much time to themselves, much 
 more indeed than their mother considered to be good for 
 them. After their breakfast, which was finished by eight 
 o'clock, their father took them for an hour and heard the 
 lessons they had prepared the day before, and gave them 
 instruction in the Latin tongue. Then they were supposed 
 to study till the bell rang for dinner at twelve ; but there was 
 no one to see that they did so, for their father seldom came 
 outside his library door, and their mother was busy with 
 her domestic duties and in dispensing simples to the poor 
 people, who, now that the monasteries were closed, had no 
 medical aid save that which they got from the wives of 
 the gentry or ministers, or from the wise women, of whom 
 there was generally one in every village. 
 
 Therefore, after half an hour, or at most an hour, spent 
 in getting up their tasks, the books would be thrown aside, 
 and the boys be off, either to the river or up to the castle 
 to^ practice sword-play wttk the men-at arms, or to the 
 
16 BY ENGLAND ' S AW, 
 
 butts with their bows, or to the rabbit-warren, where they 
 had leave from the earl to gt) with their dogs whenever 
 they pleased. Their long excursions were, however, gen- 
 erally deferred until after dinner, as they were then free 
 until supper-time, and even if they did not return after 
 that hour Mrs. Vickars did not chide them unduly, being 
 an easy-going woman, and always ready to make excuses 
 for them. 
 
 There were plenty of fish in the river ; and the boys 
 knew the pools they loved best, and often returned with 
 their baskets well filled. There were otters on its banks, 
 too ; but, though they sometimes chased these pretty creat- 
 ures. Tan and Turk, their two dogs, knew as well as 
 their masters that they had but small chance of catching 
 them. Sometimes they would take a boat at the bridge 
 and drop down the stream for miles, and once or twice 
 had even gone down to Bricklesey ^ at the mouth of the 
 river. This, however, was an expedition that they never 
 performed alone, making it each time in charge of Master 
 Lirriper, who owned a flat barge, and took produce down 
 to Bricklesey, there to be transhipped into coasters bound 
 for London. He had a married daughter there, and it was 
 at her house the boys had slept when they went there ; for 
 the journey down and up again was too long to be per- 
 formed in a single day. 
 
 But this was not the only distant expedition they had 
 made, for they had once gone down the Stour as far as 
 Harwich with their father when he was called thither on 
 business. To them Harwich with its old walls and the 
 houses crowded up within them, and its busy port with 
 vessels coming in and going out, was most delightful, and 
 they always talked about that expedition as one of the most 
 pleasant recollections of their lives. 
 
 After breakfast was over on 1st of May, 1587, and they 
 had done their lessons with their father, and had worked 
 1 Now Brightlingsea. 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 17 
 
 for an hour by themselves^ the boys put by their books and 
 strolled down the village to the bridge. There as usual 
 stood their friend Master Lirrij^er with his hands deep in 
 his pockets, a place and position in which he was sure to 
 be found when not away in his barge. 
 
 " Good-morning, Master Lirriper.^^ 
 
 *' Good-morning, Master Geoffrey and Master Lionel." 
 
 *' So you are not down the river to-day ? '' 
 
 *' Xo, sir. I am going to-morrow, and this time I shall 
 be away four or five days — maybe even a week." 
 
 ''^ Shall you ?" the boys exclaimed in surprise. ^^Why, 
 what are you going to do ? " 
 
 ^'1 am going round to London in my nephew Joe Cham- 
 bers' craft." 
 
 *' Are you really ?" Geoffrey exclaimed. ^' I wish we 
 were going with you. Don't you think you could take us. 
 Master Lirriper ? " 
 
 The bargeman looked down into the water and frowned. 
 He was slow of speech, but as the minutes went on and he 
 did not absolutely refuse the boys exchanged glances of 
 excitement and hope. 
 
 '^ I dunno how that might be, young sirs," John Lirri- 
 per said slowly, after long cogitation. ^'1 dus-say my 
 nephew would have no objection, but what would parson 
 say about it ? " 
 
 *^ Oh, I don't think he would object," Geoffrey said. 
 *^ If you go up and ask him. Master Lirriper, and say that 
 you will take care of us, you know, I don't see why he 
 should say no." 
 
 '^Like enough you would be ill." John Lirriper said 
 after another long pause. " It's pretty rough some- 
 times." 
 
 '' Oh, we shouldn't mind that," Lionel protested. '' We 
 should like to see the waves and to be in a real ship." 
 
 ^' It's nothing much of a ship," the boatman said. '^ She 
 is a ketch of about ten tons and carries three hands." 
 
 2 
 
1» BY ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 *' Oh, we don't care how small she is if we can only go 
 in her ; and you would be able to show us London, and we 
 might even see the queen. Oh, do come up with us and 
 ask father. Master Lirriper/' 
 
 '' Perhaps parson wouldn^t be pleased, young sirs, and 
 might say I was putting wandering thoughts into your 
 heads ; and Mistress Yickars might think it a great liberty 
 on my part." 
 
 ^' Oh, no, she wouldn't. Master Lirriper. Besides, we 
 will say we asked you." 
 
 ^' But suppose any harm comes to you, what would thef 
 say to me then ? " 
 
 " Oh, there's no fear of any harm coming to us. Be 
 sides, in another year or two we mean to go over to th 
 Low Countries and fight the Spaniards, and what's a voy. 
 age to London to that ? " 
 
 " Well, I will think about it," John Lirriper said cau- 
 tiously. 
 
 '' No no. Master Lirriper ; if you get thinking about it 
 it will never be done. Do come up with us at once," and 
 each of them got hold of one of the boatman's arms. 
 
 '' Well, the parson can but say no," he said, as he suf- 
 fered himself to be dragged away. '^ And I don't say as 
 it isn't reasonable that you should like to see something of 
 the world, young sirs ; but I don't know how the parson 
 will take it." 
 
 Mr. Vickars looked up irritably from his books when the 
 servant came in and said that Master Lirriper wished to 
 see him. 
 
 '' What does he want at this hour ? " he said. " You 
 know, Ruth, I never see people before dinner. Any time 
 between that and supper I am at their service, but it's too 
 bad being disturbed now." 
 
 '* I told him so, sir ; but Master Geoffrey and Master 
 Lionel were with him, and they said he wanted particular 
 to see you, and they wanted particular too." 
 
BY ENOrLAyD'S AID, IS 
 
 The clergyman sighed as he put his book down. 
 
 " If Geoffrey and Lionel have concerned themselves in 
 t'.ie ir.atter, Ruth,. I suppose I must see the man ; but it's 
 ■^ -ii-d being disturbed like this. Well, Master Lirri- 
 
 1 J. . ..hat is it V he asked, as the boatman accompanied 
 L • Geotirej and Lionel entered the room. Master Lir- 
 riper twirled his hat in his hand. Words did not come 
 easily to him at the best of times, and this was a business 
 that demanded thought and care. Long before he had 
 time to fix upon an appropriate form of words Geoffrey 
 Iroke in : 
 
 ^' This is what it is, father. Master Lirriper is going 
 down the river to Bricklesey to-morrow, and then he is 
 going on board his nephew's ship. She is a ketch, and she 
 carries ten tons, though I don't know what it is she car- 
 ries ; and she's going to London, and he is going in her, 
 and he says if you will let him he will take us with him, 
 and will show us London, and take great care of us. It 
 will be glorious, father, if you will only let us go." 
 
 Mr. Vickars looked blankly as Geoffrey poured out his 
 torrent of words. His mind was still full of the book he 
 had been reading, and he hardly took in the meaning of 
 Geoffrey's words. 
 
 '- Going in a ketch ! " he repeated. '' Going to catch 
 something, I suppose you mean ? Do you mean he is 
 going fishing ? " 
 
 '•' Xo, father, — going in a ketch. A ketch is a sort of 
 ship, father, though I don't quite know what sort of ship. 
 What sort of ship is a ketch. Master Lirriper ? " 
 
 '•' A ketch is a two-masted craft, Master Geoffrey," John 
 Lirriper said. " She carries a big mizzen sail." 
 
 *• There, you see, father," Geoffrey said triumphantly ; 
 " she carries a big mizzen sail. That's what she is, you 
 See ; and he is going to show us London, and will take great 
 care of us if you will let us go with him." 
 
 '•'Do you mean. Master Lirriper," Mr. Vickars asked 
 
20 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 slowly, "that yon are going to London in some —^rt ot 
 ship, and want to take my sons with you ? " 
 
 " Well, sir, I am going to London, and the young 
 masters seemed to think that they would like to go with 
 me, if so be you would have no objection.'^ 
 
 " I don't know," Mr. Vickars said. " It is a long pas- 
 sage, Master Lirriper ; and, as I have heard, often a stormy 
 one. I don't think my wife — " 
 
 *' Oh, yes, father,'' Lionel broke in. "If you say yes, 
 mother is sure to say yes ; she always does, you know. 
 And, you see, it will be a great thing for us to see London. 
 Every one else seems to have seen London, and I am sure 
 that it would do us good. And we might even see the 
 queen." 
 
 " I think that they would be comfortable, sir," John. 
 Lirriper put in. " You see, my nephew's wife is daughter 
 of a citizen, one Master Swindon, a ship's chandler, and 
 he said there would be a room there for me, and they 
 would make me heartily welcome. Xow, you see, sir, the 
 young masters could have that room, and I could very well 
 sleep on board the ketch ; and they would be out of all 
 sort of mischief there." 
 
 " That would be a very good plan certainly. Master 
 Lirriper. Well, well, I don't know what to say," 
 
 "Say yes, father," Geoffrey said as he saw Mr. Vickars 
 glance anxiously at the book he left open. " If you say 
 yes, you see it will be a grand thing for you, our being 
 away for a week with nothing to disturb you." 
 
 "Well, well," Mr. Vickars said, "you must ask your 
 mother. If she makes no objection, then I suppose you 
 can go," and Mr. Vickars hastily took up his book again. 
 
 The boys ran off to the kitchen, where their mother was 
 superintending the brewing of some broth for a sicK 
 woman down the village. 
 
 " Mother I " Geoffrey exclaimed, " Master Lirriper's 
 going to London in a ketch — a ship with a big mizzen sail. 
 
B T ENGLAND 'S AID. 2\ 
 
 you know — and tie has offered to take ns with him and 
 show us London. And father has said yes, and it's all 
 settled if you have no objection ; and of course you 
 haven't/' 
 
 '' Going to London, Geoffrey \" Mrs. Vicars exclaimed 
 aghast. " I never heard of such a thing. Why, like 
 enough you will be drowned on the way and never come 
 back again. Your father must be mad to think of such a 
 thing." 
 
 " Oh, no, mother ; I am sure it will do us a lot of good. 
 And we may see :he queen, mother. And as for drown- 
 ing, why, \ve can both swim ever so far. Besides, people 
 don't get drowned going to London. Do they. Master 
 Lirriper ? " 
 
 John was standing bashfully at the door of the kitchen. 
 ^^ Well, not as a rule. Master Geoffrey," he replied. 
 " They comes and they goes, them that are used to it, 
 maybe a hundred times without anything happening to 
 them." 
 
 '• There I You hear that, mother ? They come and go 
 hundreds of times. Oh, I am sure you are not going to 
 say no. That would be too bad when father has agreed to 
 it. Xow, mother, please tell Ruth to run away at once 
 and get a wallet packed with our things. Of course we 
 shall want our best clothes ; because people dress finely in 
 London, and it would never do if we saw the queen and 
 we hadn't our best doublets on, for she would think that 
 we didn't know what was seemly down at Hedingham." 
 
 " Well, my dears, of course if it is all settled — " 
 
 '* Oh, yes, mother, it is quite all settled." 
 
 ^' Then it's no use my saying anything more about it, 
 but I think your father might have consulted me before 
 he gave his consent to your going on such a hazardous 
 journey as this." 
 
 '' He did want to consult you, mother. But then, you 
 see. he wanted to consult hi^ ^ooks even more, and he 
 
22 BT ENGLAND 'S AID, 
 
 knew very well that you would agree with him ; and yo:T 
 know you would too. So please don^t say anything more- 
 about it, but let Ruth run upstairs and see to our things 
 at once. There, you see. Master Lirriper, it is all settled. 
 And what time do you start to-morrow ? We will be there 
 half an hour before, anyhow." 
 
 ^' I shall go at seven from the bridge. Then I shall just 
 catch the turn of the tide and get to Bricklesey in good 
 time.'' 
 
 '' I never did see such boys,'' Mrs. Vickars said when 
 John Lirriper had gone on his way. '' As for your father, 
 I am surprised at him in countenancing you. You will be 
 running all sorts of risks. You may be drowned on the 
 way, or killed in a street brawl, or get mixed up in a plot. 
 There is no saying what may not happen. And here it 
 is all settled before I have even time to think about it, 
 which is most inconsiderate of your father." 
 
 '' Oh, we shall get back again without any harm, mother. 
 And as to getting killed in a street brawl, Lionel and I can 
 use our hangers as well as most of them. Besides, nothing 
 of that sort is going to happen to us. Now, mother, 
 please let Euth go at once, and tell her to put up our puce 
 doublets that we had for the jousting at the castle, and 
 our red hose and our dark green cloth slashed trunks." 
 
 *^ There is plenty of time for that, Geoffrey, as you are 
 not going until to-morrow. Besides, I can't spare Ruth 
 now, but she shall see about it after dinner." 
 
 There was little sleep for the boys that night. A visit 
 to London had long been one of their wildest ambitions, 
 and they could scarcely believe that thus suddenly and 
 without preparation it was about to take place. Their 
 father had some time before promised that he would some 
 day make request to one or other of the young Veres to al- 
 low them to ride to London in his suite, but the present 
 seemed to them an even more delightful plan. ^ There 
 would be the pleasure of the voyage, and moreover it would 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 23 
 
 be much more lively for them to be able to see London 
 under the charge of John Lirriper than to be subject to 
 the ceremonial and restraint that would be enforced in the 
 household of the Veres. They were then at the appointed 
 place a full hour before the time named, with wallets con- 
 tainmg their clothes, and a basket of provisions that their 
 mother had prepared for them. Having stowed these away 
 in the little cabin, they walked up and down \mpatiently 
 until Master Lirriper himself appeared. 
 
 "'You are up betimes, my young masters," the boatman 
 said. " The church has not yet struck seven o^clock." 
 
 ^' We have been here ever so long. Master Lirriper. TVe 
 could not sleep much last night, and got up when it 
 chimed five, being afraid thai we might drop off to sleep 
 and be late." 
 
 *' Well, we shall not be long before we are off. Here 
 comes my man Dick, and the tide is just on the turn. The 
 sky looks bright, and the weather promises well. I will 
 just go round to the cottage and fetch up my things, and 
 then we shall be ready." 
 
 In ten minutes they pushed off from the shore. John 
 and his man got out long poles shod with iron, and with 
 these set to work to punt the barge along. Now that they 
 were fairly on their way the boys quieted down, and took 
 their seats on the sacks of flour with which the boat was 
 laden, and watched the objects on the bank as the boat 
 made her way quietly along. 
 
 Halstead was the first place passed. This was the 
 largest town near Hedingham, and was a place of much 
 importance in their eyes. Then they passed Stanstead Hall 
 and EarFs Colne on their right, Colne Wake on their left, 
 and Chapel Parish on their right. Then there was a long 
 stretch without any large villages, until they came in sight 
 of the bridge above Colchester. A few miles below the 
 town the river began to widen. The banks were low and 
 flat, and they were now entering an arm of the sea. Half 
 
24 BT ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 an hour later the houses and church of Bricklesey came in 
 Bight. Tide was ahnost low when they ran on to the mud 
 abreast of the village, but John put on a pair of high boots 
 and carried the boys ashore one after the other on his back, 
 and then went up with them to the house where they were 
 to stop for the night. 
 
 Here, although not expected, they were heartily wel- 
 comed by John's daughter. 
 
 '' If father had told me that you had been coming. 
 Masters Vickars, I would have had a proper dinner for 
 you ; but though he sent word yesterday morning that he 
 should be over to-da}^, he did not say a word about your 
 coming with them."' 
 
 '' He did not know himself,'' Geoffrey said ; '' it was only 
 settled at ten o'clock yesterday. But do not trouble your- 
 self about the dinner. In the first place, we are so pleased 
 at going that we don't care a bit what we eat, and in the 
 second place we had breakfast on board the boat, and we 
 were both so hungry that I am sure we could go till supper- 
 time without eating if necessary." 
 
 "Where are you going, father?" the young woman 
 asked. 
 
 "I am going to set about unloading the flour." 
 
 " Why, it's only a quarter to twelve, and dinner just 
 ready. The fish went into the frying-pan as you came up 
 from the boat. You know we generally dine at half-past 
 eleven, but we saw you coming at a distance and put it olf. 
 It's no use your starting now." 
 
 '^ Well, I suppose it isn't. And I don't know what the 
 young masters' appetite may be, but mine is pretty good, 
 I can tell you." 
 
 "I never knew it otherwise, father," the woman 
 laughed. " Ah, here is my Sam. Sam, here's father 
 brought these two young gentlemen. They are the sons 
 of Mr. Vickars, the narson at Hedingham. They are going 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID, 25 
 
 to stop here to-night, and are going with him in the Susan 
 to-morrow to London." 
 
 " Glad to see yon, young masters," Sam said. ^* I have 
 often heard Ann talk of your good father. I have just 
 been on board the Susan, for I am sending up a couple of 
 score sides of bacon in her, and have been giving Joe 
 Chambers, her master, a list of things he is to get there 
 and bring down for me. Xow then, girl, bustle about and 
 get dinner on as soon as you can. We are half an hour 
 late. I am sure the young gentlemen here must be 
 hungry. There's nothing like being on the water for 
 getting an appetite." 
 
 A few minutes later a great dish of fish, a loaf of bread 
 and some wooden platters, were placed on the table, and 
 all set to at once. Forks had not yet come into use, and 
 table-cloths were unknown, except among the upper 
 classes. The boys found that in spite of their hearty 
 breakfast their appetites were excellent. The fish were 
 delicious, the bread was home-baked, and the beer from 
 Colchester, which was already famous for its brewing. 
 "When they had finished, John Lirriper asked them if they 
 would rather see what there was to be seen in the village, 
 or go off to the ketch. They at once chose the latter 
 alternative. On going down to the water^s edge they 
 found that the tide had risen sufficiently to enable Dick to 
 bring the barge alongside the jetty. They were soon on 
 board. 
 
 *' Which is the Susan, Master Lirriper ?" 
 
 ^' That's her lying out there with two others. She is the 
 one lowest down the stream. We shall just fetch her 
 comfortably." 
 
26 BT Ey GLAND ' 8 AID. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 A MEETING IX CHEPE. 
 
 A ROW of ten minutes took the boat with Master 
 Lirriper and the two boys alongside the ketch. ''How 
 are you, Joe Chambers ? '' Master Lirriper hailed the skip- 
 per as he appeared on the deck of the Susan. '' I have 
 brought you two more passengers for London. They are 
 going there under my charge." 
 
 " The more the merrier, Uncle John/' the young skip- 
 per replied. " There are none others going this journey, 
 so though our accommodation is not very extensive, we 
 can put them up comfortably enough if they don't mind 
 roughing it." 
 
 '' Oh, we don't mind that/' Geoffrey said, as they climbed 
 on board ; *^ besices, there seems lots of room." 
 
 '^Not so much as you think," the skipper replied. 
 " She is a roomy craft is the Susan ; but she is pretty nigh 
 all hold, and we are cramped a little in the f o'castle. Still 
 we can sleep six, and that's just the number we shall have, 
 for we carry a man and a boy besides myself. I think 
 your flour will about fill her up. Master Lirriper. We 
 have a jDretty full cargo this time." 
 
 ^^Well, we shall soon see," John Lirriper said. *•' Are 
 you ready to take the flour on board at once ? Because, if 
 so, we will begin to discharge." 
 
 "' Yes, I am quite ready. You told me you were going 
 to bring forty sacks, and I have left the middle part of the 
 hold empty for them. Sam Hunter's bacon will stow in on 
 the top of your sacks, and just fill her ud to the beams 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 27 
 
 there as I reckon. Fll go below and stow them away as 
 you hand them across." 
 
 In an hour the sacks of flour were transferred from the 
 barge to the hold of the Susafi, and the sides of bacon 
 then placed upon them. 
 
 ^^It^sa pity we haven't all the rest of the things on 
 board/' the skipj^er said, ^' and then we could have started 
 by this evening^'s tide instead of waiting till the morning. 
 The wind is fair, and I hate throwing away a fair wind. 
 There is no saying where it may blow to-morrow, but I 
 shouldn't be at all surprised if it isn't round to the south, 
 and that will be foul for us till we get pretty nigh up into 
 tlie mouth of the river. However, I gave them till to- 
 night for getting all their things on board, and must 
 therefore wait." 
 
 To the boys the Susan appeared quite a large craft, for 
 there was not water up at Hedingham for vessels of her 
 size ; and though they had seen ships at Harwich, they had 
 never before put foot on anything larger than Master 
 Lirripers barge. The Susa?i was about forty feet long by 
 twelve feet beam, and drew, as her skipper informed them, 
 near five feet of water. She was entirely decked. The 
 cabin in the bows occupied some fourteen feet in length. 
 The rest was devoted to cargo. They descended into the 
 cabin, which seemed to them very dark, there being no 
 light save what came down through the small hatchway. 
 Still it looked snug and comfortable. There was a fire- 
 place on one side of the ladder by which they had de- 
 scended, and on this side there were two bunks, one above 
 the other. On the other side there were lockers running 
 along the entire length of the cabin. Two could sleep on 
 these, and two on the bunks above them. 
 
 *' Xow, young masters, you will take those two bunks 
 on the top there. John Lirriper and I will sleep on the 
 lockers underneath you. The man and the boy have the 
 two on the other side. I put you on the top because there 
 
28 BY ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 is a side board, and yon can^t fall out if she rolls, and 
 besides the bunks are rather wider than the lockers below. 
 If the wind is fair you won't have much of our company, 
 because we shall hold on till we moor alongside the 
 wharves of London ; but if it's foul, or there is not enough 
 of it to take us against tide, we have to anchor on the ebb, 
 and then of course we turn m." 
 
 '' How long do you take getting from here to London ?" 
 
 " Ah, that I can tell you more about when I see what 
 the weather is like in the morning. With a strong fair 
 wind I have done it in twenty-four hours, and again with 
 the w^ind foul it has taken me nigh a week. Taking one 
 trip with another I sliould put it at three days." 
 
 ''Well, now, we will be going ashore," John Lirriper 
 said. '*^I will leave my barge alongside till tide turns, for 
 I could not get her back again to the jetty so long as it is 
 running in strong, so I will be off again in a couple of 
 hours. " 
 
 So saying he hauled up the dingy that was towing be- 
 hind the barge, and he and Dick rowed the two boys 
 ashore. Then he walked along with them to a spot where 
 several craft were hauled up, pointing out to them the 
 differences in their rig and build, and explained their pur- 
 pose, and gave thjrm the names of the principal ropes and 
 stays. 
 
 •■•Xow," he said, '^it's getting on for supper-time, and 
 it won't do to keep them waiting, for Ann is sure to have 
 got some cakes made, and there's nothing puts a woman 
 out more than people not being in to meals when they have 
 got something special ready. After that I shall go out 
 with Dick and bring the barge ashore. He will load her 
 up to-morrow, and take her back single-handed ; which 
 can be done easy enough in such weather as this, but it is 
 too much for one man if there is a strong wind blowing 
 and driving her over to the one side or other of the 
 river." 
 
BY ENGLAND'S ^JD. 29 
 
 As John Lirriper had expected, his daughter had pre- 
 pared a pile of hot cakes for supper, and her face bright- 
 ened up when she saw the party return punctually. The 
 boys had been up early, and had slept but little the night 
 before, and were not sorry at eight o'clock to lie down on 
 the bed of freshly cut rushes covered with home-spun 
 sheets, for regular beds of feathers were still but little used 
 iti England. At five o'clock they were astir again, and 
 their hostess insisted on their eating a manchet of bread 
 with some cheese, washed down by a stoup of ale before 
 starting. Dick had the boat at the jetty ready to row 
 them off, and as soon as they were on board the Susan prep- 
 arations were made for a start. 
 
 The mainsail was first hoisted, its size greatly surprising 
 the boys ; then the foresail and jib were got up, and lastly 
 the mizzen. Then the capstan was manned, and the an- 
 chor slowly brought on board, and the sails being sheeted 
 home, the craft began to steal through the water. The 
 tide was still draining up, and she had not as yet swung. 
 The wind was light, and, as the skipper had predicted, 
 was nearly due south. As the ketch made its way out 
 from the mouth of the river, and the wide expanse of water 
 opened before them, the boys were filled with delight. 
 They had taken their seats, one on each side of the skipper, 
 who was at the tiller. 
 
 " I suppose you steer by the compass. Master Chambers ? " 
 Geoffrey said. '' Which is the compass ? I have heard 
 about it always pointing to the north." 
 
 *^ It's down below, young sir ; I will show it you presently. 
 "We steer by that at night, or when it's foggy ; but on a 
 fine day like this there is no need for it. There are marks 
 put up on all the sands, and we steer by them. You see, 
 the way the wind is now we can lay our course for the 
 TThittaker. That's a cruel sand, that is, and stretches out 
 a long way from a point lying away on the right there. 
 Once past that we bear away to the southwest, for we are 
 
30 BT ENGL A ND'S A ID. 
 
 then, so to speak, fairly in the course of the river. There 
 is many a ship has been cast away on the Whittaker. Xot 
 that it is worse than other sands. There are scores of them 
 lying in the mouth of the river, and if it wasn^t for the 
 marks there would be no sailing in or ouf 
 
 '' Who put up the marks ?" Lionel asked. 
 
 ^' They are put up by men who make a business of it. 
 There is one boat of them sails backwards and forwards 
 where the river begins to narrow above Sheerness, and 
 every ship that goes up or down pays them something ac- 
 cording to her size. Others cruise about with long poles, 
 putting them in the sands wherever one gets washed away. 
 They have got diii'erent marks on them. A single cross- 
 piece, or two cross-pieces, or a circle, or a diamond ; so 
 that each sand has got its own particular mark. These 
 are known to the masters of all shi2)s that go up and down 
 the river, and so they can tell exactly where they are, and 
 what course to take. At night they anchor, for there 
 would be no possibility of finding the way up or down in 
 the dark. I have heard tell from mariners who have sailed 
 abroad that there ain't a place anywhere with such dan- 
 gerous sands as those we have got here at the mouth of the 
 Thames.'' 
 
 In the first three or four hours' sail Geoffrey and Lionel 
 acquired much nautical knowledge. They learned the 
 difference between the mainmast and the mizzen, found 
 that all the strong ropes that kept the masts erect and stiff 
 were called stays, that the ropes that hoist sails are called 
 halliards, and that sheets is the name given to the ropes 
 that restrain the sails at the lower corner, and are used to 
 haul them in more tightly when sailing close to the wind, 
 or to ease them off when the wind is favorable. They also 
 learned that the yards at the head of the main and mizzen 
 sails are called gaffs, and those at the bottom, booms. 
 
 '' I think that's about enough for you to remember in 
 one day, young masters," John Lirriper said. '^Y ou bear 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID, 31 
 
 all that in your mind, and remember that each halliard 
 and sheet has the name of the sail to which it is attached, 
 and you will have learnt enough to make yourself useful, 
 and can lend a hand when the skipper calls out, ' Haul in 
 the jib-sheet, " or ^ Let go the fore-halliards. ' Xow set your- 
 selves down again and see what is doing. That beacon 
 you can just see right ahead marks the end of the Whit^ 
 taker Spit. When we get there we shall drop anchor till 
 the tiae turns. You see we are going across it now ; but 
 when we round that beacon we shall have it dead against 
 us, and the wind would be too light to take us against it 
 even if it were not from the quarter it is. You see there 
 are two or three other craft brought up there." 
 
 '^ Where have they come from do you think. Master 
 Lirriper ? ''' 
 
 '^ Well, they may have come out from Burnham, or they 
 may have come down from London and be going up to 
 Burnham or to Bricklesey when the tide turns. There is a 
 large ship anchored in the channel beyond the Whittaker. 
 Of course she is going up when tide begins to flow. And 
 there are the masts of two vessels right over there. They 
 are in another channel. Between us and them there is a 
 line of sands that you will see will show above the water 
 when it gets a bit lower. That is the main channel, that 
 is ; and vessels coming from the south with a large draught 
 of water generally nse that, while this is the one that ii 
 handiest for ships from the north. Small vessels from the 
 south come in by a channel a good bit beyond those ships. 
 That is the narrowest of the three ; and even light-draught 
 vessels don't use it much unless the wind is favorable, for 
 there is not much room for them to beat up if the wind is 
 against them.""' 
 
 "' What is to beat up, Master Lirriper ?'' 
 '' Well, you will see about that presently. I don't think 
 we shall be able to lay our course beyond the Whittaker. 
 To lay our course means to steer the way we want to go ; 
 
82 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 and if we can^t do that we shall have to beat, and that is 
 tedious work with a light wind like this." 
 
 They dropped anchor off the beacon, and the captain 
 said that this was the time to take breakfast. The lads 
 already smelt an agreeable odor arising from the cabin 
 forward, where the boy had been for some time busily en- 
 gaged, and soon the whole party were seated on the lockers 
 in the cabin devouring fried fish. 
 
 " Master Chambers," Geoffrey said, ''we have got two 
 boiled pullets in our basket. Had we not better have them 
 for dinner ? They were cooked the evening before we 
 came away, and I should think they had better be eaten 
 now." 
 
 " You had better keep them for yourselves. Master 
 Geoffrey," the skipper said. '•' We are accustomed to 
 living on fish, but like enough you would get tired of it 
 before we got to London." 
 
 But this the boys would not hear of, and it was accord- 
 ingly arranged that the dinner should be furnished from 
 the contents of the basket. 
 
 As soon as tide turned the anchor was hove up and 
 the Susan got under way again. The boys soon learnt the 
 meaning of the word beating, and found that it meant sail- 
 ing backwards and forwards across the channel, with the 
 wind sometimes on one side of the boat and sometimes on 
 the other. Geoffrey wanted very much to learn why, when 
 the wind was so nearly ahead, the boat advanced instead 
 of drifting backwards or sidewaj^s. But this was altogether 
 beyond the power of either Master Lirriper or Joe Cham- 
 bers to explain. They said every one knew that when the 
 sails were fall a vessel went in the direction in which her 
 head pointed. ''It's just the same way with yourself, 
 iRIaster Geoffrey. You see, when you look one way that's 
 the way you go. When you turn your head and point 
 another way, of course you go off that way ; and it's just 
 the same thing with the ship." 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 35 
 
 " I don't think it's the same thing. Master Lirriper/* 
 Geoffrey said puzzled. ^' In one case the power that makes, 
 one go comes from the inside, and so one can go in any 
 direction one likes ; in the other it comes from outside, and 
 you would think the ship would have to go any way the 
 wind pushes her. If you stand up and I give you a push, 
 I push you straight away from me. You don't go side- 
 ways or come forward in the direction of my shoulder,, 
 which is what the ship does." 
 
 John Lirriper took off his cap and scratched his head. 
 
 *' I suppose it is as you say. Master Geoffrey, though I 
 never thought of it before. There is some reason, no 
 doubt, why the craft moves up against the wind so long as 
 the sails are full, instead of drifting away to leeward ; 
 though I never heard tell of it, and never heard any one 
 ask before. I dare say a learned man could tell why it is ; 
 and if you ask your good father when you go back I would 
 wager he can explain it. It always seems to me as if a boat 
 have got some sort of sense, just like a human being or a 
 horse, and when she knows which way you wants her to 
 go she goes. That's how it seems to me — ain't it, Joe ? " 
 
 " Something like that, uncle. Every one knows that a 
 boat's got her humors, and sometimes she sails better than 
 she does others ; and each boat's got her own fancies. 
 Some does their best when they are beating, and some are 
 lively in a heavy sea, and seem as if they enjoy it ; and 
 others get sulky, and don't seem to take the trouble to lift 
 their bows up when a wave meets them ; and they groans- 
 and complains if the wind is too hard for them, just like a 
 human being. When you goes to a new vessel you have 
 got to learn her tricks and her ways and what she will do, 
 and what she won't do, and just to humor her as you 
 would a child. I don't say as I think she is actually alive ; 
 but every sailor will tell you that there is something about 
 her that her builders never put there." 
 
 **' That's so." John Lirriper agreed. '' Look at a boat 
 3 
 
?"_ BY ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 that is hove up when her work's done and going to be 
 hroken up. Why, any one can tell her with half an eye. 
 S'le looks that forlorn and melancholy that one's inclined 
 to blubber at the sight of her. She don't look like that at 
 aiiy other time. When she is hove up she is going to die, 
 and she knows it.'' 
 
 '•But perhaps that's because the paint's off her sides and 
 t])? ropes all worn and loose," Geoffrey suggested. 
 
 lUit Master Lirriper waved the suggestion aside as un- 
 worthy even of an answer, and repeated, " She knows it. 
 Anyone can see that with half an eye." 
 
 Geoffrey and Lionel talked the matter over when they 
 were sitting together on deck apart from the others. It 
 was an age when there were still many superstitions cur- 
 Tent in the land. Even the upper classes believed in 
 witches and warlocks, in charms and spells, in lucky and 
 unlucky days, in the arts of magic, in the power of the 
 evil eye ; and although to the boys it seemed absurd that a 
 vessel should have life, they were not prepared altogether 
 to discredit an idea that was evidently thoroughly believed 
 by those who had been on board ships all their lives. After 
 talking it over for some time they determined to submit 
 the question to their father on their return. 
 
 It took them two more tides before they were off Sheer- 
 ness. The wind was now more favorable, and having in- 
 creased somewhat in strength, the Susan made her way 
 briskly along, heeling over till the water ran along her 
 scuppers. There was plenty to see now, for there were 
 many fishing-boats at work, some belonging, as Master 
 Chambers told them, to the Medway, others to the little 
 village of Leigh, whose church they saw at the top of the 
 hill to their right. They met, too, several large craft com- 
 ing down the river, and passed more than one, for the 
 Sui<a7i was a fast boat. 
 
 '^ They would beat us," the skipper said when the boys 
 expressed their surprise at their passing such large vessels. 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AIL 35 
 
 *' if the wind were stronger or the water rough, ^e are 
 doing our best, and if the wind rises I shall have to take 
 in sail ; while they could carry all theirs if it blew twice as 
 hard. Then in a sea, weight and power tell ; a wave that 
 would knock the way almost out of us would hardly affect 
 them at all." 
 
 So well did the Susa7i go along, that before the tide wiis 
 much more than half done they passed the little village of 
 Gravesend on their left, with the strong fort of Tilbury on 
 the opposite shore, with its guns pointing on the river, and 
 ready to give a good account of any Spaniard who should 
 venture to sail up the Thames. Then at the end of the 
 next reach the hamlet of Grays was passed on the right ; a 
 mile further Greenhithe on the left. Tide was getting 
 slack now, but the Susan managed to get as far as Purfleet, 
 and then dropped her anchor. 
 
 " This is our last stopping-place,'"' Joe Chambers said. 
 '*^The morning tide will carry us up to London Bridge/*' 
 
 *' Then you will not go on with to-night's tide ?" Geof- 
 frey asked. 
 
 *' Xo ; the river gets narrower every mile, and I do not 
 care to take the risk of navigating it after dark, especially 
 as there is always a great deal of shipping moored above 
 Greenwich. Tide will begin to run up at about five o'clock, 
 and by ten we ought to be safely moored alongside near 
 London Bridge. So we should not gain a great deal by 
 going on this evening instead of to-morrow morning, and 
 I don't suppose you are in a particular hurry." 
 
 '' Oh, no," Lionel said. *' ^\e would much rather go on 
 in the morning, otherwise we should miss everything by 
 the way ; and there is the Queen's Palace at Greenwich that 
 I want to see above all things." 
 
 Within a few minutes of the hour the skipper had named 
 for their arrival, the Suscoi was moored alongside some 
 vessels lying off one of the wharves above the Tower. The 
 bo.vs' astonishment had risen with every mi> of their 
 
m B Y ENGL AS D ' S AID. 
 
 approa^^h to the city, and they were perfectly astonnded at 
 the amount of shipping that they now beheld. The great 
 proportion were of course coasters, like themselves, but 
 there were many large vessels among them, and of these 
 fully half were flying foreign colors. Here were traders 
 from the Netherlands, with the flag that the Spaniards had 
 in vain endeavored to lower, flying at their mast-heads. 
 Here were caravels from Venice and Genoa, laden with 
 goods from the East. Among the rest Master Chambers 
 pointed out to the lads the ship in which Sir Francis Drake 
 had circumnavigated the world, and that in which Captain 
 Stevens had sailed to India, round the Cape of Good Hope. 
 There were many French vessels also in the Pool, and in- 
 deed almost every flag save that of Spain was represented. 
 Innumerable wherries darted about among the shipping, 
 and heavier cargo boats dropped along in more leisurely 
 fashion. Across the river, a quarter of a mile above the 
 point at which they were lying, stretched London Bridge, 
 with its narrow arches and the houses projecting beyond 
 it on their supports of stout timbers. Beyond, on the 
 right, rising high above the crowded roofs, was the lofty 
 spire of St. Paul's. The boys were almost awed by this 
 vast assemblage of buildings. That London was a great 
 city they had known, but they were not prepared for so 
 immense a difference between it and the place where they 
 had lived all their lives. Only with the Tower were they 
 somewhat disappointed. It was very grand and very ex- 
 tensive, but not so much grander than the stately abode 
 ot the A'eres as they had looked for. 
 
 *' I wouldn't change, if I were the earl, with the queen's 
 majesty," Geoffrey said. '' Of course it is larger than 
 Hedingham, but not so beautiful, and it is crowded in by 
 the houses, and has not like our castle a fair look-out on 
 all sides. Why, there can be no hunting or hawking near 
 here, and I can't think what the nobles can find to do all 
 
B 7 ENGLAND 'S AiD. 87 
 
 •* Xo^, yoTiiig sirs/' Master Lirriper said, ''if you will 
 get your wallets we will go ashore at once." 
 
 The boys were quite bewildered as they stepped ashore by 
 the bustle and confusion. Brawny porters carrying heavy 
 packages on their backs pushed along unceremoniously, 
 saying from time to time in a mechanical sort of way, " By 
 your leave, sir !" but pushing on and shouldering passers- 
 by into the gutter without the smallest compunction. The 
 narrowness and dinginess of the streets greatly surprised 
 and disappointed the boys, who found that in these respects 
 even Harwich compared favorably with the region they 
 were traversing. Presently, however, after passing through 
 several lanes and alleys, they emerged into a much broader 
 street, alive with shops. The people who were walking 
 here were for the most part well dressed and of quiet de- 
 meanor, and there was none of the rough bustle that had 
 prevailed in the river-side lanes. 
 
 '' This is Eastchepe," their conductor said ; '' we have 
 not far to go now. The street in which my friend dwells 
 lies to the right, between this and Tower Street. I could 
 have taken you a shorter way there, but I thought that 
 your impressions of London would not be favorable did I 
 take you all tlie way through those ill-smelling lanes." 
 
 In a quarter of an hour they arrived at their destination, 
 and entered the shop, which smelt strongly of tar •, coils of 
 rope of all sizes were piled up one upon another by the 
 walls, while on shelves above them wtre blocks, lanterns, 
 compasses, and a great variety of gear of whose use the 
 boys were ignorant. The chandler was standing at his 
 door. 
 
 '^ I am right glad to see you. Master Lirriper," he said, 
 *' and have been expecting you for the last two or three 
 days. My wife would have it that some evil must have be- 
 fallen you ; but you know what women are. They make 
 little allowance for time or tide or distance, but expect that 
 every one can so arrange his iournevs as to arrive at the 
 
38 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 very moment when they begin to expect him. But who 
 li.ive you here with you ? " 
 
 '* These are the sons of the worshipful Mr. Vickars, the 
 rector of our parish, and tutor to the Earl of Oxford and 
 several of the young Veres, his cousins — a wise gentleman 
 and a kind one, and much loved among us. lie has in- 
 trusted his two sons to me that I might show them some- 
 what of this city of yours. I said that I was right sure that 
 you and your good dame would let them occupy the cham- 
 ber you intended for me, while I can make good shift on 
 board the Susa?i." 
 
 " Xay, nay, Master Lirriper ; our house is big enough 
 to take in you and these two young masters, and Dorothy 
 would deem it a slight indeed upon her hospitality were 
 you not to take up your abode liere too. You will be 
 heartily welcome, young sirs, and though such accom- 
 modation as we can give you will not be equal to that which 
 you are accustomed to, I warrant me that you will find it 
 a pleasant change after that poky little cabin on board the 
 Susan, I know it well, for I supply her with stores, and 
 have often wondered how men could accustom themselves 
 to pass their lives in places where there is scarce room to 
 turn, to say nothing of the smell of fish that always hangs 
 about it. But if you will follow me I will take you up to 
 my good dame, to whose care I must commit you for the 
 present, as my foreman, John "Watkins, is down by the 
 riverside seeing to the proper delivery of divers stores on 
 board a ship which sails with tlie next tide for Holland. 
 My apprentices, too, are both out, as I must own is their 
 wont. They always make excuses to slip down to the river- 
 side when there is aught doing, and I am far too easy with 
 the varlets. So at present, you see, I cannot long leave 
 my shop.** 
 
 So saying the chandler preceded them up a wide stair- 
 case that led from a passage behind the shop, and the boys 
 perceived that the house was fai* more roomy and com- 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 3^ 
 
 fortable than they had judged from its outward appearance. 
 Turning to the left when he reached the top of the stairs 
 the chandler opened a door. 
 
 *' Dorothy," he said, ^^here is your kinsman. Master 
 Lirriper, who has suffered none of the misadventures yon 
 have been picturing to yourself for the last two days, and 
 he has brought with him these young gentlemen, sons 
 of the rector of Hedingham, to show them something of 
 London." 
 
 ^' You are welcome, young gentlemen," Dame Dorothy 
 said, " though why any one should come to London when 
 he can stay away from it I know not." 
 
 ^' Why, Dorothy, you are always running down our city, 
 though I know right well that were I to move down with 
 you to your native Essex again you would very soon cry 
 out for the pleasures of the town." 
 
 ^' That would I not," she said. ''I would be well con- 
 tented to live in fresh country air all the rest of my life, 
 though I do not say that London has not its share of pleas- 
 ures also, though I care but little for them." 
 
 ^^Ah, Master Lirriper," her husband said laughing, 
 ^' you would not think, to hear her talk, that there is not 
 a feast or a show that Dorothy would stay away from. She 
 never misses an opportunity, I warrant you, of showing 
 herself off in her last new kirtle and gown. But I must 
 be going down ; there is no one below, and if a customer 
 comes and finds the shop empty he will have but a poor 
 idea of me, and will think that I am away gossiping instead 
 of attending to my business." 
 
 '^ Are you hungry, young sirs ? " the dame asked. '^ Be- 
 cause if so the maid shall bring up a manchet of bread and 
 a cup of sack ; if not, our evening meal will be served in 
 the course of an hour." 
 
 The boTs both said that they were perfectly able to wait 
 until the meal came ; and Geoffrey added, '' If you will 
 allow us, mistress, as doubtless you have private matters 
 
40 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 to talk of with Master Lirriper, my brother and I will 
 walk out for an hour to see something of the town." 
 
 '' Mind that you lose not your way," Master Lirriper said. 
 *' Dc not go beyond Eastchepe, I beg you. There are the 
 shops to look at there,, and the fashions of dress and other 
 matters that will occupy your attenti .a well enough for that 
 short time. To-morrow morning I will myself go with 
 you, and we can then wander further abroad. I have 
 promised your good father to look after you, you know ; 
 and it will be but a bad beginning if you meet with any 
 untoward adventure upon this the first day of vour arrival 
 here." 
 
 " We will not go beyond the limits of Eastchepe ; and as 
 to adventures, I can't see very well how any c^n befall us." 
 
 ** C!:, there are plenty of adventures to be met with in 
 London, young sir ; and I shall be well content if on the 
 day when we again embark on board the Susa7i none of 
 them have fallen to your share." 
 
 The two lads accordingly sallied out and amused them- 
 selves greatly by staring at the goods exhibited in the open 
 shops. They were less surprised at the richness and variety 
 of the silverwork, at the silks from the East, the costly 
 satins, and other stuffs, than most boys from the country 
 would have been, for they were accustomed to the splendor 
 and magnificence displayed by the various noble guests at 
 the castle, and saw nothing here that surpassed the bril- 
 liant sliows made at the jousting and entertainment at 
 Hedingham. 
 
 It was the scene that was novel to them : the shouts of 
 the apprentices inviting attention to their employers' wares, 
 the crowd that filled the street, consisting for the most part 
 of the citizens themselves, but varied by nobles and knights 
 of the court, by foreigners from many lands, by soldiers 
 L.nd men-at-arms from the Tower, by countrymen and 
 sailors. Their amusement was sometimes turned into 
 anger by the flippant remarks of the apprentices •- +hese 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 42 
 
 Tarlets, perceiving easily enough by the manner of their 
 attire that they were from the country, were z:!: slow, if 
 their master happened for the moment to be absent, in 
 indulging in remarks that set Geoffrey and Lionel into 
 a fever to commit a breaich of the peace. The '^ What do 
 you lack, masters ? " with which they generally addressed 
 passers-by would be exchanged for remarks such as, *'Do 
 not trouble the young gentlemen, Xat. Do you not see 
 they are up in the town looking for some of their master's 
 calves ?'' or, *' Look you, Philip, here are two rustics who 
 have come up to town to learn manners/' 
 
 '^ I quite see, Geoffrey," Lionel said, taking his brother 
 by the arm and half dragging him away as he saw that he- 
 was clenching his fist and preparing to avenge summarily 
 one of these insults even more pointed than usual, " that 
 Master Lirriper was not very far out, and there is no diflS- 
 eultyin meeting with adventures in tlie streets of London. 
 However, we must not give him occasion on this our first 
 stroll in the streets to say that we cannot be trusted out of 
 his sight. If we were to try to punish these insolent var- 
 lets we should have them upon us like a swarm of bees, 
 and should doubtless get worsted in the encounter, and 
 might even find ourselves hauled off to the lock-up, and 
 that would be a nice tale for Master Lirriper to carryback 
 to Hedingham." 
 
 *' That is true enough, Lionel ; but it is not easy to keep 
 one's temper when one is thus tried. I know not how it is 
 they see so readily that we are strangers, for surely we have 
 mixed enough with the earl's family and friends to have 
 rubbed off the awkwardness that they say is common to 
 country folk ; and as to our dress, I do not see much dif- 
 ference between its fashion and that of other people. I 
 suppose it is because we look interested in what is going 
 on, instead of strolling along like those two youths opposite 
 with our noses in the air, as if we regarded the city and its 
 belongings as infinitely below our regard. Well, I think 
 
42 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 we had best be turning back to Master Swindon's ; it will 
 ijot do to be late for our meal/' 
 
 '' Well, young sirs, what do you think of our shops ?'* 
 Dame Swindon asked as they entered. 
 
 ''The shops are well enough,'' Geoffrey replied ; "'but 
 your apprentices seem to me to be an insolent set of jack- 
 anapes, who take strange liberties with passers-by, and 
 who would be all the better for chastisement. If it hadn't 
 been tliat Lionel and I did not wish to become engaged in 
 a brawl, we should have given some of them lessons in 
 manners." 
 
 '''They are free in speech," Dame Swindon said, ''and 
 are an impudent set of varlets. They have quick eyes and 
 ready tongues, and are no respecters of persons save of 
 their masters and of citizens in a position to lay complaints 
 against them and to secure tliem punishment. They hold 
 together greatly, and it is as well that you should not be- 
 come engaged in a quarrel with them. At times they 
 have raised serious tumults, and have even set not only the 
 watch but the citizens at large at defiance. Strong 
 measures have been several time^ taken against them ; but 
 they are a powerful body, seeing that in every shop there 
 are one or more of them, and they can turn out with their 
 <'lub3 many thousand strong. They have what they call 
 tlieir privileges, and are as ready to defend them as are the 
 citizens of London to uphold their liberties. Ordinances 
 have been passed many times by the fathers of the city, 
 regulating their conduct and the hours at which they may 
 be abroad and the carrying of clubs and matters of this 
 kind, but the apprentices seldom regard them, and if the 
 watch arrest one for a breach of regulations, he raises a 
 cry, and in two or three minutes a swarm of them collect 
 and rescue the offender from his hands. Therefore it is 
 seldom that the watch interferes with them." 
 
 *' It would almost seem then that the apprentices are ia 
 iact the masters," Geoffrey said. 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 4$ 
 
 '' Xot quite as bad as that/^ Master Swindon replied. 
 " There are the rules which they hare to obey when at 
 home, and if not they get a whipping ; but it is difficult 
 to keep a hand over them when they are abroad. After 
 the shops are closed and the supper over they have from 
 time immemorial the right to go out f(w two hours' exer- 
 cise. They are supposed to go and shoot at the butts : 
 but archery, I grieve to say, is falling into disrepute, and 
 although many still go the butts the practice is no longer 
 universal. But here is supper/' 
 
 Few words were spoken during the meal. The foreman 
 and the two apprentices came up and sat down with the 
 family, and it wa5 not until these had retired that the con- 
 versation was again resumed. 
 
 " "Where are you going to take them to-morrow, Master 
 Lirriper ? ■' 
 
 ''To-morrow we will see the city, the shops in Chepe, 
 the Guildhall, and St. Paul's, then we shall issue out from 
 Temple Bar and walk along the Strand through the 
 country to Westminster and see the great abbey, then per- 
 haps take a boat back. The next day, if the weather be 
 fine, we will row up to Richmond and see the palace there, 
 and I hope you will go with us. Mistress Dorothy : it is a 
 pleasant promenade and a fashionable, and methinks the 
 river with its boats is after all the prettiest sight in Lon- 
 don." 
 
 " Ah, you think there can be nothing pretty without 
 water. That is all very well for one who is ever afloat. 
 Master Lirriper ; but give me Chepe at high noon with all 
 its bravery of dress, and the bright shops, and the gallants 
 of the court, and our own citizens too, who if not quite so 
 gay in color are proper men, better looking to my mind 
 than some of the fops with their silver and satins/' 
 
 '•'That's right, Dorothy,'' her husband said; '•S2X)keii 
 like the wife of a citizen.'' 
 
 All these plans were destined to be frustrated. As soon 
 
Ar BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 as breakfast was over the next morning Master Lirriper 
 started with the two boys, and they had but just entered 
 Chepeside when they saw i,wo young men approaching. 
 
 " Why, Lionel, here is Frr.ncis Vere I " Geoffrey ex. 
 claimed. '' I thought he was across in Holland with th3 
 Earl of Leicester." They doffed their caps. Captain 
 Vere, for such was now his rank, looked at them in sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " Why I " he exclaimed, '^ here are Mr. Vickars' two 
 sons. How came you here, lads ? Have you run away 
 from home to see the wonders of London, or to list as 
 f^olunteers for the campaigns against the Dons ? " 
 
 ** I wish we were, Mr. Francis," Geoffrey said. '' You 
 promised when you were at Hedingham a year and a half 
 fcince that you would some day take us to the wars with 
 you, and our father, seeing that neither of us have a mind 
 to enter the church, has quite consented that wo shall be- 
 come soldiers, the more so as tliere is a prospect of fighting 
 for the persecuted Protestants of Holland. And oh, M . 
 Francis, could it be now ? You know we daily exercise 
 with arms at the castle, and we are both strong and 
 sturdy for our age, and believe me you should not see us 
 flinch before the Spaniards however many of them there 
 were." 
 
 *^ Tut, tut ! " Captain Vere laughed. " Here are young 
 cockorels, Allen ; what think you of these for soldiers to 
 stand against the Spanish pikemen ? " 
 
 " There are many of the volunteers who are not very 
 much older than they are," Captain Allen replied. 
 *' There are two in my company who must be between 
 seventeen and eighteen." 
 
 '' Ah ! but these boys are three years younger than that.^* 
 
 ^' Would you not take us as your pages, Mr. Francis ?" 
 Lionel urged. " We would do faithful service, and then 
 when we come to the age that you could enter us as vol- 
 unteers we should already have learnt a little of war." 
 
BT ENGLAXD'S AID. 45 
 
 " Well, well, I cannot stop to talk to you now, for I am 
 on my way to the Tower on business. I am only over 
 from Holland for a day or two with despatches from the 
 Earl to Her Majesty's Council, and am lodging at West- 
 minster in a house that faces the abbey. It is one of my 
 cousm Edward's houses, and you will see the Vere cogni^ 
 zance over the door. Call there at one hour after noon, 
 and I will have a talk with you ; but do not buoy yourselves 
 np with hopes as to your going with me.'' So saying, witk 
 a friendly nod of his head Francis Vere continued his way 
 eastward. 
 
 '' What think you, Allen ? " he asked his comrade aa 
 they went along. '*' I should like to take the lads with 
 me if I could. Their father, who is the rector of Heding- 
 ham, taught my cousin Edward as well as my brothers 
 and myself. I saw a good deal of the boys when I was at 
 home. They are sturdy young fellows, and used to prac- 
 tice daily, as we did at their age, with the men-at-arms at 
 the castle, and can use their weapons. A couple of years 
 of apprenticeship would be good schooling for them. One 
 cannot begin to learn the art of war too young, and it is 
 because we have all been so ignorant of it that our volun- 
 teers in Holland have not done better." 
 
 " I think, Vere, that they are too young yet to be en-» 
 listed as volunteers, although in another two years, per- 
 haps, you might admit the elder of the two. But I see na 
 reason why, if you are so inclined, you should not take 
 them with you as pages. Each company has its pages 
 and boys, and you might take these two for the special 
 service of yourself and your officers. They would then be 
 on pretty well the same footing as the five gentlemen 
 volunteers you have already with you, and would be dis- 
 tinct from* the lads who have entered as pages to the 
 company. I suppose that you have not yet your full num- 
 ber of boys ? " 
 
 ** Xo ; there are fifteen boys allowed, one to each ten 
 
46 BY ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 tnen, and I am several short of this number, and hare al- 
 ready written my brother John to get six sturdy lads from 
 among our own tenantry and to send them over in the 
 first ship from Harwich. Yes, I will take these lads with 
 me. I like their spirit, and we are all fond of their 
 father, who is a very kindly as well as learned man." 
 
 ''I don't suppose he will thank you gi-eatly, Francis," 
 Captain Allen laughed. 
 
 *' His goodwife is more likely to be vexed than he is," 
 Captain Vere said, *'for it will give him all the more time 
 for the studies in which he is wrapped up. Besides, it 
 will be a real service to the boys. It will shorten their 
 Probation as volunteers, and they may get commissions 
 much earlier than they otherwise would do. We are all 
 mere children in the art of war ; for truly before Roger 
 Morgan first took out his volunteers to fight for the Dutch 
 there was scarce a man in England who knew how to range 
 a company in order. You and I learned somewhat of our 
 business in Poland, and some of our leaders have also had 
 a few lessons in the art of war in foreign countries, but 
 most of our officers are altogetlier new to the work. How- 
 ever, we have good masters, and I trust these Spaniards 
 may teach us how to beat them in time ; but at present, as I 
 said, we are all going to school, and tlie earlier one begins 
 at school tlie sooner one learns its lessons. Besides, we 
 must have pages, and it will be more pleasant for me 
 having lads who belong in a sort of way to our family, and 
 to whom, if I am disposed, I can talk of people at home. 
 They are high-spirited and full of fun, and I should like 
 to have them about me. But here we are at the Tower. 
 "We shall not be long, I hope, over the list of arms and 
 munitions that the earl has sent for. When we have done 
 we will take boat back to Westminster. Half an hour 
 will take us there, as the tide will be with us." 
 
BT ENGLAND '5 AID. ^ 
 
 CHAPTEK in. 
 
 IX THE LOW COUNTRY. 
 
 Master Lirriper had stood apart wliile the boys were 
 '>>nversmg with Francis Vere. 
 
 '' What do YOU think, Master Lirriper V Geoffrey ex- 
 o'aimed as they joined him. ^' We have asked Mr. Vere 
 to take us with him as pages to the war in the Low 
 Country, and though he said we were not to be hopeful 
 *ibout his reply, I do think he will take us. We are to go 
 round to Westminster at one o'clock to see him again. 
 AVhat do you think of that ?" 
 
 " I don't know what to think. Master Geoffrey. It 
 iakes me all by surprise, and I don't know how I stand in 
 the matter. You see, your father gave you into my charge, 
 and what could I say to him if I went back empty- 
 handed ? " 
 
 " But, you see, it is with Francis Vere," Geoffrey said. 
 *• If it had been with any one else it would be different. 
 But the Veres are his patrons, and he looks upon the earl, 
 and Mr. Francis and his brothers, almost as he does on us ; 
 and, you know, he has already consented to our entering 
 the army some day. Besides, he can't blame you ; be- 
 cause, of course, Mr. Vere will wrtfe to him himself and 
 say that he has taken us, and so you can't be blamed in 
 the matter. My father would know well enough that you 
 could not withstand the wishes of one of the Veres, who 
 are lords of Hedingham and all the country round." 
 
 '•' I should withstand them if I thought they were wrong,'* 
 fche boatman said sturdily, *• and if I were sure that your 
 
48 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 father would object to your going ; but that is wnat I am 
 not sure. He may think it is the best thing for you to begin 
 early under the protection of Master Francis, and again he 
 may think you a great deal too young for such wild work. 
 He has certainly always let you have pretty much your own 
 way, and has allowed you to come and go as you like, but 
 this is a different business altogether. I am sorely bested 
 as to what I ought to do." 
 
 " Well, nothing is settled yet, Master Lirriper ; and, 
 besides, I don't see that you can help yourself in the matter, 
 and if Mr. Vera says he will take us I suppose you can't 
 carry us ou by force." 
 
 ^' It is Mistress Vickars that I am thinking of more than 
 your father. The vicar is an easy-going gentleman, but 
 Mistress Vickars speaks her mind, and I expect she will be 
 in a terrible taking over it, and will rate me soundly ; 
 thoigh, as you say, I do not see how I can help myself in 
 the matter. TVell, now, let us look at the shops and at the 
 Guildhall, and then we will make our way down to West- 
 minster as we had proposed to do and see the abbey ; by 
 that time it will be near the hour at which you are to call 
 upon Mr. Vere." 
 
 But the sights that the boys had been so longing to see 
 had for the time lost their interest in their eyes. The idea 
 that it was possible that Mr. Vere would take them with 
 him to fight against the cruel oppressors of the Low Country 
 was so absorbing that they could think of nothing else. 
 Even the wonders of the Guildhall and St. Paul's received 
 but scant attention, and the armorers' shops, in which 
 they had a new and lively interest, alone sufficed to detain 
 them. Even the gibes of the apprentices fell dead upon 
 their ears. These varlets might laugh, but what would they 
 say if they knew that they were going to fight the Spaniards. 
 The thought so altered them that they felt almost a feeling 
 of pity for these lads, condemned to stay at home and mind 
 their masters' shops. 
 
BY ENGLAND ' 6 Ai^\ 49 
 
 As to John Lirriper, he was sorely trouuled in his mind, 
 and divided between what he considered his duty to the 
 vicar and his life-long respect and reverence towards the 
 lords of Hedingham. The feudal system was extinct, but 
 feudal ideas still lingered among the people. Their lords 
 could no longer summon them to take the field, had no 
 longer power almost of life and death over them, but they 
 vrere still their lords, and regarded with the highest respect 
 and reverence. The Earls of Oxford were, in the eyes of the 
 people of those parts of Essex where their estates lay, per- 
 sonages of greater importance than the queen herself, of 
 whose power and atributes they had but a very dim notion. 
 It was not so very long since people had risen in rebellion 
 against the queen, but such an idea as that of rising against 
 their lords had never entered the mind of a single inhab- 
 itant of Hedingham. 
 
 However, Master Lirriper came to the conclusion that he 
 was, as Geoffrey had said, powerless to interfere. If Mr 
 Francis Vere decided to take the boys with him, what coul(^ 
 he do to prevent it ? He could hardly take them forcibl} 
 down to the boat against their will, and even could he do 
 so their father might not approve, and doubtless the earl, 
 when he came to hear of it, would be seriously angry at 
 this act of defiance of his kinsman. Still, he was sure that 
 he should have a very unpleasant time with Mistress Vickars. 
 But, as he reassured himself, it was, after all, better to put 
 up with a toman's scolding than to bear the displeasure ot 
 the Earl of Oxford, who could turn him out of his house, 
 ruin his business, and drive him from Hedingham. After 
 all, it was natural that these lads should like to embark on 
 this adventure with Mr. Francis Vere, and it would doubt- 
 less be to their interest to be thus closely connected with 
 him. At any rate, if it was to be it was, and he, John 
 Lin-iper, could do nothing to prevent it. Having arrived 
 at this conclusion he decided to make the best of it, and 
 began to chat cheerfully with the boys. 
 
50 ^ ^ ENGLAND > 8 AID. 
 
 Precisely at tbe appointed hour John Lirriper arrived 
 with the two lads at the entrance to the house facing tlie 
 abbey. Two or three servitors, whose doublets were em- 
 broidered with the cognizance of the Veres, were staiiaing 
 in front of the door. 
 
 '* Why, it is Master Lirriper ! " one of them said. *' AVhy, 
 what has brought you here ? I did not know that your 
 trips often extended to London." 
 
 " Nor do they," John Lirriper said. ^' It was the wind 
 and my nephew^'s craft the Sui^cdi tliat brouglit me to Lon- 
 don, and it is the will of Mr. Francis that these two young 
 gentlemen should meet him here at one o'clock that has 
 brought me to this door." 
 
 '^ Captain Francis is in ; for, yon know, he is a captain 
 
 'now, having been lately appointed to a company in the 
 
 Earl of Leicester's army. He returned an hour since, and 
 
 has but now finished his meal. Do you wish to go up with 
 
 these young masters, or shall I conduct them to him ? " 
 
 ** You had best do that," John Lirriper answered. ''I 
 will remain here below if Captain Francis desires to see me 
 or has any missive to entrust to me." 
 
 The boys followed the servant upstairs, and were shown 
 into a room where Francis Vere, his cousin the Earl of 
 Oxford, and Captain Allen were seated at table. 
 
 ^MYell, lads," the earl said, *^so you want to follow my 
 cousin Francis to the wars ? " 
 
 '' That is our wish, my lord, if Captain Francis will be 
 so good as to take us with him." 
 
 " And what will my good tutor your father say to it ? '' 
 the earl asked smiling. 
 
 ^'1 think, my lord," Geoffrey said boldly, '^^that if you 
 yourself will tell my father you think it is for our good, he 
 will say naught against it." 
 
 ^' Oh, you want to throw the responsibility upon me, and 
 to embroil me with your father and Mistress Vickars as an 
 abettor of my cousin Francis in the kidnapping of children ? 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID, 51 
 
 Well, .bTancis, yon had better explain to them what their 
 dnties will be if they go with you." 
 
 ''Yon will be my pages/" Francis Yere said, ''and will 
 perform the usual duties of pages in good families when in 
 the field. It is the duty of pages to aid in collecting fire- 
 wood and forage, and in all other ways to make themselves 
 useful. You will bear the same sort of relation to the 
 gentlemen volunteers a^ they do towards the officers. They 
 are aspirants for commissions as officers as you will be to 
 become gentlemen volunteers. You must not think that 
 your duties will be light, for they will not, and you will 
 have to bear many discomforts and hardships. But you 
 will be in an altogether different position from that of the 
 boys who are the pages of the company. You will, apart 
 from your duties, and bearing in mind the difference of 
 your age, associate with the officers and the gentlemen 
 volunteers on terms of equality when not engaged upon 
 duty. On duty you will have to render the same strict 
 and unquestionable obedience that all soldiers pay to those 
 of superior rank. What say you ? Are you still anxious 
 to go ? Because, if so, I have decided to take you.'' 
 
 Geoffrey and Lionel both expressed their thanks in proper 
 terms, and their earnest desire to accompany Captain Yere, 
 and to behave in all ways conformably to his orders and 
 instructions. 
 
 " Yery well, that is settled,'' Francis Yere said. " The 
 earl is journeying down to Hedingham to-morrow, and has 
 kindly promised to take charge of a letter from me to your 
 father, and personally to assure him that this early em- 
 barkation upon military life would prove greatly to your 
 advantage." 
 
 " Supposing that you are not killed by the Spaniards or 
 carried off by fever," the earl put in ; " for although pos- 
 sibly that might be an advantage to humanity in general, 
 it could scarcely be considered one to you personally." 
 ^^ We are ready to take our risk of that, my lord," Geof- 
 
62 BY ENGLAND'S AIL. ' 
 
 frey said ; ** and are indeed greatly beholden both to Cap- 
 tain Francis for his goodness in taking us with him, ..::d 
 to yourself in kindly undertaking the mission of reconcil- 
 ing our father to our departure." 
 
 "You have not told me yet how it is that I find ycu in 
 London ? " Francis Vere said. 
 
 " \Ye only came up for a week, sir, to see the town. We 
 are in charge of Master Lirriper, who owns a barge on the 
 river, and plies between Hedingham and Bricklesey, but 
 "who was coming up to London in a craft belonging to his 
 nephew, and who took charge of us. We are staying at 
 the house of Master Swindon, a citizen and ship-chandler.'' 
 
 '' Is Master Lirriper below ? " 
 
 "He is, sir." 
 
 "Then in tiiat case he had better go back to the house 
 and bring your mails here. I shall sail from Deptford the 
 day after to-morrow with the turn of tide. You had best 
 remain here now. There will be many things necessary 
 for you to get before you start. I will give instructions 
 to one of my men-at-arms to go with you to purchase 
 them.'' 
 
 " I will take their outfit upon myself, Francis," the earl 
 said. " My steward shall go out with them and see to it. 
 It is the least I can do when I am abetting you in depriv- 
 ing my old tutor of his sons." He touched a bell and a 
 servitor entered. "See that these young gentlemen are 
 fed and attended to. They will remain here for the night. 
 Tell Master Dotterell to come hither to me." 
 
 The boys bowed deeply and retired. 
 
 "It is all settled. Master Lirriper, ' they said when they 
 reached the hall below. " We are to sail with Captain 
 Francis the day after to-morrow, and you will be pleased 
 to hear that the earl himself has taken charge of the mat- 
 ter, and will see our father and communicate the news to 
 him." 
 
 **That is a comfort indeed," Joh^ Lirriper said fer- 
 
BY ENGLAND' S AID, 63 
 
 vently ; *'*' for I would most as soon have had to tell him 
 tliat the Susan had gone down and that you were both 
 drowned, as that I had let you both slip away to the wars 
 when he had given you into my charge. But if the earl 
 takes the matter in hand I do not think that even your 
 lady mother can bear very heavily on me. And now, what 
 is going to be done ? " 
 
 " We are to remain here in order that suitable clothes 
 may be obtained for us by the time we sail. Will you 
 bring down to-morrow morning our wallets from Master 
 Swindon's, and thank him and his good dame for their 
 hospitality, and say that we are sorry to leave them thus 
 suddenly without having an opportunity of thanking them 
 ourselves ? We will write letters to-night to our father 
 and mother, and give them to you to take with you when 
 you return." 
 
 John Lirriper at once took his departure, greatly relieved 
 in mind to find that the earl himself had taken the re- 
 sponsibility upon his shoulders, and would break the news 
 long before he himself reached Hedingham. A few min- 
 utes later a servitor conducted the boys to an apartment 
 w'here a meal was laid for them ; and as soon as this was 
 over they were joined by the steward, who requested them 
 to set out with him at once, as there were many things to 
 be done and but short time for doing them. Xo difficulty 
 in the way of time was, however, thrown in the way by the 
 various tradesmen they visited, these being all perfectly 
 ready to put themselves to inconvenience to do pleasure to 
 so valuable a patron as the powerful Earl of Oxford. 
 
 Three suits of clothes were ordered for each of them : 
 the one such as that worn by pages in noble families upon 
 ordinary occasions, another of a much richer kind for 
 special ceremonies and gayeties, the third a strong, service- 
 able suit for use when actually in the field. Then they 
 were taken to an armorer's where each was provided with 
 a light morion or headpiece, breast-plate and backpiece. 
 
54 ST ENGLAND ' S Aijj. 
 
 sword and dagger. A sufficient supply ol un [ jr ganneni::, 
 boots, anl other necessaries were also purchased ; and. 
 when all was complete they returned highly delighted to 
 the house. It was still scarce five o'clock, and they went 
 across to the abbey and wandered for some time through 
 its aisles, greatly impressed with its dignity and beauty 
 now that their own affairs were off their mind. 
 
 They returned to the house again, and after supper 
 wrote their letters to their father and mother, saying that 
 they hoped they would not be displeased at the step they 
 had taken, and which they would not have ventured upon 
 had they not already obtained their father's consent to 
 their entering the army. They knew, of course, that he 
 had not contemplated their doing so for some little time ; 
 but as so excellent an opportunity had offered, and above 
 all, as they were going out to fight against the Spaniards 
 for the oppressed people of the Low Countries, they hoped 
 their parents would approve of the steps they had taken, 
 not having had time or opportunity to consult them. 
 
 At noon two days later Francis Yere with Captain Allen 
 and the two boys took their seats in the stern of a skiff 
 manned by six rowers. In the bow were the servitors of 
 the two officers, and the luggage was stowed in the ex- 
 treme stern. 
 
 ^'The tide is gettiug slack, is it not ?" Captain Vere 
 asked the boatmen. 
 
 *' Yes, sir ; it will not run up much longer. It will be 
 pretty well slack-water by the time we get to the bridge." 
 
 Keeping close to the bank the boat proceeded at a rapid 
 pace. Several times the two young officers stood up and 
 exchanged salutations with ladies or gentlemen of their ac- 
 quaintance. As the boatman had anticipated, tide was 
 slack by the time they arrived at London Bridge, and they 
 now steered out into the middle of the river. 
 
 " Give way, lads," Captain Allen said. " We told the 
 captain we would not keep him waiting long after high- 
 
/_ ENGLAND IS AIL. 55 
 
 rra.rr, and lie will be getting impatient if lie does not see 
 vs before long." 
 
 As they shot past the Susan the boys waved their hands 
 to blaster Lirriper, who, after coming down in the morn- 
 ing and receiving their letters for their parents, had re- 
 turned at once to the city and had taken his place on 
 board the Susaii, so as to be able to tell their father that 
 he had seen the last of them. The distance between Lon- 
 don Bridge and Deptford was traversed in a very ^ort 
 time. A vessel with her flags flying and her canvas already 
 loosened was hanging to a buoy some distance out in the 
 stream, and as the boat came near enough for the captain 
 to distinguish those on board, the mooring-rope was slipped, 
 the head sails flattened in, and the vessel began to 
 swing round. Before her head was down stream the boat 
 was alongside. The two officers followed by the boys as- 
 cended the ladder by th- side. The luggage was quickly 
 handed up, and the servitors followed. The sails were 
 sheeted home, and the vessel began to move rapidly 
 through the water. 
 
 The boys had thought the Susan an imposing craft, but 
 they were surprised, indeed, at the space on board the Dover 
 Castle. In the stern tliere was a lofty poop with spacious 
 ca' Ins. Six guns were ranged along on each side of the 
 deck, an when the sails " 'ere got up they seemed so vast 
 to th boys that they fe^c a sense of littleness on board the 
 great craft. They had been relieved to find that Captain 
 Vere had his own servitor with him ; for in talking it over 
 they had mutually expressed their doubt as to their ability 
 to render such service as Captain Vere would be ac- 
 customed to. 
 
 The wind was from the southwest, and the vessel was 
 off Sheerness before the tide turned. There was, however, 
 no occasion to anchor, for the wind was strong enough to 
 take them against the flood. 
 
 During the voyage they had no duties to perform. The 
 
M i^^ ENGLAJSU'H AIL, 
 
 ship's cook prepared the meals, and the oflBcers' serrants 
 waited on them, the lads taking their meals with the two 
 officers. Their destination was Bergen-op-Zoom, a town 
 at the mouth of the Scheldt, of the garrison of which the 
 companies of both Francis Vere and Captain Allen formed 
 part. 
 
 As soon as the low coasts of Holland came in sight tlie 
 iooys watched them with the most lively interest. 
 
 " We are passing Sluys now," Captain Vere said. *' The 
 land almost ahead of us is Walcheren ; and that spire 
 belongs to Flushing. We could go outside and up the 
 channel between tlie island and Beveland. and then up 
 the Eastern Scheldt to Bergen-op-Zoom ; but instead of 
 that we shall follow the western channel, which is more 
 direct.'' 
 
 " It is as flat as our Essex coast," Geoffrey remarked. 
 
 *' Aye, and flatter ; for the greater part of the land lies 
 below the level of the sea. which is only kept out by great 
 dams and dykes. At times when the rivers are high and 
 the wind keeps back their waters they burst the dams and 
 spread over a vast extent of country. The Zuider-Zee was 
 so formed in 1170 and 1395, and covers a tract as large as 
 the whole county of Essex. Twenty-six years later the 
 river Maas broke its banks and flooded a wide district. 
 Seventy-two villages were destroyed and 100,000 people 
 lost their life. The lands have never been recovered ; 
 and where a fertile country once stood is now a mere 
 swamp. " 
 
 '' I shouldn't like living there," Lionel said. " It would 
 be terrible, every time the rivers are full and the wind 
 blows, to think that at any moment the banks may burst 
 and the flood come rushing over you." 
 
 '' It is all habit," Captain Vere replied ; " I don't sup- 
 pose they trouble themselves about it. But they are very 
 particular in keeping their dykes in good repair. The 
 water is one of the g^reat defenses of their country. In 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 57 
 
 the first place there are innumerable streams to be crossed 
 by an invader, and in the second, they can as a last 
 resource cut the dykes and flood the country. These 
 Dutchmen, as far as I have seen of them, are hard-working 
 and industrious people, steady and patient, and resolved 
 to defend their independence to the last. This they have 
 indeed proved by the wonderful resistance they have made 
 against the power of Spain. There, you see the ship's 
 head has been turned and we shall before long be in the 
 channel. Sluys lies up that channel on the right. It is 
 an important place. Large vessels can go no further, but 
 are unloaded there and the cargoes taken to Bruges and 
 thence distributed to many other tov\^is. They say that 
 in 1468 as many as a hundred and fifty ships a day arrived 
 at Sluys. That gives you an idea of the trade that the 
 Xetherlands carry on. The commerce of this one town 
 was as great as is that of London at the present time. 
 But since the trou.bles the trade of Sluys has fallen off a 
 good deal.'* 
 
 The ship had to anchor here for two or three hours 
 until the tide turned, for the wind had fallen very light 
 and they could not make head against the ebb. As soon 
 as it turned they again proceeded on their way, dropping 
 ccietly up with the tide. The boys climbed up into the 
 tops, and thence could see a wide extent of country dotted 
 with villages stretching beyond the banks, which restricted 
 their view from the decks. In five hours Bergen-op-Zoom 
 came in sight, and they presently dropped anchor opposite 
 the tovrn. The boat was lowered, and the two officers 
 with the lads were rowed ashore. They were met as they 
 landed by several young officers. 
 
 " Welcome back, Yere ; welcome, Allen. You have 
 been lucky indeed in having a few days in England, and 
 getting a view of something besides this dreary flat coun- 
 irv and its sluggish rivers. What is the last new* from 
 London ? " 
 
58 BT h'NGLAND ' 8 AID. 
 
 '' There k 'ittle news enough/* Vere replied. " We 
 were only four days in London, and were busy all tlie 
 time. And how are things here ? Xow that summer is 
 at hand and the country drying the Dons ought to be 
 bestirring themselves." 
 
 " They say that they are doing so" the officer replied. 
 *^ We have news that the Duke of Parma is assembling his 
 army at Bruges, where he is collecting the pick of the 
 Spanish infantry with a number of Italian regiments 
 which have joined him. He sent off the Marquess Del 
 Vasto with the Sieur De Ilautepenne towards Bois-le-Duc. 
 General Count llohenlohe, who, as you know, we English 
 always call Count Holland, went off with a large force to 
 meet him, and we heard only this morning that a battle 
 has been fought, Hawtepenne killed, and the fort of Creve- 
 coeur on the Maas captured. From what I hear, some of 
 jur leaders think that it y^as a mistake so to scatter our 
 forces, and if Parma moves forward from Bruges against 
 Sluys, which is likely enough, we shall be sorely put to it 
 to save the place." 
 
 As they were talking they proceeded into the town, and 
 presently reached the house where Francis Vere had his 
 quarters. The officers and gentlem.en volunteers of his 
 company soon assembled, and Captain Vere introduced the 
 two boys to them. 
 
 '' They are young gentlemen of good family," he said, 
 '' who will act as my pages until they are old enough to 
 be enrolled as gentlemen volunteers. I commend them to 
 your good offices. Their father is a learned and reverend 
 gentleman who was my tutor, and also tutor to my cousin, 
 the Earl of Oxford, by whom he is greatly valued. Thov 
 are lads of spirit, and have been instructed in the use f.f 
 arms at Hedingham as if they had been members of our 
 family. I am sure, gentlemen volunteers, that you will 
 receive them as friends. I propose that they shall take 
 their meals with you, but of course they will lodge here 
 
B T EXGLASu ' S AID. M 
 
 with me and my officers ; but as you are in the next house 
 tliis will cause no inconvenience. I trust that we shall 
 not remain here long, but shall soon be on the move. We 
 have now been here seven months, and it is high time we 
 were doing something. We didn't bargain to come over 
 here and settle down for life in a dull Dutch town.'' 
 
 In a few hours the boys found themselves quite at home 
 in their new quarters. The gentlemen volunteers received 
 them cordially, and they found that for the present their 
 duties would be extremely light, consisting chiefly in 
 carrying messages and orders ; for as the officers had all 
 servants of their own, Captain Vere dispensed with their 
 attendance at meals. There was much to amuse and in- 
 terest them in Bergen-op-Zoom. It reminded -^hem to 
 some extent of Harwich, with its rrow stree and 
 quaint houses ; but the fortifications were far stronger, 
 and the number of churches stru then as prodigi" i. 
 The population differed in no ery hvg degree in di^s? 
 from that of England, but t e people struck them as 
 being slower and more deliberate in their motions. The 
 women's costumes differed much more widely from those 
 to which they were accustomed, and their strange and 
 varied head-dresses, their bright colored handkerchiefs, 
 and the amount of gold necklaces and bracelets that they 
 wore, struck them with surprise. 
 
 Their stay in Bergen-op-Zoom was even shorter than 
 they had anticipated, for three days after their arrival a 
 boat came with a letter from Sir William Eussell, the gov- 
 ernor at Flushing. He said that he had just received an 
 urgent letter from the Dutch governor of Sluys, saying 
 that Parma's army was advancing from Bruges towards 
 the city, and had seized and garrisoned the fort of Blank- 
 enburg on the sea-coast to prevent reinforcements arriving 
 from Ostend ; he therefore psayed the governor of Flush- 
 ing to send off troops and provisions with all haste to 
 enable him to resist the attack. Sir William requested 
 
60 BT ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 that the governor of Bergen-op-Zoom would at once en^- 
 bark the greater portion of his force on board ship aiiu 
 send them to Sluys. He himself was having a vessel filled 
 with grain for the use of the inhabitants, and was also 
 sending every man he could spare from Flushing. 
 
 In a few minutes all was bustle in the town. The 
 trumpets of the various companies called the soldiers to 
 arms, and in a very short time the troops were on their 
 way towards the river. Here several ships had been re- 
 quisistioned for the service ; and as the companies marched 
 down they were conducted to the ships to which they 
 w^ere allotted by the quarter-masters. Geoffrey and Lionel 
 felt no small pride as they marched down with their troop. 
 They had for the first time donned their steel-caps, breast 
 and back pieces ; but this was rather for convenience of 
 carriage than for any present utility. They had at Captain 
 here's orders left their ordinary clothes behind them, and 
 were now attired in thick serviceable jerkins, with skirts 
 coming down nearly to the knee, like those worn by the 
 troops, -i-'hey marched at the rear of the company, the 
 other pages, similarly attired, following them. 
 
 As soon as the troops were on board ship, sail was made 
 and the vessels dropped down the stream. The wind was 
 very light, and it was not until thirty hours after start- 
 ing that the little fleet arrived off Sluys. The town, which 
 was nearly egg-shaped, lay close to the river, which was 
 called the Zwin. At the eastern end, in the center of a 
 detached piece of water, stood the castle, connected vrith 
 the town by a bridge of boats. The Zwin formed the de- 
 fense on the north side, while the south and west were 
 covered by a very wide moat, along the center of which ran 
 a dyke, dividing it into two channels. On the west side 
 this moat extended to the Zwin, and was crossed at the 
 point of junction by the bridge leading to the west gate. 
 
 The walls inclosed a considerable space, containing 
 fields and gardens. Seven windmills stood on the ram- 
 
BY ENGLAND \S AID, 
 
 6i 
 
 rjarts. The tower of the town-hall, and those of the 
 churches of Our Lady, St. John, and the Grey Friars rose 
 hiofh above the town. 
 
 The ships from Flushing and Bergen-op-Zoom sailed up 
 together, and the 800 men who landed were received with 
 immense enthusiasm by the inhabitants, who were Pro- 
 
62 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 testants, and devoted to the cause of independence. The 
 English were under the command of Sir Roger Williams, 
 who had already seen so many years of service in the Low 
 Countries ; and under him were Morgan, Thomas Basker- 
 ville, and Huntley, who had long served with him. 
 
 Roger Williams was an admirable man for service of this 
 kind. lie had distinguished himself by many deeds of 
 reckless bravery. He possessed an inexhaustible fund of 
 confidence and high spirits, and in his company it was 
 impossible to feel despondent, however desperate the 
 situation. 
 
 The citizens placed their houses at the disposal of their 
 new allies, handsome quarters were allotted to the olSicers, 
 and the soldiers were all housed in private dwellings or 
 the warehouses of the merchants. The inhabitants had 
 already for some days been working hard at their defenses, 
 and the English at once joined them in their labors, 
 strengthening the weak portions of the walls, mounting 
 cannon upon the towers, and preparing in all ways to give 
 a warm reception to the Spaniards. 
 
 Captain Vere, his lieutenant and ensign and his two 
 pages, were quartered in the house of a wealthy merchant, 
 whose family did all in their power to make them con- 
 lortable. It was a grand old house, and the boys, accus- 
 tomed as they were to the splendors of Iledingham Castle, 
 agreed that the simple merchants of the Low Countries 
 were far in advance of English nobles in the comforts and 
 conveniences of their dwellings. The walls of the rooms 
 were all heavily paneled ; rich curtains hung before the 
 casements. The furniture was not only richly carved, but 
 comfortable. Heavy hangings before the doors excluded 
 draughts, and in the principal apartments Eastern carpets 
 covered the floors. The meals were served on spotless 
 white linen. Rich plate stood on the sideboard, and gold 
 and silver vesels of rare carved work from Italy glittered 
 in the armoires. 
 
B T ENGLAND 'S AID. 63 
 
 Above all, from top to bottom, the house was scrnpu- 
 lously clean. Not a particle of dust dimmed the bright- 
 ness of the furniture, and even now, when the city was 
 threatened with siege, the merchant's wife never relaxed 
 her vigilance over the doings of her maids, who seemed to 
 the boys to be perpetually engaged in scrubbing, dusting, 
 and polishing. 
 
 ^' Our mother prides herself on the neatness of her 
 house," Geoffrey said ; '' but what would she say, I won- 
 der, were she to see one of these Dutch households ? I 
 fear that the maids would have a hard time of it after- 
 wards, and our father would be fairly driven out of his 
 library." 
 
 **Itis all very well to be clean," Lionel said ; '*but I 
 think they carry it too far here. Peace and quietness 
 count for something, and it doesn't seem to me that Dutch- 
 men, fond of it as they say they are, know even the mean- 
 ing of the words as far as their homes are concerned. 
 Why, it always seems to be cleaning day, and they must 
 be afraid of going into their own houses with their boots 
 on!" 
 
 ''Yes, I felt quite like a criminal to day," Geoffrey 
 laughed, " when I came in muddy up to the waist, after 
 working down there by the sluices. I believe when the 
 Spaniards open fire these people will be more distracted 
 by the dust caused by falling tiles and chimneys than by 
 any danger of their lives." 
 
 Great difficulties beset the Duke of Parma at the com- 
 mencement of the siege. Sluyswas built upon the only 
 piece of solid ground in the district, and it was surrounded 
 by such a labyrinth of canals, ditches, and swamps, that 
 it was said that it was almost as difficult to find Sluys as 
 it was to capture it. Consequently, it was impossible to 
 find ground solid enough for a camp to be pitched upon, 
 and the first labor was the erection of wooden huts for 
 the troops upon piles driven into the ground. These 
 
64 BY ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 ..">s were protected from the fire of the defenders by bags 
 of earth brought in boats from a long distance. The main 
 point selected for the attack was the western gate ; but 
 batteries were also placed to play upon the castle and the 
 bridge of boats connecting it with the town. 
 
 ** There is one advantage in their determining to attack 
 ns at the western extremity of the town, John Menyn, the 
 merchant at whose house Captain Vere and his party were 
 lodging, remarked when his guest informed him there 
 was no longer any doubt as to the point at which the 
 Spaniards intended to attack, ''for they will not be able 
 to blow up our walls with mines in tliat quarter." 
 
 " How is that ?" Francis Vere asked. 
 
 "If you can spare half an hour of your time I will show 
 you,' the merchant said. 
 
 *' I can spare it now. Von Menyn," Vere replied ; " for 
 the information is important, whatever it may be." 
 
 '' I will conduct you there at once. There is no time 
 like the present.'' 
 
 " Shall we follow you, sir ? " Geoffrey asked his captain. 
 
 " Yes, come along," Vere replied. *' The matter is of 
 interest, and for the life of me I cannot make out what 
 this obstacle can be of which our host speaks." 
 
 They at once set out. 
 
 John Menyn led them to a warehouse close to the west- 
 ern wall, and spoke a few words to its owner, who at once 
 took three lanterns from the wall and lighted them, hand- 
 ing one to Vere, another to John Menyn, and taking the 
 other himself ; he then unlocked a massive door. A flight 
 of steps leading apparently to a cellar were visible. He 
 led the way down, the two men following, and the boys 
 bringing up the rear. The descent was far deeper than 
 they had expected, and when they reached the bottom 
 they found themselves in a vast arched cellar filled with 
 barrels. From this they procee^^ int'^ another, and again 
 into a third. 
 
i? F ^y GLAND ' S AID, 65 
 
 '^ ' ^hat are these great magazines ? '' Francis V ere 
 asked in surprise. 
 
 ^* They are wine-cellars, and there are scores similar to 
 those you see. Sluys is the center of the wine trade of 
 Flanders and Holland, and cellars like these extend right 
 under the wall. All the warehouses along here have 
 similar cellars. This end of the town was the driest, and 
 the soil most easily excavated. That is why the magazines 
 for wines are all clustered here. There is not a foot of 
 ground behind and under the walls at this end that is not 
 similarly occupied, and if the Spaniards try to drive mines 
 to blow up the walls, they will simply break their way 
 into these cellars, where we can meet them and drive them 
 back again. ^' 
 
 '' Excellent I " Francis Vere said. " This will relieve 
 as of the work of countermining, which is always tiresome 
 and dangerous, and would be specially so here, where we 
 should have to dive under that deep moat outside your 
 walls. Xow we shall only have to keep a few men on watch 
 in these cellars. They would hear the sound of the Spanish 
 approaching, and we shall be ready to give them a warm 
 reception by the time they break in. Are there communi- 
 cations between these cellars ?" 
 
 '^Yes, for the most part," the wine merchant said. 
 *' The cellars are not entirely the property of us dealers in 
 wine. They are constructed by men who let them, just as 
 they would let houses. A merchant in a small way would 
 need but one cellar, while some of us occupy twenty or 
 more ; therefore, there are for the most part communi- 
 cations, with doors, between the various cellars, so that 
 they can be let off in accordance with the needs of the 
 hirers." 
 
 *' Well, I am much obliged to you for telling me of 
 this," Captain Vere said. '' Williams and 3iorgan will be 
 glad enough to hear that there is no fear of their being 
 blown suddenly into the air while defending the wall*^ and 
 
66 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 they will see the importance of keeping a few trnsty men 
 on watch in the cellars nearest to the Spaniards. I shall 
 report the matter to them at once. The difficulty/' he 
 added smiling, '^ will be to keep the men wakeful, for it 
 seems to me that the very air ia liea\^ with the fumes of 
 
B r EI^ GLAND ' 5 AlJk 67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE SIEGE OF SLUTS. 
 
 UxTiL the Spaniards had established their camp, and 
 planted some of their batteries, there was but little firing. 
 Occasionally the wall-pieces opened upon parties of officers 
 reconnoitering, and a few shots were fired from time to 
 time to harass the workmen in the enemy's batteries ; but 
 this was done rather to animate the townsmen, and as a 
 signal to distant friends that so far matters were going on 
 quietly, than with any hopes of arresting the progress of 
 the enemy's works. Many sorties were made by the gar- 
 rison, and fierce fighting took place, but only a score or 
 two of men from each company were taken upon these 
 occasions, and the boys were compelled to remain inactive 
 spectators of the fight. 
 
 In these sorties the Spanish works were frequently held 
 for a few minutes, gabions thrown down, and guns over- 
 turned, but after doing as much damage as they could the 
 assailants had to fall back again to the town, being unable 
 to resist the masses of pikemen brought up against them. 
 The boldness of these sorties, and the bravery displayed 
 by their English allies, greatly raised the spirits of the 
 townsfolk, who now organized themselves into companies, 
 and undertook the work of guarding the less exposed por- 
 tion of the wall, thus enabling the garrison to keep their 
 whole strength at the points attacked. The townsmen 
 also labored steadily in adding to the defenses ; and two 
 companies of women were formed, under female captains, 
 who took the names of May in the Heart and Catherine 
 
6b BT ENGLA±n D ' 5 AID, 
 
 the Ros:. These did good service by buildinpf a strong 
 fort at one of the threatened points, and this work was in 
 their honor christened Fort Venus. 
 
 " It is scarcely a compliment to Venns/' Geoffrey 
 laughed to his brother. " These square-shouldered and 
 heavily-built women do not at all correspond with my idea 
 of the goddess of love."" 
 
 ** They are strong enough for men/' Lionel said. *' I 
 shouldn't like one of those big fat arms to come down upon 
 my head. No, they are not pretty ; but they look jolly 
 and good-tempered, and if they were to fight as hard as 
 they work they ought to do good service." 
 
 '^ There is a good deal of difference between them," 
 Geoffrey said. ''Look at those three dark-haired women 
 with neat trim figures. They do not look as if they be- 
 longed to the same race as the others." 
 
 "They are not of the same race, lad," Captain Vere, 
 who was standing close by, said. '* The big heavy women 
 are Flemish, the others come, no doubt, from the Walloon 
 provinces bordering on France. The "Walloons broke off 
 from the rest of the states and joined the Spanish almost 
 from the first. They were for the most part Catholics, 
 and had little in common with the people of the Low 
 Country ; but there were, of course, many Protestants 
 among them, and these were forced to emigrate, for the 
 Spanish allow no Protestants in the country under their 
 rule. Alva adopted the short and easy plan of murdering 
 all the Protestants in the towns he took ; but the war is 
 now conducted on rather more humane principles, and the 
 Protestants have the option given them of changing their 
 faith or leaving the country. 
 
 '• In this way, without intending it, the Spaniards have 
 done good service to Holland, for hundreds of thousands 
 ef industrious people have flocked there for shelter from 
 Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and other cities that have fallen 
 iuto the hands of the Spaniards, thus greatly raising tht 
 
i> T ENGLAND 'S AID. 69 
 
 population of Holland^ and adding to its power of defense. 
 Besides this, the presence of these exiles, and the knowl- 
 edge that a similar fate awaits themselves if they fal! 
 again under the yoke of Spain, nerves the people to resist 
 to the utmost. Had it not been for the bigotry of the 
 Spanish, and the abominable cruelties practised by the In- 
 quisition, the States would never have rebelled ; and even 
 after they did so, terms might easily have been made with 
 them had they not been maddened by the wholesale mas- 
 sacres perpetrated by Alva. There, do you hear those 
 women speaking ? Their language is French rather than 
 Flemish." 
 
 Just as they were speaking a heavy roar of cannon broke 
 out from the eastern end of the town. 
 
 " They have opened fire on the castle ! " Vere exclaimed. 
 " Eun, lads, quick ! and summon the company to form 
 in the market-place in front of our house. We are told off 
 to reinforce the garrison of the castle in case of attack." 
 
 The boys hurried avray at the top of their speed. They 
 had the list of all the houses in which the men of the com- 
 pany were quartered ; and as the heavy roar of cannon had 
 brought every one to their doors to hear what was going 
 on, the company were in a very short time assembled. 
 
 Francis Vere placed himself at their head, and marched 
 them through the long streets of the town and out through 
 the wall on to the bridge of boats. It was the first time 
 the boys had been under fire ; and although they kept a 
 good countenance, they acknowledged to each other after- 
 wards that they had felt extremely uncomfortable as they 
 traversed the bridge with the balls whistling over their 
 heads, and sometimes striking the water close by and send- 
 ing a shower of spray over the troops. 
 
 They felt easier when they entered the castle and were 
 protected by its walls. Upon these the men took their 
 station. Those with guns discharged their pieces against 
 the Spanish artillervmpn. the nikemen assiat^4 the bo'^'^o^. 
 
70 BY ENGLAND'S AW. 
 
 diers to work the cannon, and the officers went to and fro 
 encouraging the men. The pages of the company had 
 little to do beyond from time to time carrying cans of wine 
 and water to the men engaged. Geoffrey and Lionel, find- 
 ing that their services were not required by Captain Vere, 
 mounted on to the wall, and sheltering themselves as well 
 as they could behind the battlements, looked out at what 
 was going on. 
 
 " h doesn't seem to me," Geoffrey said, " that these 
 walls will long withstand the balls of the Spanish. The 
 battlements are already knocked down in several places, 
 and I can hear after each shot strikes the walls the splash- 
 ing of the brickwork as it falls into the water. See I there 
 is Tom Carroll struck down with a ball. It's our duty to 
 carry him away." 
 
 They ran along the wall to the fallen soldier. Two 
 other pages came up, and the four carried him to the top 
 of the steps and then down into the court3'ard, where a 
 Dutch surgeon took charge of him. His shoulder had 
 been struck by the ball, and the arm hung only by a shred 
 of flesh. The surgeon shook his head. 
 
 •' I can do nothing for him," he said. '* He cannot live 
 many hours." 
 
 Lionel had done his share in carrying the man down, 
 but he now turned sick and faint. 
 
 Geoffrey caught him by the arm '' Steady, old boy," 
 he said ; ^* it is trying at first, but we shall soon get accus- 
 tomed to it. Here, take a draught of wine from this 
 flask." 
 
 "I am better now," Lionel said, after taking a draught 
 of wine. '* I felt as if I was going to faint, Geoffrey I 
 don't know why I should, for I did not feel frightened 
 when we were on the wall." 
 
 " Oh, it has nothing to do with fear ; it is just the sight 
 of that poor fellow's blood. There is nothing to be 
 ashamed of in that. Why, I saw Will Atkins, who was 
 
The four Pages carry down the Wounded Soldier,— Pag-e 70. 
 Ene. Aid.] 
 
ST ENGLAND'S AID, 71 
 
 one 01 the best fighters and single-stick players in Hed Ing- 
 ham, go off in a dead swoon because a man he was work- 
 ing with crushed his thumb between two heavy stones. 
 Look, Lionel, what cracks there are in the wall here. I 
 don't think it will stand long. We had better run up and 
 tell Captain Vere, for it may come toppling down with 
 some of the men on it.^' 
 
 Captain Vere on hearing the news ran down and exam- 
 ined the wall. 
 
 *' Yes," he said, " it is evidently going. A good earth- 
 work is worth a dozen of these walls. They will soon have 
 the castle about our ears. However, it is of no great im- 
 portance to us. I saw you lads just now on the wall ; i 
 did not care about ordering you down at the time ; buj 
 don't go up again except to help carry down the wounded. 
 Make it a rule, my boys, never to shirk your duty, however 
 great the risk to life may be ; but, on the other hand, 
 never risk your lives unless it is your duty to i.o so. 
 What is gallantry in the one case is foolishness in the other. 
 Although you are but pages, yet it may well be that in such 
 a siege as this you will have many opportunities of showing 
 that you are of good English stock ; but while I would 
 have you shrink from no danger when there is a need for 
 you to expose yourselves, I say also that you should in no 
 way run into danger wantonly." 
 
 Several times in the course of the afternoon the boys 
 took their turn in going up and helping to bring down 
 wounded men. As the time went on several yawnnig gaps 
 appeared in the w^alls. The courtyard was strewn with 
 fragments of masonry, and the pages were ordered to keep 
 under shelter of the walls of the castle unless summoned 
 on duty. Indeed, the courtyard had now become a more 
 dangerous station than the wall itself; for not only did the 
 cannon-shot fly through the breaches, but fragments of 
 bricks, mortar, and rubbish flew along with a fo'-^e that 
 would have been fatal to anything struck. 
 
72 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 Some of the pages were big fellows of seventeen or eight- 
 een years old, who had been serving for some years under 
 Morgan and Williams, and would soon be transferred into 
 the ranks. 
 
 ''I like not this sort of fighting/' one of them said. 
 " It is all very well when it comes to push of pike with 
 the Spaniards, but to remain here like chickens in a coop 
 while they batter away at us is a game for which I have no 
 fancy. What say you. Master Vickars ? " 
 
 *^ Well, it is my first experience, Somers, and I cannot 
 say that it is agreeable. I do not know whether I should 
 like hand-to-hand fighting better ; but it seems to me at 
 present that it would be certainly more agreeable to be do- 
 ing something than to be sitting here and listening to the 
 falls of the pieces of masonry and the whistling of the 
 balls. I don't see that they will be any nearer when they 
 have knocked this place to pieces. They have no boats, 
 and if they had, the guns on the city wall would prevent 
 their using them ; besides, when the bridge of boats is re- 
 moved they could do nothing if they got here." 
 
 Towards evening a council was held, all the principal 
 officers being present, and it was decided to evacuate the 
 castle. It could indeed have been held for some days 
 "'onger, but it was plain it would at length become unten- 
 ible ; the bridge of boats had already been struck in several 
 places, and some of the barges composing it had sunk level 
 with the water. Were it destroyed, the garrison of the castle 
 would be completely cut oif ; and as no great advantage was 
 to be gained by holding the position, for it was evident that 
 it was upon the other end of the town the main attack was 
 to be made, it was decided to evacuate it under cover of 
 night. As soon as it became dark this decision was carried 
 into effect, and for hours the troops worked steadily, tran- 
 sporting the guns, ammunition, and stores of all kinds 
 across from the castle to the town. 
 
 Already communioa^-^on with their friends outside had 
 
BY EyGLAyD'S AID. 78 
 
 almost ceased, for the first operation of the enemy had 
 been to block the approach to Shiys from the sea. Boats 
 had been moored head and stern right across Zwin, and a 
 battery erected upon each shore to protect them : but 
 Captains Hart and Allen twice swam down to communi- 
 cate with friendly yessels below the obstacle,, carrying de- 
 spatches with them from the governor to the States-General, 
 and from Roofer Williams to the Enarlish commanders, ur^r- 
 ing that no time should be lost in assembling an army to 
 march to the relief of the to^m. 
 
 Both contained assurances that the garrison would defend 
 the place to the last extremity, but pointed out that it was 
 only a question of time, and that the town must fall unless 
 relieyed. The Dutch garrison were 800 strong, and had 
 been joined by as many English. Parma had at first 
 marched with but 6000 men against the city, but had yery 
 speedily drawn much larger bodies of men towards him, 
 and had, as Roger Williams states in a letter to the queen 
 sent from Sluys at an early period of the siege, four regi- 
 ments of Walloons, four of Germans, one of Italians, one 
 of Burguudians, fifty-two companies of Spaniards, twenty- 
 four troops of horse, and forty-eight guns. This would 
 giye a total of at least 17,000 men, and further reinforce- 
 ments afterwards arrived. 
 
 Against so overwhelming a force as this, it could not be 
 hoped that the garrison, outnumbered by more than ten to 
 one, could long maintain themselves, and the Duke of 
 Parma looked for an easy conquest of the place. By both 
 parties the possession of Sluys was regarded as a matter of 
 importance out of all proportion to the size and population 
 of the town ; for at that time it was known in England 
 that the King of Spain was preparing a vast fleet for the 
 invasion of Britain, and Sluys was the nearest point to our 
 shores at which a fleet could gather and the forces of 
 Parma embark to join those coming direct from Spain- 
 The English, therefore, were determined to maintain the 
 
74 BT Ey GLAND ' S AID, 
 
 place to the last extremity ; and while Parma had con- 
 sidered its capture as an affair of a few days only, the little 
 garrison were determined that for weeks at any rate they 
 would be able to prolong the resistance, feeling sure that 
 before that time could elapse both the States and England, 
 knowing the importance of the struggle, would send forces 
 to their relief. 
 
 The view taken as to the uselessness of defending the 
 castle was fully justified, as the Spaniards on the following 
 day removed the guns that they had employed in battering 
 it, to their works facing the western gates, and fire was 
 opened next morning. Under cover of this the Spanish 
 engineers pushed their trenches up to the very edge of the 
 moat, in spite of several desperate sorties by the garrison. 
 The boys had been forbidden by Captain Vere to take their 
 place with the company on the walls. 
 
 " In time,'' he said, " as our force decreases, we shall 
 want every one capable of handling arms to man the 
 breaches, but at present we are not in any extremity ; and 
 none save those whom duty compels to be there must come 
 under the fire of the Spaniards, for to do so would be risk- 
 ing life without gain." 
 
 They had, however, made friends with the wine mer- 
 chant whose cellars they had visited, and obtained permis- 
 sion from him to visit the upper story of his warehouse 
 w^henever they chose. From a window here they were 
 enabled to watch all that was taking place, for the ware- 
 house was much higher than the walls. It was not in the 
 direct line of fire of the Si)anish batteries, for these were 
 chiefly concentrated against the wall a little to their right. 
 After heavy fighting the Spaniards one night, by means of 
 boats from the Zwin, landed upon the dyke which divided 
 the moat into two channels, and thus established them- 
 selves so close under the ramparts that the guns could not 
 be brought to bear upon them. They proceeded to intr^^nolx 
 themselves at once upon the dyke. 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 75 
 
 The governor, Arnold Groenvelt, consulted with the 
 English leaders, and decided that the enemy mnst be 
 driven off this dyke immediately, or that the safety of the 
 city would be gravely imperilled. They therefore as- 
 sembled a force of four hundred men, sallied out of the 
 south gate, where two bastions were erected on the dyke 
 itself, and then advanced along it to the assault of the 
 Spaniards. The battle was a desperate one, the English 
 and Dutch were aided by their comrades on the wall, who 
 shot with guns and arquebuses against the Spaniards, 
 while the latter were similarly assisted by their friends 
 along the outer edge of the moat, and received constant 
 reinforcements by boats from their ships. 
 
 The odds were too great for the assailants, who were 
 forced at last to fall back along the dyke to the south gate 
 and to re-enter the town. It was already five weeks since 
 the English had arrived to take part in the defense, and 
 the struggle now began upon a great scale— thirty cannon 
 and eight culverins opening fire upon the walls. The 
 heaviest fire was on St. James^'s day, the 25th of July, when 
 4000 shots were fired between three in the morning and 
 five in the afternoon. While this tremendous cannonade 
 was going on, the boys could not but admire the calmness 
 sho^vn by the population. Many of the shots, flying over 
 the top of the walls, struck the houses in the city, and the 
 chimneys, tiles, and masses of masonry fell in the streets. 
 Nevertheless the people continued their usual avocations. 
 The shops were all open, though the men employed served 
 their customers with breast and back pieces buckled on, 
 and their arms close at hand, so that they could run to the 
 walls at once to take part in their defense did the 
 Spaniards attempt an assault upon them. The women 
 stood knitting at th&ir doors, Frau Menyn looked as sharply 
 after her maids as ever, and washing and scouring went on 
 without interruption. 
 
 ** I belie'«^<^ that woman will keep those ^irls at work 
 
76 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 after the Spaniards have entered the city, and until they 
 are thundering at the door," Lionel said. '* Who but a 
 Dutch woman would give a thought to a few particles of 
 dust on her furniture when an enemy was cannonading the 
 town?'' 
 
 ^' I think she acts wisely after all, Lionel. The fact that 
 everything goes on as usual here and in other houses takes 
 people's thoughts off the dangers of the position, and pre- 
 vents anything like panic being felt." 
 
 The lads spent the greater part of the day at their look- 
 out, and could see that the wall against which the Spanish 
 fire was directed was fast crumbling. Looking down upon 
 it, it seemed deserted of troops, for it would be needlessly 
 exposing the soldiers to death to place them there while 
 the cannonade continued ; but behind the wall, and in the 
 street leading to it, companies of English and Dutch sol- 
 diers could be seen seated or lying on the gi'ound. 
 
 They were leaning out of the dormer-window in the high 
 roof watching the Spanish soldiers in the batteries work- 
 ing their guns, wiien, happening to look round, they saw 
 a cross-bow protruded from a window of the warehouse to 
 their right, and a moment afterwards the sharp twang of 
 the bow was heard. There was nothing unusual in this ; 
 for although firearms were now generally in use the long- 
 bow and the cross-bow had not been entirely abandoned, 
 and there were still archers in the English army, and 
 many still held that the bow was a far better weapon than 
 the arquebus, sending its shafts well nigh as far and with 
 a truer aim. 
 
 '' If that fellow is noticed," Geoffrey said, '' we shall 
 have the Spanish musketeers sending their balls in this 
 direction. The governor has, I heard Captain Vere say, 
 forbidden shooting from the warehouses, because he does 
 not wish to attract the Spanish fire against them. Of 
 course when the wall yields and the breach has to be de- 
 fended the warehouses will be held, and as the windows 
 
B V ENGLAND 'S AID, Tl 
 
 will command the breach they will be great aids to us 
 then, and it would be a great disadvantage to us if the 
 Spaniards now were to throw shells and fire-balls into these 
 houses, and so to destroy them before they make their 
 attack. Nor can much good be gained, for at this dis- 
 tance a cross-bow would scarce carry its bolts beyond the 
 moat." 
 
 '•' Most likely the man is using the cross-bow on purpose 
 to avoid attracting the attention of the Spaniards, Geof- 
 frey. At this distance they could not see the cross-bow, 
 while a puff of smoke would be sure to catch their eyes.'' 
 
 " There, he has shot again. I did not see the quarrel! 
 fall in the moat. See, one of the Spanish soldiers from 
 that battery is coming forward. There, he has stooped 
 and picked something up. Hallo ! do you see that ? He 
 has just raised his arm ; that is a signal, surely." 
 
 '' It certainly looked like it," Lionel agreed. '' It was 
 a sort of half wave of the hand. That is very strange ! " 
 
 ^^ Very, Lionel ; it looks to me very suspicious. It is 
 qnite possible that a piece of paper may have been tied 
 round the bolt, and that some one is sending information 
 to the enemy. This ought to be looked to." 
 
 '^ But what are we to do, Geoffrey ? Merely seeing a 
 Spanish soldier wave his arm is scarcely reason enough for 
 bringing an accusation against any one. We are not even 
 sure that he picked up the bolt ; and even if he did, the 
 action might have been a sort of mocking wave of the 
 hand at the failure of the shooter to send it as far as the 
 battery. " 
 
 '^ It might be, of course, Lionel. No, we have certainly 
 nothing to go upon that would justify our making a report 
 on the subject, but quite enough to induce us to keep a 
 watch on this fellow, whoever he may be. Let us see, to 
 begin with, if he shoots again." 
 
 They waited for an hour, but the head of the cross-bow 
 was not again thrust out of the window. 
 
78 Br ENGLANlj 8 AID. 
 
 ''He may nave ceased shooting for either f two re... 
 Bons/' Geoffrey said. " If he is a true man, because he 
 sees that his bolts do not carry far enough to be of any use. 
 If he is a traitor, because he has gained his object, and 
 knows that his communication has reached his friends out- 
 side. We will go down now and inquire who is the oc- 
 cupier of the next warehouse.*' 
 
 The merchant himself was not below, for as he did busi- 
 ness with other towns he had had nothing to do since 
 Sluys was cut off from the surrounded country ; but one 
 of his clerks was at work, making out bills and accounts 
 in his office as if the thunder of the guns outside was un- 
 heard by him. The boys had often spoken to him as they 
 passed in and out. 
 
 ''Who occupies the warehouse on the right ?" Geoffrey 
 asked him carelessly. 
 
 " William Arnig," he replied. " He is a leading citizen, 
 and one of the greatest merchants in our trade. His cel- 
 lars are the most extensive we have, and he does a great 
 trade in times of peace with Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and 
 other towns." 
 
 "I suppose he is a Protestant like most of the towns- 
 people ? " Geoffrey remarked. 
 
 " Xo, he is a Catholic ; but he is not one who pushes 
 his opinions strongly, and he is well disposed to the cause, 
 and a captain in one of the city bands. The Catholics 
 and Protestants always dwell quietly together throughout 
 the Low Countries, and would have no animosities against 
 each other were it not for the Spaniards. Formerly, at 
 least, this was the case ; but since the persecutions we 
 have Protestant towns and Catholic towns, the one hold- 
 ing to the States cause, the other siding with the Spaniards. 
 Why do you ask ? " 
 
 " Oh, I hadn't heard the name of your next neighbor, 
 and was wondering who he might be." 
 
 The boys had now been nearly two months in Holland, 
 
B Y EN GLAND ' S AID. 79 
 
 and were beginning to understand the langnage, which ii 
 not difficult to acquire, and differed then even less than 
 now from the dialect spoken in the eastern counties of 
 England, between whom and Holland there had been for 
 many generations much trade and intimate relations. 
 
 '^What had we better do next, Geoffrey?'' Lionel 
 asked as they left the warehouse. 
 
 '' I think that in the first place, Lionel, we will take our 
 post at the window to-morrow, and keep a close watch all 
 day to see whether this shooting is repeated. If it is, we 
 had better report the matter to Captain Vere, and leave 
 him to decide what should be done. I do not see that we 
 could undertake anything alone, and in any case, you see, 
 it would be a serious matter to lay an accusation against a 
 prominent citizen who is actually a captain of one of the 
 bands.'' 
 
 Upon the following day they took their post again at the 
 window, and after some hours watching saw three bolts 
 fired from the next window. Watching intently, they saw 
 the two first fall into the moat. They could not see where 
 the other fell ; but as there was no splash in the water, 
 they concluded that it had fallen beyond it, and in a 
 minute they saw a soldier again advance from the battery, 
 pick up something at the edge of the water, raise his arm. 
 and retire. That evening when Captain Vere returned 
 from the ramparts they informed him of what they had 
 observed. 
 
 "Doubtless it is an act of treachery," he said, "and 
 this merchant is communicating with the enemy. At the 
 same time what you have seen, although convincing evi- 
 dence to me, is scarce enough for me to denounce him. 
 Doubtless he does not write these letters until he is ready 
 to fire them off, and were he arrested in his house or on his 
 way to the warehouse vre might fail to find proofs of his 
 guilt, and naught but ill-feeling would be caused amono 
 liis friends, iv o. whatever we do we must do cautioufilv. 
 
go Sy ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 Have you thought of any plan by which we might catch 
 him in the act ? " 
 
 "If two or three men could be introduced into his ware- 
 house, and concealed in the room from which he fires, 
 they might succeed in catching him in the act. Captain 
 Vere ; but the room may be an empty one without any 
 place whatever where they could be hidden, and unless they 
 were actually in the room they would be of little good, for 
 he would have time, if he heard footsteps, to thrust any 
 letter he may have written into his mouth, and so destroy 
 it before it could be seized." 
 
 *' That is so, '' Captain Vere agreed. " The matter seems 
 a difficult one, and yet it is of the greatest importance to 
 hinder communications with the Spaniards. To-night all 
 the soldiers who can be spared, aided by all the citizens 
 able to use matlock and pick, are to set to work to begin 
 to raise a half-moon round the windmill behind the point 
 they are attacking, so as to have a second line to fall back 
 upon when the wall gives way, which it will do ere long, 
 for it is sorely shaken and battered. It is most important 
 to ke^ this from the knowledge of the Spaniards. Xow, 
 lads, you have shown your keenness by taking notice of what 
 is going on, see if you cannot go further, and hit upon 
 some plan of catching this traitor at his work. If before 
 night we can think of no scheme, I must goto the governor 
 and tell him frankly that we have suspicions of treachery, 
 though we cannot prove them, and ask him, in order to 
 prevent the possibility of our plans being communicated 
 to the enemy, to place some troops in all the warehouses 
 along that line, so that none can shoot therefrom any mes- 
 sage to the Spaniards.'^ 
 
 Just as Captain Vere finished his supper, the boys came 
 into the room again. 
 
 " We have thought of a plan, sir, that might succeed, 
 although it would be somewhat difficult. The dormer- 
 window from which these bolts have been fired lies thirty 
 
B T EXGLA XD ' S AID, 81 
 
 or forty feet a"^ay from that from which we were looking. 
 The roof is so steep that no one could hold a footing npon 
 it for a moment, nor could a plank be placed upon which 
 he could walk. The window is about twelve feet from the 
 top of the roof. We think that one standing on the ledge 
 of our window might climb on to its top, and once there 
 swing a rope with a stout grapnel attached to catch on the 
 ridge of the roof ; then two or three men might climb up 
 there and work themselves along, and then lower themselves 
 down with a rope on to the top of the next window. They 
 would need to have ropes fastened round their bodies, for 
 the height is great, and a slip would mean death. 
 
 '' The one farthest out on the window could lean over 
 when he hears a noise below him, aud when he saw the 
 cross-bow thrust from the window, could by a sudden blow- 
 knock it from the fellow's hand, when it would slide down 
 the roof and fall into the narrow yard between the ware- 
 house and the walls. Of course some men would be placed 
 there in readiness to seize it, and others at the door of the 
 warehouse to arrest the traitor if he ran down." 
 
 ^' I think the plan is a good one, though somewhat diffi- 
 cult of execution,'^ Captain Vere said. " But this enter- 
 prise on the roof would be a difficult one and dangerous, 
 since as you say a slip would mean death." 
 
 *' Lionel and myself, sir, would undertake that with the 
 aid of two active men to hold the ropes for us. We have 
 both done plenty of bird-nesting in the woods of Heding- 
 ham, and are not likely to turn giddy." 
 
 *•' I don't think it is necessary for more than one to get 
 down on to that window," Captain Vere said. ^^ Only one 
 could so place himself as to look down upon the cross-bow. 
 However, you shall divide the honor of the enterprise 
 between you. You, as the eldest and strongest, Geoffrey, 
 shall carry out your plan on the roof, while you, Lionel, 
 shall take post at the door with four men to arrest the 
 traitor when he leaves. I will select two strong and active 
 
82 BY ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 men to accompany you, Geoffrey, and aid yon in your at- 
 tempt ; but mind, before you try to get out of the window 
 and to climb on to its roof, have a strong rope fastened 
 round your body and held by the others ; then in case of 
 a slip, they can haul you in again. I will see that the ropes 
 and grapnels are in readiness." 
 
 The next morning early Geoffrey proceeded with the 
 two men who had been selected to accompany him to his 
 usual look-out. Both were active, wiry men, and entered 
 fully into the spirit of the undertaking when Geoffrey 
 explained its nature to them. They looked out of the 
 dormer-window at the sharp roof slanting away in front of 
 them and up to the ridge above. 
 
 " I think. Master Vickars," one of them, Roger Browne 
 by name, said, '' that I had best go up first. I served for 
 some years at sea, and am used to climbing about in dizzy 
 places. It is no easy matter to get from this window-sill 
 astride the roof above us, and moreover I am more like to 
 heave the grapnel so that it will hook firmly on to the 
 ridge than you are." 
 
 '' Very well, Roger. I should be willing to try, but 
 doubtless you would manage it far better than I should. 
 But before you start we will fasten the other rope round 
 your body, as Captain Vere directed me to do. Then in 
 case you slip, or anything gives way with your weight, we 
 can check you before you slide far down below us." 
 
 A rope was accordingly tied round the man's body under 
 his arms. Taking the grapnel, to which the other rope 
 was attached, he got out on to the sill. It was not an easy 
 task to climb up on to the ridge of the dormer-window, 
 and it needed all his strength and activity to accomplish 
 the feat. Once astride of the ridge the rest was easy. At 
 the first cast he threw the grapnel so that it caught securely 
 on the top of the roof. After testing it with two or tliree 
 pulls he clambered up, leaving the lower end of the rope 
 hanging by the side of the window. As soon as he had 
 
BY Zy GLAND S AID. 83 
 
 gamed this position Geoffrey, who was to follow him, 
 prepared to start. 
 
 According to the instructions Browne had given him ha 
 lastened the end of the rope which was round Browne^s 
 body under his own shoulders, then leaning over and tak- 
 ing a firm hold of the rope to which the grapnel was 
 attached, he let himself out of the window. Browne hauled 
 from above at the rope round his body, and he pulled him- 
 self with his hands by that attached to the grapnel, and 
 presently reached the top. 
 
 '• I am glad you came first, Eoger," he said. '^ I do not 
 think I could have ever pulled myself up if you had not 
 assisted me." 
 
 He unfastened the rope, and the end wa5 thrown down 
 to the window, and Job Tredgold, the other man, fastened 
 it round him and was hauled up as Geoffrey had been. 
 
 ^^ We win move along now to that stack of chimneys 
 coming through the roof four feet below the ridge on the 
 town side," Geoffrey said. '^We can stand down there 
 out of sight of the Spaniards. TVe shall be sure to attract 
 attention sitting up here, and might have some bullets fly- 
 ing round our ears, besides which this fellow^s friends 
 might suspect our object and signal to him in some way. 
 It is two hours yet to the time when we have twice seen 
 him send his bolts across the moat." 
 
 This was accordingly done, and for an hour and a half 
 they sat down on the roof with their feet against the stack 
 of chimneys. 
 
 ''It is time to be moving now,^^ Geoffrey said at last. 
 " I think the best way will be for me to get by the side of 
 the dormer-window instead of above it. It would be very 
 awkward leaning over there, and I should not have 
 strength to strike a blow ; whereas with the rope under 
 my arms and my foot on the edge of the sill, which projects 
 a few inches beyond the side of the wmdow, 1 conld stand 
 upright and strike a downright blow on the cross-bow."" 
 
84 BY ENGLAND '5 AID. 
 
 '' That would be the best way, I think/' Roger Browns 
 agreed ; " and I will come down on to the top of the 
 window and lean over. In the first place your foot might 
 slip, and as you dangle there by the rope he might cut it 
 and let you shoot over, or he might lean out and shoot 
 you as you climb up the roof again ; but if I am above 
 with my pistol in readiness there will be no fear of acci- 
 dents." 
 
B T ENGLAND ' 8 AID. 85 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AN HEROIC DEFENSE. 
 
 The plan Roger Browne suggested was carried ont. 
 Geoffrey was first lowered to his place by the side of the 
 window, and bracing himself against its side with a foot 
 on the sill he managed to stand upright, leaning against 
 the rope that Job Tredgold held from above. Job had 
 instructions when Geoffrey lifted his arm to ease the rope 
 a few inches so as to enable the lad to lean forward. After 
 two or three attempts Geoffrey got the rope to the exact 
 length which would enable him to look round the corner 
 and to strike a blow with his right hand, in which he held 
 a stout club. Roger Browne then descended by the aid of 
 the other rope, and fastening it round his body lay down 
 astride of the roof of the window with his head and 
 shoulders over the end, and his pistol held in readiness. 
 
 It seemed an age to Geoffrey before he heard the sound 
 of a footstep in the loft beside him. He grasped his 
 cudgel firmly and leaned slightly forward. For ten min- 
 utes there was quiet within, and Geoffrey guessed that the 
 traitor was writing the missive he was about to send to 
 the enemy ; then the footstep approached the window, 
 and a moment later a cross-bow was thrust out. A glance 
 at it sufficed to show that the bolt was enveloped in a piece 
 of paper wound round it and secured with a string. Steady- 
 ing himself as well as he could Geoffrey struck with all his 
 force down upon the cross-bow. The weapon, loosely 
 held, went clattering down the tiles. There was an ex- 
 clamation of surprise and fury from within the window. 
 
8t5 BY ENGLAND 'S All). 
 
 and at the same moment Job Tredgokl, seeing that Geof- 
 frey's attempt had been successful, hauled away at the 
 rope and began to drag him backward up the tiles. 
 
 The lad saw a man lean out of the window and look up 
 at him, then a pistol was leveled ; but the report came 
 from above the window, and not from the threatening 
 fveapon. A sharp cry of pain was heard, as the pistol fell 
 from the man's hand and followed the cross-bow down the 
 roof. A few seconds later Geoffrey was hauled up to the 
 ridge, where he was at once joined by Roger Browne. 
 Shifting the ropes they moved along till above the window 
 from which they had issued. Geoffrey was first lowered 
 down. As soon as he had got in at the window he undid 
 the rope and Job Tredgold followed him, while Roger 
 Browne slid down by the rope attached to the grapnel ; 
 then they ran downstairs. 
 
 As soon as they sallied out below they saw that Lionel 
 and the men with him had captured a prisoner ; and just 
 as they joined the party the guard came round from the 
 other side of the warehouse, bringing with them the cross- 
 bow, its bolt, and the pistol. The prisoner, whose shoul- 
 der was broken by Roger Browne's shot, was at once taken 
 to Captain Vere's quarters. That officer had just arrived 
 from the w^alls, knowing the time at which the capture 
 would probably be made. 
 
 ''So you have succeeded," he said. "Well done, lads ; 
 you have earned the thanks of all. TVe will take this man 
 at once to the governor, who is at present at the town- 
 haU.'' 
 
 By the time they issued out quite a crowd had assembled, 
 for the news that William von Arnig had been brouijrht a 
 prisoner and wounded to Captain Vere's quarters had 
 spread rapidly. The crowd increased as they went along, 
 and Captain Yere and his party had difiQculty in making 
 their way to the town-hall, man ; of the people exclaiming 
 loudly against this treatment oi u-^l of the leading citizens. 
 
BY ENGLAND ' S AW, 87 
 
 ...ne governor was, when they entered; molding council 
 Trith the English leader. Sir Roger Williams. 
 
 "' Vrhy, what is this. Captain Vere ?" he asked in sur- 
 vjrise as that officer, accompanied by the two boys and fol- 
 lowed by Eoger Browne and Joo Tredgold guarding the 
 jjrisoner, entered. 
 
 '* I have to accuse this man of treacherously communi- 
 cating with the enemy, ^' Francis Vere said. 
 
 ^^ What ? " Arnold de Groenvelt exclaimed in surprise. 
 '• Why, this is Mynheer von Arnig, one of our most wor- 
 shipful citizens I Surely, Captain Vere, there must be 
 some error here ?" 
 
 '' I will place my evidence before you,'' Captain Yere 
 said ; '' and it will be for you to decide upon it. Master 
 Geoffrey Vickars, please to inform the governor what you 
 know about this matter." 
 
 Geoffrey then stated how he and his brother, being at 
 the upper window of the warehouse, had on two days in 
 succession seen a cross-bow discharged from a neigbouring 
 vrindow, and had noticed a Spanish soldier come out of a 
 battery and pick up something which they believed to be 
 the bolt, and how he and his brother had reported the cir- 
 cumstances to Captain Yere. That officer then took up 
 the story, and stated that seeing the evidence was not con- 
 clusive, and it was probable that if an attempt was made 
 to arrest the person, whomsoever he might be, who had 
 used the cross-bow, any evidence of treasonable design 
 might be destroyed before he was seized, he had accepted 
 the offer of Master Yickars to climb the roof, lower him- 
 self to the window from which the bolt would be shot, and, 
 if possible, strike it from the man's hands, so that it would 
 fall down the roof to the courtyard below, where men 
 were placed to seize it. 
 
 Geoffrey then related how he, with the two soldiers 
 guarding the prisoner, had scaled the roof and taken a 
 position by the window ; how he had seen the cross-bow 
 
88 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 thrust out, and had struck it from the hands of the man 
 holding it ; how the latter had leaned out, and would have 
 shot him had not Roger Browne from his post above the 
 window shot him in the shoulder. 
 
 **^ Here are the cross-bow and pistol," Captain Vere s«d ; 
 *' and this is the bolt as it was 2:)icked up by my men. You 
 foe, sir, there is a paper fastened round it. I know not 
 its contents, for I judged it best to leave it as it was found 
 until I placed it in your hands." 
 
 The governor cut the string, unrolled the paper and 
 examined it. It contained a statement as to the state of 
 the wall, with remarks where it was yielding, and where 
 the enemy had best shoot against it. It said that the 
 defenders had in the night begun to form a half-moon be- 
 hind it, and contained a sketch showing the exact position 
 of the new work. 
 
 '' Gentlemen, what think you of this ? " the governor 
 asked the English officers. 
 
 " There can be no doubt that it is a foul act of treach- 
 ery," Williams said, '*and the traitor merits death." 
 
 " We will not decide upon it ourselves," the governor 
 said. '^I will summon six of the leading citizens, who 
 shall sit as a jury with us. This is a grave matter, and 
 touches the honor of the citizens as well as the safety of 
 the town." 
 
 In a few minutes the six citizens summoned arrived. 
 The evidence was again given, and then the prisoner was 
 asked what he had to say in his defense. 
 
 ^' It is useless for me to deny it," he replied. ^' I am 
 caught in the act, and must suffer for it. I have done my 
 duty to the King of Spain, my sovereign ; and I warn you 
 he will take vengeance for my blood." 
 
 " That we must risk," the governor said. '^ Xow, gentle- 
 men, you citizens of this town now attacked by the Span- 
 iards, and you, sir, who are in command of the soldiers of 
 the Queen of England, have heard the evidence and the 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. rf9 
 
 answer the prisoner has made. What is your opinion 
 thereon ? Do you, Sir Roger Williams, being highest in 
 rank and authority, first give your opinion." 
 
 " I find that he is guilty of an act of gross treason and 
 treachery. For such there is but one punishment — death. "* 
 And the six citizens all gave the same decision. 
 
 '•' You are found guilty of this foul crime," the gorernor 
 «aid, ''and are sentenced to death. In half an hour you 
 will be hung in the market-place, as a punishment to your- 
 self and a warning to other traitors, if such there be in 
 this town of Sluys. As to you, young sirs, you have 
 rendered a great service to the town, and have shown a dis- 
 cernment beyond your years. I thank you in the name 
 of the city and of its garrison, and also in that of the 
 States, whose servant I am." 
 
 A guard of armed citizens were now called in, the 
 prisoner was handed to them, and orders given to their 
 officer to carry the sentence into effect. A statement of 
 the crime of the prisoner, with the names of those who had 
 acted as his judges, and the sentence, was then drawn out, 
 signed by the governor, and ordered by him to be affixed 
 to the door of the town-hall. The two lads, finding that 
 they were no longer required, hastened back to their 
 quarters, having no wish to be present at the execution of 
 the unhappy wretch whose crime they had been the means 
 of detecting. 
 
 A few days later considerable portions of the battered 
 wall fell, and shortly afterwards a breach of two hundred 
 and fifty paces long was effected, and a bridge of large 
 boats constructed by the enemy from the dyke to the foot 
 of the rampart. 
 
 This was not effected without terrible loss. Hundreds 
 of the bravest Spanish soldiers and sailors were killed, and 
 three officers who succeeded each other in command of the 
 attack were badly wounded. The Spanish had labored 
 under great difficulties owing to the lack of earth to pusk 
 
90 JEY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 their trenches forward to the edge of the moaj, rrising 
 from the surrounding country being flooded. They only 
 succeeded at last by building wooden machines of bullet- 
 proof planks on wheels, behind each of which four men 
 could work. When all was prepared the Spaniards ad- 
 yanced to the attack, rushing up the breach with splendid 
 valor, headed by three of their bravest leaders ; but they 
 were met by the English and Dutch, and again and again 
 hurled back. 
 
 Day and night the fighting continued, the Spaniards 
 occasionally retiring to allow their artillery to open firo 
 again upon the shattered ruins. But stoutly as the de- 
 fenders fought, step by step the Spaniards won their way 
 forward until they had captured the breach and the west 
 gate adjoining it, there being nothing now beyond the 
 hastily-constructed inner work between them and the town. 
 The finest regiment of the whole of the Spanish infantry 
 now advanced to the assault, but they were met by the 
 defenders — already sadly diminished in numbers, but fin. 
 and undaunted as ever, — and their pikes and their axes 
 well supplied the place of the fallen walls. 
 
 Assault after assault was met and repulsed. Sir Roger 
 Williams, Thomas Baskerville, and Francis Vere being 
 always in the thick of the fight. Baskerville was distin- 
 guished by the white plumes of his helmet, Vere by his 
 crimson mantle ; and the valor of these leaders attracted 
 the admiration of the Duke of Parma himself, who watched 
 the fight from the summit of the tower of the w^estern gate. 
 Francis Vere was twice wounded, but not disabled. Sir 
 Roger Williams urged him to retire, but he replied that 
 he would rather be killed ten times in a breach than once 
 in a house. 
 
 Day by day the terrible struggle continued. The Span- 
 iards were able constantly to bring up fresh troops, but 
 the defenders had no relief. They were reduced in num- 
 bers from 1600 to 700 men, and yet for eighteen days 
 
Geoffrey and Lionel save Francis Vere's life.— Page 91. 
 Eog. Aid.l 
 
B Y ENGLAND 'S AID, 91 
 
 they maintained the struggle, never once leaving the 
 breach. 
 
 The pages brought their food to them, and when the 
 attacks were fiercest joined in the defense, fighting as 
 boldly and manfully as the soldiers themselves. Geoffrey 
 and Lionel kept in close attendance upon Francis Vere, 
 only leaving him to run back to their quarters and bring 
 up the meals cooked for him and his two officers by Frau 
 Menyn and her handmaids. Both kept close to him during 
 the fighting. They knew that they were no match in 
 strength for the Spanish pikemen ; but they had obtained 
 pistols from the armory, and with these they did good 
 service, several times freeing him from some of his assail- 
 ants when he was sorely pressed. On one occasion when 
 Francis Vere was smitten down by a blow from an axe, 
 the boys rushed forward and kept back his assailants until 
 some of the men of the company came to his aid. 
 
 " You have done me brave service indeed,'^ Captain Vere 
 said to them when he recovered ; for his helmet had de- 
 fended him from serious injury, though the force of the 
 blow had felled him. '^ It was a happy thought of mine 
 when I decided to bring you with me. This is not the first 
 time that you have rendered me good service, and I am 
 sure you will turn out brave and valiant soldiers of the 
 queen.''' 
 
 When each assault ceased the weary soldiers threw them- 
 selves down behind the earthen embankment, and obtained 
 such sleep as they could before the Sj^aniards mustered for 
 fresh attack. When, after eighteen days' terrible fight- 
 ing, the Duke of Parma saw that even his best troops were 
 unable to break through the wall of steel, he desisted from 
 the assault and began the slower process of mining. The 
 garrison from their look-out beheld the soldiers crossing 
 the bridge with picks and shovels, and prepared to meet 
 them in this new style of warfare. Captain Uvedale was 
 appointed to command the men told off for this duty, and 
 
c :; BY ENGLAvfD 'S AID. 
 
 galleries were rnn irom several of the cellars to meet those 
 of the enemy. 
 
 As every man was employed either on the rampart or in 
 mining, many of the pages were told off to act as watchers 
 in the cellars, and to listen ior the faint sounds that told 
 of the approach of the enemy's miners. As the young 
 Vickars were in attendance on the officers, they were ex- 
 empted from this work ; but they frequently went down 
 into the ce/lars, both to watch the process of mining by 
 their own men and to listen to the faint sounds made by 
 the enemy's workmen. One day they were sitting on ■:wo 
 Vv'ine-kegs, watching four soldiers at work at the end of a 
 short gallery that had been driven towards the Spaniards. 
 Suddenly there was an explosion, the miners were blo^Ti 
 backwards, the end of the gallery disappeared, and a crowd 
 of Walloon soldiers almost immediately afterwards rushed 
 in. 
 
 The boys sprang to their feet and were about to fly, when 
 an idea occurred to Geoffrey. He seized a torch, and, 
 standing by the side of a barrel placed on end by a large 
 tier, shouted in Dutch, '* Another step forward and I fire 
 the magazine ! " The men in front paused. Through the 
 fames of smoke they saw dimly the pile of barrels and a 
 figure standing with a lighted torch close to one of them. 
 A panic seized them, and believing they had made their 
 way into a powder-magazine, and that in another instant 
 there would be a terrible exi^losion, they turned v/ith 
 shouts of ''A magazine ! a magazine ! Fly, or we are all 
 dead men I " 
 
 " Run, Lionel, and get help,'' Geoffrey said, and in two 
 or three minutes a number of soldiers ran down into the 
 cellar. 
 
 The Walloons were not long before they recovered from 
 their panic. Their officers knew that the wine-cellars of 
 the citv were. In front of them, and reassured them as to 
 cx^o cnaracter of the barrels they had seen. They were. 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID, 93- 
 
 hoAvever; too late, and a furious conflict took place at ths 
 entrance into the cellar, but the enemy, able only to 
 advance two or three abreast, failed to force their way 
 in. 
 
 Captain Uvedale and Francis Yere were soon on tlie 
 spot, and when at last the enemy, unable to force an en- 
 trance, fell back, the former said, " This is Just as I feared. 
 You see, the Spaniards drove this gallery, and ceased 
 to work immediately they heard us approaching them. 
 "We had no idea that they were in front of us, and so they 
 only had to put a barrel of powder there and fire it as soon 
 as there was but a foot or two of earth between us and 
 them.''' 
 
 " But how was it," Francis Yere asked, " that when they 
 fired it they did not at once rush forward ? They could 
 have captured the whole building before we knew what 
 had happened." 
 
 " That I cannot tell," Captain Uvedale replied. '' The 
 four men at work must have been either killed or knocked 
 senseless. We shall know better another time, and will 
 have a strong guard in each cellar from which our mines 
 are being driven." 
 
 '^ If it please you. Captain Uvedale," Lionel said, '^ it 
 was my brother Geoffrey who prevented them from ad- 
 vancing ; for indeed several of them had already entered 
 the cellar, and the gallery behind was full of them." 
 
 " But how did he do that ?" Captain Uvedale asked in 
 surprise. 
 
 Lionel related the ruse by which Geoffrey had created a 
 panic in the minds of the Spaniards. 
 
 " That was well thought of indeed, and promptly carried 
 out!" Captain Uvedale exclaimed. *' Francis, these 
 pages of yours are truly promising young fellows. They 
 detected that rascally Dutchman who was betraying us. 
 I noticed them several times in the thick of the fray at the 
 breach ; and now they have saved the city by their quick 
 
!94 ^^ Ey GLAND ' S AID. 
 
 ness and presence of mind ; for had these Spaniards once 
 got possession of this warehouse they would have speedily 
 broken a way along through the whole tier, and could 
 then have poured in upon us with all their strength." 
 
 "That is so, indeed," Francis Vere agreed. ''They 
 have assuredly saved the town, and there is the greatest 
 credit due to them. I shall be glad, Uvedale, if you will 
 report the matter to our leader. You are in command of 
 the mining works, and it will come better from you than 
 from me who am their captain." 
 
 Captain Uvedale made his report, and both Sir Roger 
 Williams and the governor thanked the boys, and espe- 
 cially Geoffrey, for the great service they had rendered. 
 
 Very shortly the galleries were broken into in several 
 other places, and the battle became now as fierce and con- 
 tinuous down in the cellars as it had before been on the 
 breach. By the light of torches, in an atmosphere heavy 
 with the fumes of gunpowder, surrounded by piled-up 
 barrels of wine, the defenders and assailants maintained a 
 terrible conflict, men staggering up exhausted by their exer- 
 tions and by the stifling atmosphere, while others took their 
 places below, and so, night and day, the desperate struggle 
 continued. 
 
 All these weeks no serious effort had been made for the 
 relief of the hardly beleaguered town. Captains Hall and 
 Allen had several times swum down at night through the 
 bridge of boats with letters from the governor entreating 
 a speedy succor. The States had sent a fleet which 
 sailed some distance up the Zwin, but returned without 
 making the slightest effort to break through the bridge of 
 boats. The Earl of Leicester had advanced with a con- 
 siderable forc^ from Ostend against the fortress of Blank- 
 enburg, but had retreated hastily as soon as Parma de- 
 spatched a portion of his army against him ; and so the 
 town was left to its fate. 
 
 The last letter that the governor despatched said that 
 
BY ±.y&:i^AyD b aid. 95 
 
 longer resistance was impossible. The garrison were 
 reduced to a mere remnant, and these utterly worn out by 
 constant fighting and the want of rest. He should ask for 
 fair and honorable terms, but if these were refused the 
 garrison and the whole male inhabitants in the city, 
 putting the women and children in the center, would 
 sally out and cut their way through, or die fighting 
 in the midst of the Spaniards. The swimmer who took 
 the letter was drowned, but his body was washed ashore 
 and the letter taken to the Duke of Parma. 
 
 Three days afterwards a fresh force of the enemy em- 
 barked in forty large boats, and were about to land on au 
 unprotected wharf by the river-side when Arnold de Groen- 
 Telt hung out the white flag. His powder was exhausted 
 ind his guns disabled, and the garrison so reduced that 
 :he greater portion of the walls were left wholly unde- 
 fended. The Duke of Parma, who was full of admiration 
 at the extraordinary gallantry of the defenders, and was 
 doubtless also influenced by the resolution expressed in his 
 letter by the governor, granted them most honorable 
 terms. The garrison were to march out with all their bag- 
 gage and arms, with matches lighted and colors displayed. 
 They were to proceed to Breskans, and there to embark 
 for Flushing. The life and property of the inhabitants 
 were to be resi)ected, and all who didnot choose to embrace 
 the Catholic faith vrere to be allowed to leave the town 
 peaceably, taking with them their belongings, and to go. 
 wheresoever they pleased. 
 
 When the gates were opened the garrison sallied out. 
 The Duke of Parma had an interview with several of the 
 leaders, and expressed his high admiration of the valor 
 with which they had fought, and said that the siege of Sluys 
 had cost him more men than he had lost in the four prin- 
 cipal sieges he had undertaken in the Low Country put 
 together. On the -ith of August the duke entered Sluys 
 in triumph, and at once began to make preparations to 
 
^"^ BY ENGL A ND 'S AID. 
 
 tnlre "pirt in the great invasion of England for which 
 M'puin was preparing. 
 
 After their arrival at Flushing Captains Vere, Uvedale, 
 and others, who had brought their companies from Bergen- 
 op-Zoom to aid in the defense of Sluys, returned to that 
 town. 
 
 The Earl of Leicester shortly afterwards resigned his 
 appointment as general of the army. He had got on but 
 badly with the States-General, and there was from the 
 first no cordial co-operation between the two armies. The 
 force at his disposal was never strong enough to do any- 
 thing against the vastly superior armies of the Duke of 
 Parma, who was one of the most brilliant generals of his 
 age, while he was hampered and thwarted by the intrigues 
 and duplicity of Elizabeth, who was constantly engaged 
 in half-hearted negotiations, now with France and now 
 with Spain, and whose capricious temper was continually 
 overthrowing the best-laid plans of her councilors and 
 paralyzing the actions of her commanders. It was not 
 until she saw her kingdom threatened by invasion that she 
 placed herself fairly at the head of the national movement, 
 and inspired her subjects with her energy and determin- 
 ation. 
 
 Geoffrey Vickars had been somewhat severely wounded 
 upon the last day of the struggle in the cellar, a Spanish 
 officer having beaten down his guard and cleft through his 
 morion. Lionel was unwounded, but the fatigue and ex- 
 citement had told upon him greatly, and soon after they 
 arrived at Bergen, Captain Vere advised both of them to 
 return home for a few months. 
 
 " There is nothing likely to be doing here until the 
 spring. Parma has more serious matters in hand. They 
 talk, you know, of invading England, and after his ex- 
 perience at Sluys I do not think he will be wasting his 
 force by knocking their heads against stone walls. I 
 should be glad if I could return too, but I have my com.- 
 
B T ENGL Ay B ' S AID. 97 
 
 panT to look after and must remain where I am ordered ; 
 but as you are but volunteers and giving your service at 
 your pleasure, and are not regularly upon the list of the 
 pages of the company, I can undertake to grant you leave, 
 and indeed I can see that you both greatly need rest. 
 You have begun well and have both done good service, 
 and have been twice thanked by the governor of Sluys and 
 Sir Roger Williams, 
 
 '^ You will do yourselves no good by being shut up 
 through the winter in this dull town, and as there is a 
 vessel lying by the quay which is to set sail to-morrow, I 
 think you cannot do better than go in her. I will give 
 you letters to my cousin and your father saying how well 
 you have borne yourselves, and how mightily Sir Eoger 
 Williams was pleased with you. In the spring you can 
 rejoin, unless indeed the Spaniards should land in Eng- 
 land, which Heaven forfend, in which case you will prob- 
 ably prefer to ride under my cousin's banner at home." 
 
 The boys gladly accepted Francis Vere's proposal. It 
 was but three months since they had set foot in Holland, 
 but they had gone through a tremendous experience, and 
 the thought of being shut up for eight or nine months at 
 Bergen-op-Zoom was by no means a pleasant one. Both 
 felt worn-out and exhausted, and longed for the fresh 
 keen air of the eastern coast. Therefore the next morn- 
 ing they embarked on board ship. Captain Vere presented 
 them each with a handsome brace of pistols in token of 
 his regard, and Captains Uvedale, Baskerville, and other 
 officers who were intimate friends of Vere's, and had met 
 them at his quarters, gave them handsome presents in 
 recognition of the services they had rendered at Sluys. 
 
 The ship was bound for Harwich, which was the nearest 
 English port. Landing there, they took passage by bont 
 to Manningtree and thence by horse home, where they 
 astounded their father and mother by their sudden ap- 
 pearance. 
 7 
 
98 BY ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 '' And this is what comes of your soldiering," Mrs. Vick- 
 ars said when the first greeting was over. **Here is 
 Geoffrey with plasters all over the side of his head, and 
 yon, Lionel, looking as pale and thin as if you had gone 
 through a long illness. I told your father when we heard 
 of your going that you ought to be brought back and 
 whipped ; but the earl talked him over into writing to 
 Captain Francis to tell him that he approved of this mad- 
 brained business, and a nice affair it has turned out." 
 
 " You will not have to complain of our looks, mother, 
 at the end of a week or two," Geoffrey said. *' My wound 
 is healing fast, and Lionel only needs an extra amount of 
 sleep for a time. You see, for nearly a month we were 
 never in bed, but just lay down to sleep by the side of 
 Captain Vere on the top of the ramparts, where we had 
 been fighting all day," 
 
 ''It was a gallant defense," Mr. Vickars said, ''and all 
 England is talking of it. It was wonderful that 800 Eng- 
 lish and as many Dutchmen should hold a weak place for 
 two months against full twelve times their number of 
 Spaniards, led by the Duke of Parma himself, and there 
 is great honor for all who took part in the defense. The 
 governor and Sir Roger Williams especially mentioned 
 Francis Vere as among the bravest and best of their cap- 
 tains, and although you as pages can have had naught to 
 do with the fighting, you will have credit as serving under 
 his banner." 
 
 "I think, father," Geoffrey said, touching the plasters 
 on his head, " this looks somewhat as if we had had some- 
 thing to do with the fighting, and here is a letter for you 
 from Captain Yere which will give you some information 
 ?ibout it." 
 
 ^Ir. Vickars adjusted his horn spectacles on his face and 
 opened the letter. It began : 
 
 " My dear Master and Friend, — I have had no means of 
 writing to you since your letter came to me, having had 
 
B Y EXGLAyD 'S AID. ^ 
 
 other matters in hand, and being cut off from all communi- 
 cation with England. I was glad to find that you did not 
 take amiss my carrying off of your sons. Indeed that action 
 has turned out more happily than might have been ex- 
 pected, for I own that they were but young for such rougb 
 service. 
 
 *' However, they have proved themselves valiant young 
 gentlemen. They fought stoutly by my side during our 
 long tussle with the Spaniards, and more than once saved 
 my life by ridding me of foes who would have taken me at 
 a disadvantage. Once, indeed, when I was down from a 
 blow on the pate from a Spanish axe, they rushed forward 
 and kept my assailants at bay until rescue came. They 
 discovered a plot between a traitor in the town and the 
 Spaniards, and succeeded in defeating his plans and brings 
 ing him to justice. 
 
 '^They were also the means of preventing the Spaniards, 
 from breaking into the great wine-cellars and capturing 
 the warehouses, and for each of these services they re- 
 ceived the thanks of the Dutch governor and of Sir Eoger 
 Williams, our leader. Thus, you see, although so young- 
 they have distinguished themselves mightily, and should 
 aught befall me, there are many among my friends who 
 will gladly take them under their protection and push 
 them forward. I have sent them home for a time to have 
 quiet and rest, which they need after their exertions, and 
 have done this the more willingly since there is no chance 
 of fighting for many months to come. I hope that before 
 the Spaniards again advance against us I may have them 
 by my side."" 
 
 ^^ Well, well, this is wonderful,'" Mrs. Vickars said when 
 her husband had finished reading the letter. " If they 
 had told me themselves I should not have believed them, 
 although they have never been given to the sin of lying ; 
 but since it is writ in Master Vere"s own hand it cannot be 
 doubted. And now tell us all about it, boys." 
 
ll)f; B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 *• Vv'e will tell you when we have had dinner, mother. 
 This brisk Essex air has given us both an appetite, and 
 until that is satisfied you must excuse us telling along 
 iitory. Is the earl at the castle, father ? because we have 
 two letters to him from Captain Francis — one, I believe, 
 touching our affairs, and the other on private matters. 
 We have also letters from him to his mother and his 
 brother John, and these we had better send off at once Dy 
 a messenger, as also the private letters to the earl/' 
 
 ''That I will take myself," Mr. Vickars said. " I was 
 just going up to him to speak about my parish affairs when 
 you arrived." 
 
 '' You had better have your dinner first,'' Mrs. Vickars 
 said decidedly. '' When you once get with the earl and 
 begin talking you lose all account of the time, and only 
 last week kept dinner waiting for two hours. It is half- 
 past eleven now, and I will hurry it on so that it will be 
 ready a few minutes before noon." 
 
 ''Very well, my dear ; but I will go out into the village 
 at once and find a messenger to despatch to Crepping Hall 
 Tvith the letters to Dame Elizabeth and John Vere." 
 
 The boys' story was not told until after supper, for as 
 soon as dinner was over Mr. Vickars went up to the castle 
 i\-ith the letters for the earl. The latter, after reading 
 them, told him that his cousin spoke most highly of his 
 two sons, and said they had been of great service, even as 
 far as the saving of his life. The earl told Mr. Vickars to 
 bring the boys up next day to see him, in order that he 
 might learn a full account of the fighting at Sluys, and 
 that he hoped they would very often come in, and would, 
 while they were at home, practice daily with his master 
 of arms at the castle. " I know, Mr. Vickars, that you 
 had hoped that one of them would enter the church ; but 
 you see that their tastes lie not in that direction, and it is 
 evident that, as in the case of my cousin Francis, they are 
 cut out for soldiers." 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 101 
 
 f' I am afraid so/' Mr. Vickars said ; *^ and I must let 
 them have their own way, for I hold that none should be 
 forced to follow the ministry save those whose natural bent 
 lies that way/' 
 
 *' I don't think they have chosen badly/' the earl said. 
 *' My cousin Francis bids fair to make a great soldier, and 
 as they start in life as his pages they will have every chance 
 of getting on, and I warrant me that Francis will push 
 their fortunes. Perhaps I may be able to aid them some- 
 what myself. If aught comes of this vaporing of the 
 Spaniards, before the boys return to Holland, they shall 
 ride with me. I am already arming all the tenantry and 
 having them practiced in warlike exercises, and in the 
 spring I shall fit out two ships at Harwich to join the fleet 
 that will put to sea should the Spaniards carry out their 
 threats of invading us," 
 
102 B Y ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE LOSS OF THE 
 
 There were few people in Iledingham more pleased to 
 •see the two lads on their return than John Lirriper, to 
 whom they paid a visit on the first day they went out. 
 
 " I am glad to see you back, young masters ; though, to 
 say the truth, you are not looking nigh so strong and well 
 ■as you did when I last parted from you." 
 
 '^ We shall soon be all right again, John. We have 
 had rather a rough time of it over there in Sluys." 
 
 '' Ah, so I have heard tell, Master Geoffrey. Your 
 f atlier read out from the pulpit a letter the earl had re- 
 ceived from Captain Francis telling about the fighting, 
 and it mentioned that you were both alive and well and 
 had done good service ; but it was only a short letter sent 
 otf in haste the day after he and the others had got out of 
 the town. I was right glad when I heard it, I can tell 
 you, for there had been naught talked of here but the 
 siege ; and though your lady mother has not said much 
 to me, I always held myself ready to slip round the corner 
 or into a house when I saw her come do^vn the street, for 
 I knew well enough what was in her mind. She was just 
 saying to herself, ' John Lirriper, if it hadn't been for you 
 my two boys would not be in peril now. If aught comes 
 to them, it will be your doing.' And though it was not 
 my fault, as far as I could see, for Captain Francis took 
 you off my hands, as it were, and I had no more to say in 
 ihe matter than a child, still, there it was, and right glad 
 
B T EXGLAXD ' S AID. lOB 
 
 was ^ when I heard that the siege was over and you were 
 both alive. 
 
 ^' I had a bad time of it, I can tell you, when I first got 
 back, young sirs, for your mother rated me finely : and 
 though your father said it was not my fault in any way, 
 she would not listen to him, but said she had given you 
 into my charge, and that I had no right to hand you over 
 to any others save with your fathers permission — not if it 
 were to the earl himself, — and for a long time after she 
 would make as if she didn't see me if she met me in the 
 street. When my wife was ill about that time she sent 
 down broths and simples to her, but she sent them by one 
 of the maids, and never came herself save when she knew 
 I was away in my boat. 
 
 ^^ However, the day after the reading of that letter she 
 came in and said she was sorry she had treated me hardly, 
 and that she had known at heart all along that it was not 
 altogether my fault, and asked my pardon as nice as if I 
 had been the earl. Of course I said there was nothing to 
 ask pardon for, and indeed that I thought it was only 
 natural she should have blamed me, for that I had often 
 blamed myself, though not seeing how I could have done 
 otherwise. However, I was right glad when the matter 
 was made up, for it is not pleasant for a man when the 
 parson's wife sets herself against him.^' 
 
 ''It was certainly hard upon you, John,^^ Geoffrey 
 said ; '' but I am sure our mother does not in any way 
 blame you now. You see, we brought home letters from 
 Captain Vere, or rather Sir Francis, for he has been 
 knighted now, and he was good enough to speak very 
 kindly of what we were able to do in the siege. ^lother 
 did not say much, but I am sure that at heart she is very 
 grateful, for the earl himself came down to the Rectory 
 and spoke warmly about us, and said that he should al-^ 
 ways be our fast friend, because we had given his cousia 
 some help when he was roughly pressed by the Spaniards* 
 
104 B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 I hope we shall have another sail with you in a short time, 
 for we are not going back to the Netherlands at present, 
 as things are likely to be quiet there now. Although he 
 did not say so, I think Sir Francis thought that we were 
 over-young for such rough work, and would be more use- 
 ful in a year's time ; for, you see, in these sieges even pages 
 l::ive to take their share in the fighting, and when it comes 
 to push of pike with the Spaniards more strength and 
 vigor are needed than we possess at present. So we are to 
 continue our practice at arms at the castle, and to take 
 part in the drilling of the companies the earl is raising in 
 case the Spaniards carry out their threat of Invading Eng- 
 land." 
 
 Mrs. Vickars offered no objection whatever the first time 
 Geoffrey .sked permission to go down to Bricklesey with 
 John Lirriper. 
 
 '' I have no objection, Geoffrey ; and, indeed, now that 
 you have chosen your own lives and are pages to Sir 
 Francis Vere, it seems to me that in matters of this kind 
 you can judge for yourself. Now that you have taken to 
 soldiering and have borne your part in a great siege, and 
 have even yourselves fought with the Spaniards, I deem it 
 that you have got beyond my wing, and must now act in 
 all small matters as it pleases you ; and that since you 
 have already run great danger of your lives, and may do 
 so again ere long, it would be folly of me to try to keep 
 you at my apron-strings and to treat you as if you were 
 still children." 
 
 So the two lads often accompanied John Lirriper to 
 Bricklesey, and twice sailed up the river to London and 
 back in Joe Chambers' smack, these jaunts furnishing a 
 pleasant change to their work of practicing with pike and 
 sword with the men-at-arms at the castle, or learning the 
 words of command and the work of officers in drilling the 
 newly-raised corps. One day John Lirriper told them 
 that his nephew was this time going to sail up the Medway 
 
BT ENGLAND ' S AID. 10$ 
 
 to Rochester, and would be glad to take them with him if 
 they liked it ; for they were l^y this time prime favorites 
 with the master of the Susan, ■ Although their mother 
 had told them that they werr at liberty to go as they 
 pleased, they nevertheless always made a point of asking 
 permission before they went away. 
 
 " If the wind is fair we shall net be long away on this 
 trip, mother. Two days will take us up to Rochester ; 
 we shall be a day loading there, and shall therefore be 
 back on Saturday if the wind serves, and may even be 
 sooner if the weather is fine and we sail with the night 
 tides, as likely enough we shall, for the moon is nearly 
 full, and there will be plenty of light to keep our course 
 free of the sands." 
 
 The permission was readily given. Mrs. Vickars had 
 come to see that it was useless to worry over small matters, 
 and therefore nodded cheerfully, and said she would give 
 orders at once for a couple of chickens to be killed and 
 other provision prepared for their voyage. 
 
 *' I doubt you are going to have a rougher voyage than 
 usual this time, young masters,'" John Lirriper said when 
 the boat was approaching Bricklesey. *'The sky looks 
 wild, and I think there is go'iug to be a break in the 
 weather. However, the Susan is a stout boat, and my 
 nephew a careful navigator." 
 
 '^ I should like a rough voyage for a change. John," 
 Geoffrey said. ^' We have always had Stillwater and light 
 winds on our trips, and I should like a good blow." 
 
 '^ Well, I think you will have one ; though may be it 
 will only come on thick and wet. Still I think there is 
 wind in those clouds, and that if it does come it will be 
 from the southeast, in which case you will have a sharp 
 buffeting. But you will make good passcge enough down 
 to the Xore once you are fairly round the Whittaker." 
 
 " Glad to see you, young masters," Joe Chambers said 
 as the boat nflme alongside his craft. ** You oltea 
 
106 BY ENGLAND 'S AW. 
 
 grambled at the light winds, but unless I am mistaken we 
 ■shall be carrying double reefs this journey. What do you 
 think, Uncle John ?" 
 
 " I have been saying the same, lad ; still there is no 
 saying. You will know more about it in a few hours' time." 
 
 It was evening when the boys went on board the Susa7i, 
 and as soon as supper w^as over they lay down, as she was 
 to start at daybreak the next morning. As soon as they 
 were roused by the creaking of the blocks and the sound 
 of trampling of feet overhead they went up on deck. Day 
 had just broken ; the sky was overspread by dark clouds. 
 
 *' There is not much wind after all," Geoffrey said as he 
 looked round. 
 
 '' No, it has fallen light during the last two hours," the 
 skipper replied, '* but I expect wo shall have jilenty before 
 long. Uowever, we could do with a little more now." 
 
 Tide was half out when they started. Joe Chambers 
 had said the night before that he intended to drop down 
 to the edge of the sands and there anchor, and to make 
 across them past the Whittaker Beacon in'-o the channel 
 a5 soon as there was sufficient water to enable him to do so. 
 The wind was light, sometimes scarcely sufficient to belly 
 out the sails and give the boat steerage way, at others 
 coming in short puffs which heeled her over and made her 
 spring forward merrily. 
 
 Before long the wind fell lighter and lighter, and at last 
 Joe Chambers ordered the oars to be got out. 
 
 *' We must get down to the edge of the Buxey,"hesaid 
 *■' before the tide turns, or we shall have it against us, and 
 with this wind we should never be able to stem it, but 
 should be swept up the Crouch. At present it is helping 
 us, and with a couple of hours^ rowing we may save it to 
 the Buxey." 
 
 The boys helped at the sweeps, and for two hours the 
 creaking of the oars and the dull flapping of the sail alone 
 broke the silence of the calm ; and the lads were bj no 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 107 
 
 means sorry when the skipper gave the order for the 
 anchor to be dropped. 
 
 " I should like to have got about half a mile further," 
 he said ; " but I can see by the landmarks that we are 
 making no way now. The tide is beginning to suck in.'' 
 
 *' How long will it be before we have water enough to 
 cross the Spit ? " Lionel asked as they laid in the oars. 
 
 *' Well nigh four hours, Master Lionel. Then, even if 
 it keeps a stark calm like this, we shall be able to get 
 across the sands and a mile or two up the channel before 
 we meet the tide. There we must anchor again till the 
 first strength is past, and then if the wind springs up we 
 can work along at the edge of the sands against it. There 
 is no tide close in to the sands after the first two hours. 
 But I still think this is going to turn into wind presently ; 
 and if it does it will be sharp and heavy, I warrant. It's 
 either that or rain." 
 
 The sky grew darker and darker until the water looked 
 almost black under a leaden canopy. 
 
 ** I wish we were back into Bricklesey,'' Joe Chambers 
 said. '"' I have been well-nigh fifteen years going back- 
 wards and forwards here, and I do not know that ever I 
 saw an awkwarder look about the sky. It reminds me of 
 what I have heard men who have sailed to the Indies say 
 they have seen there before a hurricane breaks. If it was 
 not that we saw the clouds flying fast overhead when we 
 started, 1 should have said it was a thick sea fog that had 
 Tolled in upon us. Ah, there is the first drop. I don't 
 care how hard it comes down so that there is not wind at 
 the tail of it. A squall of wind before rain is soon over ; 
 but when it follows rain you will soon have your sails 
 close-reefed. You had best go below or you will be wet 
 through in a minute.'' 
 
 The great drops were pattering down on the deck and 
 causing splashes as of ink on the surface of the oily-look- 
 Another half minute it was pouring with sacit 
 
108 BY ENGLAND'S Am 
 
 a mighty ronr on the c' 3ck that the hoys below neeaad to 
 shout to make each other heard. It lasted but five 
 minutes, aud then stepped as suddenly as it began. The 
 lads at once x-eturned to the deck. 
 
 '^^So it is all over. Master Chambers.'' 
 
 " Well the first part is over, but that is only a sort of a 
 beginning. Look at that light under the clouds away to 
 the south of east. That is where it is coming from, unless 
 I am mistaken. Turn to and get the mainsail down, lads,'' 
 for although after dropping anchor the head sails had been 
 lowered, the main and mizzen were still on her. 
 
 The men set to work, and the boys helped to stow the 
 sail and fasten it with the tiers. Suddenly there was a 
 sharp puff of wind. Itlaste^! . few seconds only, tlicn Joe 
 Chambers pointed towards the spot whence a hazy light 
 seemed to come. 
 
 ^' Here it comes," he said. '' Do you see that line of 
 white water. That is a squall and no mistake. I am glad 
 we are not under soil." 
 
 There was a sharp, hissing sound as the line of white 
 water approached them, and then the squall struck them 
 with such force and fury that the lads instinctively grasped 
 at the shrouds. The mizzen had brcaght the craft in a 
 moment head-to-wind, and Joe Chambers and the two 
 sailors at once lowered it and stowed it away. 
 
 " Only put a couple of tiers on," the skipper shouted, 
 " "We may have to upsail again if this goes on." 
 
 The sea got up with great rapidity, and a few minutes 
 after the squall had struck them the Susaii was beginning 
 to pitch heavily. The wind increased in force, and seemed 
 to scream rather than whistle in the rigging. 
 
 ''The sea is getting up fast !" Geoffrey shouted in the 
 skipper's ear as he took his place close to him. 
 
 " It won't be very heavy yet," Joe Chambers replied ; 
 '''the sands break its force. But the tide has turned now, 
 and as it makes over the sand there will be a tremendous 
 
ST ENGLAND'S AID, 109 
 
 9^a h ^-'? in no time ; that is if this wind holds, and it seems 
 to me that it is going to be an nnusual gale altogether." 
 
 ^' How long will it be before we can cross the Spit ? " 
 
 " We are not going to cross to-day, that's certain/' the 
 skipper said. '' There will be a sea over those sands that 
 would knock the life out of the strongest craft that ever 
 floated. Xo, I shall wait here for another honr or two if 
 I can, and then slip my cable and rnn for the Crouch. It 
 is a narrow channel, and I never care about going into it 
 after dark until there is water enough for a craft of our 
 draught over the sands. It ain't night now, but it is well 
 nigh as dark. There is no making out the bearings of the 
 land, and we have got to trust to the perches the fishermen 
 put up at the bends of the channel. However, we have 
 got to try it. Our anchors would never hold here when the 
 sea gets over the sands, and if they did they would pull 
 her head under water." 
 
 In har an hour a sea had got up that seemed to the boys 
 tremend us. Dark a*, it was they could see in various direc- 
 tions tra'ts of whi e -^ater where the waves broke wildly 
 over the sands. The second anchor had been let go some 
 time before. The two cables were as taut as iron bars, 
 and the boat was pulling her bows under every sea. Joe 
 Chambers dropped a lead-line overboard and watched it 
 closely. 
 
 ''We are dragging our anchors," he said. '' There is 
 nothing for it but to run." 
 
 He went to the bow, fastened two logs of wood by long 
 lines to the cables outside the bow, so that he could find 
 and recover the anchors on his return, then a very small 
 jib was hoisted, and as it filled two blows with an axe sev- 
 ered the cables inboard. The logs attached to them were 
 thrown over, and the skipper ran aft and put up the helm 
 83 the boat's head payed off before the wind. As she did 
 so 2\ wave struck her and threw tons of water on board, fill- 
 ing her deck nearly up to the rails. It was well Joe had 
 
110 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 shouted to the boys to hold on, for had they not done so 
 they would have been swept overboard. 
 
 Another wave struck them before they were fairly round, 
 smashing in the bulwark and sweeping everything before 
 it, and the boys both thought that the Susa?i was sinking 
 under their feet. However, she recovered herself. The 
 water poured out through the broken bulwark, and tlie 
 boat rose again on the waves as they swept one after another 
 down upon her stern. The channel was well marked now, 
 for the sands on either side were covered with breaking 
 water. Joe Chambers shouted to the sailors to close-reef 
 the mizzen and hoist it, so that he might have the boat 
 better under control. The wind was not directly astern 
 but somewhat on the quarter ; and small as was the amount 
 of sail shown, the boat lay over till her lee-rail was at times 
 under water ; the following waves yawing her about so 
 much that it needed the most careful steering to prevent 
 her from broaching to. 
 
 " It seems to me as the wind is northering I " one of the 
 men shouted. 
 
 The skipper nodded and slackened out the sheet a bit as 
 the wind came more astern. He kept his eyes fixed ahead 
 of him, and the men kept gazing through the gloom. 
 
 " There is the perch, '^ one of them shouted jiresently, 
 * just on her weather-bow I " 
 
 The skipper nodded and held on the same course until 
 abreast of the perch, which was only a forked stick. Tlie 
 men came aft and hauled in the mizzen sheet. Chambers 
 put up the helm. The mizzen came across with a jerk, 
 and the sheet was again allowed to run out. The jib came 
 over with a report like the shot of a cannon, and at the 
 same moment split into streamers. 
 
 *' Hoist the foresail ! " the skipper shouted, and the men 
 sprang forward and seized the halliards ; but at this mo- 
 ment the wind seemed to blow with a double fury, and the 
 moment the sail was set it too split into ribbons. 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. Ill 
 
 '^ Get np another jib I " Joe Chambers shouted, and one 
 of the men sprang below. In half a minute he reappeared 
 with another sail. 
 
 " Up with it quick. Bill. We are drifting bodily down 
 on the sand.^' 
 
 Bill hurried forward. The other hand had hauled in 
 the traveler, to which the bolt-rope of the jib was still at- 
 tached, and hauling on this had got the block down and in 
 readiness for fastening on the new jib. The sheets were 
 hooked on, and then while one hand ran the sail out with 
 the out-haul to the bowsprit end, the other hoisted with 
 the halliards. By this time the boat was close to the 
 broken water. As the sail filled her head payed off towards 
 it. The wind lay her right over, and before she could 
 gather way there was a tremendous crash. The Susan had 
 struck on the sands. The next wave lifted her, but as it 
 passed on she came down with a crash that seemed to shake 
 her in pieces. Joe Chambers relaxed his grasp of the now 
 useless tiller. 
 
 " It is all over," he said to the boys. '•' Xothing can 
 save her now. If she had been her own length farther off 
 the sands she would have gathered way in time. As it is 
 another ten minutes and she will be in splinters."' 
 
 She was now lying over until her masthead was but a few 
 feet above water. The seas were striking her with tremen- 
 dous force, pouring a deluge of water over her. 
 
 *' There is but one chance for you," he went on. " The 
 wind is dead on the shore, and Foulness lies scarce three 
 miles to leeward." 
 
 He went into the cabin and fetched out a small axe fast- 
 ened in the companion where it was within reach of the 
 helmsman. Two blows cut the shrouds of the mizzen, a 
 few vigorous strokes were given to the foot of the mast, 
 and, as the boat lifted and crashed down again on the sand, 
 it broke off a few inches above the deck. 
 
 ^' is ow, lads, I will lash you loosely to this. You caa 
 
112 B T ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 both swim, and with what aid it will give you may well 
 reach the shore. There are scarce three feet of water here, 
 and except where one or two deeps pass across it there is 
 no more anywhere between this and the land. It will not 
 be rough very far. Now, be off at once ; the boat will go 
 to pieces before many minutes. I and the two men will 
 take to the mainmast, but I want to see you off first.'' 
 
 Without hesitation the boys pushed off with the mast. 
 As they did so a cataract of water poured over the smack 
 upon them, knocking them for a moment under the sur- 
 face with its force. 
 
 For the next few minutes it was a wild struggle for life. 
 They found at once that they were powerless to swim 
 in the broken water, which, as it rushed across the sand, 
 impelled alike by the rising tide behind it and the force of 
 the wind, hurried them along at a rapid pace, breaking in 
 short steep waves. Tliey could only cling to the mast and 
 snatch a breath of air from time to time as it rolled over 
 and over. Had they not been able to swim they would 
 very speedily have been drowned ; but, accustomed as they 
 were to diving, they kept their presence of mind, holding 
 their breath when under water and breathing whenever 
 they were above it with their faces to the land. It was 
 only so that they could breathe, for the air was thick with 
 spray, which v»iis swept along with such force by the wind 
 that it would have drowned the best swimmer who tried to 
 face it as speedily as if he had been under water. 
 
 After what seemed to them an age the waves became 
 somewhat less violent, though still breaking in a mass of 
 foam. Geoffrey loosed his hold of the spar and tried to 
 get to his feet. He was knocked down several times before 
 he succeeded, but when he did so found that the water was 
 little more than two feet deep, although the waves rose to 
 his shoulders. The soft mud under his feet rendered it 
 extremely difficult to stand, and the rope which attached 
 tim to the spar, which was driving before him, added to 
 
The next few Minutbs it was a wild Struggle for Life.— Page xia- 
 Eng. Aid.] 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 113 
 
 the difficulty. He could not overtake the mast, and threw 
 himself down again and swam to it. 
 
 ^' Get up, Lionel \" he shouted ; ^^ we can stand here.^* 
 Bat Lionel was too exhausted to be capable of making the 
 effort. With the greatest difficulty Geoffrey raised him to 
 his feet and supported him with his back to the wind. 
 
 " Get your breath again I" he shouted. ^^ We are over 
 tlie worst now and shall soon be in calmer water. Get 
 your feet well out in front of you, if you can, and dig your 
 heels into the mud, then you will act as a buttress to me 
 and help me to keep my feet.'^ 
 
 It was two or three minutes before Lionel was able to 
 speak. Even during this short time they had been carried 
 some distance forward, for the gi'ound on which they stood 
 seemed to be moving, and the force of the waves carried 
 them constantly forward. 
 
 "Feel better, old fellow?'' Geoffrey asked, as he felt 
 Lionel making an effort to resist the pressure of the 
 water. 
 
 ''Yes, I am better now,'' Lionel said. 
 
 '' Well, we will go on as we are as long as we can ; let 
 ns just try to keep our feet and give way to the sea as it 
 takes us along. The quicker we go the sooner we shall be 
 in shallower water ; but the tide is rising fast, and unless 
 we go on it will speedily be as bad here as it was where we 
 started." 
 
 As soon as Lionel had sufficiently recovered they again 
 took to the spar ; but now, instead of clasping it with their 
 arms and legs, they lay with their chest upon it, and used 
 their efforts only to keep it going before the wind and tide. 
 Once they came to a point where the sand was but a few 
 inches under water. Here they stood up for some minutes, 
 and then again proceeded on foot until the water dee^Dened 
 to their waists. 
 
 Their progress was now much more easy, for the high 
 bank had broken the run of the surf. The water beyond 
 S 
 
114 BY ENGLAND ' 5 AID. 
 
 it was mnch smoother, and they were able to swim,, push- 
 ing the spar before them. 
 
 " We are in deep water," Geoffrey said presently, drop- 
 ping his feet. '^It is out of my depth. Chambers said 
 there was a deep channel across the sands not far from the 
 island ; so in that case the shore cannot be far away." 
 
 In another quarter of an hour the water was again waist- 
 deep. Geoffrey stood up. 
 
 "I think I see a dark line ahead, Lionel ; we shall sorii 
 be there." 
 
 Another ten minutes and the water was not above their 
 knees. They could see the low shore now at a distance of 
 but a few hundred yards ahead and untying the ropes 
 under their arms they let the spar drift on, and waded for- 
 ward until they reached the land. There was a long mud 
 bank yet to cross, and exhausted as they were it took them 
 a long time to do this ; but at last they came to a sandy 
 bank rising sharply some ten feet above the flat. They 
 threw themselves down on this and lay for half an hour 
 without a word being spoken. 
 
 '^Xow, Lionel," Geoffrey said at last, raising himself to 
 a sitting position, "we must make an effort to get on and 
 find a shelter. There are people living in the island. I 
 have heard that they are a wild set, making their living by 
 the wrecks on these sands and by smuggling goods without 
 paying dues to the queen. Still, they will not refuse us 
 shelter and food, and assuredly there is nothing on us to 
 tempt them to plunder us." 
 
 He rose to his feet and helped Lionel up. Once on the 
 top of the bank a level country stretched before them. 
 The wind aided their footsteps, sweeping along with such 
 tremendous force that at times they had difficulty in Iieep- 
 ing their feet. As they went on they came upon patclies 
 of cultivated land, with hedgerows and deep ditches. 
 Half a mile further they perceived a house. On approach- 
 ing it they saw that it was a low structure of some size 
 
B T ENGLASB ' S AID. 115 
 
 with several out-buildings. They made their way to it 
 aud knocked at the door. They knocked twice before it 
 was opened, then some bolts were withdrawn. The door 
 was opened a few inches. A man looked out, and seeing 
 two lads opened it widely. 
 
 '' Well, who are you, and what do you want ? " he asked 
 roughly. 
 
 " We have been wrecked in a storm on the sands. We 
 were sailing from Bricklesey for Sheerness when the storm 
 caught us.^' 
 
 The man looked at them closely. Their pale faces and 
 evidently exhausted condition vouched for the truth of 
 their story. 
 
 " The house is full/' he said gruffly, " and I cannot take 
 in strangers. You will find some dry hay in that out- 
 house, and I will bring you some food there. When you 
 have eaten and drunk you had best journey on.'' 
 
 So saying he shut the door in their faces. 
 
 '' This is strange treatment," Geoffrey said. ''I should 
 not have thought a man would have refused shelter to a 
 dog such a day as this. What do you say, Lionel, shall 
 we go on ? " 
 
 "I don't think I can go any further until I have rested, 
 Geoffrey," Lionel replied faintly. ''Let us lie down in 
 shelter if it is only for half an hour. After that, if the 
 man brings us some food as he says, we can go on again." 
 
 Thev went into the shed the man had pointed out. It 
 was half full of hay. 
 
 ''Let us take our things off and wring them, Lionel, and 
 give ourselves a roll in the hay to dry ourselves. We shall 
 soon get warm after that." 
 
 They stripped, wrung the water from their clothes, rolled 
 themselves in the hay until they felt a glow of returning 
 warmth . and then put on their clothes again. Scarcely had 
 they done so when the man came in with a large tankard 
 and two hunks of bread. 
 
116 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 " Here," he said, '^ drink this and then be off. TVe want 
 no strangers hanging round here." 
 
 At any other time the boys would have refused hospit- 
 ality so cheerlessly offered, but they were too weak to resist 
 the temptation. The tankard contained hot-spiced ale, 
 and a sensation of warmth and comfort stole over them as 
 soon as they had drunk its contents and eaten a few mouth- 
 fuls of bread. The man stood by them while they ate. 
 
 *'Are you the only ones saved from the wreck!-'" he 
 asked. 
 
 "I trust that we are not," Geoffrey replied. ''The 
 master of the boat tied us to a mast as soon as she struck, 
 and he and the two men with him were going to try to get 
 to shore in the same way." 
 
 As soon as they had finished they stood up and handed 
 the tankard to the man. 
 
 '' I am sorry I must turn you out," he said, as if some- 
 what ashamed of his want of courtesy. *' Any other day it 
 would be different, but to-day I cannot take anyone in." 
 
 ''I thank you for what you have given us," Geoffrey 
 said. " Can you tell us which is the way to the ferry ?" 
 
 '' Follow the road and it will take you there. About a 
 couple of miles. You cannot mistake the way." 
 
 Feeling greatly strengthened and refreshed the lads again 
 started. 
 
 '•' This is a curious affair," Geoffrey said, '' and I cannot 
 make out why they should not let us in. However, it does 
 not matter much. I feel warm all over now, in spite of my 
 wet clothes." 
 
 " So do I," Lionel agreed. " Perhaps there were smug- 
 glers inside, or some fugitives from justice hiding there. 
 Anyhow, I am thankful for that warm ale ; it seems to have 
 given me new life altogether." 
 
 They had walked a quarter of a mile, when they saw four 
 horsemen coming on the road They were closely wrapped 
 np in cloaks, and as they passed, with their heads bent 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 117 
 
 Jown to meet the force of the gale and their broad-brimmed 
 hats pulled low down over their eyes, the boys did not get 
 even a glimpse of their features. 
 
 '•' I wonder who they can be," Geoffrey said, looking after 
 them. ^' They are very well mounted, and look like persons 
 of some degree. What on earth can they be doing in such 
 a wretched place as this ? They must be going to that 
 house we left, for I noticed the road stopped there." 
 
 '' It is curious, Geoffrey, but it is no business of ours." 
 
 '' I don^t know that, Lionel. You know there are all 
 sorts of rumors about of Papist plots, and conspirators 
 could hardly choose a more out-of-the-way spot than this 
 to hold their meetings. I should not be at all surprised if 
 there is some mischief on foot." 
 
 Half a mile further three men on foot met them, and 
 these like the others, were closely wrapped up to the 
 eyes. 
 
 '' They have ridden here," Geoffrey said after they had 
 passed. " They have all high riding-boots on ; they must 
 have left their horses on the other side of the ferry. See, 
 there is a village a short distance ahead. We will go in 
 there and dry our clothes and have a substantial meal if we 
 can get it. Then we will talk this business over." 
 
 The village consisted of a dozen houses only, but among 
 them was a small public house. Several men were sitting 
 by the fire with pots of ale before them. 
 
 '' We have been wrecked on the coast, landlord, and have 
 barely escaped with our lives. We want to dry our clothes 
 and to have what food you can give us." 
 
 *' I have plenty of eggs," the landlord said, '' and my 
 wife will fry them for you : but we have no meat in the 
 house. Fish and eggs are the chief food here. You are 
 lucky in getting ashore, for it is a terrible gale. It is years 
 since we have had one like it. As to drying your clothes, 
 that can be managed easy enough. You can go up into 
 mj room and take them off, and I will lend you a couple di 
 
118 BT ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 blankets to wrap yourselves in, and you can sit by tlie are 
 here until your things are dry." 
 
 A hearty meal of fried eggs and another drink of hot die 
 completed the restoration of the boys. Their clothes were 
 speedily dried, for the landlady had just finished baking 
 her week's batch of bread, and half an hour in the oven 
 completely dried their clothes. They were ready almost 
 as soon as the meal was finished. Many questions were 
 asked them as to the wreck, and the point at which they 
 had been cast ashore. 
 
 " It was but a short distance from a house at the end of 
 this road," Geoffrey said. ^' We went there for shelter, 
 but they would not take us in, though they gave us some 
 bread and hot ale." 
 
 Exclamations of indignation were heard among the men 
 sitting round. 
 
 ''Ralph Hawker has the name of being a surly man," 
 one said, ''but I should not have thought that he would 
 have turned a shipwrecked man from his door on such a 
 day as this. They say he is a Papist, though whether he 
 be or not I cannot say ; but he has strange ways, and there 
 is many a stranger passes the ferry and asks for his house. 
 However, that is no affair of mine, though I hold there is 
 no good in secret ways." 
 
 " That is so," another said ; " but it goes beyond all 
 reason for a man to refuse shelter to those the sea has cast 
 ashore such a day as this. 
 
 As soon as they had finished their meal and again dressed 
 themselves, the lads paid their reckoning and went out. 
 Scarcely had they done so when two horsemen rode up, and, 
 drawing rein, inquired if they were going right for the 
 house of one Ralph Hawker. 
 
 "It lies about a mile on," Geoffrey said. " You cannot 
 miss the way ; the road ends there." 
 
 As he spoke a gust of wind of extra fury blew off one of 
 the rider's hats. It was stopped by the wall of & kouse a 
 
" BT ENGLAND'S AW, llS 
 
 few yards away. Geoffrey caught it and handed it to the 
 horseman. With a word of thanks he pressed it firmly on 
 his head, and the two men rode on. 
 
 " Did you notice that ? " Geoffrey asked his brother. 
 • ' He has a shaven spot on the top of his head. The man 
 is a Papist priest in disguise. There is something afoot, 
 Lionel. I vote that we try and get to the bottom of it.'' 
 
 '' I am ready if you think so, Geoffrey. But it is a haz- 
 ardous business, you know ; for we are unarmed, and there 
 are we know, seven or eight of them at any rate." 
 
 " We must risk that," Geoffrey said ; '' besides, we can 
 mn if we cannot fight, l*t us have a try whatever coiaes 
 Of it.'' 
 
120 BY ENGLAND'S Am, 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A POPISH PLOT. 
 
 There was no one about, for the wind was blowing with 
 such fury that few cared to venture out of doors, and the 
 boys therefore started back along the road by which they 
 had come, without being observed. 
 
 '' We had better strike off from the road," Geoffrey said, 
 " for some more of these men may be coming along. Like 
 enough someone will be on the watch at the house, so we 
 had best make a long detour, and when we get near it 
 come down on it from the other side. You know we saw 
 no windows there." 
 
 ''That is all well enough," Lionel agreed; ''but the 
 question is, how are we to hear what they are saying in- 
 side ? We are obliged to shout to catch each other^s words 
 now, and there is not the least chance of our hearing any- 
 thing through the closed shutters." 
 
 "We must wait till we get there, and then see what is 
 to be done, Lionel. We managed to detect a plot at Sluys, 
 and we may have the same luck here." 
 
 After half an hour's brisk walking they again approached 
 the house from the side at which they had before come 
 upon it, and where, as Geoffrey observed, there were no 
 windows ; they made their way cautiously up to it, and 
 then moved quietly round to the side. Here there were 
 two windows on the ground floor. The shutters were 
 closed, for glass was unknown except in the houses of the 
 comparatively wealthy. Its place was taken by oiled 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 121 
 
 paper, and this in bad veather was protected by oiitei 
 shutters. Geoffrey stole out a few paces to look at the 
 window above. 
 
 " It is evidently a loft/'' he said as he rejoined Lionel. 
 '' You can see by the roof that the rooms they live in are 
 entirely upon the ground floor. If we can get in there we 
 might possibly hear what is going on below. The rooms 
 are not likely to be ceiled, and there are sure to be cracks 
 between the planks through which we can see what is go- 
 ing on below. The noise of the wind is so great there is 
 little chance of their hearing us. Xow, let us look about 
 for something to help us to climb up." 
 
 Lying by an out-house close by they found a rough 
 ladder, composed of a single pole with bits of wood nailed 
 on to it a foot apart. This they placed up against the door 
 of the loft. They could see that this was fastened only by 
 a hasp, with a piece of wood put through the staple. It 
 had been arranged that Geoffrey only should go up, Lionel 
 removing the pole when he entered, and keeping watch 
 behind the out-house lest anyone should come round the 
 house. Both had cut heavy sticks as they came along to 
 give them some means of defense. Lionel stood at the 
 pole, while Geoffrey climbed up, removed the piece of wood 
 from the staple, and then holding the hasp to prevent the 
 wind blowing in the door with a crash, entered the loft. 
 A glance showed him that it extended over the whole of 
 the house, and that it was entirely empty. 
 
 He closed the door behind him, and jammed it with a 
 couple of wedges of wood he had cut before mounting ; 
 then he lay down on the rough planks and began to crawl 
 along. He saw a gleam of light at the further end, and 
 felt sure that it proceeded from the room in which the 
 party were assembled. Although he had little fear of be- 
 ing heard owing to the din kept up by the wind, he moved 
 along with extreme care until he reached the spot whence 
 the light proceeded. As he had anticipated, it was caused 
 
122 BT ENGLAND '8 AID, 
 
 by lights in a room below streaming through the cracks 
 between the rough planking. 
 
 Rising on to his knees he looked round, and then crawled 
 to a crack that appeared much wider than the rest, the 
 boards being more than half an inch apart. L3'ing down 
 over it, he was able to obtain a view of a portion of the 
 room below. He could see a part of a long table, and 
 looked down upon the heads of five men sitting on one 
 side of it. He now applied his ears to the crevice. A man 
 was speaking, and in the intervals between the gusts of 
 wind which shook the house to its foundation, he could 
 hear what was said. 
 
 '' It is no use hesitating any longer, the time for action 
 has arrived — Jezebel must be removed — interests of our 
 holy religion — little danger in carrying out the plan that 
 has been proposed. Next time — Windsor — road passes 
 through wood near Datchet — a weak guard overpowered — 
 two told off to execute — free England from tyranny — glory 
 and honor throughout Catholic world. England dis- 
 organized and without a head could offer no resistance — as 
 soon as day fixed — meet at Staines at house of — final de- 
 tails and share each man is to — done, scatter through 
 country, readiness for rising — Philip of Spain — " 
 
 This was the last sentence Geoffrey caught, for when 
 the speaker ceased a confused and general talk took place, 
 and he could only catch a word here and there without 
 meaning or connection. He therefore drew quietly back 
 to tlie door of the loft and opened it. He thought first of 
 jumping straight down, but in that case he could not have 
 fastened the door behind him. He therefore made a sign 
 to Lionel, who was anxiously peering round the corner of 
 the out-house. The pole was placed into position, and 
 pulling the door after him and refastening the latch he 
 made his way down to the ground, replaced the pole at 
 the place from which they had taken it, and then retired 
 in the direction from which they had come. 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 125 
 
 f ' Well, what liave you heard, Geoffrey ? " Lionel askeil. 
 <^ Was it worth the risk yon have run ? " 
 
 ^' Well worth it, Lionel. I could only hear a little of 
 what was said, but that was quite enough to show that a 
 plot is on foot to attack and kill the queen the next time 
 she journeys to Windsor. The conspirators are to hide in 
 a wood near Datchet." 
 
 ^ ' You don't say so, Geoffrey. That is important news 
 indeed. What are we to do next ? '" 
 
 " I have not thought yet,'' Geoffrey replied. '' I should 
 say, though, our best plan would be to make our way back 
 as quickly as we can by Burnham and Maldon round to 
 Hedingham. The earl was going up to London one day this 
 week, we may catch him before he starts ; if not, we must, 
 of course, follow him. But at any rate it is best to go 
 home, for they will be in a terrible fright, especially if 
 Joe Chambers or one of the men take the news to Brick- 
 lesey of the loss of the Susan, for it would be quickly 
 carried up to Hedingham by John Lirriper or one or other 
 of the boatmen. Xo day seems to be fixed, and the queen 
 may not be going to Windsor for some little time, so the 
 loss of a day will not make any difference. As we have 
 money in our pockets we can hire horses at Burnham to 
 take us to Maldon, and get others there to carry us home." 
 
 An hour's walking took them to the ferry. It was now 
 getting dusk, and they had come to the conclusion as they 
 walked that it would be too late to attempt to get on that 
 night beyond Burnham. The storm was as wild as ever, 
 and although the passage was a narrrow one it was as much 
 as the ferryman could do to row the boat across. 
 
 " How far is it from here to Burnham ?" 
 
 ^^ About four miles ; but you won't get to Burnham to- 
 night." 
 
 "How is that?" Geoffrey asked. 
 
 "You may get as far as the ferry, but you won't get 
 taken over. There will be a big sea in the Crouch, for 
 
V24 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 the wind is pretty nigh straight up it ; but yon will be 
 able to sleep at the inn this side. In the morning, if the 
 wind has gone down, you can cross ; if not, you will have 
 to go round by the bridge, nigh ten miles higher up/' 
 
 This was unpleasant news. Not that it made any dif- 
 ference to them whether they slept on one side of the river 
 or the other, but if the wind was too strong to admit of a 
 passage in the morning, the necessity for making a detour 
 would cost them many hours of valuable time. There was 
 however, no help for it, and they walked to Criksey Ferry. 
 The little inn was crowded, for the ferry had been stopped 
 all day, and many like themselves had been compelled to 
 jtop for a lull in the wind. 
 
 Scarcely liad they entered when their names were joy- 
 ously sliouted out. *' Ah, Masters Vickars, right glad am 
 I to see you. We feared that surf had put an end to you. 
 We asked at the ferry, but the man declared that no strange 
 ^.ads had crossed that day, and we were fearing we should 
 iave a sad tale to send to Iledingham by John Liriiper." 
 
 *'' We are truly glad to see you, Joe," Geoffrey said, as 
 they warmly shook Joe Chambers and the two sailors by 
 the hand. '' How did you get ashore ? " 
 
 " On the mainmast, and pretty nigh drowned we were 
 before we got there. I suppose the tide must have taken 
 us a bit further iip than it did you. We got here well nigh 
 two hours ago, though we got a good meal and dried our 
 clothes at a farmhouse." 
 
 '* We got a meal, too, soon after we landed," Geoffrey 
 said ; '' but we did not dry our clothes till we got to a 
 little village. I did not ask its name. I am awfully sorry, 
 Joe, about the Susan, 
 
 •' It is a bad job, but it cannot be helped, Master Geof- 
 frey. I owned a third of her, and two traders at Bricklesey 
 own the other shares. Stiii I have no cause to grumble. 
 1 have laid by more than enough in the last four years to 
 buy a share in another boat as good as she was. You see. 
 
B Y EXGLAXD ' 5 AID, 125 
 
 a trader ain't like a smack. A trader's got only hull and 
 sails^ while a smack has got her nets beside, and they cost 
 well nigh as much as the boat. Thankful enough we are 
 that we have ail escaped with our lives ; and now I find 
 you are safe my mind feels at rest over it." 
 
 ^^Do you think it will be calm enough to cross in the 
 the morning, Joe ? '' 
 
 " Like enough/' the sailor replied ; *'a gale like this is 
 like to blow itself out in twenty-four hours. It has been 
 the worst I ever saw. It is not blowing now quite so hard 
 as it did, and by the morning I reckon, though there may 
 be a fresh wind, the gale will be over. 
 
 The number of travelers were far too great for the ac- 
 commodation of the inn ; and with the exception of two oi 
 three of the first arrivals all slept on some hay in one o1 
 the barns. 
 
 The next morning, although the wind was still strong, 
 the fury of the gale had abated. The ferryman, however, 
 said the water was so rough he must wait for a time before 
 they crossed. But when Geoffrey offered him a reward tc 
 put their party on shore at once, he consented to do so, 
 Joe Chambers and the two sailors assisting with the oars ; 
 and as the ferry-boat was large and strongly built, they 
 crossed without further inconvenience than the wetting of 
 their jackets. 
 
 Joe Chambers, who knew the town perfectly, at once 
 took them to a place where they were able to hire a couple 
 of horses, and on these rode to Maldon, some nine 
 miles away. Here they procured other horses, and it was 
 not long after midday when they arrived at Hedingham. 
 
 Mrs. Vickars held up her hands in astonishment at their 
 shrunken garments ; but her relief from the anxiety she 
 had felt concerning what had befallen them during the 
 gale was so great that she was unable to scold. 
 
 '^ We will tell you all about it, mother, afterwards,'' 
 Geoffrey said, as he released himself from her embraoe. 
 
1 26 BT ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 " We have had a great adventure, and the S^isan has been 
 wrecked. But this is not the most important matter. 
 Father, has the earl started yet ? "" 
 
 " He was to have gone this morning, Geoffrey, but the 
 floods are likely to be out, and the roads will be in such a 
 state that I have no doubt he has put off his journey." 
 
 '' It is important that we should see him at once, father. 
 We have overheard some people plotting against the queen's 
 life, and measures must be taken at once for her safety. 
 We will run up and change our things if you will go with 
 us to see him. If you are there he will see you whatever 
 he is doing, while if we go alone there might be delay." 
 
 Without waiting for an answer the boys ran upstairs and 
 quickly returned in fresh clothes. Mr. Vickars was wait- 
 ing for them with his hat on. 
 
 ** You are quite sure of what you are saying, Geoffrey ?" 
 he observed as they walked towards the castle. ^' Remem- 
 ber, that if it should turn out an error, you are likely to 
 come to sore disgrace instead of receiving commendation 
 for your interference. Everyone has been talking of plots 
 against the queen for some time, and you may well have 
 mistaken the purport of what you have heard." 
 
 *' There is no mistake, father, it is a real conspiracy, 
 though who are those concerned in it I know not. Lionel 
 and I are not likely to raise a false alarm about nothing, 
 as you will say yourself when you hear the story I have to 
 tell the earl." 
 
 They had by this time entered the gates of the castle. 
 *' The earl has just finished dinner," one of the attendants 
 replied in answer to the question of Mr. Vickars. 
 
 " Will yon tell him that I wish to see him on urgent 
 business ? " 
 
 In two or three minutes the servant returned and asked 
 the clergyman to follow him. The earl received him in 
 his private chamber, for the castle was full with guests. 
 
 "WMlj dominie, what is it?" he asked. '' You want 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 127 
 
 some help, I will be bound, for somebody ill or in distress. 
 I know pretty well by this time the meaning of your ur- 
 gent business. 
 
 ^^ It is nothing of that kind to-day,'' the clergyman re- 
 plied, '' it is, in fact, my, sons who wish to see your lord- 
 ship. I do not myself know the full purport of their story 
 save thc^t it is something which touches the safety of the 
 queen." 
 
 The earl's expression at once changed. 
 
 '-' Is that so, young sirs ? This is a serious matter, yon 
 know ; it is a grave thing to bring an accusation against 
 anyone in matters touching the state." 
 
 ^a am aware that it is, my lord, and assuredly my 
 brother and I would not lightly meddle with such matters ; 
 but I think that you will say this is a business that should 
 be attended to. It happened thus, sir." He then briefly 
 told how, that being out in a ketch that traded from Brick- 
 lesey, they were caught in the gale ; that the vessel was 
 driven on the sands, and they were cast ashore on a mast. 
 
 He then related the inhospitable reception they had met 
 with. "It seemed strange to us, sir, and contrary to 
 nature, that anyone should refuse to allow two shipwrecked 
 lads to enter the house for shelter on such a day ; and it 
 seemed well-nigh impossible that his tale of the place being 
 too full to hold us could be true. However, we started to 
 walk. On our way we met four horsemen going towards 
 the house, closely muffled up in cloaks." 
 
 " There was nothing very strange in that," the earl ob- 
 served, "in such weather as we had yesterday." 
 
 " Nothing at all, sir ; we should not have given the mat- 
 ter one thought had it not been that the four men were 
 very well mounted, and, apparently, gentlemen : ind it was 
 strange that such should have business in an out-of-the-way 
 house in Foulness Island. A little further we met three 
 men on foot. They were also wrapped up in cloaks ; but 
 they wore high riding-boots, and had probably left their 
 
128 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 horses on the other side of the ferry so as not to attract 
 attention. A short time afterwards we met two more horse- 
 men, one of whom asked us if he was going right for the 
 house we had been at. As he was speaking a gust of wind 
 blew olf his hat. I fetched it and gave it to him, and as he 
 stooped to put it on I saw that a tonsure was shaven on the 
 top of his head. The matter had already seemed strange 
 to us ; but the fact that one of this number of men, all 
 going to a lonely house, was a priest in disguise, seemed so 
 suspicious that my brother and myself determined to try 
 and get to the bottom of it." 
 
 Geoffrey then related how they had gone back to the 
 house and effected an entrance into the loft extending: 
 over it ; how he had through the cracks in the boards seen 
 a party of men gathered in one of the lower rooms, and 
 then repeated word for word the scraps of conversation that 
 he had overheard. 
 
 The earl had listened with an expression of amused doubt 
 to the early portion of the narrative ; but when Geoffrey 
 came to the part where accident had shown to him that 
 one of these men proceeding towards this house was a 
 disguised priest, his face became serious, and he listened 
 with deep attention to the rest of the narrative. 
 
 '' Faith," he said, '^ this is a serious matter, and you have 
 done right well in following up your suspicions, and in 
 risking your lives, for they would assuredly have killed you 
 had they discovered you. Mr. Vickars, your sons must 
 ride with me to London at once. The matter is too grave 
 for a moment's ddky. I must lay it before Burleigh at 
 once. A day's delay might be fatal." 
 
 He rang a bell standing on the table. As soon as an 
 attendant answered it he said, '' Order three horses to be 
 saddled at once ; I must ride to London with these young 
 gentlemen without delay. Order Parsons and Nichols to 
 be ready in half an hour to set out with us. Have you had 
 food, young sirs ? for it seems you came hither directly 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID, 129 
 
 yon arrived." Finding that the boys had eaten nothing 
 since they had left Maldon, he ordered food to be brought 
 them, and begged them eat it while he explained to the 
 countess and guests that sudden business that could not be 
 delayed called him away to London. Half an hour later 
 he started with the boys, the two servants following behind. 
 Late that evening they arrived in London. It was too late 
 to call on Lord Burleigh that night ; but early the next 
 morning the earl took the boys with him to the house of 
 the great statesman. Leaving them in the ante-chamber 
 he went in to the inner apartment, where the minister was 
 at breakfast. Ten minutes later he came out, and called 
 the boys in. 
 
 ^' The Earl of Oxford has told me your story," Lord Bur- 
 leigh said. '^ Tell it me again, and omit nothing ; for 
 things that seem small are often of consequence in a mat- 
 ter like this." 
 
 Geoffrey again repeated his story, giving full details of 
 all that had taken place from the time of their first reaching 
 the house. 
 
 Lord Burleigh then questioned him closely as to whether 
 they had seen any of the faces of the men, and would 
 recognize them again. 
 
 '' I saw none from my spying-place above, my lord," 
 Geoffrey said. ^' I could see only the tops of their heads, 
 and most of them still kept their hats on ; nor did we see 
 them as they passed, with the exception only of the man I 
 supposed to be a priest. His face I saw plainly. It was 
 smooth shaven ; his complexion was dark, his eyebrows 
 were thin and straight, his face narrow. I should take him 
 for a foreigner — either a Spaniard or Italian." 
 
 Lord Burleigh made a note of this description. 
 
 '' Thanks, young sirs," he said. " I shall, of course, 
 take measures to prevent this plot being carried out, and 
 shall inform her majesty how bravely you both risked your 
 lives to discover this conspiracy against her person. The 
 
130 BT ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 Earl of Oxford informs me that you are pages of his cousin, 
 Captain Francis Vere, a very brave and valiant gentleman , 
 and that you bore your part bravely in the siege of Sluye, 
 but are at present at home to rest after your labors there, 
 and have permission of Captain Vere to take part in any 
 trouble that may arise here owing to the action of the Span- 
 iards. I have now no further occasion for your senicds, 
 and you can return with the earl to Hedingham, but youi 
 attendance in London will be needed when we lay hands 
 upon these conspirators." 
 
 The same day they rode back to Hedingham, but ten days 
 later were again summoned to London. The queen had the 
 day before journeyed to Windsor. Half an hour before she 
 arrived at the wood near Datchet a strong party of her 
 guard had suddenly surrounded it, and had found twelve 
 armed men lurking there. These had been arrested and 
 lodged in the Tower. Three of them were foreigners, the 
 rest members of Catholic families known to be favorable 
 to the Spanish cause. Their trial was conducted privately, 
 as it was deemed advisable that as little should be made as 
 possible of this and other similar plots against the queen's 
 life that were discovered about this time. 
 
 Geoffrey and Lionel gave their evidence before the coun- 
 cil. As the only man they could have identified was not of 
 the party captured, their evidence only went to show the 
 motive of this gathering in the wood near Datchet. The 
 prisoners stoutly maintained that Geoffrey had misunder- 
 stood the conversation he had partly overheard, and that 
 their design was simply to make the queen a prisoner and 
 force her to abdicate. Three of the prisoners, who had 
 before been banished from the country and who had secretly 
 returned, were sentenced to death ; two of the others to 
 imprisonment for a long term of years, the rest to banish- 
 ment from England. 
 
 After the trial was over Lord Burleigh sent for the boys, 
 and s^'^z them ?- very gracious message in the queen's 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 181 
 
 name, together with two rings in token of her majesty's 
 gratitude. Highly delighted with these honors they re- 
 turned to Hedingham, and devoted themselves even mora 
 assiduously than before to exercises in arms, in order that 
 they might some day prove themselves valiant soldiers of 
 the queeu- 
 
135S BY ENGLAND S AW, 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 THE SPANISH ARMADA. 
 
 The straggle that was at hand between Spain and Eng- 
 land had long been foreseen as inevitable. The one power 
 was the champion of Roman Catholicism, the other of 
 Protestantism ; and yet, although so much hung upon the 
 result of the encounter, and all Europe looked on with 
 the most intense interest, both parties entered upon the 
 struggle without allies, and this entirely from the personal 
 fault of the sovereigns of the two nations. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, by her constant intrigues, her under- 
 hand dealings with France and Spain, her grasping policy 
 in the Netherlands, her meanness and parsimony, and the 
 fact that she was ready at any moment to sacrifice the Xeth- 
 erlands to her own policy, had wholly alienated the people of 
 the Low Country ; for, while their own efforts for defense 
 were paralyzed by the constant interference of Elizabeth, 
 no benefit was obtained from the English army, whose 
 orders were to stand always on the defensive — the queen's 
 only anxiety appearing to be to keep her grasp upon the 
 towns that had been handed over to her as the price of her 
 alliance. 
 
 Her own counselors were driven to their wits' end by 
 her constant changes of purpose. Her troops were starv- 
 ing and in rags from her parsimony, the fleet lay dis- 
 mantled and useless from want of funds, and except such 
 arming and drilling as took place at the expense of the 
 nobles, counties, and cities, no preparation whatever was 
 made to meet the coming storm. Upon the other hand. 
 
B y ENGLAND ' S AID. 133 
 
 Philip of Spain, who might have been at the head of a 
 great Catholic league against England, had isolated him- 
 self by his personal ambitions. Had he declared himself 
 ready, in the event of his conquest of England, to place 
 James of Scotland upon the throne, he would have had 
 Scotland with him, together with the Catholics of Eng- 
 land, still a powerful and important body. 
 
 France, too, would have joined him, and the combina- 
 tion against Elizabeth and the Protestants of England 
 would have been well-nigh irresistible. But this he could 
 not bring himself to do. His dream was the annexation 
 of England to Spain ; and smarting as the English Catho- 
 lics were under the execution of Mary of Scotland, their 
 English spirit revolted against the idea of the rule of 
 Spain, and the great Catholic nobles hasiened, when 
 the moment of danger arrived, to join in the defense of 
 their country, while Scotland, seeing no advantage to be 
 gained in the struggle, stood sullenly aloof, and France 
 gave no aid to a project which was to result, if successful, 
 in the aggrandizement of her already dangerously formid- 
 able neighbor. 
 
 Thus England and Spain stood alone — Philip slowly but 
 steadily preparing for the great expedition for the con- 
 quest of England, Elizabeth hesitating, doubtful ; at one 
 moment gathering seamen and arming her fleet, a month 
 or two later discharging the sailors and laying up the 
 ships. 
 
 In the spring of 1587, Drake, with six vessels belonging 
 to the Crown and twenty-four equipped by merchants of 
 London and other places, had seized a moment when Eliza- 
 beth's fickle mind had inclined to warlike measures, and 
 knowing that the mood might last but a day, had slipped 
 out of Plymouth and sailed for Spain a few hours before a 
 messenger arrived with a peremptory order from Elizabeth 
 against entering any Spanish port or offering violence to 
 any Spanish town or ships. Although caught m a gal^^ in 
 
134 BT ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 the Channel, Drake held on, and, reaching Gibraltar on the 
 16th April, ascertained that Cadiz was crowded with trans- 
 ports and store-ships. 
 
 Vice-Admiral Burroughs, controller of the navy, who 
 had been specially appointed to thwart Drake^s plans, op- 
 posed any action being taken ; but Drake insisted upon 
 attack, and on the 19th the fleet stood into Cadiz harbor. 
 Passing through the fire of the batteries, they sank the 
 only great ship of war in the roads, drove off the Spanish 
 galleys, and seized the vast fleet of store-ships loaded with 
 wine, corn, and provisions of all sorts for the use of the 
 Armada. Everything of value that could be conveniently 
 moved was transferred to the English ships, then the 
 Spanish vessels were set on fire, their cables cut, and they 
 were left to drift an entangled mass of flame. Drake took 
 a number of prisoners, and sent a messenger on shore pro- 
 posing to exchange them for such English seamen as were 
 prisoners in Spain. The reply was there were no English 
 prisoners in Spain ; and as this was notoriously untrue, it 
 was agreed in the fleet that all the Spaniards they might 
 take in the future should be sold to the Moors, and the 
 money reserved for the redeeming of such Englishmen as 
 might be in captivity there or elsewhere. 
 
 The English fleet then sailed for Cape St. Vincent, pick- 
 ing up on their way large convoys of store-ships all bound 
 for the Tagus, where the Armada was collecting. These 
 were all burned, and Drake brought up at Cape St. Vin- 
 cent, hoping to meet there a portion of the Armada ex- 
 pected from the Mediterranean. As a harbor was neces- 
 sary, he landed, stormed the fort at Faro, and took posses- 
 sion of the harbor there. The expected enemy did not 
 appear, and Drake sailed up to the mouth of the Tagus, 
 intending to go into Lisbon and attack the great Spanish 
 fleet lying there under its admiral, Santa Cruz. 
 
 That the force gathered there was enormous Drake well 
 knew, but relying as much on the goodness of his cause 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 135 
 
 as on the valor of his sailors, and upon the fact that the 
 enemy would be too crowded together to fight with advan- 
 tage, he would have carried out his plan had not a ship 
 arrived from England with orders forbidding him to enter 
 the Tagus. However, he lay for some time at the mouth 
 of the river, destroying every ship that entered its mouth, 
 and sending in a challenge to Santa Cruz to come out and 
 fight. The Spanish admiral did not accept it, and Drake 
 then sailed to Corunna, and there, as at Cadiz, destroyed 
 all the ships collected in the harbor and then returned to 
 England, having in the course of a few months inflicted 
 an enormous amount of damage upon Spain, and having 
 taken the first step to prove that England was the mistress 
 of the sea. 
 
 But while the little band of English had been defending 
 Sluys against the army of the Duke of Parma, Philip had 
 been continuing his preparations, filling up the void made 
 by the destruction wrought by Drake, and preparing an 
 Armada which he might well have considered to be invin- 
 cible. Elizabeth was still continuing her negotiation . 
 She was quite ready to abandon the Netherlands to Spain 
 if she could but keep the towns she held '.here, bu^ she 
 could not bring herself to hand these over either to the 
 Xetherlands or to Spain. She urged the States to make 
 peace, to which they replied that they did not wish for 
 peac: o" such terms as Spain would alone grant ; they could 
 defend themselves for ten years longer if left alone ; they 
 did not ask for further help, and only wanted their towns 
 restored to them. 
 
 Had the Armada started as Philip intended in Septem- 
 ber, it would have found England entirely unprepared, for 
 Elizabeth still obstinately refused to believe in danaer, and 
 the few ships that had been held in commission after 
 Drake's return had been so long neglected that they could 
 hardly keep the sea without repair ; the rest lay unrigged 
 in the Medway. But the delay gave Enfi^lprid fresh time 
 
186 BY ENGLAND '8 AID. 
 
 for preparation. Parma's army was lying in readiness for 
 the invasion under canvas at Dunkirk, and their com- 
 mander had received no information from Spain, that the 
 sailing of the Armada was delayed. 
 
 The cold, wet, and exposure told terribly upon them, 
 aJid of the 30,000 who were ready to embark in September 
 not 18,000 were fit for service at the commencement of the 
 year. The expenses of this army and of the Armada were 
 so great that Philip was at last driven to give orders to 
 the Armada to start. But fortune again favored England. 
 Ilad the fleet sailed as ordered on the 30th of January they 
 would again have found the Channel undefended, for 
 Elizabeth, in one of her fits of economy, had again dis- 
 mantled half the fleet that had been got ready for sea, and 
 sent the sailors to their homes. 
 
 But the execution of Philip's orders was prevented by 
 the sudden death of Santa Cruz. The Duke of Medina- 
 Sidonia was appointed his successor, but as he knew nothing 
 of the state of the Armada fresh delays became necessary, 
 and the time was occupied by Elizabeth, not in preparing 
 for the defense of the country, but in fresh negotiations 
 for peace. She was reauy to make any concessions to 
 Spain, but Philip was now only amusing himself by de- 
 ceiving her. Everything was now prepared for the ex- 
 pedition, and just as the fleet was ready to start, the 
 negotiations were broken off. But though Elizabeth's 
 government had made no preparations for the defense of 
 the country, England herself had not been idle. Through- 
 out the vrhole country men had been mustered, officered, 
 and armed, and 100,000 were ready to move as soon as the 
 danger became imminent. 
 
 The musters of the Midland counties, 30,000 strong, 
 were to form a separate army, and were to march at once 
 to a spot between Windsor and Harrow. The rest were 
 to gather at the point of danger. The coast companies 
 were to fall back wherever the enemy landed, burning the 
 
jj F ENGLAND ' S AID, 137 
 
 cox n and driving o5 the cattle, and avoiding a battle until 
 the force of the neighboring counties joined them. 
 Should the landing take place as was expected in Suffolk, 
 Kent, or Sussex, it was calculated that between 30,000 and 
 40,000 men would bar the way to the invaders before they 
 reached London, while 20,000 men of the western coun- 
 ties would remain to encounter the Duke of Guise, who 
 had engaged to bring across an army of Frenchmen to aid 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 Spain although well aware of the strength of England 
 on the sea, believed that she would have no difficulty with 
 the raw English levies ; but Parma, who had met the 
 English at Sluys, had learnt to respect their fighting qua- 
 lities, and in a letter to Philip gave the opinion that even 
 if the Armada brought him a reinforcement of 6000 men 
 he would still have an insufficient force for the conquest 
 of England. He said, " When I shall have landed I must 
 fight battle after battle. I shall lose men by wounds and 
 disease, I must leave detachments behind me to keep open 
 my communications, and in a short time the body of my 
 army will become so weak that not only I may be unable 
 to advance in the face of the enemy, and time may be 
 given to the heretics and your majesty's other enemies to 
 interfere, but there may fall out some notable incon- 
 venience, with the loss of everything and I be unable to 
 remedy it." 
 
 Unfortunately, the English fleet was far less prepared 
 than the land forces. The militia had been easily and 
 cheaply extemporized, but a fleet can only be prepared by 
 long and painful sacrifices. The entire English navy con- 
 tained but thirteen ships of over four hundred tons, and 
 including small cutters and pinnaces there were but thirty- 
 eight vessels of all sorts and sizes carrying the queen's 
 flag Fortunately, Sir John Hawkins was at the head of 
 the naval administration, and in spite of the parsimony of 
 Elizabeth had kept the fleet in a good state of repair and 
 
138 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 equipment. The merchant navy, although numerous, 
 was equally deficient in vessels of any size. 
 
 Philip had encouraged shipbuilding in Spain by grants 
 from the crown, allowing four ducats a ton for every ship 
 built of above three hundred tons burden, and six ducats 
 a ton for every one above five hundred tons. Thus he 
 had a large supply of great ships to draw upon in addition 
 to those of the royal navy, while in England the largest 
 vessels belonging to private owners did not exceed four 
 hundred tons, and there were not more than two or three 
 vessels of that size sailing from any port of the country. 
 The total allowance by the queen for the repair of the 
 whole of the royal navy, wages of shipwrights, clerks, 
 carpenters, watchmen, cost of timber, and all other neces- 
 sary dockyard expenses, was but £4000 a-year. 
 
 In December tlie fleet was ready for sea, together with 
 the contingent furnished by the liberality and patriotism 
 of the merchants and citizens of the great ports. But as 
 soon as it was got together half the crews collected and 
 engaged at so great an expense were dismissed, the mer- 
 chant ships released, and England open to invasion, and 
 had Parma started in the vessels he had prepared. Lord 
 Howard, who commanded the English navy, could not 
 have fired a shot to have prevented his crossing. 
 
 Well might Sir John Hawkins in his despair at Eliza- 
 beth's caprices exclaim : ^' We are wasting money, wast- 
 ing strength, dishonoring and discrediting ourselves by 
 our uncertain dallying." But though daily reports came 
 from Spain of the readiness of the Armada to set sail, 
 Elizabeth, even when she again permitted the navy to be 
 manned, fettered it by allowing it to be provided with rations 
 for only a month at a time, and permitting no reserves to 
 be provided in the victualling stores ; while the largest 
 vessels were supplied with ammunition for only a day and 
 a half s service, and the rest of the fleet with but enough 
 for one day^s service. The council could do nothing, and 
 
£ Y ENGLAND ' 5 AID, 139 
 
 Lord Howard's letters prove that the queen, and she only, 
 was responsible for the miserable state of things that pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 At last, in May, Lord Howard sailed with the fleet down 
 Channel, leaving Lord Henry Seymour with three men-of- 
 war and a squadron of privateers to watch Dunkirk. At 
 Plymouth the admiral found Drake with forty ships, all 
 except one raised and sent to sea at the expense of himself 
 and the gentry and merchants of the west counties. The 
 weather was wild, as it had been all the winter. Howard 
 with the great ships lay at anchor in the Sound, rolling 
 heavily, while the smaller craft went for shelter into the 
 mouth of the river. There were but eighteen days' pro- 
 visions on board ; fresh supplies promised did not arrive, 
 and the crews were put on half rations, and eked these 
 out by catching fish. At last, when the supplies were just 
 exhausted, the victualling ships arrived with one month's 
 fresh rations, and a message that no more would be sent. 
 So villainous was the quality of the stores that fever broke 
 out in the fleet. 
 
 It was not until the end of the month that Elizabeth 
 would even permit any further preparations to be made, 
 and the supplies took some time collecting. The crews 
 would have been starved had not the officers so divided the 
 rations as to make them last six weeks. The men died in 
 scores from dysentery brought on by the sour and poison- 
 uons beer issued to them, r.nd Howard and Drake ordered 
 wine and arrow-root from the town for the use of the sick, 
 and had to pay for it from their own pockets. 
 
 But at last the Armada was ready for starting. Contin- 
 gents of Spanish, Italians, and Portuguese were gathered 
 together with the faithful from all countries — Jesuits from 
 France ; exiled priests, Irish and English ; and many 
 Catholic Scotch, English, and Irish noblemen and gentle^ 
 men. The six squadrons into which the fleet was divided 
 toutained sixty-five large war ships, the smallest of which 
 
1 40 BY ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 was seven hundred tons. Seven were over one thousand, 
 and the largest, an Italian ship. La Regazona, was thirteen 
 hundred. All were built high like castles, their upper 
 works musket-proof, their main timbers four or five feet 
 thick, and of a strength it was supposed no English cannon 
 could pierce. 
 
 Next to the big ships, or galleons as they were called, 
 were four galleasses, each carrying fifty guns and 450 sol- 
 diers and sailors, and rowed by 300 slaves. Besides 
 these were four galleys, fifty-six great armed merchant 
 ships, the finest Spain possessed, and twenty caravels or 
 small vessels. Thus the fighting fleet amounted to 129 
 vessels, carrying in all 2430 cannon. On board was stored 
 an enormous quantity of provisions for the use of the army 
 after it landed in England, there being sufficient to feed 
 40,000 men for six months. 
 
 There were on board 8000 sailors, 19,000 soldiers, 1000 
 gentlemen volunteers, 600 priests, servants, and miscellan- 
 eous officers, and 2000 galley slaves. This was indeed a 
 tremendous array to meet the fleet lying off Plymouth, con- 
 sisting of 29 queen^s ships of all sizes, 10 small vessels be- 
 longing to Lord Howard and members of his family, and 
 43 privateers between 40 and 400 tons under Drake, the 
 united crews amounting to something over 9000 men. 
 
 The winter had passed pleasantly to Geoffrey and Lionel 
 Yickars ; the earl had taken a great fancy to them, and 
 they had stayed for some time in London as members of liis 
 suite. When the spring came they had spoken about re- 
 joining Francis Vere in Holland, but the earl had said that 
 there was little doing there. The enmity excited by the 
 conduct of Elizabeth prevented any co-operation between 
 the Dutch and English ; and indeed the English force was 
 reduced to such straits by the refusal of the queen to fur- 
 nish money for their pay, or to provide funds for even ab- 
 solute necessaries, that it was wholly incapable of taking the 
 field, and large numbers of the men returned to England. 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 141 
 
 Haa tnis treatment of her soldiers and sailors at the 
 time when such peril threatened their country been occa- 
 sioned by want of funds, some excuse would have been pos- 
 sible for the conduct of Elizabeth ; but at the time there 
 were large sums lying in the treasury, and it was parsi- 
 mony and not incapacity to pay that actuated Elizabeth in 
 the course she pursued. 
 
 As the boys were still uneasy as to the opinion Francis 
 Vere might form of their continued stay in England, they 
 wrote to him, their letter being inclosed in one from the 
 earl ; but the reply set their minds at rest — '' By all means 
 stay in England," Captain Vere wrote, "smce there is 
 nothing doing here of any note or consequence, nor likely 
 to be. We are simply idling out time in Bergen-op- 
 Zoom, and not one of us but is longing to be at home to 
 bear his part in the eyents pending there. It is hard, in- 
 deed, to be confined in this miserable Dutch town while 
 England is in danger. Unfortunately we are soldiers and 
 must obey orders ; but as you are as yet only yolunteers, 
 free to act as you choose, it would be foolish in the ex- 
 treme for you to come over to this dull place while there is 
 so much going on in England. I have written to my 
 cousin, asking him to introduce you to some of the country 
 gentlemen who have fitted out a ship for service against 
 the Spaniards, so that you may have a hand in what is go- 
 ing on.'' 
 
 This the earl had done, and early in May they had 
 journeyed down to Plymouth on horseback with a party of 
 other gentlemen who were going on board the Active, a ves- 
 sel of two hundred and fifty tons belonging to a gentleman 
 of Devonshire, one Master Audrey Drake a relation of 
 Sir Francis Drake. The earl himself was with the party. 
 He did not intend to go on board, for he was a bad sailor ; 
 and though ready, as he said, to do his share of fighting 
 upon land, would be only an encumbrance on board a ship. 
 He went down principally at the request of Cecil and 
 
142 B Y ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 other members of the council, who, knowing that he wae 
 a favorite of the queen, thought that his representations 
 as to the state of the fleet might do more than they could 
 do to influence her to send supplies to the distressed sailors. 
 The earl visited the ships lying in the mouth of the Tamar, 
 and three times started in a boat to go out to those in the 
 Sound ; but the sea was so rough, and he was so completely 
 prostrated by sickness, that he had each time to put back. 
 What he saw, however, on board the ships he visited, and 
 heard from Lord Howard as to the state of those at sea, 
 was quite sufficient. lie at once expended a considerable 
 amount of money in buying wine and fresh meat for the 
 sick, and then hurried away to London to lay before the 
 queen the result of his personal observations, and to im- 
 plore her to order provisions to be immediately despatched 
 to the fleet. 
 
 But even the description given by one of her favorites 
 of the sufferings of the seamen was insufficient to induce 
 the queen to open her purse-strings, and the earl left her 
 in great dudgeon ; and although his private finances had 
 been much straitened by his extravagance and love of dis- 
 play, he at once chartered a ship, filled her with provisions, 
 and despatched her to Plymouth. 
 
 Mr. Drake and the gentlemen with him took up their 
 abode in the town until there should be need for them to go 
 on board the Active, where the accommodation was much 
 cramped, and life by no means agreeable ; and the Vickars 
 therefore escaped sharing the sufferings of those on board 
 ship. 
 
 At the end of May came the news that the Armada had 
 sailed on the 19th, and high hopes were entertained that 
 the period of waiting had terminated. A storm, however, 
 scattered the great fleet, and it was not until the 12th of 
 July that they sailed from the Bay of Ferrol, where they 
 had collected after the storm. 
 - Never was there known a season so boisterous as the 
 
BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 143 
 
 summer of 1588, and when off Ushant, in a southwest 
 gale, four galleys were wrecked on the French coast, and 
 the Scmta Anna, a galleon of 800 tons, went down, carry- 
 ing with her ninety seamen, three hundred soldiers, and 
 50,000 ducats in gold. 
 
 After two days the storm abated, and the fleet again pro- 
 ceeded. At daybreak on the 20th the Lizard was in sight, 
 and an English fishing-boat was seen running along their 
 line. Chase was given, but she soon out-sailed her pur- 
 suers, and carried the news to Plymouth. The Armada 
 had already been made out from the coast the night before, 
 and beacon lights had flashed the news all over England. 
 In every village and town men were arming and saddling 
 and marching away to the rendezvous of the various corps. 
 
 In Plymouth the news was received with the greatest re- 
 joicing. Thanks to the care with which the provisions 
 had been husbanded, and to the manner in which the of- 
 ficers and volunteers had from their private means supple- 
 mented the scanty stores, there was still a week's provisions 
 on board, and this, it was hoped, would suffice for their 
 needs. The scanty supply of ammunition was a greater 
 source of anxiety ; but they hoped that fresh supplies 
 would be forthcoming, now that even the queen could no 
 longer close her eyes to the urgent necessity of the case. 
 
 As soon as the news arrived all the gentlemen in the 
 town flocked on board the ships, and on the night of the 19th 
 the queen's ships and some of the privateers went to moor- 
 ings behind Eam Head, so that they could make clear to 
 sea ; and on the morning when the Spaniards sighted the 
 Lizard, forty sail were lying ready for action under the 
 headland. 
 
 At three o'clock in the afternoon the look-out men on 
 the hill reported a line of sails on the western horizon. 
 Two wings were at first visible, which were gradually 
 united as the top-sails oi those in the center rose above the 
 line of sea. As they aroac it could be seen that the great 
 
144 Sy ENGLAND 'S AIL. 
 
 fleet was sailing, in the form of a huge crescent, before a 
 gentle wind. A hundred and fifty ships, large and small, 
 were counted, as a few store-ships bound for Flanders had 
 joined the Armada for protection. 
 
 The Active was one of the privateers that had late the 
 evening before gone out to Ram Head, and just as it was 
 growing dusk the anchors were got up, and the little fl©et 
 sailed out from the shelter of the land as the Armada swept 
 along. 
 
 The Spanish admiral at once ordered the fleet to lie-to 
 for the night, and to prepare for a general action at day- 
 break, as he knew from a fisherman he had captured that 
 the English fleet were at Plymouth. Tlie wind was on 
 shore, but all through the night Howard's and Drake's 
 ships beat out from the Sound until they took tlieir places 
 behind the Spanish fleet, whose position they could per- 
 lecily make out by the light of the half moon that rose at 
 two in the morning. 
 
 On board the English fleet all was confidence and hilarity. 
 The sufferings of the last three months were forgotten. 
 The numbers and magnitude of the Spanish ships counted 
 as nothing. The sailors of the west countr}- had met the 
 Spaniards on the Indian seas and proved their masters, 
 and doubted not for a moment that they should do so 
 again. 
 
 There was scarce a breath of air when day broke, but at 
 eight o'clock a breeze sprang up from the west, and the 
 Armada made sail and attempted to close with the Eng- 
 lish ; but the low, sharp English ships sailed two feet to 
 the one of the floating castles of Spain, and could sail close 
 to the wind, while the Spanish ships, if they attempted to 
 close-haul their sails, drifted bodily to leeward. Howard's 
 flagship, the Ark-Raleigh, with three other English ships, 
 opened the engagement by running down along their rear- 
 line, firing into each galleon as they passed, then wearing 
 round and repeating the maneuver. The great San Matteo 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 145 
 
 lutteu out from the rest of the fleet and challenged them 
 to board, but they simply poured their second broadside 
 into her and passed on. 
 
 The excellence of the maneuvering of the English ships, 
 and the rapidity and accuracy of their fire, astonished the 
 Spaniards. Throughout the whole forenoon the action 
 continued ; the Spaniards making efforts to close, but in 
 vain, the English ships keeping the weather-gage and sail- 
 ing continually backwards and forwards, pouring in their 
 broadsides. The height and size of the Spanish ships 
 were against them ; and being to leeward they heeled over 
 directly they came up to the wind to fire a broadside, and 
 their shots for the most part went far over their assailants, 
 while they themselves suffered severely from the English 
 fire. Miquel de Oquendo, who commanded one of the 
 six Spanish squadrons, distinguished himself by his at- 
 tempts to close with the English, and by maintaining his 
 position in the rear of the fleet engaged in constant conflict 
 with them. 
 
 He was a young nobleman of great promise, distinguished 
 alike for his bravery and chivalrous disposition ; but he 
 could do little while the wind remained in the west and 
 the English held the weather-gage. So far only the ships 
 that had been anchored out under Eam Head had taken 
 part in the fight, those lying higher up in the Sound being 
 unable to make their way out. At noon the exertions of 
 their crews, who had from the preceding evening worked 
 incessantly, prevailed, and they were now seen coming out 
 from behind the headland to take part in the struggle. 
 Medina-Sidonia signaled to his fleet to make sail up Chan- 
 nel, Martinez de Ricaldo covering the rear with the squad- 
 ron of Biscay. He was vice-admiral of the fleet, and 
 considered to be the best seaman Spain possessed now that 
 Santa Cruz was dead. 
 
 The wind was now rising. Lord Howard sent off a fast 
 boat with letters to Lord Henry Seymour, telling him how 
 
146 BT ENGLAND^ S AID, 
 
 things had gone so far, and bidding him be prepared for 
 the arrival of the Spanish fleet in the Downs. As the 
 afternoon went on the wind rose, and a rolling sea came 
 in from the west. Howard still hung upon tlie Spanish 
 rear, firing but seldom in order to save his powder. As 
 evening fell, the Spanish vessels, huddled closely together, 
 frequently came into collision with one another, and in one 
 of these the Capitana, the flagship of the Andalusian di- 
 vision, commanded by Admiral Pedro de Valdez, had her 
 bowsprit carried away, the foremast fell overboard, and the 
 ship dropped out of her place. 
 
 Two of the galleasses came to her assistance and tried 
 to take her in tow, but the waves were running so high 
 that the cable broke. Pedro de Valdez had been command- 
 er of the Spanish fleet on the coast of Holland, and knew 
 the English Channel and the northern shores of France 
 and Holland well. The duke therefore despatched boats 
 to bring him off with his crew, but he refused to leave his 
 charge. Howard, as with his ships he passed her, believed 
 her to be deserted and went on after the fleet ; but a Lon- 
 don vessel kept close to her and exchanged shots with her 
 all night, until Drake, who had turned aside to chase what 
 he believed to be a portion of the Spanish fleet that had 
 separated itself from the rest, but which turned out to be 
 the merchant ships that had joined it for protection, came 
 np, and the Capitana struck her flag. Drake took her into 
 Torbay, and there left her in the care of the Brixham fisher- 
 men, and taking with him Valdez and the otlier officers 
 sailed away to join Lord Howard. The fishermen, on 
 searching the ship, found some tons of gunpowder on 
 board her. Knowing the scarcity of ammunition in the 
 fleet they placed this on board the Roebuck, the fastest 
 trawler in the harbor, and she started at once in pursuit of 
 the fleet. 
 
 The misfortune to the Capitana was not the only one 
 that befell the Spaniards. While Oquendo was absent 
 
B T ENGL Ayr ' S AID, 147 
 
 from his galleon a quarrel arose among the ofiScers, who 
 were furious at the ill result of the daj^s fighting. The 
 captain struck the master-gunner with a stick ; the latter, 
 a German, rushed below in a rage, thrust a burning fuse 
 into a powder barrel, and sprang through a port-hole into 
 the sea. The whole of the deck was blown up, with two 
 hundred sailors and soldiers ; but the ship was so strongly 
 built that she survived the shock, and her mast still stood. 
 
 The duke sent boats to learn what had happened. These 
 carried off the few who remained unhurt, but there was 
 no means of taking off the wounded. These, however, 
 were treated kindly and sent on shore when the ship was 
 picked up at daylight by the English, who, on rifling her, 
 found to their delight that there were still many powder 
 barrels on board that had escaped the explosion. 
 
 The morning broke calm, and the wind, when it came, 
 was from the east, which gave the Spaniards the advantage 
 of position. The two fleets lay idle all day three or four 
 miles apart, and the next morning, as the wind was still 
 from the east, the Spaniards bore down upon Howard to 
 offer battle. 
 
 The English, however, headed out to sea. Encouraged 
 by seeing their assailants avoid a pitched battle the 
 Spaniards gave chase. The San Marcos, the fastest sailer 
 in the fleet, left the rest behind, and when the breeze 
 headed round at noon she was several miles to windward 
 of her consorts and the English at once set upon her. She 
 fought with extreme courage, and defended herself single- 
 handed for an hour and a half, when Oquendo came up to 
 tiie rescue, and as the action off Plymouth had almost ex- 
 hausted his stock of powder, and the Brixham sloop had 
 not yet come up, Howard was obliged to draw off. 
 
 The action of this day was fought off Portland. During 
 the three days the British fleet had been to sea they had 
 received almost hourly reinforcements. From every har- 
 bor and fishing port along the coast from Plymouth to the 
 
148 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 Isle of Wight vessels of all sizes, smacks, and boats put 
 off, crowded with noblemen and gentlemen anxious to take 
 part in the action, and their enthusiasm added to that of 
 the weary and ill-fed sailors. At the end of the third day 
 the English fleet had increased to a hundred sail, many oi 
 which, however, were of very small burden. 
 
BY ENGLAND 'S ALU. 14B 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE ROUT OF THE ARMADA. 
 
 The fight between the fleets had begun on Sunday 
 morning, and at the end of the third day the strength of 
 the Armada remained unbroken. The moral effect had 
 no doubt been great, but the loss of two or three ships was 
 a trifle to so large a force, and the spirit of the Spaniards 
 had been raised by the gallant and successful defence the 
 San Marcos had made on the Tuesday afternoon. Wednes- 
 day was again calm. The magazines of the English ships 
 were empty. Though express after express had been sent 
 off praying that ammunition might be sent, none had ar- 
 rived, and the two fleets lay six miles apart without action, 
 gave that the galleasses came out and skirmished for a 
 while with the English ships. 
 
 That evening, however, a supply of ammunition suffi- 
 cient for another day's fighting arrived, and soon after 
 daybreak the English fleet moved down towards the 
 Armada, and for the first time engaged them at close 
 quarters. The Arh-Raleigli, the Bear, the EUzadeth Jones, 
 the Lion, and the Victory bore on straight into the center 
 of the Spanish galleons, exchanging broadsides with each 
 as they passed. Oquendo with his vessel was right in the 
 the course of the English flagship, and a collision took 
 place, in which the Ark-Raleigh's rudder was unshipped, 
 and she became unmanageable. 
 
 The enemy's vessels closed round her, but she lowered 
 her boats, and these, in spite of the fire of the enemy, 
 brought her head round before the wind, and she made 
 
150 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 her way through her antagonists and got clear. For sev- 
 eral hours the battle continued. The Spanish fire was so 
 slow, and their ships so unwieldy, that it was rarely they 
 succeeded in firing a shot into their active foes, while the 
 English shot tore their way through the massive timbers 
 of the Spanish vessels, scattering the splinters thickly 
 among the soldiers, who had been sent below to be out of 
 harm's way ; but beyond this, and inflicting much damage 
 upon masts and spars, the day's fighting had no actual 
 results. No captures were made by the English. 
 
 The Spaniards suffered, but made no sign ; nevertheless 
 their confidence in their powers was shaken. Their am- 
 munition w^as also running short, and they had no hope of 
 refilling their magazines until they effected a junction 
 with Parma. Their admiral that night wrote to him ask- 
 ing that two shiploads of shot and powder might be sent 
 to him immediately. " The enemy pursue me," he said ; 
 '' they fire upon me most days from morning till nightfall, 
 but they will not close and grapple. I have given them 
 every oj^portunity. I have purposely left ships exposed to 
 tempt them to board, but they decline to do it ; and there 
 is no remedy, for they are swift and we are slow. They 
 have men and ammunition in abundance." The Spanish 
 admiral was unaware that the English magazines were 
 even more empty than his own. 
 
 On Friday morning Howard sailed for Dover to take in 
 the supplies that were so sorely needed. The Earl of 
 Sussex, who was in command of the castle, gave him all 
 that he had, and the stores taken from the prizes came up 
 in light vessels and were divided among the fleet, and in 
 the evening the English fleet again sailed out and took up 
 its place in the rear of the Armada. 
 
 On Saturday morning the weather changed. After six 
 days of calm and sunshine it began to blow hard from the 
 west, with driving showers. The Spaniards, having no 
 pilots who knew the coasts, anchored off Calais. The 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 151 
 
 ■Englisti fleet, closely watching their moyements, brought 
 ap two miles astern. 
 
 The Spanish admiral sent off another urgent letter to 
 Parma at Dunkirk, begging him to send immediately 
 thirty or forty fast gunboats to keep the English at bay. 
 Parma had receiyed the admiral's letters, and was perfectly 
 ready to embark his troops, but could not do this as the 
 admiral expected he would, until the fleet came up to pro- 
 tect him. The lighters and barges he had constructed for 
 the passage were only fit to keep the sea in calm weather, 
 and would haye been wholly at the mercy of eyen a single 
 English ship of war. He could not, therefore, embark 
 his troops until the duke arriyed. As to the gunboats 
 asked for, he had none with him. 
 
 But while the Spanish admiral had graye cause for un- 
 easiness in the situation in which he found himself; Lord 
 Howard had no greater reason for satisfaction. In spite 
 cf his efforts the enemy's fleet had arriyed at their destina- 
 tion with their strength still unimpaired, and were in 
 communication with the Duke of Parma's army. Lord 
 Seymour had come up with a squadron from the mouth of 
 the Thames, but his ships had but one day's proyisions on 
 board, while Drake and Howard's diyisions had all but ex- 
 hausted their supplies. The preyious day^s fighting had 
 used up the ammunition obtained at Doyer. Staryation 
 would driye eyery English ship from the sea in another 
 week at latest. The channel would then be open for the 
 passage of Parma's army. 
 
 At fiye o'clock on Sunday eyening a council of war was 
 held in Lord Howard's cabin, and it was determined, that 
 as it was impossible to attack the Spanish fleet where they 
 lay at the edge of shallow water, an attempt must be made 
 to driye them out into the Channel with fire-ships. Eight 
 of the priyate yessels were accordingly taken, and such 
 combustibles as could be found — pitch, tar, old sails, 
 empty casks, and other materials — were piled into them. 
 
152 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 At midnight the tide set directly from the English fiect 
 towards the Spaniards, and the fire-ships^ manned by their 
 respective crews, hoisted sail and drove down towards 
 them. 
 
 When near the Armada the crews set fire to the combut 
 tibles, and taking to their boats rowed back to the fleet. 
 At the sight of the flames bursting up from the eiglil hips 
 bearing down upon them, the Spaniards were seized with 
 a panic. The admiral fired a gun as a signal, and all cut 
 their cables and hoisted sail, and succeeded in getting out 
 to sea before the fire-ships arrived. They lay-to six miles 
 from shore, intending to return in the morning and recover 
 their anchors ; but Drake with his division of the fleet, 
 and Seymour with the squadron from the Thames, weighed 
 their anchors and stood off after them, while Howard with 
 his division remained off Calais, where, in the morning, 
 the largest of the four galleasses was seen aground on Ca- 
 lais Bar. Lord Howard wasted many precious hours in 
 capturing her before he set off to join Drake and Seymour, 
 who were thundering against the Spanish fleet. The wind 
 had got up during the night, and the Spaniards had drifted 
 farther than they expected, and when morning dawned 
 were scattered over the sea off Gravelines. Signals were 
 made for them to collect, but before they could do so 
 Drake and Seymour came up and opened fire within pistol- 
 shot. The English admiral saw at once that, with the 
 wind rising from the south, if he could drive the unwieldy 
 galleons north they would be cut off from Dunkirk, and 
 would not be able to beat back again until there was a 
 change of wind. 
 
 All through the morning the English ships poured a con- 
 tinuous shower of shot into the Spanish vessels, which, hud- 
 dled together in a confused mass, were unable to make any 
 return whatever. The duke and Oquendo, with some of the 
 best sailors among the fleet, tried to bear out from the 
 crowd and get room to maneuver, but Drake's ships were 
 
B T ENGL AS D 'S AID, 153 
 
 too weatherly and too well handled to permit of this, and 
 they were driven back again into the confused mass, which 
 was being slowly forced towards the shoals and banks of 
 the coasts. 
 
 Howard came up at noon with his division, and until 
 sunset the fire was maintained, by which time almost the 
 last cartridge was spent, and the crews worn out by the 
 incessant labor. They took no prizes, for they never at- 
 tempted to board. They saw three great galleons go down, 
 and thr»e more drift away towards the sands of Ostend, 
 where they were captured either by the English garrisoned 
 there or by three vessels sent by Lord Willoughby from 
 Flushing, under the command of Francis Vere. Had the 
 English ammunition lasted but a few more hours the whole 
 of the Armada would have been either driven ashore or 
 sunk ; but when the last cartridge had been burned the 
 assailants drew off to take on board the stores which had, 
 while the fighting was going on, been brought up by some 
 provision ships from the Thames. 
 
 But the Spaniards were in no condition to benefit by the 
 cessation of the attack. In spite of the terrible disadvan- 
 tages under which they labored, they had fought with 
 splendid courage. The sides of the galleons had been rid- 
 dled with shot, and the splinters caused by the rending of 
 the massive timbers had done even greater execution than 
 the iron hail. Being always to leeward, and heeling over 
 with the wind, the ships had been struck again and again 
 below the water-line, and many were only kept from sink- 
 ing by nailing sheets of lead over the shot-holes. 
 
 Their guns were, for the most part, dismounted or 
 knocked to pieces. Several had lost masts, the carnage 
 among the crews was frightful, and yet not a single ship 
 hauled down her colors. The Sa7i Matteo which was one 
 of those that grounded between Ostend and Sluys, fought 
 to the last, and kept Francis Vere's three ships at bay for 
 two hours, until she was at last carried by boarding. 
 
154 BT ENGLAND* S AID. 
 
 Left to themselves at the end of the day, the Spaniards 
 gathered in what order they could, and made sail for the 
 north. On counting the losses they found that four thou- 
 sand men had been killed or drowned, and the number of 
 wounded must have been far greater. The crews were 
 utterly worn-out and exhausted. They had the day before 
 been kept at work cleaning and refitting, and the fire-ships 
 had disturbed them early in the night. During the en- 
 gagement there had been no time to serve out food, and 
 the labors of the long struggle had completely exhausted 
 them. Worst of all, they were utterly disheartened by the 
 day's fighting. They had been pounded by their active 
 foes, who fired five shots to their one, and whose vessels 
 sailed round and round them, while they themselves had 
 inflicted no damage that they could perceive upon their 
 assailants. 
 
 The English admirals had no idea of the extent of the 
 victory they had won. Howard, who had only come up 
 in the middle of the fight, believed that they '' were still 
 wonderful great and strong," while even Drake, who saw 
 more clearly how much they had suffered, only ventured 
 to hope that some days at least would elapse before they 
 could join hands with Parma. In spite of the small store 
 of ammunition that had arrived the night before, the Eng- 
 lish magazines were almost empty ; but they determined 
 to show a good front, and '*^give chase as though they 
 wanted nothing.'' 
 
 When the morning dawned the English fleet were stiH 
 to windward of the Armada, while to leeward were lines of 
 white foam, where the sea was breaking on the shoals of 
 Holland. It seemed that the Armada was lost. At this 
 critical moment the wind suddenly shifted to the east. 
 This threw the English fleet to leeward, and enabled the 
 Spaniards to head out from the coast and make for the 
 Korth Sea. The Spanish admiral held a council. The 
 r -v^ had arone do"^n, and they had now a fair win.'^ ^'^r Ca- 
 
B T ENGLAND 'S AID. 155 
 
 lais ; and the question was put to the sailing-masters and 
 captains whether they should return into the Channel or 
 sail north round Scotland and Ireland, and so return to 
 Spain. The former was the courageous course, but the 
 spirit of the Spaniards was broken, and the vote was in 
 favor of what appeared a way of escape. Therefore, the 
 shattered fleet bore on its way north. On board the Eng- 
 lish fleet a similar council was being held, and it was deter- 
 mined that Lord Seymour^s squadron should return to 
 guard the Channel, lest Parma should take advantage of 
 the absence of the fleet to cross from Dunkirk to England, 
 and that Howard and Drake with their ninety ships should 
 pursue the Spaniards ; for it was not for a moment sup- 
 posed that the latter had entirely abandoned their enter- 
 prise, and intended to return to Spain without making 
 another effort to rejoin Parma. 
 
 During the week's fighting Geofirey and Lionel Yickars 
 had taken such part as they could in the contest ; but as 
 there had been no hand-to-hand fighting, the position of 
 the volunteers on board the fleet had been little more than 
 that of spectators. The crews worked the guns and man- 
 euvered the sails, and the most the lads could do was to 
 relieve the ship-boys in carrying up powder and shot, and 
 to take round drink to men serving the guns. Wlien not 
 otherwise engaged they had watched with intense excite- 
 ment the maneuvers of their own ship and of those near 
 them, as they swept down towards the great hulls, delivered 
 their broadsides, and then shot off again before the Span-^ 
 iards had had time to discharge more than a gun or two. 
 The sails had been pierced in several places, but not a 
 single shot had struck the hull of the vessel. In the last 
 day's fighting, however, the Active became entangled 
 among several of the Spanish galleons, and being almost 
 becalmed by their lofty hulls, one of them ran full at her,, 
 and rolling heavily in the sea, seemed as if she would over- 
 ^^'^Im her pn^v antagonist. 
 
1 ' 6 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 Geoffrey was standing at the end of the poop when cne 
 mizzen rigging became entangled in the stern gallery of 
 the Spaniard, and a moment later the mast snapped off, 
 and as it fell carried him overboard. For a moment he 
 was half-stunned, but caught hold of a piece of timber shot 
 away from one of the enemy's ships, and clung to it me- 
 clianically. When he recovered and looked round, the 
 Art ire had drawn out from between the Spaniards, and 
 the great galleon which had so nearly sunk her was close 
 beside him. 
 
 The sea was in a turmoil ; the waves as they set in from 
 the west being broken up by the rolling of the great ships, 
 and torn by the hail of shot. The noise was prodigious, 
 from the incessant cannonade kej^t up by the English ships 
 iind the return of the artillery on board the Armada, the 
 rending of timber, the heavy crashes as the great galleons 
 rolled against one another, the shouting on board the 
 Spanish ships, the creaking of the masts and yards, and 
 the flapping of the sails. 
 
 On trying to strike out, Geoffrey found that as he had 
 been knocked overboard he had struck his right knee 
 severely against the rail of the vessel, and was at present 
 unable to use that leg. Fearful of being run down by one 
 of the great ships, and still more of being caught between 
 two of them as they rolled, he looked round to try to get 
 sight of an English ship in the throng. Then, seeing that 
 he was entirely surrounded by Spaniards, he left the spar 
 and swam as well as he could to the bow of a great ship 
 close beside him, and grasping a rope trailing from the 
 bowsprit, managed by its aid to climb up until he reached 
 the bobstay, across which he seated himself with his back to 
 the stem. The position was a precarious one, and after a 
 time he gained the wooden carved work above, and obtained 
 a seat there just below the bowsprit, and hidden from the 
 sight of those on deck a few feet above him. As he knew 
 the vessels were drifting to leeward towards the shoals, h« 
 
Geoffrey carried Overboard by the falling Mast.— Page 156- 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID, 157 
 
 hoped to remain hidden until the vessel stmck, and then 
 to gain the shore. 
 
 Presently the shifting of the positions of the ships brought 
 the vessel on which he was into the outside line. The 
 shots now flew thickly about, and he could from time to 
 time feel a jar as the vessel was struck. 
 
 So an hour went on. x\t the end of that time he heard 
 a great shouting on deck, and the sound of men running 
 to and fro. Happening to look down he saw that the sea 
 was but a few feet below him, and knew that the great 
 galleon was sinking. Another quarter of an hour she was 
 so much lower that he was sure she could not swim many 
 minutes longer ; and to avoid being drawn down with her 
 he dropped into the water and swam off. He was but a 
 short distance away when he heard a loud cry, and glanc^ 
 iug over his shoulder saw the ship disappearing. He swam 
 desperately, but was caught in the suck and carried under ; 
 but there was no great depth of water, and he soon came 
 to the surface again. The sea was dotted with struggling 
 men and pieces of wreckage. He swam to one of the latter, 
 and held on until he saw some boats, which the next Span- 
 ish ship had lowered when she saw her consort disappear- 
 ing, rowing towards them, and was soon afterwards hauled 
 into one of them. He had closed his eyes as it came up, 
 and assumed the appearance of insensibility, and he lay in 
 the bottom of the boat immovable, until after a time he 
 heard voices above, and then felt himself being carried up 
 the ladder and laid down on the deck. 
 
 He remained quiet for some time, thinking over what he 
 had best do. He was certain that were it known he was 
 English he would at once be stabbed and thrown overboard, 
 for there was no hope of quarter ; but he was for some time 
 unable to devise any plan by which, even for a short time, 
 to conceal his nationality. He only knew a few words of 
 Spanish, and would be detected the moment he opened his 
 lips. He thought of leaping up suddenly and jumping 
 
158 BT ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 overboard ; but his chance of reaching the English ships 
 to windward would be slight indeed. At last an idea struck 
 liira, and sitting up he opened his eyes and looked round. 
 Several other Spaniards who had been picked up lay ex- 
 hausted on the deck near him. A party of soldiers and 
 sailors close by were working a cannon. The bulwarks 
 were shot away in many places, dead and dying men lay 
 scattered about, the decks were everywhere stained with 
 blood, and no one paid any attention to him until pres- 
 ently the fire began to slacken. Shortly afterwards a 
 Spanish officer came up and spoke to him. 
 
 Geoffrey rose to his feet, rubbed his eyes, yawned, and 
 burst into an idiotic laugh. The officer spoke again but 
 he paid no attention, and the Spaniard turned away, be- 
 lieving that the lad had lost senses from fear and the hor- 
 rors of the day. 
 
 As night came on he was several times addressed, but 
 always with the same result. When after dark food and 
 wine were served out, he seized the portion offered to him, 
 and hurrying away crouched under tlie shelter of a gun, 
 and devoured it as if fearing it would be taken from him 
 again. 
 
 When he saw that the sailors were beginning to repair 
 some of the most necessary ropes and stays that had been 
 shot away, he pushed his way through them and took his 
 share of the work, laughing idiotically from time to time. 
 He had, when he saw that the galleon was sinking, taken 
 off his doublet, the better to be able to swim, and in his 
 shirt and trunks there was nothing to distinguish him from 
 a Spaniard, and none suspected that he was the other than 
 he seemed to be — a ship's boy, who had lost his senses from 
 fear. When the work was done, he threw himself on the 
 deck with the weary sailors. His hopes were that the 
 l>attle would be renewed in the morning, and that either the 
 ship might be captured, or that an English vessel might pass 
 so close alongside that he might leap over and swim to her. 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 159 
 
 Great was his disappointment next day when the sudden 
 change of wind gave the Spanish fleet the weather-gage, 
 and enabled them to steer away for the north. He joined 
 in the work of the crew, paying no attention whatever to 
 what was passing around him, or heeding in the slightest 
 the remarks made to him. Once or twice when an officer 
 spoke to him sternly he gave a little cry, ran to the side, 
 and crouched down as it in abject fear. In a very short 
 time no attention was paid to him, and he was suffered to go 
 about as he chose, being regarded as a harmless imbecile. 
 He was in hopes that the next day the Spaniards would 
 change their course and endeavor to beat back to the 
 Channel, and was at once disappointed and surprised as 
 they sped on before the southwesterly wind, which was 
 hourly increasing in force. Some miles behind he could 
 see the English squadron in pursuit ; but these made no 
 attempt to close up, being well contented to see the Ar- 
 mada sailing away, and being too straitened in ammuni- 
 tion to wish to bring on an engagement so long as the 
 Spaniards were following their present course. 
 
 The wind blew with ever-increasing force ; the lightly 
 ballasted ships made bad weather, rolling deep in the seas, 
 straining heavily, and leaking badly through the opening 
 seams and the hastily-stopped shot-holes. Water was ex- 
 tremely scarce, and at a signal from the admiral all the 
 horses and mules were thrown overboard in order to hus- 
 band the supply. Several of the masts, badly injured by 
 the English shot, went by the board, and the vessels dropped 
 behind crippled, to be picked up by the pursuing fleet. 
 
 Lord Howard followed as far as the mouth of the Forth ; 
 and seeing that the Spaniards made no effort to enter the 
 estuary, and his provisions being now well-nigh exhausted, 
 he hove the fleet about and made back for the Channel, 
 leaving two small vessels only to follow the Armada and 
 watch its course, believing that it would make for Den* 
 mark, refit there, and then return to rejoin Parma. 
 
160 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 It was a grievous disappointment to the English to be 
 thus forced by want of provisions to relinquish the pursuit. 
 -Had they been properly supplied with provisions and am- 
 munition they could have made an end of the Armada ; 
 whereas, they believed that by allowing them now to 
 <?scape the whole work would have to be done over again. 
 They had sore trouble to get back again off the Norfolk 
 coast. The wind became so furious that the fleet was 
 scattered. A few of the largest ships reached Margate ; 
 others were driven into Harwich, others with difficulty 
 kept the sea until the storm broke. 
 
 It might have been thought that after such service as 
 the fleet had rendered even Elizabeth might have been 
 ;generous ; but now that the danger was over, she became 
 more niggardly than ever. No fresh provisions were sup- 
 plied for the sick men, and though in the fight off the 
 Dutch coast only some fifty or sixty had been killed, in 
 the course of a very short time the crews were so weakened 
 by deaths and disease that scarce a ship could have put to 
 sea, however urgent the necessity. Drake and Howard 
 spent every penny they could raise in buying fresh meat 
 and vegetables, and in procuring some sort of shelter on 
 shore for the sick. Had the men received the wages due 
 to them they could have made a shift to have purchased 
 n'hat they so urgently required ; but though the Treasury 
 was full of money, not a penny was forthcoming until 
 ■every item of the accounts had been investigated and 
 squabbled over. Howard was compelled to pay from his 
 private purse for everything that had been purchased at 
 Plymouth, Sir John Hawkins was absolutely ruined by the 
 demands made on him to pay for necessaries supplied to 
 the fleet, and had the admirals and sailors of the fleet that 
 saved England behaved like ignominious cowards, their 
 treatment could not have been worse than that which they 
 received at the hands of their sovereign. 
 
 But while the English seamen were dying like shee? 
 
ST ENGLAND'S AID, 161 
 
 from disease and neglect, their conquered foes were faring 
 no better. They had breathed freely for the first time 
 when they saw the English fleet bear up ; an examination 
 was made of the provisions that were left, and the crews 
 were placed on rations of eight ounces of bread, half a pint 
 of wine, and a pint of water a day. The fleet was still a 
 great one, for of the hundred and fifty ships which had 
 sailed from Corunna, a hundred and twenty still held to- 
 gether. The weather now turned bitterly cold, with fog 
 and mist, squalls and driving showers ; and the vessels, 
 when they reached the north coast of Scotland, lost sight 
 of each other, and each struggled for herself in the tem- 
 pestuous sea, 
 
 A week later the weather cleared, and on the 9th of 
 August Geoffrey looking round at daybreak saw fifteen 
 other ships in sight. Among these were the galleons of 
 Calderon and Eicaldo, the Eita, San MaJ-cos, and eleven 
 other vessels. Signals were flying from all of them, but 
 the sea was so high that it was scarce possible to lower a 
 boat. That night it again blew hard and the fog closed 
 in, and in the morning Geoffrey found that the ship he 
 was on, and all the others, with the exception of that of 
 Calderon, were steering north ; the intention of Ricaldo 
 and De Leyva being to make for the Orkneys and refit 
 there. Calderon had stood south, and had come upon 
 Sidonia witj fifty ships ; and these, bearing well away to 
 the west of Irekxid, finally succeeded for the most part in 
 reaching Spain, their crews reduced by sickness and want 
 to a mere shadow of their original strength. 
 
 The cold became bitter as De Leyva^s ships made their 
 way towards the Orkneys. The storm was furious, and 
 the sailors, unaccustomed to the cold and weakened by- 
 disease and famine, could no longer work their ships, and 
 De Leyva was obliged at last to abandon his intention and 
 make south. One galleon was driven on the Faroe Islands, 
 a second on the Orkneys, and a third on the Isle of Mull, 
 
i^:, BT ENGLANL 'S AID. 
 
 where it was attacked by the natives and burned with al- 
 most every one on board. The rest managed to make the 
 west coast of Ireland, and the hope that they would find 
 shelter in Gal way Bay, or the mouth of the Shannon, began 
 to spring up in the breasts of the exhausted crews. 
 
 The Irish were their co-religionists and allies, and had 
 only been waiting for news of the success of the Armada 
 to rise in arms against the English, who had but few troops 
 there. Rumors of disaster had arrived, and a small frigate 
 had been driven into Tralee Bay. The fears of the gar- 
 rison at Tralee Castle overcame their feelings of humanity, 
 and all on board were put to deatli. Two galleons put 
 into Dingle, and landing begged for water ; but the natives, 
 deciding that the Spanish cause was a lost one, refused to 
 give them a drop, seized the men who had landed in the 
 boats, and the galleons had to put to sea again. 
 
 Another ship of a thousand tons. Our Lady of the 
 liosary, was driven into the furious straits between the 
 Blasket Islands and the coast of Kerry. Of her crew of 
 seven hundred, five hundred had died. Before she got 
 half-way through she struck among the breakers, and all 
 the survivors perished save the son of the pilot, who was 
 washed ashore lashed to a plank. Six others who had 
 reached the mouth of the Shannon sent their boats ashore 
 for water ; but altliough there were no English there the 
 Irish feared to supply them, even though the Spaniards 
 offered any sum of money for a few casks. One of the 
 sliips was abandoned and the others put to sea, only to be 
 dashed ashore in the same gale that wrecked Our Lady of 
 ilie Bosary, and of all of their crews only one hundred and 
 fifty men were cast ashore alive. Along the coast of Con- 
 nomara, ^layo, and Sligo many other ships were wrecked. 
 In almost every case the crews who reached the shore were 
 at once murdered by the native savages for the sake of 
 their clothes and jewelery. 
 
 Geoffrey had suffered as much as the rest of the crew on 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. i .^, 
 
 boara the galleon in which he sailed. All were so absorbed 
 oy their own suffering and misery that none joaid anv at- 
 tention to the idiot boy in their midst. He worked at 
 snch work as there was to do : assisted to haul on the 
 ropes, to throw the dead overboard, and to do what could 
 be done for the sick and wounded. Like all on board he 
 was reduced almost to a skeleton, and was scarce able to 
 stand. 
 
 As the suryiving ships passed Galway Bay, one of them, 
 which was leaking so badly that she could only have been 
 kept afloat a few hours in any case, entered it, and brought 
 up opposite the town. Don Lewis of Cordova, who com- 
 manded, sent a party on shore, believing that in Galway, 
 between which town and Spain there had always been close 
 connections, they would be well received. They were, 
 however, at once taken prisoners. An attempt was made 
 to get up the anchors again, but the crew were too feeble 
 to be able to do so, and the natives coming out in their 
 boats, all were taken prisoners and sent on shore. Sir 
 Eichard Bingham, the governor of Connaught, arrived in 
 a few hours, and at once despatched search parties through 
 Clare and Connemara to bring all Spaniards cast ashore 
 alive to the town, and sent his son to Mayo to fetch down 
 all who landed there. But young Bingham's mission 
 proved useless ; every Spaniard who had landed had been 
 murdered by the natives, well-nigh three thousand having 
 been slain by the axes and knives of the savages who pro- 
 fessed to be their co-religionists. 
 
 Sir Eichard Bingham was regarded as a humane man, 
 Dut he feared the consequences should the eleven hundred 
 Drisoners collected at Galway be restored to health and 
 strength. He had but a handful of troops under him, 
 and had had the greatest difficulty in keeping dcrn the 
 Tish alone. With eleven hundred Spanish soldisis to aid 
 chem the task would be impossible, and accordingly he 
 gave orders that all, with the exception of Don Lewis him* 
 
J 84 BY ENGL Ay D ' S AID. 
 
 «elf, and three or four other nobles, should be executed. 
 The order was carried out ; Don Lewis, with those spared, 
 was sent under an escort to Dublin, but the others being 
 too feeble to walk were killed or died on the way, and Don 
 Lewis himself was the sole survivor out of the crews of a 
 dozen ships. 
 
 De Leyva, the most popular officer in the Armada, had 
 with him in his ship two hundred and fifty young nobles 
 of the oldest families in Spain. He was twice wrecked. 
 The first time all reached the shore in safety, and were 
 protected by O^Xiel, who was virtually the sovereign of 
 the north of Ulster. He treated them kindly for a time. 
 They then took to sea again, but were finally wrecked off 
 Dunluce, and all on board save five perished miserably. 
 Over eight thousand Spaniards died on the Irish coast. 
 Eleven hundred were put to death by Bingham, three 
 thousand murdered by the Irish, the rest drowned ; and of 
 the whole Armada but fifty-four vessels, carrying between 
 nine and ten thousand worn-out men, reached Spain, and 
 of the survivors a large proportion afterwards died from 
 the elfects of the sufferings they had endured. 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 165 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 THE WAR IX HOLLAXD. 
 
 Ix the confusion caused by the collision of the Active 
 with the Spanish galleon no one had noticed the accident 
 which had befallen Geoffrey Vickars, and his brother's 
 distress was great when, on the ship getting free from 
 among the Spaniards, he discovered that Geoffrey was 
 missing. He had been by his side on the poop but a 
 minute before the mast fell, and had no doubt that he- 
 had been carried overboard by its wreck. That he had 
 survived he had not the least hope, and when a week later 
 the Active on her way back towards the Thames was driven 
 into Harwich, he at once landed and carried the sad news 
 to his parents. England was wild with joy at its deliver- 
 ance, but the household at Hedingham was plunged into 
 deep sorrow. 
 
 Weeks passed and then Lionel received a letter from 
 Francis Yere saying that Parma's army was advancing 
 into Holland, and that as active work was at hand he had 
 best, if his intentions remained unchanged, join him with- 
 out delay. 
 
 He started two days later for Harwich, and thence took 
 ship for Bergen-op-Zoom. Anchoring at Flushing, he 
 learned that the Duke of Parma had already sat down in 
 front of Bergen-op-Zoom, and had on the Tth attempted 
 to capture Tholen on the opposite side of the channel, 
 but had been repulsed by the regiment of Count Solms, 
 with a loss of 400 men. He had then thrown up works 
 against the water forts^ and hot fighting had gone on^ the 
 
im B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 garrison making frequent sallies upon the besiegers. The 
 water forts still held out, and the captain therefore deter- 
 mined to continue his voyage into the town. The ship 
 was fired at by the Spanish batteries, but passed safely 
 between the water forts and dropped anchor in the port 
 on tlie last day of September, Lionel having been absent 
 from Holland just a year. He landed at once and made 
 his way to the lodgings of Francis Vere, by whom he was 
 received with great cordiality. 
 
 *' I was greatly grieved," he said after the first greetings, 
 ** to hear of your brother's death. I felt it as if he had 
 been a near relative of my own. I had hoped to see you 
 both ; and that affair concerning which my cousin wrote 
 to me, telling me how cleverly you had discovered a jolot 
 against the queen's life, showed me that you would both 
 be sure to make your way. Your father and mother must 
 have felt the blow terribly ? " 
 
 ^' They have indeed," Lionel said. '' I do not think, 
 however, that they altogether give up hope. They cling 
 to the idea that he may have been picked up by some 
 Spanish ship and may now be a prisoner in Spain." 
 
 Francis Vere shook his head. 
 
 '^ Of course, I know," Lionel went on, *' their hope is 
 altogether without foundation ; for even had Geoffrey 
 gained one of their ships, he would at once have been 
 thrown overboard. Still I rather encouraged the idea, for 
 it is better that hope should die out gradually than be ex- 
 tinguished at a blow ; and slight though it was it enabled 
 my father and mother to bear up better than they other- 
 wise would have done. Had it not been for that I believe 
 that my mother would have well-nigh sunk beneath it. I 
 was very glad when I got your letter, for active service 
 will be a distraction to my sorrow. "We have ever been 
 together, Geoffrey and I, and I feel like one lost without 
 him. You have not had much fighting here, I think, 
 since I have been away ? " 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 167 
 
 "No, indeed ; you have been far more lucky than I 
 have/' Francis Vere said. ^-'With the exception of the 
 fight with the Safi Matteo I have been idle ever since I 
 saw you, for not a shot has been fired here^ while you have 
 been taking part in the great fight for the very existence of 
 our country. It is well that Parma has been wasting nine 
 months at Dunkirk, for it would have gone hard with us 
 had he marched hither instead of waiting there for the 
 arrival of the Armada. Our force here has fallen away to 
 well-nigh nothing. The soldiers could get no pay, and 
 were almost starved ; their clothes were so ragged that it 
 was pitiful to see them. Great numbers have died, and 
 more gone back to England. As to the Dutch they are 
 more occupied in quarreling with us than in preparing 
 for defense, and they would right willingly see us go so 
 that we did but deliver Flushing and Brill and this town 
 back again to them. I was truly glad when I heard that 
 Parma had broken up his camp at Dunkirk when the 
 Armada sailed away, and was marching hither. Xow that 
 he has come, it may be that these wretched disputes will 
 come to an end, and that something like peace and har- 
 mony will prevail in our councils. He could not have 
 done better, as far as we are concerned, than in coming to 
 knock his head against these walls ; for Bergen is far too 
 strong for him to take, and he will assuredly meet with no 
 success here such as would counterbalance in any way the 
 blow that Spanish pride has suffered in the defeat of the 
 Armada. I think, Lionel, that you have outgrown your 
 pageship, and since you have been fighting as a gentleman 
 volunteer in Drake^s fleet you had best take the same rank 
 here." 
 
 The siege went on but slowly. Vigorous sorties were 
 made, and the cavalry sometimes sallied out from the gates 
 and made excursions as far as TVouw, a village three miles 
 away, and took many prisoners, xlmong these were two 
 commissaries of ordinance, who were intrusted to the safe 
 
168 BT ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 keeping of the Deputy-Provost Redhead. They were not 
 strictly kept, and were allowed to converse with the pro- 
 vost's friends. One of these, William Grimeston, suspected 
 that one of the commissaries, who pretended to be an Ital- 
 ian, was really an English deserter who had gone over with 
 the traitor Stanley ; and in order to see if his suspicions 
 were correct, pretended that he was dissatisfied with his 
 position and would far rather be fighting on the other 
 side. The man at once fell into the trap, acknowledged 
 that he was an Englishman, and said that if Grimeston 
 and Redhead would but follow his advice they would soon 
 become rich men, for that if they could arrange to give up 
 one of the forts to Parma they would be magnificently re- 
 warded. 
 
 Redhead and Grimeston pretended to agree, but at once 
 informed Lord Willoughby, who was in command, of the 
 oifer that had been made to them. They were ordered to 
 continue their negotiations with the traitor. The latter 
 furnished them with letters to Stanley and Parma, and 
 with these they made their way out of the town at night 
 to the Spanish camp. They had an interview with the 
 duke, and promised to deliver the north water fort over to 
 him, for which service Redhead was to receive 1200 crowns 
 and Grimeston 700 crowns, and a commission in Stanley's 
 regiment of traitors. 
 
 Stanley himself entertained them in his tent, and Parma 
 presented them with two gold chains. They then returned 
 to Bergen and related all that had taken place to Lord 
 Willoughby. The matter was kept a profound secret in 
 the town, Francis Vere, who was in command of the north 
 fort, and a few others only being made acquainted with 
 what was going on. 
 
 On the appointed night, 22d of October, Grimeston went 
 out alone. Redhead's supposed share of the business being 
 to open the gates of the fort. When Grimeston arrived at 
 Parma's camp he found that the Spaniards had becomfi 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 169 
 
 sncpicions. He was bound and placed in charge of a 
 Spanish captain, who was ordered to stab him at once if 
 there v/as any sign of treachery. It was a dark night ; the 
 tide was out, for the land over which the Spaniards had 
 to advance was flooded at other times. The attacking 
 column consisted of three thousand men, including 
 Stanley's regiment ; and a number of knights and nobles 
 accompanied it as volunteers. 
 
 As they approached the forts — Grimeston in front closely 
 guarded by the Spanish captain — it was seen by the assail- 
 ants that Redhead had kept his word : the drawbridge 
 across the moat was down and the portcullis was up. 
 Within the fort Lord Willoughby, Vere, and two thousand 
 men were waiting them. When about fifty had crossed 
 the drawbridge the portcullis was suddenly let fall and 
 the drawbridge hauled up. As the portcullis thundered 
 down Grimeston tripped up the surprised Spaniard, and, 
 leaping into the water, managed to make his way to the foot 
 of the walls. A discharge of musketry and artillery from 
 the fort killed a hundred and fifty of the attacking party, 
 while those who had crossed the drawbridge were all either 
 killed or taken prisoners. But the water in the moat was 
 low. The Spaniards gallantly waded across and attacked 
 the palisades, but were repulsed in their endeavor to climb 
 them. While the fight was going on the water in the moat 
 was rising, and scores were washed away and drowned as 
 they attempted to return. 
 
 Parma continued the siege for some little time, but made 
 no real attempt to take the place after having been re- 
 pulsed at the north fort ; and on the 12th of Xovember 
 broke up his camp and returned to Brussels. 
 
 Alter the siege was over Lord Willoughby knighted 
 twelve of his principal officers, foremost among whom was 
 Francis Yere, who was now sent home with despatches by 
 his general, and remair.'^d in England until the end of Jan- 
 uary, when he was ..ppuinced sergeant-major-general of thd 
 
170 SI hNGuAND'S AID. 
 
 forces, a post of great responsibility and much honor, by- 
 Lord Willoughby, with the full approval of the queen's 
 government. He was accompanied on his return by his 
 brother Robert. 
 
 A month after Sir Francis Vere's return Lord Wil- 
 loughby left for England, and the whole burden of opera- 
 tions in the field fell upon Vere. His first trouble arose 
 from the mutinous conduct of the garrison of Gertruyden- 
 berg. This was an important town on the banks of the 
 old Maas, and was strongly fortified, one side being pro- 
 tected by the ^laas while the river Douge swept round two 
 other sides of its walls. Its governor. Count Hohenlohe, 
 had been unpopular, the troops had received no pay, and 
 there had been a partial mutiny before the siege of Bergen- 
 op-Zoom began. This was appeased by the appointment 
 of Sir John AVingfield, Lord Willoughby's brother-in-law, 
 as its governor. 
 
 In the winter the discontent broke out again. The sol- 
 diers had been most unjustly treated by the States, and 
 there were long arrears of pay, and at first Sir John "Wing- 
 field espoused the cause of the men. Sir Francis Vere 
 tried in vain to arrange matters. The Dutch authorities 
 would not pay up the arrears, the men would not return 
 to their duty until they did so, and at last became so ex- 
 asperated that they ceased to obey their governor and 
 opened communications with the enemy. Prince Maurice, 
 who was now thr'^e and twenty years old, and devoted to 
 martial pursuits and the cause of his countrymen, after 
 consultation with Sir Francis Yere, laid siege to the town 
 and made a furious assault upon it on the water side. But 
 the Dutch troops, although led by Count Solms and Count 
 Philip of Xassau, were repulsed with great loss. The 
 prmce then promised not only a pardon, but that the de- 
 mands of the garrison should be complied with ; bet it 
 was too late, and four days later Gertruydenberg was de- 
 livered up bj the mutineers to the Duke of Parma, the 
 
L Y ENGLAND ' S AW. 1 VI 
 
 ac (\\^: being received into the Spanish service, while 
 Wingheld and the officers were permitted to retire. 
 
 The States were furious, as this was the third city com- 
 manded by Englishmen that had been handed over to the 
 enemy. The bad feeling excited by the treachery of Sir 
 ^Villiam Stanley and Eoland Yorke at Deventer and Zut- 
 phen had died out after the gallant defense of the English 
 at Sluys, but now broke out again afresh, and charges of 
 treachery were brought not only against Wingfield but 
 against many other English officers, including Sir Francis 
 Vere. The queen, however, wrote so indignantly to the 
 States that they had to withdraw their charges against 
 most of the English officers. 
 
 In May Lord ^Villoughby, who was still in London, 
 resigned his command. A number of old officers of dis- 
 tinction who might have laid claims to succeed him, among 
 them Sir John Xorris, Sir Roger Williams, Sir Thomas 
 "Wilford, Sir "William Drury, Sir Thomas Baskerville, and 
 Sir John Burrough, were withdrawn from the Xetherlands 
 to serve in France or Ireland, and no general-in-chief or 
 lieutenant-general was appointed. Sir Francis Vere as ser- 
 geant-major receiving authority to command all soldiers 
 already in the field or to be sent out during the absence of 
 the general and lieutenant-general. His official title was 
 Her Majesty's Sergeant-major in the Field. The garrisons 
 in tlie towns were under the command of their own gov- 
 ernors, and those could supply troops for service in the 
 field according to their discretion. 
 
 The appointment of so young a man as Sir Francis Vere 
 to a post demanding not only military ability but great 
 tact and diplomatic power, was abundant proof of the high 
 estimate formed of him by the queen and her counselors. 
 The position was one of extreme difficulty. He had to 
 keep on good terms with the queen and her government, 
 with the government of the States, the English agent at 
 the Hague, Prince Maurice in command of the army of 
 
172 BT ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 the Netherlands, the English governors of the to-^Tis, and 
 the officers or men of the force under his own command. 
 Fortunately Barneveldt, who at that time was the most 
 prominent man in the States, had a high opinion of Vere. 
 Sir Thomas Bodley, the queen's agent, had much confix 
 dence in him, and acted with him most cordially, and 
 Prince Maurice entertained a great respect for him, con- 
 sulted him habitually in all military matters, and placed him 
 in the position of marshal of the camp of the army of the 
 Netherlands, in addition to his own command of the Eng. 
 ish portion of that army. 
 
 Vere's first undertaking was to lead a force of 12,0Cfl 
 men, of whom half were English, to prevent Count Mans- 
 felt from crossing the Maiis with an army of equal strength. 
 Prince Maurice was present in person as general-in-chief. 
 Intrenchments were thrown up and artillery planted ; but 
 just as Mansfelt v/as pr paring to cross his troops mut- 
 inied, and he was obliged to fall back. 
 
 In October, with 900 of his own troops and twelve com- 
 panics of Dutch horse. Sir Francis Vere succeeded in 
 throwing a convoy of provisions into the town of Rhein- 
 berg, which was besieged by a lar^e force of the enemy. 
 As soon as he returned the States requested him to en- 
 deavor to throw in another conv y, as Count Mansfelt 
 was marching to swell the force of he besiegers, and after 
 his arrival it would be well-nigh impossible to seiid further 
 aid into the town. Vere took with j .im 900 English and 900 
 Dutch infantry, and 800 Dutch cavalry. The enemy had 
 possession of a fortified country house called Loo, close to 
 which lay a thick wood traversed only by a narrow path, 
 with close undergrowth and swampy ground on either side. 
 The enemy were in great force around Loo, and came out 
 to attack the expedition as it passed through the wood. 
 Sending the Dutch troops on first, Vere attacked the 
 enemy vigorously with his infantry and drove them back 
 to the inclosure of Loo. As soon as his whole force had 
 
B Y ZyGLAyD ' 5 AID. 173 
 
 crosed the wood, he halted them and ordered them to 
 form in line of battle facing the wood through which they 
 had jnst passed, and from which the enemy were now 
 pouring out in great force. 
 
 In order to give time to his troops to prepare for the 
 action Vere took half his English infantry and advanced 
 against them. They moved forward, and a stubborn fight 
 took place between the pikemen. Yere's horse was killed, 
 and fell on him, so that he could not rise ; but the Eng- 
 lish closed round him, and he was rescued with no other 
 harm than a bruised leg and several pike-thrusts through 
 his clothes. While the conflict between the pikemen was 
 going on the English arquebusiers opened fire on the flank 
 of the enemy, and they began to fall back. Eour times they 
 rallied and charged the English, but were at last broken 
 and scattered through the wood. The cavalry stationed 
 there left their horses and fled through the undergrowth. 
 Pressing forward the little English force next fell upon 
 twenty-four companies of Neapolitan infantry, who were 
 defeated without difficulty. The four hundred and fifty 
 Englishmen then joined the main force, which marched 
 triumphantly with their convoy of provisions into Rhein- 
 berg, and the next morning fortunately turning thick and 
 foggy the forc^ made its way back without interruption 
 ^y the enemy. 
 
174 T ENGLAND' ^ / 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 IN SPAIN. 
 
 Alone among the survivors of the great Spanish Armada, 
 Geoffrey Vickars saw the coast of Ireland fade away from 
 sight without a feeling of satisfaction or relief. His hope 
 had been that the ship would be wrecked on her progress 
 down the coast. He knew not that the wild Irish were 
 slaying all whom the sea spared, and that ignorant as they 
 were of the English tongue, he would undoubtedly have 
 shared the fate of his Spanish companions. He thought 
 only of the risk of being drowned, and would have pre- 
 ferred taking this to the certainty of a captivity perliaps 
 for life in the Spanish prisons. The part that he had 
 played since he had been picked up off Graveline could 
 not be sustained indefinitely. He might as well spend his 
 life in prison, where at least there would be some faint 
 hope of being exchanged, as wander about Spain all his 
 life as an imbecile beggar. 
 
 As soon, therefore, as he saw that the perils of the coast 
 of Ireland were passed, and that the vessel was likely to 
 reach Spain in safety, he determined that he would on 
 reaching a port disclose his real identity. There were on 
 board several Scotch and Irish volunteers, and he decided 
 to throw himself upon the pity of one of these rather than 
 on that of the Spaniards. He did not think that in any 
 case his life was in danger. Had he been detected when 
 first picked up, or during the early part of the voyage, he 
 would doubtless have been thrown overboard without 
 mercy ; but now that the passion of the combatants had 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID, 175 
 
 subsided, and that he had been so long among them, and 
 had, as he believed, won the good-will of many by the as- 
 sistance he had rendered to the sick and wounded, he 
 thought that there was little fear of his life being taken in 
 cold blood. 
 
 One of the Irish volunteers, Gerald Burke by name, had 
 for a long time been seriously ill, and Geoffrey had in many 
 small ways shown him kindness as he lay helpless on the 
 deck, and he determined finally to confide in him. 
 Although still very weak, Burke was now convalescent, 
 and was sitting alone by the poop-rail gazing upon the 
 coast of Spain with eager eyes, when Geoffrey, under the 
 pretext of coiling down a rope, approached him. The 
 young man nodded kindly to him. 
 
 ^^ Our voyage is nearly over, my poor lad," he said in 
 Spanish, '' and your troubles now will be worse than mine. 
 You have given me many a drink of water from your 
 scanty supply, and I wish that I could do something for 
 you in return ; but I know that you do not even under- 
 stand what I say to you." 
 
 '*' Would you give me an opportunity of speaking to you 
 after nightfall, Mr. Burke," Geoffrey said in English, 
 '' when no one will notice us speaking ? " 
 
 The Irishman gave a start of astonishment at hearing 
 himself addressed in English. 
 
 " My life is in your hands, sir ; pray, do not betray 
 me," Geoffrey said rapidly as he went on coiling down the 
 rope. 
 
 '' I will be at this place an hour after nightfall," the 
 young Irishman replied when he recovered from his sur- 
 prise. ^*^Your secret will be safe with me." 
 
 At the appointed time Geoffrey returned to the spot. 
 The decks were now deserted, for a drizzling rain was 
 falling, and all save those on duty liad retired below, 
 happy in the thought that on the following morning they 
 would be in port. 
 
176 BT ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 *'Now, tell me who you are," the young Irishman be 
 gan. "I thought you were a Spanish sailor, one of those 
 we picked up when the Spanish galleon next to us found- 
 ered." 
 
 Geoffrey then told him how he had been knocked off an 
 English ship by the fall of a mast, had swum to the gal- 
 leon and taken refuge beneath her bowsprit until she sank, 
 and how, when picked up and carried on to the Spanish 
 ship, he feigned to have lost his senses in order to con- 
 ceal his ignorance of Spanish. 
 
 ^•^I knew," he said, '' that were I recognized as English 
 at the time I should at once be killed, but I thought that 
 if I could conceal who I was for a time I should simply be 
 sent to the galleys, where I have heard that there are 
 many English prisoners working." 
 
 *' I think death would have been preferable to that lot," 
 Mr. Burke said. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but there is always the hope of escape or of 
 exchange. When you spoke kindly to me this afternoon 
 I partly understood what you said, for in this long time 
 I have been on board I have come to understand a little 
 Spanish, and I thought that maybe you would assist me 
 In some way." 
 
 ^' I would gladly do so, though I regard Englishmen as 
 the enemies of my country ; but in what way can I help 
 you ? I could furnish you with a disguise, but your ig- 
 norance of Spanish would lead to your detection im- 
 mediately." 
 
 " I have been thinking it over, sir, and it seemed to me 
 that as there will be no objection to my landing to-morrow, 
 thinking as they do that I have lost my senses, I miglit 
 join you after you once got out of the town. I have some 
 money in my waistbelt, and if you would purchase some 
 clothes for me I might then join you as your servant as 
 you ride along. At the next town you come to none 
 would know but that I had been in your service during 
 
B r ENGLAND ' 5 AIT). 177 
 
 the voyage, and there would be nothing strange in yon, 
 an Irish gentleman, being accompanied by an Irish ser- 
 vant who spoke but little Spanish. I would serve you 
 faithfully, sir, until perhaps some opportunity might 
 occur for my making my escape to England/^ 
 
 " Yes, I think that might be managed," the young 
 Irishman said. " When I land to-morrow I will buy 
 some clothes suitable for a serving-man. I do not know 
 the names of the hotels on shore, so you must watch me 
 when I land and see where I put up. Come there in the 
 evening at nine o'clock. I will issue out and give you the 
 bundle of clothes, and tell you at what hour in the morn- 
 ing I have arranged to start. I will hire two horses ; 
 when they come round to the door, join me in front of the 
 hotel and busy yourself in packing my trunks on the bag- 
 gage mules. When you have done that, mount the 
 second horse and ride after me ; the people who will go 
 with us with the horses will naturally suppose that you 
 have landed with me. Should any of our shipmates here 
 see us start, it is not likely that they will recognize you. 
 If they do so, I need simply say that as you had shown 
 me such kindness on board ship I had resolved to take 
 you with me to Madrid in order to see if anything could 
 be done to restore you to reason. However, it is better 
 that you should keep in the background as much as pos- 
 sible. I will arrange to start at so early an hour in the 
 morning that none of those who may land with me from 
 the ship, and may put up at the same inn, are likely to be 
 about." 
 
 The next morning the vessel entered port. They were 
 soon surrounded by boats full of people inquiring anxious- 
 ly for news of other ships, and for friends and acquain- 
 t;inces on board. Presently large boats were sent off by 
 the authorities, and the disembarkation of the sick and 
 the helpless began. This indeed included the greater por- 
 tion of the survivors, for there werf^ '^^^^ +^o or th^oo n-^ro 
 
 12 
 
178 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 on board who were capable of dragging themselves about, 
 the rest being completely prostrate by disease, exhaustion, 
 hunger, and thirst. Geoffrey was about to descend into 
 one of the boats, when the officer in command said rougii- 
 ly : ''Eemain on board and do your work, there is no 
 need for your going into the hospital/^ One of the slii]»'s 
 officers, however, explained that the lad had altogetlicr 
 lost his senses, and was unable either to understand wlien 
 spoken to or to reply to questions. Consequently he was 
 permitted to take his place in the boat. 
 
 As soon as he stepped ashore he wandered away among 
 the spectators. A woman, observing his wan face and 
 feeble walk, called him into her house, and set food and 
 wine before him. He made a hearty meal, but only shook 
 his head when she addressed him, and laughed cliildislily 
 and muttered his thanks in Spanish when she bestowed a 
 dollar upon him as he left. He watched at the port while 
 boat-load after boat-load of sick came ashore, until at 
 last one containing the surviving officers and gentlemen 
 with their baggage reached the land. Then he kept Ger- 
 ald Burke in sight until he entered an inn, followed by 
 two men carrying his baggage. Several times during the 
 day food and money were offered him, the inhabitants 
 being full of horror and pity at the sight of the famishing 
 survivors of the crew of the galleon. 
 
 At nine o^clock in the evening Geoffrey took up his 
 station near the door of the inn. A few minutes later 
 Gerald Burke came out with a bundle. '^Here are tlie 
 clothes," he said. ^'I have hired horses for our journey 
 to Madrid. They will be at the door at six o'clock in tl^e 
 morning. I have arranged to travel by very short stages, 
 for at first neither you nor I could sit very long upon a 
 horse ; however, I hope we shall soon gain strength as we 
 
 Taking the bundle, Geoffrey walked a short distance 
 tronL the town and lay down upon tiie ground under some 
 
BY ENGLAyD'S AID. 179 
 
 trees. The uight was a warm one, and after the bitter 
 cold they had suffered during the greater part of the voy- 
 age, it felt almost sultry to him. At daybreak in the 
 morning he rose, put on the suit of clothes Gerald Burke 
 had provided, washed his face in a little stream, and pro- 
 ceeded to the inn. He arrived there just as the clocks 
 were striking six. A few minutes later two men with 
 two horses and four mules came up to the door, and 
 shortly afterwards Gerald Burke came out. Geoffrey at 
 once joined him ; the servants of the inn brought out the 
 baggage, which was fastened by the muleteers on two of 
 the animals. Gerald Burke mounted one of the horses 
 and Geoffrey the other, and at once rode on, the muleteers 
 mounting the other two mules and following with those 
 carrying the baggage. 
 
 " That was well managed/' Gerald Burke said as they 
 rode out of the town. '' The muleteers can have no idea 
 that you have but just joined me, and there is little chance 
 of any of my comrades on board ship overtaking us, as all 
 intend to stop for a few days to recruit themselves before 
 going on. If they did they would not be likely to recog- 
 nize you in your present attire, or to suspect that my Irish 
 servant is the crazy boy of the ship.^' 
 
 After riding at an easy pace for two hours, they halted 
 under the shade of some trees. Fruit, bread, and wine 
 were produced from a wallet on one of the mules, and 
 they sat down and breakfasted. After a halt of an hour 
 they rode on until noon, when they again halted until 
 four in the afternoon, for the sun was extremely hot, and 
 both Gerald Burke and Geoffrey were so weak they scarce 
 could sit their horses. Two hours further riding took 
 them to a large village, where they put up at the inn. 
 Geoffrey now fell into his place as Mr. Burke's servant- 
 saw to the baggage being taken inside, and began for the 
 first time to try his tongue at Spanish. He got on oetter 
 than he had expected ; and as Mr. Burke spoke with a 
 
180 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 good deal of foreign accent, it aid not seem in any way 
 singular to the people of the inn that his servant should 
 speak but little of the language. 
 
 Quietly they journeyed on, doing but short distances for 
 the first three or four days, but as they gained strengtli 
 pushing on faster, and by the time they reached ^ladrid 
 both were completely recovered from the effects of tlieir 
 voyage. Madrid was in mourning, for there was scarce a 
 family but had lost relations in the Armada. Mr. Burke 
 at once took lodgings and installed Geoffrey as his servant. 
 He had many friends and acquaintances in the city, where 
 he had been residing for upwards of a year previous to the 
 sailing of the Armada. 
 
 For some weeks Geoffrey went out but little, spending 
 his time in reading Spanish books and mastering the 
 language as much as possible. He always conversed in 
 that language with Mr. Burke, and at the end of six weeks 
 was able to talk Spanish with some fluency. He now gen- 
 erally accompanied Mr. Burke if he went out, following 
 him in the streets and standing behind his chair when he 
 dined abroad. He was much amused at all he saw, making 
 many acquaintances among the lackeys of Mr. Burke's 
 friends, dining with them downstairs after the banquets 
 were over, and often meeting tliem of an evening when 
 he had nothing to do, and going with them to places of 
 entertainment. 
 
 In this way his knowledge of Spanish improved rapidly, 
 and although he still spoke with an accent he could pass 
 well as one who had been for some years in the country. 
 He was now perfectly at ease with the Spanish gentlemen of 
 Mr. Burke's acquaintance. It was only when Irish and 
 Scotch friends called upon his master that he feared 
 awkward questions, and upon these occasions he showed 
 himself as little as possible. When alone with Gerald 
 Burke the latter always addressed Geoffrey as a friend 
 rathe^ ^-Har* po a servant, and made no secret with him "" 
 
B Y ENGLAND 'S AID. 181 
 
 to his position and means. He had been concerned in a 
 rising in Ireland, and had fled the country, bringing with 
 him a fair amount of resources. Believing that the 
 Armada was certain to be crowned with success, and that 
 he should ere long be restored to his estates in Ireland, he 
 had, upon his first coming to Spain, spent his money 
 freely. His outfit for the expedition had made a large 
 inroad upon his store, and his resources were now nearly 
 at an end. 
 
 ^' What is one to do, Geoffrey ? I don't want to take a 
 commission in Philip's army, though my friends could 
 obtain one for me at once ; but I have no desire to spend 
 the rest of my life in the Netherlands storming the towns 
 of the Dutch burghers." 
 
 " Or rather trying to storm them," Geoffrey said, smil- 
 ing ; " there have not been many towns taken of late 
 years." 
 
 '^Xor should I greatly prefer to be campaigning in 
 France," Gerald went on, paying no attention to the 
 interruption. ^^ I have no love either for Dutch Calvinists 
 or French Huguenots ; but I have no desire either to be 
 cutting their throats or for them to be cutting mine. I 
 should like a snug berth under the crown here or at Cadiz, 
 or at Seville ; but I see no chance whatever of my obtain- 
 ing one. I cannot take up the trade of a footpad, though 
 disbanded soldiers turned robbers are common enough in 
 Spain. What is to be done ? " 
 
 ''If I am not mistaken," Geoffrey said with a smile, 
 '' your mind is already made up. It is not quite bv ac- 
 cident, that you are in the gardens of the Eetiro every 
 evening, and that a few words are always exchanged with 
 a certain young lady as she passes with her duenna." 
 
 ''Oh! you have observed that," Gerald Burke replied 
 with a laugh. "Your eyes are sharper than I gave you 
 credit for. Master Geoffrey. Yes, that would set me on 
 mj legs without doubt, ior Donna Inez is the only 
 
182 BY Ey GLAND'S AID. 
 
 daughter and heiress of the Marquis of Ribaldo ; but yon 
 see there is a father in the case, and if that father had the 
 slightest idea that plain Gerald Burke was lifting his eyes 
 to his daughter it would not be many hours before Gerald 
 Burke had several inches of steel in kis body." 
 
 '' That I can imagine/* Geoffrey said, "since it is, as I 
 learn from my acquaintances among the lackeys, a matter 
 of common talk that the marquis intends to marry her to 
 the son of the Duke of Sottomayor." 
 
 " Inez hates him," Gerald Burke said. "It is just like 
 my ill-luck, that instead of being drowned as most of the 
 others were, he has had the luck to get safely back again. 
 However, he is still ill, and likely to be so for some time. 
 He was not so accustomed to starving as some of us, and 
 he suffered accordingly. He is down at his estates near 
 Seville." 
 
 " But what do you think of doing ? " Geoffrey asked. 
 
 " That is just what I am asking you." 
 
 "It seems to me, certainly," Geoffrey went on, "that 
 unless you really mean to run off with the young lady — 
 for I suppose there is no chance in the world of your 
 marrying her in any other way — it will be better both for 
 you and her that you should avoid for the future these 
 meetings in the gardens or elsewhere, and cast your 
 thoughts in some other direction for the bettering of your 
 fortunes." 
 
 " That is most sage advice, Geoffrey," the young Irish- 
 man laughed, " and worthy of my father-confessor ; but it 
 is not so easy to follow. In the first place, I must tell you 
 that I do not regard Inez as in any way a step to fortune, 
 but rather as a step towards a dungeon. It would be 
 vastly better for us both if she were the daughter of some 
 poor hidalgo like myself. I could settle down then with 
 her, and plant vines and make wine, and sell what I don't 
 drink myself. As it is, I have the chance of being put 
 out of the way if it is discovered that Inez and I are fond of 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. ffj^ 
 
 each other ; and in the next place, if we do marry I shall 
 have to get her safely out of the kingdom, or else she will 
 have to pass the rest of her life in a convent, and I the 
 rest of mine in a prison or in the galleys ; that is if I am 
 not killed as soon as caught, which is by far the most 
 likely result. Obnoxious sons-in-law do not live long in 
 Spain. So you see, Geoffrey, the prospect is a bad one 
 altogether ; and if it were not that I dearly love Inez, and 
 that I am sure she will be unhappy with Philip of Sotto- 
 mayor, I would give the whole thing up, and make love to 
 the daughter of some comfortable citizen who would give 
 me a corner of his house and a seat at his table for the 
 rest of my days." 
 
 ^^ But, seriously — " Geoffrey began. 
 
 " Well, seriously, Geoffrey, my intention is to run away 
 with Inez if it can be managed ; but how it is to be man- 
 aged at present I have not the faintest idea. To begin 
 with, the daughter of a Spanish grandee is always kept in a 
 very strong cage closely guarded, and it needs a very large 
 golden key to open it. Xow, as you are aware, gold is a 
 very scarce commodity with me. Then, after getting her 
 out, a lavish expenditure would be needed for our flight. 
 "We should have to make our way to the sea-coast, to do 
 all sorts of things to throw dust into the eyes of our pur- 
 suers, and to get a passage to some place beyond the 
 domains of Philip, which means either to France, England, 
 or the Xetherlands. Beyond all this will be the question 
 of future subsistence until, if ever, the marquis makes up 
 his mind to forgive his daughter and take her to his heart 
 again, a contingency, in my opinion, likely to be extremely 
 remote." 
 
 '^And what does the Lady Inez say to it all ?" Geoffrey 
 asked. 
 
 " The Lady Inez has had small opportunity of saying 
 anything on the subject, Geoffrey. Here in Spain there 
 are mighty few opportunities for courtship. With us at 
 
184 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 home these matters are easy enough, and there is no lacK 
 of opportunity for pleading your suit and winning a girl's 
 heart if it is to be won ; but here in Spain matters are 
 altogetlier different, and an unmarried girl is looked after 
 as sharply as if she was certain to get into some mischief 
 or other the instant she had an opportunity. She is never 
 suffered to be for a moment alone with a man ; out of 
 doors or in she has always a duenna by her side ; and as to 
 a private chat, the thing is simply impossible." 
 
 '^^ Then how do you manage to make love?" Geoffrey 
 asked. 
 
 '' Well, a very little goes a long way in Spain. The 
 manner of a bow, the wave of a fan, the dropping of a glove 
 or ilower, the touch of a hand in a crowded room — each of 
 these things go as far as a month's open love-making in 
 Ireland." 
 
 ^' Then how did you manage with the duenna so as to be 
 able to speak to her in the gardens ? " 
 
 '' Well, in the first place, I made myself very attentive to 
 the duenna ; in the second place, the old lady is devout, 
 and you know Ireland is the land of saints, and I presented 
 her with an amulet containing a paring of the nail of St. 
 Patrick." 
 
 Geoffrey burst into a laugh, in which the Irishman 
 joined 
 
 *' Well, if it was not really St. Patrick's," the latter went 
 on, '' it came from Ireland anyhow which is the next best 
 ching. Then in the third place, the old lady is very fond 
 of Inez ; and although she is as strict as a dragon, Inez 
 coaxed her into the belief that there could not be any harm 
 in our exchanging a few words when she was close by all the 
 time to hear what was said. Xow, I think you know as 
 much as I do about the matter, Geoffrey. You will under- 
 stand that a few notes have been exchan;^wa, and that Inez 
 loves me. Beyond that everything is vague and uncertain, 
 and I have not the slightest idea what will come of it." 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID, 18& 
 
 Some weeks passed and nothing was done. The meet- 
 ings between Gerald Burke and Inez in the Gardens of the 
 Eetiro had ceased a day or two afterwards, the duenna 
 having positively refused to allow them to continue, threat- 
 ening Inez to inform her father of them unless she gave 
 them up. 
 
 Gerald Burke's funds dwindled rapidly, although he and 
 Geoffrey lived in the very closest way. 
 
 " What in the world is to be done, Geoffrey ? I have 
 only got twenty dollars left, which at the outside will pay 
 for our lodgings and food for another month. For the life 
 of me I cannot see what is to be done when that is gone, 
 unless we take to the road." 
 
 Geoffrey shook his head. '^ As far as I am concerned,'* 
 he said, '' as we are at wai with Spain, it would be fair if 
 I met a Spanish ship at sea to capture and plunder it, but 
 I am afraid the laws of war do not justify private plunder. 
 I should be perfectly ready to go out and take service in a 
 vineyard, or to earn my living in any way if it could be 
 managed." 
 
 " I would rob a cardinal if I had the chance," Gerald 
 Burke said, "and if I ever got rich would restore his. 
 money four-fold and so obtain absolution ; only, unfortu- 
 nately, I do not see my way to robbing a cardinal. As to 
 digging in the fields, Geoffrey, I would rather hang myself 
 at once. I am constitutionally averse to labor, and if one 
 once took to that sort of thing there would be an end ta 
 ©verj'thing." 
 
 "It is still open to you," Geoffrey said, '-'to get your 
 friends to obtain a commission for you." 
 
 "I could do that," Gerald said moodily, "but of all 
 things that is what I should most hate. " 
 
 " You might make your peace with the English govern- 
 ment and get some of your estates back again." 
 
 "That I will not do to feed myself," Gerald Burke said 
 firmly. " I have thought that if I ever carry off Inez I 
 
186 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 might for her sake do so, for I own that now all hope of 
 help from Spain is at an end, our cause in Ireland is lost, 
 and it is no use going on struggling against the inevitable ; 
 but I am not going to sue the English government as a 
 beggar for myself. No doubt I could borrow small sums 
 from Irishmen and Scotchmen here, and hold on for a few 
 months ; but most of them are well-nigh as poor as I am 
 myself, and I would not ask them. Besides, there would 
 be no chance of my repaying them ; and if I am to rob 
 anyone, I would rather plunder these rich dons than my 
 own countrymen.^' 
 
 '' Of one thing I am resolved," Geoffrey said, '' I will 
 not live at your expense any longer, Gerald. I can speak 
 Spanisli very fairly now, and can either take service in 
 some Spanish family or, as I said get work in the field." 
 
 Gerald laughed. '' My dear Geoffrey, the extra expenses 
 caused by you last week were, as far as I can calculate, 
 one penny for bread and as much for fruit ; the rest of 
 your living was obtained at the expense of my friends." 
 
 ''At any rate," Geoffi^y said smiling, '' I insist that my 
 money be now thrown into the common fund. I have 
 offered it several times before, but you always said we had 
 best keep it for emergency. I think the emergency has 
 come now, and these ten English pounds in my belt will 
 enable us to take some step or other. The question is, 
 what step ? They might last us, living as we do, for some 
 three or four months, but at the end of that time we should 
 be absolutely penniless : therefore now is the time, while 
 we have still a small stock in hand, to decide upon some- 
 thing." 
 
 " But what are we to decide upon ? " Gerald Burke 
 asked helplessly. 
 
 '' I have been thinking it over a great deal," Geoffrey 
 said, ^' and my idea is that we had best go to Cadiz or some 
 other large port. Although Spain is at war both with 
 England and the Netherlands, trade still goes on in private 
 
B T ENGLAND 'S AID, 1 8/ 
 
 ships, and both Dutch and English vessels carry on com- 
 merce with Spain ; therefore it seems to me that there 
 must be merchants in Cadiz who would be ready to give 
 employment to men capable of speaking and writing both 
 in Spanish and English, and in my case to a certain extent 
 in Dutch. From there, too, there might be a chance of 
 getting a passage to England or Holland. If we found 
 that impossible owing to the vessels being too carefully 
 searched before sailing, we might at the worst take passage 
 as sailors on board a Spanish ship bound for the Indies, 
 and take our chance of escape or capture there or on 
 the voyage. That, at least, is what I planned for my- 
 self. ^^ 
 
 '' I think your idea is a good one, Geoffrey. At any 
 rate to Cadiz we will go. I don^t know about the mercan- 
 tile business or going as a sailor, but I could get a commis- 
 sion from the governor there as well as here in Madrid ; 
 but at any rate I will go. Donna Inez was taken last week 
 by her father to some estates he has somewhere between 
 Seville and Cadiz, in order, I suppose, that he may be 
 nearer Don Philip, who is, I hear, at last recovering from 
 his long illness. I do not know that there is the slightest 
 use in seeing her again, but I will do so if it be possible ; 
 and if by a miracle I could succeed in carrying her off, 
 Cadiz would be a more likely place to escape from than 
 anywhere. 
 
 '^ Yes, I know. You think the idea is a mad one, but 
 you have never been in love yet. When you are you will 
 know that lovers do not believe in the word ^ impossible.^ 
 At any rate, I mean to give Inez the chance of determin- 
 ing her own fate. If she is ready to risk everything rather 
 than marry Don Philip, I am ready to share the risk what- 
 ever it maybe." 
 
 Accordingly on the following day Gerald Burke disposed 
 of the greater part of his wardrobe and belongings, pur- 
 chased two ponies for a few crowns^ and he and Geoffrey^ 
 
188 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 T^itli a solitary suit of clothes in a wallet fastened behind 
 the saddle, started for their journey to Cadiz. They 
 mounted outside the city, for Gerald shrank from meeting 
 any acquaintances upon such a sorry steed as he had pur- 
 chased ; but once on their way his spirits rose. He laughed 
 and chatted gayly, and spoke of the future as if all difficul- 
 ties were cleared away. The ponies,, although rough ani- 
 mals, were strong and sturdy, and carried their riders at a 
 good pace. Sometimes they traveled alone, sometimes 
 jogged along with parties whom they overtook by the way, 
 or who had slept in the same posadas or inns at which they 
 had put up for the night. 
 
 Most of these inns were very rough, and, to Geoffrey, 
 astonishingly dirty. The food consisted generally of 
 bread and a miscellaneous olio or stew from a great pot 
 constantly simmering over the fire, the flavor, whatever it 
 might be, being entirely overpowered by that of the oil 
 and garlic that were the most marked of its constituents. 
 Beds were wholly unknown at these places, the guests 
 dimply wrapping themselves in their cloaks and lying down 
 on the floor, although in a few exceptional cases bundles 
 of rushes were strewn about to form a common bed. 
 
 But the traveling was delightful. It was now late in 
 the autumn, and when they were once past the dreary dis- 
 trict of La Mancha, and had descended to the rich plains 
 of Cordova, the vintage was in full progress and the har- 
 vest everywhere being garnered in. Their mid-day meal 
 consisted of bread and fruit, costing but the smallest coin, 
 and eaten by the wayside in the shade of a clump of trees. 
 They heard many tales on their way down of the bands of 
 robbers who infested the road, but having taken the pre- 
 caution of having the doubloons for which they had ex- 
 <?hauged Geoffrey's English gold sewn up in their boots, 
 they had no fear of encountering these gentry, having 
 nothing to lose save their wallets and the few dollars they 
 had kept out for the expenses of their journey. The few 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 18fi 
 
 jewels that Gerald Burke retained were sewn up in the 
 stuffing of his saddle. 
 
 After ten days^ travel they reached Seyille, where they 
 stayed a couple of days, and where the wealth and splendor 
 of the buildings surprised Geoffrey, who had not visited 
 Antwerp or any of the great commercial centers of the 
 Netherlands. 
 
 ^*^ It is a strange taste of the Spanish king/' he observed 
 to Gerald Burke, ^' to plant their capital at Madrid in the 
 center of a barren country, when they might make such a 
 splendid city as this their capital, I could see no charms 
 whatever in Madrid. The climate wajs detestable, with its 
 hot sun and bitter cold winds. Here the temperature is 
 delightful ; the air is soft and balmy, the country round 
 is a garden, and there is a cath'^dral worthy of a capital.'* 
 
 ^' It seems a strange taste," Gerald agreed ; ^^ but I be- 
 lieve that when Madrid was first planted it stood in the 
 midst of extensive forests, and that it was merely a hunt- 
 ing residence for the king." 
 
 '' Then, when the forests went I would have gone too,'* 
 Geoffrey said. " Madrid has not even a river worthy of 
 the name, and has no single point to recommend it, as far 
 as I can see, for the capital of a great empire. If I were 
 a Spaniard I should certainly take up my residence in 
 Seville." 
 
 Upon the following morning they again started, joining, 
 before they had ridden many miles, a party of three mer- 
 chants traveling with their servants to Cadiz. The 
 merchants looked a little suspiciously at first at the two 
 young men upon their rough steeds ; but as soon as they 
 discovered from their first salutations that they were 
 foreigners, they became more cordial, and welcomed this 
 accession of strength to their party, for the carrying of 
 weapons was universal, and the portion of the road be- 
 tween Seville and Cadiz particularly unsafe, as it was 
 traversed by so many merchants and wealthy people. Th^ 
 
190 BT ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 conversation speedily turned to the disturbed state of the 
 roads. 
 
 *' I do not think/' one of the merchants said, '^ that any- 
 ordinary band of robbers would dare attack us/' and he 
 looked round with satisfaction at the six armed servants 
 who rode behind them. 
 
 '- It all depends/' Gerald Burke said, with a sly wink at 
 Geojffrey, " upon what value the robbers may place upon 
 the valor of your servants. As a rule serving-men are 
 very chary of their skins, and I should imagine that the 
 robbers must be pretty well aware of tliat fact. Most of 
 tliem are disbanded soldiers or deserters, and I should say 
 that four of them are more than a match for your six 
 servants. I would wager that your men would make but 
 a very poor show of i '/ it came to fighting." 
 
 ''But there are cur three selves and you two gentle- 
 men/' the merchant said in a tone of disquiet. 
 
 "Well," Gerald rejoined, "I own that from your ap- 
 pearance I should not think, worshipful sir, that fighting 
 was altogether in your line. Now, my servant, young as 
 he is, has taken part in much fighting in the Xetherlands, 
 and I myself have had some experience with my sword ; 
 but if we were attacked by robbers we should naturally 
 stand neutral. Having nothing to defend, and having no 
 inclination w^hatever to get our throats cut in protecting 
 the property of others, I think that you will see for your- 
 selves that that is reasonable. We are soldiers of fortune, 
 ready to venture our lives in a good service, and for good 
 pay, but mightily disinclined to throw them away for the 
 more love of fighting/' 
 
B Y ENGLAND S AW, 191 
 
 , CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HECEUITING THEIR FUNDS. 
 
 As soon as Gerald Bnrke began conversing -with the 
 merchants^ Geoffrey fell back and took his place among 
 their servants, with whom, he at once entered into conver- 
 sation. To amuse himself he continued in the same strain 
 that he had heard Geraid adopt towards the merchants, 
 and spoke in terms of apprehension of the dangers of the 
 journey, and of the rough treatment that had befallen 
 those who had ventured to offer opposition to the robbers. 
 He was not long in discovering, by the anxious glances 
 they cast round them, and by the manner of their ques- 
 tions, that some at least of the party were not to be relied 
 upon in case of an encounter. 
 
 He was rather surprised at Gerald remaining so long in 
 company with the merchants, for thdr pace was a slow 
 one, as they were followed by eight heavily-laden mules, 
 driven by two muleteers, and it would have been much 
 pleasanter, he thought, to have trotted on at their usual 
 paoe. About midday, as they were passing along the 
 edge of a thick wood, a party of men suddenly sprang out 
 and ordered them to halt. Geoffrey shouted to the men 
 with him to come on, and drawing his sword dashed for- 
 ward. 
 
 Two of the men only followed him. The others hesi- 
 tated, until a shot from a musket knocked off one of their 
 hats, whereupon the man and his comrades turned their 
 horses^ heads and rode off at full speed. The merchanta 
 
192 BY ENGLAND ' 8 AID. 
 
 had drawn their swords, and stood on the defensive, and 
 Geoiirey on reaching them was surprised to find that 
 Gerald Burke was sitting quietly on his horse without any 
 apparent intention of taking part in the fight. 
 
 " Put up your sword, Geoffrey,"' he said calmly ; " this 
 affair is no business of ours. We have nothing to lose, and 
 it IS no business of ours to defend the money-bags of these 
 gentlemen." 
 
 The robbers, eight in number, now rushed up. One of 
 the merchants, glancing round, saw that two of their men 
 only had come up to their assistance. The muleteers, who 
 were probably in league with the robbers, had fled, leaving 
 their animals standing in the road. The prospect seemed 
 desperate. One of the merchants was an elderly man, the 
 others were well on middle age. The mules were laden 
 with valuable goods, and they had with them a consider- 
 able sum of money for making purchases at Cadiz. It was 
 no time for hesitation. 
 
 '* We will give you five hundred crowns if you will both 
 aid us to beat off these robbers." 
 
 *' It is a bargain," Gerald replied. ''Now, Geoffrey, 
 have at these fellows I " 
 
 Leaping from their ponies they ranged themselves by the 
 merchants just as the robbers attacked them. Had it not 
 been for their aid the combat would have been a short one , 
 for although determined to defend their property to the last, 
 the traders had neither strength nor skill at arms. One 
 was unhorsed at the first blow, and another wounded ; but 
 ihe two servants, who had also dismounted, fought stur- 
 dily, and Gerald and Geoffi-ey each disposed of a man be- 
 fore the robbers, who had not reckoned upon their inter- 
 ference, were prepared to resist their attack. The fight 
 did not last many minutes. The traders did their best, 
 and although by no means formidable opponents, distracted 
 ihe attention of the robbers, who were startled by the fall 
 of two of their party. Geoffrey received a sharp cut on the 
 
B Y ESGLASB ' S AID, 193 
 
 head, but at the same moment ran his opponent through 
 the body, while Gerald Burke cut down the man opposed 
 to him. The other four robbers, seeing they were now out- 
 numbered, at once took to their heels. 
 
 ** By St. Jago I" one of the traders said, ''you are stout 
 fighters, young men, and hare won your fee well. Me- 
 thought we should have lost our lives as well as our goods, 
 and I doubt not we should have done so had you not ranged 
 yourselves with us. Xow, let us bandage up our wounds, 
 for we have all received more or less hurt." 
 
 When the wounds, some of which were serious, were at- 
 tended to, the fallen robbers were examined. Three of 
 them were dead ; but the man last cut down by Gerald 
 Burke seemed likely to recover, 
 
 " Shall we hang him upon a tree as a warning to these 
 knaves, or shall we take him with us to the next town 
 and give him in charge of the authorities there ? " one of 
 the traders asked. 
 
 ''If I were you I would do neither," Gerald said, "but 
 would let him go free if he will tell you the truth about 
 this attack. It will be just as well for you to get to the 
 bottom of this aSair, and find out whether it is a chance 
 meeting, or whether any of your own people have been in 
 league with him." 
 
 " That is a good idea," the trader agreed, "' and I will 
 carry it out," and going up to the man, who had now re- 
 covered his senses, he said to him sternly: "We have 
 made up our minds to hang you ; but you may save your 
 life if you will tell us how you came to set upon us. Speak 
 the truth and you shall go free, otherwise we will finish 
 with you without delay." 
 
 The robber, seeing an unexpected chance of escape from 
 punishment, at once said that the captain in their band, 
 who was the man Geoffrey had last run through, came out 
 from Seville the evening before, and told him that one 
 Juan Campos, with whom he had long had intimate rela- 
 13 
 
194 BT ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 tions, and who was clerk to a rich trader, had, upon prom* 
 ise that he should receive one-fifth of the booty taken, 
 informed him that his master with two other merchants 
 was starting on the following morning for Cadiz with a 
 very valuable lot of goods, and twenty-five thousand crowns, 
 which they intended to lay out in tlie purchase of goods 
 brought by some galleons tliat had just arrived from the 
 Indies. lie had arranged to bribe his master's two servants 
 to ride away when they attacked the gang, and also to 
 settle with the muleteers so that they should take no part 
 in the affair. They had reckoned that the flight of two of 
 the servants would probably affect the others, and had 
 therefore expected the rich booty to fall into their hands 
 without the trouble of striking a blow for it. 
 
 " It is well we followed your suggestion, '' one of the 
 traders said to Gerald. " I had no suspicion of the honesty 
 of my clerk, and had we not made this discovery he would 
 doubtless have played me a similar trick upon some other 
 occasion. I will ride back at once, friends, for if he hears 
 of the failure of the attack he may take the alarm and 
 make off with all he can lay his hands upon. Our venture 
 was to be in common. I will leave it to you to carry it 
 out, and return and dismiss Campos and the two rascally 
 servants." The three traders went apart and consulted 
 together. Presently the eldest of the party returned to 
 the young men. 
 
 ''^ We have another five days' journey before us," he said, 
 *^ and but two servants upon whom we can place any re- 
 liance. We have evidence of the unsafety of the roads, 
 and, as you have heard, we have a large sum of money 
 with us. You have already more than earned the reward 
 I offered you, and my friends have agreed with me that if 
 you will continue to journey with us as far as Cadiz, and to 
 give us the aid of your valor should we be again attacked, 
 we will make the five hundred crowns a thousand. It is a 
 large sum, but we have well-nigh all our fortunes at stake. 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 195 
 
 and we feel that we owe you our lives as well as the saving 
 of our money." 
 
 '' We could desire nothing better/' Gerald replied, " and 
 will answer with our lives that your goods and money shaU 
 arrive safely at Cadiz/' 
 
 The traders then called up their two serving-men, and 
 told them that on their arrival at Cadiz they would present 
 them each with a hundred crowns for having so stoutly 
 done their duty. The employer of the treacherous clerk 
 then turned his horse's head and rode back towards Seville, 
 while the others prepared to proceed on their way. The 
 two muleteers had now come oat from among the bushes, 
 and were busy ref astening the bales on the mules, the ropes 
 having become loosened in the struggles of the animals 
 while the fight was going on. The merchants had decided 
 to say nothing to the men as to the discovery that they 
 were in league with the robbers. 
 
 " Half these fellows are in alliance with these bands, 
 which are a scourge to the country,'' one of the traders 
 said. '^ If we were to inform the authorities at the next 
 town, we should, in the first place, be blamed for letting 
 the wounded man escape, and secondly we might be de- 
 tained for days while investigations are going on. In this 
 country the next worse thing to leing a prisoner is to be a 
 complainant. Law is a luxury in which the wealthy and 
 idle can alone afford to indulge." 
 
 As soon, therefore, as the baggage was readjusted the 
 party proceeded on their way. 
 
 '^ What do you think of that, Geoffrey ?" Gerald Burke 
 asked as he rode for a distance by the side of his supposed 
 servant. 
 
 " It is magnificent," Geoffrey replied ; '' and it seems to 
 me that the real road to wealth in Spain is to hire youself 
 out as a guard to travelers." 
 
 " Ah, you would not get much if you made your bargain 
 beforehand. It is only at a moment of urgent danger that 
 
196 BY ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 fear will open purse-strings widely. Had we bargained be- 
 forehand with these traders we might have thought our- 
 selves lucky if we had got ten crowns apiece as the price 
 of our escort to Cadiz, and indeed we should have been 
 only too glad if last night such an offer had been made to 
 US ; but when a man sees that his property and life are 
 really in danger he does not stop to haggle, but is content 
 to give a handsome percentage of what is risked for aid to 
 save the rest." 
 
 " Well, thank goodness, our money trouble is at an end/' 
 Geoffrey said ; and it will be a long time before we need 
 have any anxiety on that score." 
 
 "Things certainly look better," Gerald said laughing ; 
 '* and if Inez consents to make a runaway matcli of it vwith 
 me I sha'n't have to ask her to pay the expenses." 
 
 Cadiz was reached without further adventure. The 
 merchants kept their agreement honorably, and handed 
 over a heavy bag containing a thousand crowns to Gerald 
 on their arrival at that city. They had upon the road in- 
 quired of him the nature of his business there. He had 
 told them that he was at present undecided whether to enter 
 the army, in which some friends of his had offered to obtain 
 him a commission, or to join in an adventure to the Indies. 
 They had told him they were acquainted with several mer- 
 chants at Cadiz who traded both with the east and west, 
 and that they would introduce him to them as a gentleman 
 of spirit and courage, whom they might employ with ad- 
 vantage upon such ventures ; and this promise after their 
 arrival there they carried out. 
 
 "Xow, Geoffrey," Gerald said as they sat together that 
 evening at a comfortable inn, " we must talk over matters 
 here. We have five hundred crowns apiece, and need not 
 trouble any longer as to how we are to support life. Your 
 great object, of course, is to get out of this country some- 
 how, and to make your way hack to England. My first is 
 to see Inez and to find out whether she will follow my for- 
 
B T ENGLAND 'S AID. 197 
 
 wanes or remain to become some day Marchesa of Sotto- 
 mayor. If she adopts the former alternative I have to ar- 
 range some plan to carry her off and to get ^ A of the 
 country, an operation in which I foresee no li"^ ..e difficulty. 
 Of course if we are caught my life is xorf^".;d, there is no 
 question about that. The question f"' uS to consider is 
 how we are to set about to carry out ' ' respective plans." 
 
 " We need only consider your '; '.a as far as I can see." 
 Geoffrey said. '' Of course I f '^'j .. do what I can to assist 
 you, and if you manage ta ^,jj off safely with the young 
 lady I shall escape at the f • ^e time." 
 
 " jSTot at all," Burkf^ ^::,A ; " you have only to wait here 
 quietly until you se^ ^._i opportunity. I will go with you 
 ^o-morrow to the ^ _ti*chants I was introduced to to-day, and 
 say that I am r ^llig away for a time and shall be obliged if 
 they will ir'"' 'O you useful in any way until I return. In 
 that way ^ , u will have a sort of established position here, 
 and can wait until you see a chance of smuggling yourself 
 on board some English or Dutch vessel. Mine is a very 
 different affair. I may talk lightly of it, but I am perfectly 
 aware that I run a tremendous risk, and thpt the chances 
 are very strongly against me. " 
 
 " Whatever the chances are," Geoffrey said quietly, " I 
 shall share them with you. Your kindness has saved me 
 from what at best might have been imprisonment for life, 
 and not improbably would have been torture and death at 
 the hands of the Inquisition, and I am certainly not going 
 to withdraw myself from you now when you are entering 
 upon what is undoubtedly a very dangerous adventure. If 
 we escape from Spain we escape together ; if not, whatever 
 fate befalls you I am ready to risk." 
 
 '' Very well ; so be it, Geoffrey," Gerald Burke said, 
 holding out his hand to him. ^' If your mind is made up I 
 will not argue the question with you, and indeed I value 
 your companionship and aid too highly to try to shake your 
 determination. Let us then at once talk over what is now 
 
198 B T ENGLAND 'S AID. f 
 
 our joint enterprise. Ribaldo estate lies about half-way 
 between this and Seville, and we passed within a few miles 
 of it as we came hither. The first thing, of course, will be 
 to procure some sort of disguise in which I can see Inez and 
 have a talk with her. Xow, it seems to me, for I have been 
 thinking the matter over in every Avay as we rode, that the 
 only disguise in which this would be possible would be that 
 of a priest or monk." 
 
 Geoffrey laughed aloud. " You would in the first place 
 have to shave off your moustachios, Gerald, and I fear that 
 even after you had done so there would be nothing venerable 
 in your appearance ; and whatever the mission with which 
 you might pretend to charge yourself, your chances of ob- 
 taining a private interview with the lady would be slight." 
 
 *' I am afraid that I should lack the odor of sanctity, 
 Geoffrey ; but what else can one do ? Think it over, man. 
 The way in which you played the idiot when you were 
 picked out of the water shows that you are quick at con- 
 triving a plan." 
 
 "That was a simple business in comparison to this," 
 Geoffrey replied. " However, you are not presssed for time, 
 and I will think it over to-night and may light upon some 
 possible scheme, for I own that at present I have not the 
 least idea how the matter is to be managed." 
 
 As in the morning there were several other travelers 
 taking breakfast in the same room, the conversation was 
 not renewed until Gerald Burke strolled out, followed at a 
 respectful distance by Geoffrey, who still passed as his 
 servant, and reached a quiet spot on the ramparts. Here 
 Geoffrey joined him, and they stood for some minutes look- 
 ing over the sea. 
 
 " What a magnificent position for a city I" Geoffrey said 
 at last. *' Standing on this rocky tongue of land jutting 
 out at the entrance to this splendid bay it ought to be im- 
 pregnable, since it can only be attacked on the side facing 
 that sandy isthmus. What a number of ships are lying up 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 199 
 
 the Day, and what a busy scene it is with the boats passing 
 and repassing ! Though they must be two miles away I 
 fancy I can hear the shouts of the sailors/' 
 
 *' Yes, it is all very fine,'^ Gerald said ; ^' but I have seen 
 it several times before. Still, I can make allowances for 
 you. Do you see that group of small ships a mile beyond 
 the others ? Those are the English and Dutchmen. They 
 are allowed to trade, but as you see they are kept apart, 
 and there are three war galleys lying close to them. Xo 
 one is allowed to land, and every boat going off is strictly 
 examined, and all those who go on board have to show their 
 permits from the governor to trade ; so, you see, the chance 
 of getting on board one of them is slight indeed. Higher 
 up the bay lies Puerto de Santa Maria, where a great trade 
 is carried on, and much wine shipped ; though more comes 
 from Jeres, which lies up the river. You know we passed 
 through it on our way here. 
 
 *' Y^es, this is a splendid position for trade, and I suppose 
 the commerce carried on here is larger than in any port in 
 Europe ; though Antwerp ranked as first until the troubles 
 began in the Netherlands. But this ought to be first. It 
 has all the trade of the Atlantic sea-board, and standing at 
 the mouth of the Mediteraanean commands that also ; while 
 all the wealth of the Xew World pours in here. This is 
 great already ; there is no saying what it will be in the 
 future, while some day the trade from the far East should 
 flow in here also by vessels trading round the south of 
 Africa. 
 
 '^ Cadiz has but one fault : the space on which it stands 
 is too small for a great city. You see how close the houses 
 stand together, and how narrow are the streets. It cannot 
 spread without extending beyond the rock over the sands, 
 and then its strength would be gone, and it would be open 
 U> capture by an enterprising enemy having command of 
 the sea. There now, having indulged your humor, let us 
 
200 B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 return to more important matters. Have you thought 
 over what we were talking about last night ? " 
 
 '^ I have certainly thought it over/' Geoffrey said ; 
 ''but I do not know that thinking has resulted in much. 
 The only plan that occurs to me as being at all possible is 
 this. You were talking in joke at Madrid of turning rob- 
 ber. Would it be possible, think you, to get together a 
 small band of men to aid you in carrying off the young 
 lady, either from the grounds of her father's house or while 
 journeying on the road ? You could then have your talk 
 with her. If you find her willing to fly with you, you 
 could leave the men you have engaged and journey across 
 the country in some sort of disguise to a port. If she ob- 
 jected, you could conduct her back to the neighborhood 
 of the house and allow her to return. There is one diffi- 
 culty : you must, of course, be prepared with a priest, so 
 that you can be married at once if she consents to accom- 
 pany you.'' 
 
 Gerald Burke was silent for some time. ''The scheme 
 seems a possible one," he said at last ; " it is the question 
 of the priest that bothers me. You know, both in Seville 
 and Cadiz there are Irish colleges, and at both places there 
 are several priests whom I knew before they entered the 
 Church, and who would, I am sure, perform the service 
 for me on any ordinary occasion ; but it is a different thing 
 asking them to take a share in such a business as this, for 
 they would render themselves liable to all sorts of penalties 
 and punishments from their superiors. However, the 
 difficulty must be got over somehow, and at any rate the 
 plan seems to promise better than anything I had thought 
 of. The first difficulty is how to get the ruffians for such 
 a business. I cannot go up to the first beetle-browed knave 
 I meet in the street and say to him. Are you disposed to 
 aid me in the abduction of a lady ? " 
 
 "No," Geoffrey laughed ; "but fortunately you have 
 an intermediary ready at hand." 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 201 
 
 -^How 80?" Gerald exclaimed in surprise. ''Why, 
 how on earth can you have an acquaintance with any ruf- 
 fians in Cadiz ? " 
 
 ^' Xot a very intimate acquaintance, Gerald ; but if you 
 take the trouble to go into the courtyard of the inn when 
 we get back you will see one of those rascally muleteers 
 who were in league with the robbers who attacked us on 
 the way. He was in conversation when we came out with 
 a man who breakfasted with us, and was probably bargain- 
 ing for a load for his mules back to Seville. I have no 
 doubt that through him you might put yourself into com- 
 munication with half the cut-throats of the town." 
 
 '*That is a capital idea, Geoffr-^y, and I will have a talk 
 with the man as soon as we get back ; for if he is not still 
 there, I am sure to be able to learn from some of the men 
 about the stables where to find him." 
 
 " You must go very carefully to w^ork, Gerald," Geof- 
 frey said. '' It would never do to let any of the fellows 
 know the exact object for which you engaged them, for they 
 might be sure of getting a far larger sum from the mar- 
 quis for divulging your plans to carry off his daughter than 
 you could afford to pay them for th ir services." 
 
 " I quite see that, and will be careful." 
 
 On their return to the inn Gerald Burke at once made 
 inquiries as to the muleteer, and learned that he would 
 probably return in an hour to see if a bargain could be 
 made with a trader for the hire of his mules back to 
 Seville. 
 
 Gerald waited about until the man came. ^^ I want to 
 have a talk with you, my friend," he said. 
 
 The muleteer looked at him with a suspicious eye. '' I 
 am busy," he said in a surly tone ; '•' I have no time to 
 waste." 
 
 '' But it would not be wasting it if it were to lead to 
 your putting a dozen crowns in your pocket." 
 
 *' Oh, if it is to lead to that, seiior, I can spare an hour. 
 
202 BT ENGLAyB'S AID. "'' ' « 
 
 for I don't think that anything is likely to come out of 
 the job I came here to try to arrange." 
 
 '' We will walk away to a quieter place/' Gerald said. 
 *' There are too many people about here for us to talk 
 comfortably. The ramparts are but two or three minutes' 
 walk ; we can talk there without interruption.'' 
 
 When tliey arrived upon the ramparts Gerald com- 
 menced the conversation. ^* I think you were foolish, my 
 friend, not to have taken us into your confidence the other 
 day before that little affair. You could have made an op- 
 portunity well enough. We stopped to luncheon ; if you 
 had drawn me aside, and told me frankly that some friends 
 of yours were about to make an attack upon the traders, 
 and that you would guarantee that they would make it 
 worth my while — " 
 
 **What do you mean by saying my friends, or that I 
 had any knowledge of the affair beforehand ? " the man 
 asked furiously. 
 
 ''I say so," Gerald replied, ''because I had it on ex- 
 cellent authority. The wounded robber made a clean 
 breast of the whole affair, and of your share in it, as well 
 as that of the rascally clerk of one of the traders. If it 
 had not been for me the merchants would have handed 
 you over to the magistrates at the place where we stopped 
 that night ; but I dissuaded them, upon the ground that 
 they would have to attend as witnesses against you, and 
 that it was not worth their while to lose valuable time 
 merely for the j^leasure of seeing you hung. However, all 
 this is beside the question. What I was saying was, it is 
 a pity you did not say to me frankly : Your presence here 
 is inopportune ; but if you will stand apart if any unex- 
 pected affair takes place, you will get say two thousand 
 crowns out of the twenty-five housand my friends are 
 going to capture. Had you done that, you see, things 
 might have turned out differently." 
 
 *' I did not know," the muleteer stammered. 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 203 
 
 *'' Xo, yon did not know for certain, of course, that I 
 •^as a soldier of fortune ; but if you had been sharp you 
 might have guessed it. However, it is too late for that 
 now. Xow, what I wanted to ask you was if you could 
 get me half a dozen of your friends to take service under 
 me in a little adventure I have to carry out. They will 
 be well paid, and I do not suppose they will have much 
 trouble over it." 
 
 " And what would you pay me, cabbalero ? " the mule- 
 teer asked humbly ; for he had been greatly impressed 
 with the valor displayed by the young Irishman and his 
 servant in the fray, and thought that he intended to get 
 together a company for adventures on the road, in which 
 case he might be able to have some profitable dealings with 
 him in the future. 
 
 '^ I will give you twenty crowns," Gerald replied ; '^ ana 
 considering that you owe your life to my interposition I 
 think that you ought not to haggle about terms." 
 
 " The party who attacked us," the muleteer said, ^' lost 
 their captain and several of their comrades in that fray, 
 and would I doubt not gladly enter into your service, seeing 
 that they have received such proof of your worship^s valor." 
 
 '' Where could I see them ? " Gerald asked. 
 
 ^'^ I think that they will be now in Jeres, if that would 
 suit you, senor ; but if not I could doubtless find a party 
 of men in this town equally ready for your business." 
 
 ^' Jeres will do very well for me," Gerald said ; '^ I shall 
 be traveling that way and will put up at the Fonda where 
 we stopped as we came through. When are you starting ? " 
 
 ^" It depends whether I make my bargain with a man at 
 your hotel," the muleteer replied ; ^' and this I doubt not 
 I shall do, for with the twenty crowns your honor is going 
 to give me I shall not stand out for terms. He is travel- 
 ing with clothes from Flanders, and if your worship 
 thought—" 
 
 " Xo, " Gerald said. ^^ I do not wish to undertake any 
 
204 3T ENGLAND' b AID. 
 
 adventures of that sort until I have a band properly organ- 
 ized, and have arranged hiding-places and methods of get- 
 ting rid of the booty. I will go back with you to the inn, 
 and if you strike your bargain you can tell me as you pass 
 out of the gate what evening you will meet me at Jeres.'* 
 
 On arriving at the inn Gerald lounged at the gate of the 
 courtyard until tlie muleteer came out. 
 
 " I will meet your worship on the liftli night from this 
 at Jeres." 
 
 ^^ Very well ; here are five crowns as an earnest on our 
 bargain. If you carry it out well I shall very likely forget 
 to deduct them from the twenty I promised you. Do not 
 be surprised if you find me somewhat changed in appear- 
 ance when you meet me there.'' 
 
 At the appointed time the muleteer with his train of ani- 
 mals entered the courtyards of the Fonda at Jeres. Gerald 
 was standing on the steps of the inn. He had altered the 
 fashion of his hair, had fastened on large bushy eyebrows 
 which he had obtained from a skillful perruquier in Cadiz, 
 a mustache of imposing size turned up at the tips ; he wore 
 high buff leather boots, and there was an air of military 
 swagger about him, and he was altogether so changed that 
 at the first glance the muleteer failed to recognize him. 
 As soon as the mules were unburdened, Gerald found an 
 opportunity of speaking with him. 
 
 " I will go round at once,'' the man said, '^ to the place 
 where I shall certainly obtain news of my friends if they 
 are here. I told your honor that they might be here, but 
 they may have gone away on some affair of business, aiid 
 may be on the road or at Seville. They always work be- 
 tween this town and Seville." 
 
 " I understand that you may not meet them to-night; if 
 not, I will meet you again in Seville. How long will you 
 be finding out about them? 
 
 " I shall know in half an hour senor; if they are not here I 
 shall be back here in less than an hour, but if I find them 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 205 
 
 all je detained longer in order -^.o talk over with them 
 the offer your worship makes/' 
 
 " Very well ; in an hour you will find me in the street 
 opposite the inn. I shall wait there until you come. If 
 all is well make a sign and I will follow you. Do not men- 
 tion to them that I have in any way disguised myself. Our 
 aquaintance was so short that I don't fancy they had time 
 to examine me very closely ; and I have my own reasons for 
 wishing that they should not be aquainted with my ordinary 
 appearance, and have therefore to some extent disguised my- 
 self." 
 
 ^' I will say nothing about it/' the muleteer replied. 
 *^ Your worship can depend upon my discretion." 
 
 "That is right," Gerald said. "We may have further 
 dealings together, and I can rev/ard handsomely those I 
 find trustworthy and punish those who in the slightest de- 
 gree disobey my orders." 
 
 In an hour and a half the muleteer returned, made a 
 signal to Gerald and passed on. The latter joined him at 
 a short distance from the hotel. 
 
 "It is all settled, senor. I found the men much dispirited 
 at the loss of their captain and comrades ; and when I pro- 
 posed to them to take service under the cabbalero who 
 wrought them such mischief the other day, they jumped at 
 the idea, saying that under such a valiant leader there was 
 no fear of the failure of any enterprise they might under- 
 take." 
 
 A quarter of an hour's walking took them to a small inn 
 of villainous appearance in one of the smallest lanes of the 
 town. Gerald was wrapped from head to foot in his cloak, 
 and only his face was visible. He had a brace of pistols in 
 his belt, and was followed at a short distance, unnoticed by 
 the muleteer, by GeoSrey, who had arranged to keep close 
 to the door of any house he entered, and was to be in readi- 
 ness to rush in and take part in the fray if he heard the 
 gound of firearms within. 
 
20b BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 Gerald himself bad not at first entertained any idea of 
 treachery ; but Geolfrey had pointed out that it was quite 
 possible that the robbers and the muleteer had but feigned 
 acquiescence in his proposals in order to get him into their 
 power, and take revenge for the loss of their captain and 
 comrades, and of the valuable booty which had so unex- 
 pectedly slipped through their fingers owing to his inter- 
 vention. 
 
 The appearance of the six ruffians gathered in the low 
 room, lighted by a wretched lamp, was not very assuring, 
 and Gerald kept his hand on the butt of one of his pistols. 
 
 The four robbers who had been engaged in the fray, 
 however, saluted him respectfully, and the other two mem- 
 bers of the band, who had been absent on other business, 
 followed their example. They had heard from those pres- 
 ent of the extraordinary valor with which the two travel- 
 ing companions of the trader had thrown themselves into 
 the fray, and had alone disposed of their four comrades, 
 and being without a leader, and greatly disheartened by 
 their ill-luck, they were quite ready to forgive the mis- 
 fortunes Gerald had brought upon them, and to accept 
 such a redoubtable swordsman as their leader. 
 
 Gerald began the conversation. '' You have heard,'' he 
 said, '' from our friend here of the offer I make you. I 
 desire a band of six men on whom I can rely for an advent- 
 ure which promises large profit. Don't suppose that I am 
 going to lead you to petty robberies on the road, in which, 
 as you learned to your cost the other day, one sometimes 
 gets more hard knocks than profit. Such adventure^* may 
 do for petty knaves, but they are not suited to me. The 
 way to get wealthy is to strike at the rich. My idea is to 
 establish some place in an out-of-the-way quarter where 
 there is no fear of prying neighbors, and to carry off and 
 hide there the sons and daughters of wealthy men and put 
 them to ransom. In the first instance I am going to 
 undertake a private affair of my own ; and as you will 
 
BT ENGLAND ' S AID. 207 
 
 really rnn no risk in the matter, for I shall separate myself 
 from you after making my capture, I shall pay you only 
 an earnest-money of twenty crowns each. In future affairs 
 we shall act upon the principle of shares. I shall take 
 three shares, a friend who works with me will take two 
 shares, and you shall take one share apiece. The risk will 
 really be entirely mine, for I shall take charge of the cap- 
 tives we make at our rendezvous. You, after lending a 
 hand in the capture, will return here and hold yourself in 
 readiness to join me, and carry out another capture as soon 
 as I have made all the necessary arrangements. Thus, if 
 by any chance we are tracked, I alone and my friend will 
 run the risk of capture and punishment. In that way we 
 may, in the course of a few months, amass a much larger 
 booty than we should in a lifetime spent in these wretched 
 adventures upon travelers. 
 
 ^^ Xow, it is for you to say whether these terms will suit 
 you, and whether you are ready to follow my orders and 
 obey me implicitly. The whole task of making the neces- 
 sary arrangements, or finding out the habits of the families 
 one of whose members we intend carrying off, of bribing 
 nurses or duennas, will be all my business. You will 
 simply have to meet when you are summoned to aid in the 
 actual enterprise, and then, when our captive is safely 
 housed, to return here or scatter where you will and live 
 at ease until again summoned. The utmost fidelity will 
 be necessary. Large rewards will in many cases be offered 
 for the discovery of the missing persons, and one traitor 
 would bring ruin upon us all ; therefore it will be abso- 
 lutely necessary that you take an oath of fidelity to me, and 
 swear one and all to punish the traitor with death. Do 
 you agree to my proposal ? " 
 
 There was a unanimous exclamation of assent. The 
 plan seamed to offer probabilities of large booty with a 
 minimum of trouble and risk. One or two suggested that 
 they should like to join in the first capture on the same 
 
208 BY ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 terms as the others, but Gerald at once pronounced this to 
 be impossible. 
 
 " This is my own affair/' he said, " and money is not 
 now my object. As you will only be required to meet at 
 a given hour some evening, and to carry off a captive who 
 will not be altogether unwilling to come, there will he 
 little or no risk in the matter, and twenty crowns will not 
 be bad pay for an evening's work. After that you will, as 
 I have said, share in the profits of all future captures we 
 may undertake." 
 
 The band all agreed, and at once took solemn oaths of 
 fidelity to their new leader, and swore to punish by death 
 any one of their numbei- who should betray the secrets of 
 the body. 
 
 '^ That is well," Gerald said when the oaths had been 
 taken. "It may be a week before you receive your first 
 summons. Here are five crowns apiece for your expenses 
 up to that time. Let one of you be in front of the great 
 church as the clock strikes eight morning and evening. 
 Do not wait above five minutes ; if I am coming I shall be 
 punctual. In the meantime take counsel among your- 
 selves as to the best hiding-place that can be selected. Be- 
 tween you you no doubt know every corner and hole in the 
 country. I want a place which will be at once lonely and 
 far removed from other habitations, but it must be at the 
 same time moderately comfortable, as the captives we take 
 must have no reason to complain of their treatment wliile 
 in mv hands. Think this matter over before I again see 
 
 you." 
 
 Gerald then joined Geoffrey outside, and found that the 
 latter was beginning to be anxious at his long absence. 
 After a few words saying that everything had been success- 
 fully arranged, the two friends returned together to their 
 inn. 
 
£ Y ENGLAND 'S AIU 209 
 
 CHAPTER Xin. 
 
 THE FESTA AT SEVILLE. 
 
 AxD now, Gerald, that you have made your arrange- 
 ments for the second half of the plan, how are you going 
 to set about the first ? because you said that you intended 
 to give Donna Inez the option of flying with you or remain- 
 ing with her father." 
 
 '*' So I do still. Before I make any attempt to carry her 
 off I shall first learn whether she is willing to run the 
 risks." 
 
 ^' But how are you going to set about it ? You may be 
 quite sure that she never goes outside the garden without 
 having her duenna with her. If there is a chapel close by, 
 doubtless she will go there once a day ; and it seems to me 
 that this would be the best chance of speaking to her, for 
 I do not see how you can possibly introduce yourself into 
 the grounds." 
 
 " That would be quite out of the question, in daylight 
 at any rate, Geoffrey. I do not suppose she ever goes be- 
 yond the terrace by the house. But if I could communi- 
 cate with her she might slip out for a few minutes after 
 dark, when the old lady happened to be taking a nap. 
 The question is how to get a letter into her hands." 
 
 " I think I might manage that, Gerald. It is not likely 
 that the duenna ever happened to notice me. I might there- 
 fore put on any sort of disguise as a beggar and take my 
 place on the road as she goes to chapel, and somehow 
 or other get your note into her hand. I have heard Span- 
 ish girls are very quick at acting upon the smallest sign, 
 
 14^ 
 
210 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 and if I can manage to catch her eye for a moment she may 
 probably be ingenious enough to afford me an opportunity 
 of passing the note to her." 
 
 *^That might be done/' Gerald agreed. *'W'e -will at 
 once get disguises. I will dress myself as an old soldier, 
 with one arm in a sling and a patch over my eye ; you 
 dress up in somewhat the same fashion as a sailor boy. It is 
 about twelve miles from here to Ribaldo's place. We can 
 walk that easily enough, dress ourselves up within a mile 
 or two of the place, and then go on and reconnoiter the 
 ground." 
 
 ^' I should advise you to write your note before you start ; 
 it may be that some unexpected opportunity for handing 
 it to her may present itself." 
 
 '' I will do that : but let us sally out first and pick up 
 two suits at some dealer in old clothes. There will be sure 
 to be two or three of these in the poorer quarter." 
 
 The disguises were procured without difficulty, and put- 
 ting them in a small wallet they started before noon on 
 their walk. In four hours they reached the boundary of 
 the Marquis of Ribaldo's estate. Going into a wood they 
 assumed the disguises, packed their own clothes in a wal- 
 let, and hid this away in a clump of bushes. Then they 
 again started — Gerald Burke with his arm in a sling and 
 Geoffrey limping along with the aid of a thick stick he had 
 cut in the wood. 
 
 On arriving at the village, a quarter of a mile from the 
 gates of the mansion, they went into a small wine-shop 
 and called for two measures of the cheapest wine and a loaf 
 of bread. Here they sat for some time, listening to the 
 conversation of the peasants who frequented the wine- 
 shop. Sometimes a question was asked of the wayfarers. 
 Gerald replied, for his companion's Spanish although fluent 
 was not good enough to pass as that of a native. He re- 
 plied to the question as to where they had received their 
 hurts that they were survivors of the Armada, and grum- 
 
BT ENGLAXD'S AID. 211 
 
 bled that it was hard indeed that men who had fought in 
 the Xetherlands and had done their duty to their country 
 should be turned adrift to starve. 
 
 '•' We have enough to pay for our supper and a night's 
 lodging," he said, " but where we are going to take our 
 meal to-morrow is more than I can say, unless we can meet 
 with some charitable people." 
 
 *•' If you take your place by the roadside to-morrow 
 morning," one of the peasants said, " you may obtain 
 charity from Donna Inez de Ribaldo. She comes every 
 morning to mass here ; and they say she has a kind heart, 
 which is more than men give her father the marquis the 
 credit of possessing. We have not many poor round here, 
 for at this time of year all hands are employed in the vine- 
 yards, therefore there is the more chance of your obtaining 
 a little help." 
 
 '- Thank you ; I will take your advice," Gerald said. 
 *' I suppose she is sure to come ? " 
 
 *•' She is sure enough ; she never misses when she is stay- 
 ing here." 
 
 That night the friends slept on a bundle of straw in an 
 outhouse behind the wine-shop, and arranged everything ; 
 and upon the following morning took their seats by the 
 roadside near the village. The bell of the chapel was al- 
 ready sounding, and in a few minutes they saw two ladies 
 approaching, followed at a very short distance by a serving- 
 man. They had agreed that the great patch over Gerald's 
 eye, aided by the false mustachios, so completely dis- 
 guised his appearance that they need have no fear of his 
 being recognized : and it was therefore decided he should 
 do the talking. As Donna Inez came up he commenced 
 calling out : ''Have pity, gracious ladies, upon two 
 broken-down soldiers. We have gone through all the dan- 
 gers and hardships of the terrible voyage of the great Ar- 
 mada. We served in the ship San Josef, and are now 
 broken down, and have no means of earning our living. '" 
 
212 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 Gerald had somewhat altered Lis natural voice wnils 
 speaking, but Geoffrey was watching Donna Inez closely, 
 and saw her start when he began to speak ; and when he 
 said they had been on board the San Josef a flush of color 
 came across her face. 
 
 '' We must relieve these poor men," she said to the du- 
 anna ; ''it is pitiful to see them in such a state." 
 
 '' "We know not that their tale is true," the duenna re- 
 plied sharply. "Every beggar in our days pretends to be 
 a broken-down soldier." 
 
 At this moment Donna Inez happened to glance at Geof- 
 frey, who raised his hand to his face and permitted a cor- 
 ner of a letter to be momentarily seen. 
 
 ''An impostor !" Gerald cried in a loud voice. "To 
 think that I, suffering from my terrible wounds, should be 
 taken as an impostor," and with a hideous yell he tumbled 
 down as if in a fit, and rolled over and over on the ground 
 towards the duenna. 
 
 Seized with alarm at hi3 approach, she turned and ran a 
 few paces backward. As she did so Geoffrey stepped up 
 to Inez and held out the note, which she took and con- 
 cealed instantly in her dress. 
 
 " There is nothing to be alarmed at," she cried to tlie 
 duenna. " The poor man is doubtless in a fit. Here, my 
 poor fellow, get aid for your comrade," and taking out her 
 purse she handed a dollar to Geoffrey, and then joining 
 the duenna proceeded on her way. 
 
 Geoffrey knelt beside his prostrate companion and ap- 
 peared to be endeavoring to restore him, until the ladies 
 and their servant were out of sight. 
 
 " That was well managed," Gerald Burke said, sitting up 
 as soon as a turn of tlie road hid them from view. " Nov/ 
 we shall have our answer to-morrow. Thank goodness 
 there is no occasion for us to remain any longer in these 
 garments ! " 
 
 They went to the wood and resumed their usual attire. 
 
Geoffrey gives Inez her Lover s Note.— Page 212. 
 
 Eng. Aid 1 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 213 
 
 and then walked to a large village some four miles away, 
 and putting up at the principal inn remained there until 
 early the next morning ; then they walked back to the 
 village they had left on the previous day and posted them- 
 selves in a thicket by the roadside, so that they could see 
 passers-by without being themselves observed. 
 
 '^ My fate will soon be decided now/' Gerald said. " Will 
 she wear a white flower or not ? " 
 
 '' I am pretty sure that she will," Geoffrey said. ^' She 
 would not have started and colored when she recognized 
 your voice if she did not love you. I do not think you 
 need be under much uneasiness on that score.''' 
 
 In half an hour the ladies again came along, followed as 
 before by their servants. Donna Inez wore a bunch of 
 white flowers in her dress. 
 
 " There is my answer," Gerald said. " Thank heaven ! 
 she loves me, and is ready to fly with me, and will steal out 
 some time after dark to meet me in the garden." 
 
 As there was no occasion for him to stay longer, Geoffrey 
 returned to the village where they slept the night before, 
 and accounted for his companion's absence by saying that 
 he had been detained on business and would probably not 
 return until late at night, as he would not be able to see 
 the person with whom he had affairs to transact until late. 
 It was past ten o'clock when Gerald Burke returned. 
 
 ^' It is all arranged, Geoffrey. I hid in the garden close 
 by the terrace as soon as it became dark. An hour later 
 she came out and sauntered along the terrace until I softly 
 called her name ; then she came to me. She loves me with 
 all her heart, and is ready to share my fate whatever it may 
 be. Her father only two days ago had ordered her to pre- 
 pare for her marriage with Don Philip, and she was in 
 despair until she recognized my voice yesterday morning. 
 She is going with her father to a grand f esta at Seville next 
 Wednesday. They will stop there two nights — the one 
 before the festa and the one after. I told her that I could 
 
r\ - BY ENGLAND ' 7 All}, 
 
 not say yet whether I should make the attempt to cany 
 her off on her journey or after her return here, as that 
 must depend upon circumstances. At any rate, that gives 
 US plenty of time to prepare our plans. To-morrow we 
 will hire horses and ride to Seville, and I will there arrange 
 with one of my friends at the Irish College to perform the 
 ceremony. However, we will talk it all over to-morrow 
 as we ride. I feel as sleepy as a dog now after the day^s 
 excitement.^' 
 
 Upon the road next day they agreed that if possible they 
 would manage to get Inez away in Seville itself. Owing 
 to the large number of people who would be attracted there 
 to witness the grand procession and high mass at the 
 cathedral, the streets would be crowded, and it might be 
 possible for Inez to slip away from those with her. If this 
 could be managed it would be greatly preferable to the 
 employment of the men to carry her off by force. There- 
 fore they agreed that the band should be posted so that 
 the party could be intercepted on its way back ; but that 
 this should be a last resource, and that if possible Inez 
 should be carried off in Seville itself. 
 
 On reaching Seville they put up at an inn. Gerald at 
 cnce proceeded to the Irish College. Here he inquired for 
 a young priest, who had been a near neighbor of his in 
 Ireland and a great friend of his boyhood. He was, he 
 knew, about to return home. He found that he was at 
 the moment away from Seville, having gone to supply the 
 place of a village cure who had been taken suddenly ill. 
 This village was situated, he was told, some six miles south- 
 east of the town. It was already late, in the afternoon, but 
 time was precious ; and Gerald, hiring a fresh horse, rode 
 out at once to the village. His friend was delighted to 
 see him, for they had not aiet since Gerald passed through 
 Seville on his way to join the Armada at Cadiz, and the 
 young priest had not heard whether he had escaped the 
 perils of the yoyase. 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 215 
 
 *'It is lucky yon have come, Gerald/'^ he said when the 
 first greetings were over, *^for I am going to return to 
 Ireland in a fortnight^s time. I am already appointed to 
 a charge near Cork, and am to sail in a Bristol ship which 
 is expected in Cadiz about that time. Is there any chance 
 of my meeting you there ? " 
 
 " An excellent chance, Denis, though my route is not as 
 clearly marked out as yours is. I wish to heaven that I 
 could go by the same ship. And that leads to what I have 
 come to see you about," and he then told his friend the 
 service he wished him to render. 
 
 *^ It is rather a serious business, Gerald ; and a nice 
 scrape I should get in if it were found out that I had 
 solemnized the marriage of a young lady under age with- 
 out the consent of her father, and that father a powerful 
 nobleman. However, I am not the man to fail you at a 
 pinch, and if matters are well managed there is not much 
 risk of its being found out that I had a hand in it until I 
 am well away, and once in Ireland no one is likely to make 
 any great fuss over my having united a runaway pair in 
 Spain. Besides, if you and the young lady have made up 
 your minds to run away, it is evidently necessary that you 
 should be married at once ; so my conscience is perfectly 
 clear in the business. And now, what is your plan ? " 
 
 " The only part of my plan that is settled is to bring her 
 here and marry her. After that I shall have horses ready, 
 and we will ride by unfrequented roads to Malaga or some^ 
 other port and take a passage in a ship sailing say to Italy, 
 for there is no chance of getting a vessel hence to England. 
 Once in Italy there will be no difficulty in getting a passage 
 to England. I have with me a young Englishman, as 
 staunch a friend as one can need. I need not tell you all 
 about how I became acquainted with him ; but he is as 
 anxious to get out of Spain as I am, and that is saying no 
 little." 
 
 ** It seems rather a vaeue plan, Gerald. There is sure. 
 
216 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 to be a great hue and cry as soon as the young lady is 
 I'oimd to be missing. The marquis is a man of great 
 iMiluenoe, and the authorities will use every effort to en- 
 able him to discover her." 
 
 " You see, Denis, they will have no reason for supposing 
 that I have had any hand in the matter, and therefore no 
 special watch will be set at the ports. The duenna for her 
 own sake is not likely to say a word about any passages 
 slic may have observed between us at Madrid, and she 
 is unaware that there have been any communications 
 witli her since." 
 
 '' I suppose you will at once put on disguises, Gerald/' 
 *' Yes, that will of course be the first thing." 
 '^ If you dress her as a young peasant woman of the better 
 -class and yourself as a small cultivator, 1 will mention to my 
 servant that I am expecting my newly-married niece and her 
 husband to stay with me for a few days. The old woman will 
 have no idea that I, an Irishman, would not have a Spanish 
 niece, and indeed I do not suppose that she has any idea 
 that I am not a Spaniard. I will open the church myself 
 and perform the service late in the evening, so that no one 
 will be aware of what is going on. Of course I can put 
 up your friend too. Then you can stay quietly here as 
 long as you like." 
 
 **' That will do admirably, Denis ; but I think we had 
 best go on the next morning," Gerald said, ''although it 
 will be a day or two before there is anything like an 
 organized pursuit. It will be supposed that she is in Se- 
 ville, and inquiries will at first be confined to that town. 
 If she leaves a note behind saying that she is determined 
 even to take the veil rather than marry the man her 
 father has chosen for her, that will cause additional de- 
 lay. It will be supposed that she is concealed in the house 
 of some friend, or that she has sought a refuge in a nun- 
 nery, and at any rate there is not likely to be any search 
 over the country for some days, especially as her father 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S ALD, 217 
 
 will naturally be anxious that what he will consider an act 
 of rebellion on the part of his daughter shall not become 
 publicly known/^ 
 
 *' All this, of course, is if we succeed in getting her clear 
 away during the fete. If we have to fall back on the other 
 plan I was talking of and carry her ofi by force on the way 
 home, the search will be immediate and general. In that 
 case nothing could be better than your plan that we should 
 stop here quietly for a few days with you. They will be 
 searching for a band of robbers and will not dream of 
 making inquiry for the missing girl in a quiet village like 
 this.^^ 
 
 " Well, we will leave that open, Gerald. I shall let it 
 be known that you are expected, and whenever you arrive 
 you will be welcome. ■'' 
 
 As soon as the point was arranged Gerald again mounted 
 his horse and returned to Seville. There upon the follow- 
 ing morning he engaged a lodging for the three days of 
 the f esta in a quiet house in the outskirts of the towru and 
 they then proceeded to purchase the various articles neces- 
 sary for their disguise and that of Inez. The next morn- 
 ing they started on their return to Jeres. Here Gerald 
 made arrangements with the band to meet him in a wood 
 on the road to Cadiz at eight in the morning on the day 
 following the termination of the festa at Seville. One of 
 the party was to proceed on that day to the house among- 
 the hills they had fixed upon as their hiding-place, and to 
 get provisions and everything requisite for the reception 
 of their captive. They received another five crowns each, 
 the remaining fifteen was to be paid them as soon as they 
 arrived with their captive at the house. 
 
 The party remained in ignorance as to the age and sex 
 of the person they were to carry off, and had little curio- 
 sity as to the point, as they regarded this but a small ad- 
 venture in comparison to the lucrative schemes in which 
 they were afterwards to be sharers. 
 
2 j - ST ENGL AN It ' S AIu, 
 
 These arrangements made, Gerald and Geoffrey returned 
 to Seville, and reached that city on the eve of the com- 
 mencement of the festa, and took up their abode at the 
 lodging they had hired. On the following morning they 
 posted themselves in the street by which the party they ex- 
 pected would arrive. Both were attired in quiet citizen 
 dress, and Gerald retained his formidable mustachios and 
 bushy eyebrows. 
 
 In two or three hours a coach accompanied by four 
 lackeys on horseback came up tlie street, and they saw that 
 it contained the Marquis of Hibaldo, his daughter, and her 
 duenna. They followed a short distance behind it until it 
 entered the courtyard of a stately mansion, which they 
 learnt on inquiry from a passer-by belonged to the Duke 
 of Sottomayor. The streets were already crowded with 
 people in holiday attire, the church bells were ringing, 
 and flags and decorations of all kinds waved along the 
 route that was to be followed by the great j^jrocession. The 
 house did not stand on this line, and it was necessary 
 therefore for its inmates to pass through the crowd either 
 io the cathedral or to the bulcony of the house from which 
 they might intend to view the procession pass. 
 
 Half an hour after the arrival of the coach, the marquis 
 and liis daughter, accompanied by Don Philip de Sotto- 
 mayor, sallied out, escorted by six armed lackeys, and took 
 their way towards the cathedral. They had, however, ar- 
 rived very late, and the crowd had already gathered sc> 
 densely that even the efforts of the lackeys and the angry 
 commands of the marquis and Don Philip failed to enable 
 tliem to make a passage. Very slowly indeed they ad- 
 vanced some distance into the crowd, but each moment 
 their progress became slower. Gerald and Geoffrey had 
 fallen in behind them and advanced with them as they 
 worked themselves in the crowd. 
 
 Angry at what they considered the impertinence of the 
 people for refusing to make way for them, the nobles pressed 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AIL. 219 
 
 forward and engaged in an angry controversy with those 
 in front, who urged, and truly, that it was simply impos- 
 sible for them to make a way, so wedged in were they by 
 the people on all sides. The crowd, neither knowing nor 
 caring who were those who thus wished to take precedence 
 of the first comers, began to jeer and laugh at the angry 
 nobles, and when these threatened to use force threatened 
 in return. 
 
 As soon as her father had left her side, Gerald, who was 
 immediately behind Inez, whispered in her ear, ^^ Now is 
 the time, Inez. Go with my friend ; I will occupy the old 
 woman. '^ 
 
 " Keep close to me, senora, and pretend that you are 
 ill," Geoffrey said to her, and without hesitation Inez 
 turned and followed him, drawing her mantilla more 
 closely over her face. 
 
 " Let us pass, friends,'" Geoffrey said as he elbowed his 
 way through those standing behind them, ^^ the lady needs 
 air,'' and by vigorous efforts he presently arrived at the 
 outskirts of the crowd, and struck off with his charge in 
 the direction of their lodging. '' Gerald Burke will fol- 
 low us as soon as he can get out,"' he said. ^'Everything 
 is prepared for you, senora, and all arrangements made." 
 
 '' AVho are you, sir ? ''" the girl asked. '•' I do not recall 
 your face, and yet I seem to have seen it before.'" 
 
 ^' I am English, senora, and am a friend of Gerald 
 Burke"s. Wlien in Madrid I was disguised as his servant ; 
 for as an Englishman and a heretic it would have gone 
 hard with me had I been detected." 
 
 There were but few people in the streets through which 
 they passed, the whole population having flocked either to 
 the streets through which the procession was to pass, or ta 
 the cathedral or churches it was to visit on its way. Gerald 
 Lad told Inez at their interview that, although he had 
 made arrangements for carrying her off by force on the 
 journey to or from Seville, he should, if possible, take ad« 
 
220 ^^ Ey GLAND'S AID, 
 
 vantage of the crowd at the function to draw her away 
 from her companions. She had, therefore, put on her 
 thickest lace mantilla, and this now completely covered 
 her face from the view of passers-by. Several times she 
 glanced back.'^ 
 
 " Do not be uneasy about him, senora," Geoffrey said. 
 -•' He will not try to extricate himself from the crowd until 
 vou are discovered to be missing, as to do so would be to 
 attract attention. As soon as your loss is discovered he 
 will make his way out, and will then come on at the top of 
 his speed to the place whither I am conducting you, and I 
 expect that we shall find him at the door awaiting us." 
 
 A quarter of an hours walk took them to the lodging, 
 and Inez gave a little cry of joy as the door was opened to 
 them by Gerald himself. 
 
 *' The people of the house are all out," he said, after 
 their first greeting. ** In that room you will find a peasant 
 girl's dress. Dress yourself as quickly as you can ; wo 
 shall be ready for you in attire to match. You had best 
 do up your own things into a bundle, which I will carry. 
 If they were left here they might, when the news of your 
 being missing gets abroad, afford a clue to the manner of 
 your escape. I will tell you all about the arrangements we 
 have made as we go along." 
 
 ^* Have you arnmged — " and she hesitated. 
 
 '•' Yes, an Irish priest, who is an old friend of mine, will 
 perform the ceremony this evening." 
 
 A few minutes later two seeming peasants and a peasant 
 girl issued out from the lodging. The two men carried 
 stout sticks with bundles slung over them. 
 
 ** Be careful of that bundle," Inez said, '^•'for there are 
 all my jewels in it. After what you had said I concealed 
 them all about me. They are my fortune, you know. 
 Xow, tell me how you got on in the crowd." 
 
 ^•' I first pushed rather roughly against the duenna, and 
 then made the most profuse apologies, saying that it waa 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 221 
 
 Bhameful people should crowd so, and that they ought at 
 once to make way for a lady who was evidently of high 
 rank. This mollified her, and we talked for three or four 
 minutes ; and in the meantime the row in front, caused 
 by your father and the lackeys quarreling with the peo- 
 ple, grew louder and louder. The old lady became much 
 alarmed, and indeed the crowd swayed about so that she 
 clung to my arm. Suddenly she thought of you, and 
 turning round gave a scream when she found you were 
 missing. * What is the matter ? ' I asked anxiously. 
 ' The young lady with me ! She was here but an instant 
 ago!' (She had forgotten you for fully five minutes.) 
 
 * What can have become of her ? ^ 
 
 '^ I suggested that no doubt you were close by, but had 
 got separated from her by the pressure of the crowd. 
 However, she began to squall so loudly that the marquis 
 looked round. He was already in a towering rage, and he 
 asked angrily, ^ What are you making all this noise about ?* 
 and then looking round exclaimed, ' Where is Inez ? * 
 
 * She was here a moment since I ' the old lady exclaimed, 
 ' and now she has got separated from me.' Your father 
 looked in vain among the crowd, and demanded whether 
 any one had seen you. Some one said that a lady wha 
 was fainting had made her way out five minutes before. 
 The marquis used some strong language to the old lady, 
 and then informed Don Philip what had happened, and 
 made his way back out of the crowd with the aid of the 
 lackeys, and is no doubt inquiring for you in all the houses, 
 near ; but, as you may imagine, I did not wait. I fol- 
 lowed close behind them until they were out of the crowd> 
 and then slipped away, and once round the corner took to 
 my heels and made my way back, and got in two or three 
 minutes before you arrived." 
 
 The two young men talked almost continuously during 
 their walk to the village in order to keep up the spirits of 
 Donna Inez, and to prevent her from thinking of the 
 
' ''2 BT ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 stnmgeness oi lier position and the perils that lay before 
 tiiOin before safety could be obtained. Only once she 
 «poke of the future. 
 
 " Is it true, Gerald, that there are always storms and 
 rain in your country, and that you never see the sun, for 
 so some of those who were in the Armada have told me ? " 
 
 " It rains there sometimes, Inez, I am bound to admit ; 
 but it is often fine, and the sun never burns one up as it 
 does here. I promise you you will like it, dear, when you 
 once become accustomed to it." 
 
 " I do not think I shall," she said, shaking her head ; 
 *' I am accustomed to the sun, you know. But I would 
 rather be with you even in such an island as they told me 
 of than in Spain with Don Philip." 
 
 The village seemed absolutely deserted when they arrived 
 there, the whole population having gone over to Seville to 
 take part in the great fete. Father Denis received his fair 
 visitor with the greatest kindness. *' Here, Catherine," 
 he cried to his old servant, '^ here are the visitors I told 
 you I expected. It is well that we have the chambers 
 prepared, and that we killed that capon this morning." 
 
 That evening Gerald Burke and Inez de Ribaldo were 
 married in the little church, Geoffrey Vickars being the 
 only witness. The next morning there was a long con- 
 sultation over their plans. " I could buy you a cart in 
 the village and a pair of oxen, and you could drive to 
 [Malaga." the priest said, '' but there would be a difficulty 
 about changing your disguises after you had entered the 
 town. I think that the boldest plan will be the safest 
 one. I should propose that you should ride as a well-to- 
 do trader to Malaga, with your wife behind you on a 
 pillion, and your friend here as your servant. Lost as 
 your wife was in the crowd at the f^te, it will be a long 
 time before the fact that she has fled will be realized. 
 For a day or two the search will be conducted secretly, 
 and only when the house of every friend whom she might 
 
BT EI^ GLAND'S AID, 2'/rr 
 
 have visited has been searched will the aid of the author^ 
 ities be called in, and the poorer quarters, where she migli^ 
 have been carried by two or three ruffians who may have 
 met her as she emerged in a fainting condition, as is sup- 
 posed, from the crowd, be ransacked. I do not imagine 
 that any search will be made throughout the country 
 round for a week at least, by which time you will have 
 reached Malaga, and, if you have good fortune, be on 
 board a ship." 
 
 This plan was finally agreed to. Gerald and his friend 
 at once went over to Seville and purchased the necessary 
 dresses, together with two strong horses and equipments. 
 It was evening before their return to the village. Instead 
 of entering it at once they rode on a mile further, and 
 fastened the horses up in a wood. Gerald would have left 
 them there alone, but Geoffrey insisted on staying with 
 them for the night. " I care nothing about sleeping in 
 the open air, Gerald, and it would be folly to risk the 
 success of our euterprise upon the chance of no one hap- 
 pening to come through the wood, and finding the animals 
 before you return in the morning. We had a hearty meal 
 at Seville, and I shall do very well until morning." 
 
 Gerald and his wife took leave of the friendly priest at 
 daybreak the next morning, with the hope that they would 
 very shortly meet in Ireland. They left the village before 
 any one was stirring. 
 
 The peasant clothes had been left behind them. Gerald 
 carried two valises, the one containing the garments in 
 which Inez had fled, the other his own attire — Geoffrey 
 having resumed the dress he had formerly worn as his 
 servant. 
 
 On arriving at the wood the party mounted, and at once 
 proceeded on their journey. Four days' travel took them 
 to Malaga, where they arrived without any adventure 
 whatever. Once or twice they met parties of rough-loor- 
 ing men; but traveling as they did without baggage 
 
224 BT ENGLAND ' S AH). 
 
 animals, they did not appear promising subjects for rob« 
 bery, and the determined appearance of master and man, 
 each armed with sword and pistols, deterred the fellows 
 from an attempt which promised more hard knocks than 
 plunder. 
 
 After putting up at an inn in Malaga, Gerald went 
 clown at once to the port to inquire for a vessel bound for 
 Italy. There were three or four such vessels in the har- 
 bor, and he had no difficulty in arranging for a passage to 
 Xaples for himself, his wife, and servant. The vessel was 
 to sail on the following morning, and it was with a deep 
 feeling of satisfaction and relief that they went on board 
 lier, and an hour later were outside the port. 
 
 *' It seems marvelous to me," Gerald said, as he looked 
 back upon the slowly-receding town, '' that I have man- 
 aged to carry off my prize with so little difficulty. I had 
 expected to meet with all sorts of dangers, and had I been 
 the peaceful trader I looked, our journey could not be 
 more uneventful." 
 
 " Perhaps you are beginning to think that the prize is 
 not so very valuable after aU," Inez said, " since you have 
 won it so easily." 
 
 *' I have not begun to think so yet," Gerald laughed 
 happily. *' At any rate I shall wait until I get you home 
 before such ideas begin to occur to me." 
 
 ^' Directly I get to Ireland," Inez said, ^' I shall write 
 to my father and tell him that I am married to you, and 
 thiit I should never have run away had he not insisted on 
 my marrying a man I hated. I shall, of course, beg him 
 to forgive me ; but I fear he never will." 
 
 '' "We must hope that he will, Inez, and that he will ask 
 you to come back to Spain sometimes. I do not care for 
 mv<elf, you know, for as I have told you my estate in 
 Ireland is amply large enough for my wants ; but I shall 
 be glad, for your sake, that you should be reconciled to 
 him. 
 
B r ENGLAND ' S AID, 225 
 
 Inez shook her head. 
 
 *' You do not know my father, Gerald. I would never 
 go back to Spain again — not if he promised to give me his 
 whole fortune. My father never forgives ; and were he to 
 entice me back to Spain, it would be only to shut me up 
 and to obtain a dispensation from Rome annulling th** 
 marriage, which he would have no difiBculty in doing. 
 No, you have got me, and will have to keep me for good. 
 I shall never return to Spain, never. Possibly when my 
 father hears from me he may send me over money to make 
 me think he has forgiven me, and to induce me some day 
 or other to come back to visit him, and so get me into his 
 power again ; but that, Gerald, he shall nevej* do/' 
 15 
 
«o^; ,^T ENGLAND ' 8 AW, 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE SURPIilSE OF BREDA. 
 
 Lionel Vickars had, by the be-riniiing of 1590, come 
 to speak the Dutch hmguage well cind fluently. Includ- 
 ing his first stay in Holland he had now been there eight- 
 een months, and as he was in constant communication 
 with the Dutch officers and with the population, he had 
 constant occasion for speaking Dutch, a language much 
 more akin to English than any other continental tongue, 
 and indeed so closely allied to the dialect of the eastern 
 counties of England, that the fishermen of our eastern 
 jiorts had in those days little difficulty in conversing with 
 the Hollanders. 
 
 He was one day supping with Sir Francis Vere when 
 Prince Maurice and several of his officers were also there. 
 The conversation turned upon the prospects of the campaign 
 of the ensuing spring. Lionel, of course, took no part in 
 it, but listened attentively to what was being said, and was 
 very pleased to find that the period of inactivity was draw- 
 ing to an end, and that their commanders considered that 
 they had now gathered a force of sufficient strength to as- 
 sume the offensive. 
 
 ''I would," Prince Maurice said, ^'that we could gain 
 Breda. The city stands like a great sentinel against every 
 movement towards Flanders, and enables the Spaniards to 
 penetrate at all times towards the heart of our country ; 
 but I fear that it is altogether beyond our means. It is 
 one of the strongest cities in the Xetherlands, and my an- 
 Tjestors, who were its lords, little thought that they were 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 22'/ 
 
 fortifying and strengthening it in order that it might be a 
 thorn in the side of their country. I would give much, 
 indeed, to be able to wrest it from the enemy ; but I fear 
 it will be long before we can even hope for that. It could 
 withstand a regular siege by a well-provided army for 
 months ; and as to surprise, it is out of the question, for 
 
 BREDA 
 
 1590. 
 
 I hear that the utmost vigilance is unceasingly main- 
 tained." 
 
 A few days after this Lionel was talking with Captain 
 de Heraugiere, who had also been at the supper. He had 
 taken part in the defense of Sluys, and was one of the 
 officers with whom Lionel was most intimate. 
 
 *'It would be a rare enterprise to surprise Breda/^ Can- 
 
228 B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 tain de Heraugi^re said ; '' but I fear it is hopeless to think 
 of such a thing." 
 
 '' I do not see why it should he" Lionel said. '' I was 
 reading when I was last at home about our wars with the 
 Scotch, and there were several cases in which very strong 
 places that could not have been carried by assault were 
 captured suddenly by small parties of men who disguised 
 themselves as wagoners, and hiding a score or two of their 
 comrades in a wagon covered with firewood, or sacks of 
 grain, boldly went up to the gates. When there they cut 
 the traces of their horses so that the gates could not be 
 closed, or the portcullis lowered, and then falling upon the 
 guards, kept them at bay until a force, hidden near the 
 gates, ran up and entered the town. I see not why a similar 
 enterprise should not be attempted at Breda." 
 
 ** Xor do I," Captain Heraugi^re said ; " the question 
 is how to set about such a scheme." 
 
 '^ Thiit one could not say without seeing the place," 
 Lionel remarked. " I should say that a plan of this sort 
 could only be successful after those who attempted it had 
 made themselves masters of all particulars of the place and 
 its ways. Everything would depend upon all going 
 smoothly and without hitches of any kind. If you really 
 think of undertaking such an adventure. Captain Herau- 
 giere, I should be very glad to act under you if Sir Francis 
 Vere will give me leave to do so ; but I would suggest that 
 the first step should be for us to go into Breda in disguise. 
 We might take in a wagon-load of grain for sale, or merely 
 carry out on our backs baskets with country produce, or 
 we could row up in a boat with fish." 
 
 '^ The plan is certainly worth thinking of," Captain 
 Heraugiere said. ''I will turn it over in my mind for a 
 day, and will then talk to you again. It would be a grand 
 stroke, and there would be great lionor to be obtained ; 
 but it will not do for me to go to Prince Maurice and lay 
 it before him until we have a plan completely worked out. 
 
B T ENGLAND ' 8 AID. 229 
 
 otlierwise we are more likely to meet with ridicule than 
 praise." 
 
 The following day Captain Heragniere called at Lionel's 
 lodgings. " I have lain awake all night thinking of our 
 scheme," he said, ^'^and havt resolved to carry out at least 
 the first part of it — to enter Sreda and see what are the 
 prospects of success, and the manner in which the matter 
 had best be set about. I propose that we two disguise 
 ourselves as fishermen, and going down to the river be- 
 tween Breda and Willemstad bargain with some fishermen 
 going up to Breda with their catch for the use of their 
 boat. While they are selling the fish we can survey the 
 town and see what is the best method of introducing a 
 force into it. When our plan is completed we will go to 
 Yoorne, whither Prince Maurice starts to-morrow, and lay 
 the matter before him." 
 
 '^ I will gladly go with you to Breda," Lionel said, '^ and, 
 as far as I can, aid you there ; but I think that it would 
 be best that you only should appear in the matter after- 
 wards. I am but a young volun teer, and it would be well 
 that I did not appear at all in the matter, which you had 
 had best make entirely your own. But I hope. Captain 
 Heraugiere, that should the prince decide to adopt any 
 plan you may form, and intrust the matter to you, that 
 you will take me with you in your following." 
 
 " That I will assured^," Captain Heraugiere said, ^^ and 
 will take care that if it should turn out successful your 
 share in the enterprise shall be known." 
 
 '■ When do you think of setting about it ?" Lionel 
 asked. 
 
 "Instantly. My company is at Voorne, and I should 
 return thither with the prince to-day. I will at once go 
 to him and ask for leave to be absent on urgent affairs for 
 a week. Do you go to Sir Francis Vere and ask for a 
 similar time. Do not tell him, if you can help it, the ex- 
 act nature of youi enterprise. But if you cannot obtaia 
 
230 B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 leave otherwise, of course you must do so. I will be back 
 here in two hours^ time. T\'e can then at once get our 
 disguises, and hire a craft to take us to Willemstad.'* 
 
 Lionel at once went across to the quarters of Sir Francis 
 Yere. 
 
 " I have come. Sir Francis, to ask for a week's leave of 
 absence." 
 
 '^ That you can have, Lionel. What, are you going 
 shooting ducks on the frozen meres ? " 
 
 ^''So, Sir Francis. I am going on a little expedition 
 with Captain Heraugiere, who has invited me to accom- 
 pany him. We have an idea in our heads that may per^ 
 haps be altogether useless, but may possibly bear fruit. In 
 the first case we would say nothing about it, in the second 
 we will lay it before you on our return.'' 
 
 ''Very well," Sir Francis said with a smile. ''You 
 showed that you could think at Sluys, and I hope some- 
 thing may come of this idea of yours, whatever it may 
 be." 
 
 At the appointed time Captain Heraugiere returned, 
 having obtained leave of absence from the prince. They 
 at once went out into the town and bought the clothes 
 necessary for their disguise. They returned with these 
 to their lodgings, and having put them on went down to 
 the wharf, where they had no difficulty in bargaining with 
 the master of a small craft to take them to Willemstad, 
 as the Spaniards had no ships whatever on the water be- 
 tween Rotterdam and Bergen-op-Zoom. The boat was to 
 wait three days for them at that town, and to bring them 
 back to Rotterdam. As there was no reason for delay 
 they at once went on board and cast off. The distance 
 was but thirty miles, and just at nightfall they stepped 
 ashore at the town of Willemstad. 
 
 The next morning they had no difficulty in arranging 
 with a fisherman who was going up to Breda with a cargo 
 of fish to take the place of two of his boatmen at the oars. 
 
BY ENGLAND' 8 .ID, 231 
 
 We want to spend a few hours tl^ore/' Captain Heran- 
 giere said, '^ and will give you five crowns if you will 
 leave two of your men here and let us take their places/* 
 '' That is a bargain," the man said at once ; " that is, 
 if you can row, for we shall scarce take the tide up to the 
 town, and must keep on rowing to get there before the ebb 
 begins." 
 
 ** We can row, though perhaps not so well as your own 
 men. You are, I suppose, in the habit of going there, 
 and are knoTVTi to the guards at the port ? They are not 
 likely, I should think; to notice that you haven't got the 
 same crew as usual ? " 
 
 '' There is no fear of that, and if they did I could easily 
 say that two of my men were unable to accompany me to- 
 day, and that I have hired fresh hands in their places." 
 
 Two of the men got out. Captain Heraugiere and 
 Lionel Yickars took their places, and the boat proceeded 
 up the river. The oars were heavy and clumsy, and the 
 new-comers were by no means sorry when, after a row of 
 twelve miles, they neared Breda. 
 
 '' What are the regulations for entering Breda ? " Cap- 
 tain Heraugiere asked as they approached the town. 
 
 "There are no particular regulations," the master of 
 the boat said, '' save that on entering the port the boat is 
 searched to see that it contains nothing but fish. Xone 
 are allowed to enter the gates of the town without giving 
 their names, and satisfying the officer on guard that they 
 have business in the place." 
 
 An officer came on board as the boat ran up alongside 
 the quay and asked a few questions. After assisting in 
 getting the basket of fish on shore Captain Heraugiere and 
 Lionel sauntered away along the quay, leaving the fisher- 
 men to dispose of their catch to the townspeople, who had 
 already begun to bargain for them. 
 
 The"" river Mark flowed through the town, supplying its 
 moats with water. Where it left the town on the western 
 
232 B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 side, was the old castle, with a moat of its own and strong 
 fortified lines. Within was the quay, with an oj^en place 
 called the fish-market leading to the gates of the new 
 castle. There were 600 Spanish infantry in the town and 
 100 in the castle, and 100 cavalry. The governor of Breda, 
 Edward Lanzavecchia, was absent superintending the 
 erection of new fortifications at Gertruydenberg, and in 
 his absence the town was under the command of his son 
 Paolo. 
 
 Great vigilance was exercised. All vessels entering port 
 were strictly examined, and there was a guard-house on 
 the quay. Lying by one of the wharves was a large boat 
 laden with peat, which was being rapidly unloaded, the 
 peat being sold as soon as landed, as fuel was very short in 
 the city. 
 
 *^ It seems tome,*' Lionel said as they stood for a minute 
 looking on, ''that this would be just the thing for us. If 
 we could make an arrangement with the captain of one of 
 these peat-boats we might hide a number of men in the 
 hold and cover them with peat. A place might be buiL 
 large enough, I should think, to hold seventy or eighty 
 men, and yet be room for a quantity of peat to be stowed 
 over them." 
 
 '' A capital idea," Captain Heraugiere said. " Tlie peat 
 comes from above the tovm. We must find out where the 
 barges are loaded, and try to get at one of the captains." 
 
 After a short walk through the town they returned to 
 the boat. The fisherman had already sold out his stock, 
 and was glad at seeing his passengers return earlier than 
 he expected ; but as the guard was standing by he rated 
 them severely for keeping him waiting so long, and with a 
 muttered excuse they took their places in the boat and 
 rowed down the river. 
 
 *' I want you to put us ashore on the left bank as soon 
 as we are out of sight of the town," Captain Heraugiere 
 «aid. ''As it will be heavy work getting your boat back 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 233 
 
 with only two of yon, I will give you a couple of crowns 
 beyond the amount I bargained with you for. 
 
 ^•'That will do well enough/' the man said. ''We 
 have got the tide with us, and can drop down at our 
 leisure." 
 
 As soon as they were landed they made a wide detour to 
 avoid the town, and coming down again upon the river 
 above it, followed its banks for three miles, when they put 
 up at a little inn in the small village of Leur on its bank. 
 They had scarcely sat down to a meal when a man came in 
 and called for supper. The landlord placed another plate 
 at the table near them, and the man at once got into con- 
 versation with them, and they learnt that he was master 
 of a peat-boat that had that morning left Breda empty. ^ 
 
 *'We were in Breda ourselves this morning," Captain 
 Heraugiere said, ''and saw a peat-boat unloading there. 
 There seemed to be a brisk demand for the fuel.*' 
 
 '^ Yes ; it is a good trade at present," the man said. 
 *' There are only six of us who have permits to enter the 
 port, and it is as much as we can do to keep the town sup- 
 plied with fuel ; for, you see, at any moment the river 
 may be frozen up, so the citizens need to keep a good stock 
 in hand. I ought not to grumble, since I reap the benefit 
 of the Spanish regulations ; but all these restrictions on 
 trade come mighty hard upon the people of Breda. It 
 was not so in the old time." 
 
 After supper was over Captain Heraugiere ordered a 
 couple of flasks of spirits, and presently learned from the 
 boatman that his name was Adrian Van de Berg, and that 
 he had been at one time a servant in the household of 
 William of Orange. Little by little Captain Heraugiere 
 felt his way, anu soon found that the boatman was an en- 
 thusiastic patriot. He then confided to him that he him- 
 self was an officer in the State's service, and had come to 
 Breda to ascertain whether there was any possibility of 
 capturing the town by surprise. 
 
234 BY EyGL^yi: '5 aid, 
 
 ""Wehit on a pbn to-day," he :".id, "which prn:r,. 
 a chance of success ; but 't needi the assistauce oi one 
 ready to risk his life." 
 
 " I am ready to risk my life in any enterprise that has a 
 fair chance of success," the boatman said, " but I do not 
 see how I can be of much assistance." 
 
 '' You can be of the greatest assistance if you will, and 
 will render the greatest service to your country if you will 
 join in our plan. What we propose is, that we should con- 
 struct a shelter of boards four feet high in the bottom of 
 your boat, leading from your little cabin aft right up to 
 the bow. In this I calculate we could stow seventy men ; 
 then the peat could be piled over it, and if you entered 
 the port somewliat late in the afternoon you could manage 
 that it was not unladen so as to uncover the roof of our 
 shelter before work ceased for the night. Then we could 
 sally out, overpower the guard on the quay, make for one 
 of the gates, master the guard there, and open it to our 
 friends without." 
 
 " It is a bold plan and a good one," Van de Berg said, 
 *' and I am ready to run my share of the risk with you. 
 I am so well known in Breda that they do not search the 
 cargo very closely when I arrive, and I see no reason why 
 the party hidden below should not escape observation. I 
 will undertake my share of the business if you decide to 
 carry it out. I served the prince for fifteen years, and am 
 ■^eady to serve his son. There are plenty of planks to be 
 obtained at a place three miles above here, and it would 
 not take many hours to construct the false deck. If you 
 send a messenger here giving me two days' notice, it shall 
 be built and the peat stowed on it by the time you ar- 
 rive." 
 
 It was late at night before the conversation was concluded, 
 and the next morning Captain Heraugiere and Lionel 
 started on their return, struck the river some miles below 
 Breda^ obained a passage over the river in a passing bo^t 
 
BY ENGLAND 8 AID, 235 
 
 _-^ In t--e p.fterr.oon, and, sleeping at Willemstad, went 
 c.i Ji^di\\ their boat next morning and returned lo Rotter- 
 <lam. It was arranged that Lionel should say nothing 
 about cheir journey until Captain Heraugiere had opened 
 the subject to Prince Maurice. 
 
 ^'Yc; are back before your time," Sir Francis Vere 
 said when Lionel reported himself for duty. ''Has any- 
 thing come of this project of yours, whatever it may 
 
 be • 
 
 " Vv'e hope so, sir. Captain Heraugiere will make his 
 
 report to Prince Maurice. He is the leader of the party, 
 
 and therefore we thought it best that he should report to 
 
 Prince Maurice, who, if he thinks well of it, will of course 
 
 communicate with you." 
 
 The next day a message arrived frem Yoorne requesting 
 Sir Francis Vere to proceed thither to discuss with the 
 prince a matter of importance. He returned after two 
 days' absence, and presently sent for Lionel. 
 
 ^' This is a rare enterprise that Captain Heraugiere has 
 proposed to the prince," he said, " and promises well for 
 success. It is to be kept a profound secret, and a few only 
 will know aught of it until it is executed. Heraugiere is 
 of course to have command of the party which is to be 
 hidden in the barge, and is to pick out eighty men from 
 the garrisons of Gorcum and Lowesteyn. He has begged 
 that you shall be of the party, as he says that the whole 
 matter was in the first cfise suggested to him by yon. The 
 rest of the men and ofificers will be Dutch." 
 
 A fortnight later, on the 22d of February, Sir Francis 
 Vere on his return from the Hague, where Prince Maurice 
 now was, told Lionel that all was arranged. The message 
 had come down from Van de Berg that the hiding-place 
 was constructed. They were to join Heraugiere the next 
 dav. 
 
 On the 24th of February the little party started. Herau- 
 giere had chosen young, active, and daring men. With, 
 
236 J3T ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 him were Captains Logier and Fervet, and Lieutenant 
 Held. They embarked on board a vessel, and were landed 
 near the mouth of the Mark, as De Berg was this time 
 going to carry the peat up the river instead of down, fear- 
 ing that the passage of seventy men through the country 
 would attract attention. The same night Prince Maurice, 
 Sir Francis Vere, Count Hohenlohe, and other officers 
 sailed to Willemstad, their destination having been kept 
 a strict secret from all but those engaged in the enterprise. 
 Six hundred English troops, eight hundred Dutch, and 
 three hundred cavalry had been drawn from different gar- 
 risons, and were also to land at Willemstad. 
 
 When Heraugicre's party arrived at the point agreed on 
 at eleven o'clock at night. Van de Berg was not there, nor 
 was the barge ; and angry and alarmed at his absence they 
 searched about for him for hours, and at last found him 
 in the village of Terheyde. He made the excuse that he 
 had overslept himself, and that he was afraid the plot had 
 been discovered. As everything depended upon his co- 
 operation, Heraugiere abstained from the angry reproaches 
 which the strange conduct of the man had excited ; and as 
 it was now too late to do anything that night, a meeting 
 was arranged for the following evening, and a message 
 was despatched to the prince telling him that the expedi- 
 tion was postponed for a day. On their return, the men 
 all gave free vent to their indignation. 
 
 ^'I have no doubt," Heraugiere said, ^'that the fellow 
 has turned coward now that the time has come to face the 
 danger. It is one thing to talk about a matter as long as 
 it is far distant, but another to look it in the face when 
 is is close at hand. I do not believe that he will come to- 
 morrow." 
 
 ''If he does not he will deserve hanging," Captain 
 Logier said ; " after all the trouble he has given in getting 
 the troops together, and after bringing the prince himself 
 over." 
 
B T ENGL Ay D ' S AID. -237 
 
 ''It will go very near hanging if not quite," Herangiere 
 muttered. '' If he thinks that he is going to fool us with 
 impunity, he is mightily mistaken. If he is a wise man he 
 will start at daybreak, and get as far away as he can be- 
 fore nightfall if he does not mean to come.^' 
 
 The next day the party remained in hiding in a barn, 
 and in the evening again went down to the river. There 
 was a barge lying there laden high with tarf. A general 
 exclamation of satisfaction broke from all when they saw 
 it. There were two men on it. One landed and came to 
 meet them. 
 
 ''Where is Van de Berg?" Captain Heraugiere asked 
 as he came up. 
 
 '' He is ill and unable to come, but has sent you this 
 letter. My brother and myself have undertaken the busi- 
 ness." 
 
 The letter merely said that the writer was too ill to 
 come, but had sent in his place his two nephews, one or 
 other of whom always accompanied him, and who could 
 be trusted thoroughly to carry out the plan. The party 
 at once went on board the vessel, descended into the little 
 cabin aft, and then passed through a hole made by the re- 
 moval of two planks into the hold that had been prepared 
 for them. Heraugiere remained on deck, and from time 
 to time descended to inform those below of the progress 
 being made. It was slow indeed, for. a strong wind laden 
 with sleet blew directly down the river. Huge blocks of 
 ice floated down, and the two boatmen with their poles had 
 the greatest difficulty in keeping the boat^s head up the 
 stream. 
 
 At last the wind so increased that navigation became 
 impossible, and the barge was made fast against the bank. 
 From Monday night until Thursday morning the gale con- 
 tinued. Progress was impossible, and the party cramped 
 up in the hold suffered greatly from hunger and thirst. 
 On Thursday evening they could sustain it no longer and 
 
238 ^ r ENGLAND ' 5 AID. 
 
 landed. They were for a time scarce able to waik, sc 
 cramped were their limbs by their long confinement, and 
 made their way up painfully to a fortified building called 
 Kordand, standing far from any other habitations. Here 
 they obtained food and drink, and remained until at eleven 
 at night one of the boatmen came to them with news that 
 the wind had changed, and was now blowing in from the 
 sea. They again took their places on board, but the water 
 was low in the river, and it was difficult work passing the 
 shallows, and it was not until Saturday afternoon that they 
 passed the boom below the town and entered the inner 
 harbor. 
 
 An officer of the guard came off in a boat and boarded 
 the barge. The weather was so bitterly cold that he at 
 once went into the little cabin and there chatted with the 
 two boatmen. Those in the hold could hear every word 
 that waa said, and they almost held their breath, for the 
 slightest noise would betray them. After a while the 
 officer got into his boat again, saying he would send some 
 men off to warp the vessel into the castle dock, as the fuel 
 was required by the garrison there. As the barge was 
 making its way towards the water-gate, it struck upon a 
 hidden obstruction in the river and began to leak rapidlv. 
 The situation of those in the hold was now terrible, for h\ 
 a few minutes the water rose to their knees, and the choice 
 seemed to be presented to them of being drowned like rats 
 there, or leaping overboard, in which case they would be 
 captured and hung without mercy. The boatmen plied 
 the pumps vigorously, and in a short time a party of Italian 
 soldiers arrived from the shore and towed the vessel into 
 the inner harbor, and made her fast close to the guard- 
 house ot the castle. A party of laborers at once came on 
 board and began to unload the turf ; the need of fuel both 
 in the town and castle being great, for the weather had 
 been for some time bitterly cold. 
 
 A fresh danger now arose. The sudden immersion in 
 
3 Y ENGLAND ' 8 AID, 239 
 
 the icy water in the close cabin brought on a sndden in- 
 clination to sneeze and cough. Lieutenant Held, finding 
 himself unable to repress his cough, handed his dagger to 
 Lionel Vickars, who happened to be sitting next to him, 
 and implored him to stab him to the heart lest his cough 
 might betray the whole party ; but one of the boatmen 
 who was standing close to the cabin heard the sounds, and 
 bade his companion go on pumping with as much noise 
 and clatter as possible, while he himself did the same, 
 telling those standing on the wharf alongside that the 
 boat was almost full of water. The boatmen behaved with 
 admirable calmness and coolness, exchanging jokes with 
 acquaintances on the quay, keeping up a lively talk, ask- 
 ing high prices for their peat, and engaging in long and 
 animated bargains so as to prevent the turf from being 
 taken too rapidly ashore. 
 
 At last, when but a few layers of turf remained over the 
 roof of the hold, the elder brother told the men unload- 
 ing that it was getting too dark, and he himself was too 
 tired and worn out to attend to things any longer. He 
 therefore gave the men some money and told them to go 
 to the nearest public-house to drink his health, and to re- 
 turn the first thing in the morning to finish unloading. 
 The younger of the two brothers had already left the boat. 
 II made his way through the town, and started at full 
 speed to carry the news to Prince Maurice that the barge 
 had arrived safely in the town, and the attempt would be 
 made at midnight ; also of the fact they had learned from 
 fiiose on the wharf, that the governor had heard a rumor 
 that a force had landed somewhere on the coast, and had 
 gone off again to Gertruydenberg in all haste, believing 
 that some design was on foot against that town. His son 
 Paolo was again in command of the garrison. 
 
 A little before midnight Captain Heraugiere told his 
 comrades that the hour had arrived, and that only by the 
 most desperate bravery could they hope to succeed, whilft 
 
240 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 death was the certain consequence of failure. The bana 
 were divided into two companies. He himself with one 
 was to attack the main guard-house ; the other, under 
 Fervet, was to seize the arsenal of the fortress. Noise- 
 lessly they stole out from their hiding-place, and formed 
 upon the wharf within the inclosure of the castle. Her- 
 augiere moved straight upon the guard-house. The sentry 
 was secured instantly ; but the sliglit noise was heard, and 
 the captain of the watch ran out but was instantly cut 
 down. 
 
 Others came out with torches, but after a brief fight 
 were driven into the guard-house ; when all were shot 
 down through the doors and windows. Captain Fervet 
 and his band had done equally well. The magazine of tiie 
 castle was seized, and its defenders slain. Paolo Lanza- 
 vecchia made a sally from the palace with a few of his ad- 
 herents, but was wounded and driven back ; and the rest 
 of the garrison of tlie castle, ignorant of the strength of 
 the force that had thus risen as it were from the earth upon 
 them, fled panic-stricken, not even pausing to destroy the 
 bridge between the castle and the town. 
 
 Young Paolo Lanzavecchia now began a parley with tlie 
 assailants ; but while the negotiations were going on 
 Hohenlohe with his cavalry came up — having been ap- 
 prised by the boatman that the attempt was about to be 
 made — battered down the palisade near the water-gate 
 and entered the castle. A short time afterwards Prince 
 Maurice, Sir Francis Vere, and other officers arrived with 
 the main body of the troops. But the fight was over be- 
 fore even Hohenlohe arrived ; forty of the garrison being 
 killed, and not a single man of the seventy assailants. 
 The burgomaster, finding that the castle had fallen, and 
 that a strong force had arrived, then sent a trumpeter to 
 the castle to arrange for the capitulation of the town, 
 which was settled on the following terms : — All plunder- 
 ing was commuted for the payment of two months' pay to 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. -641 
 
 every soldier engaged in the affair. All who chose might 
 leave the city, with full protection to life and property. 
 Those who were willing to remain were not to be molested 
 in their conscience or households with regard to re- 
 ligion. 
 
 The news of the capture of Breda was received with im- 
 mense enthusiasm throughout Holland. It was the first 
 offensive operation that had been successfully undertaken, 
 and gave new hopes to the patriots. 
 
 Parma was furious at the cowardice with which five 
 companies of foot and one of horse — all picked troops — 
 had fled before the attack of seventy Hollanders. Three 
 captains were publicly beheaded in Brussels and a fourth 
 degraded to the ranks, while Lanzavecchia was deprived 
 of the command of Gertruydenberg. 
 
 For some months before the assault upon Breda the 
 army of Holland had been gaining vastly in strength and 
 organization. Prince Maurice, aided by his cousin Lewis 
 wTlliam, stadholder of Friesland, had been hard at work 
 getting it into a state of efficiency. Lewis William, a man 
 of great energy and military talent, saw that the use of 
 solid masses of men in the field was no longer fitted to a 
 state of things when the improvements in firearms of all 
 sorts had entirely changed the condition of war. He 
 therefore reverted to the old Roman methods, and drilled 
 his soldiers in small bodies ; teaching them to turn and 
 wheel, advance or retreat, and perform all sorts of man- 
 euvers with regularity and order. Prince Maurice adopted 
 the same plan in Holland, and the tactics so introduced 
 proved so efficient that they were sooner or later adopted 
 by all civilized nations. 
 
 ' At the time when William of Orange tried to relieve the 
 hard-pressed city of Haarlem, he could with the greatest diffi- 
 culty muster three or four thousand men for the purpose. 
 The army of the Netherlands was now 22.000 strong, of 
 whom 2,000 were cavalry. It was well disciplined, well 
 i6 
 
242 B Y ENGLAND *S AID, 
 
 equipped, and regularly paid, and was soon to prove that tne 
 pains bestowed upon it had not been thrown away. In the 
 course of the eighteen years that had iollowed the capture 
 of Brill and the commencement of the struggle with Spain, 
 the wealth and prosperity of Holland had enormously in- 
 creased. The Dutch were masters of the sea-coast, the 
 ships of the Zeelanders closed every avenue to the interior, 
 and while the commerce of Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and 
 the other cities of the provinces that remained in the 
 hands of the Spaniards was for the time destroyed, and 
 their population fell off by a half, Holland benelited in 
 proportion. 
 
 From all the Spanish provinces men of energy and 
 wealth passed over in immense numbers to Holland, where 
 they could pursue their commerce and industries — free 
 from the exactions and cruelty under which they had for 
 so many years groaned. The result was that the cities of 
 Holland increased vastly in wealth and population, and 
 the resources at the disposal of Prince Maurice enormously 
 exceeded those with which his father had for so many 
 years sustained the struggle. 
 
 For a while after the capture of Breda there was breath- 
 ing time in Holland, and Maurice was busy in increasing 
 and improving his army. Parma was fettered by the im- 
 perious commands of Philip, who had completely crippled 
 him by withdrawing a considerable number of his troops 
 for service in the war which he was waging with France. 
 But above all, the destruction of the Armada, and with 
 it of the naval supremacy of Spain, had changed the 
 situation. 
 
 Holland was free to carry on her enterprises by sea, and 
 had free communication and commerce with her English 
 ally, while communication between Spain and the Xether- 
 lands was difficult. Reinforcements could no longer be 
 sent by sea, and had to be sent across Europe from Italy. 
 Parma was worn out by exertions, disappointment, ar^ 
 
TtT ENGLAND S AlO, ^4t> 
 
 c-nnoyance, tiiid his health was seriously failing ; while op- 
 posed to him were three young commanders — Maurice, 
 Lewis "William, and Francis Yere — all men of military 
 genius and full oi con£dence aud energy. 
 
244 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A SLAVE IN BARBART. 
 
 The Tarifa had left port but a few hours when a strong 
 "wind rose from the north, and rapidly increased in violence 
 until it was blowing a gale. 
 
 *' Inez is terribly ill," Gerald said when he met Geoffrey 
 on deck the following morning. '' I believe at the present 
 moment she would face her father and risk everything if 
 she could but be put on shore." 
 
 *^I can well imagine that. Howeyer, she will tliink 
 otherwise to-morrow or next day. I believe these Mediter- 
 ranean storms do not last long. There is no fear of six 
 weeks of bad weather such as we had when we were last 
 afloat together." 
 
 " Xo. I have just been speaking to the captain. He 
 says they generally blow themselves out in two or three 
 days ; but still, even that is not a pleasant look-out. These 
 vessels are not like your English craft, which seem to be 
 able to sail almost in the eye of the wind. They are lub- 
 berly craft, and badly handled ; and if this gale lasts for 
 three days we shall be down on the Barbary coast, iind I 
 would rather risk another journey through Spain tiuai get 
 down so near the country of the Moors." 
 
 " I can understand that," Geoffrey agreed. " However, 
 I see there are some thirty soldiers forward on their way 
 to join one of the regiments in Naples, so we ought to be 
 able to beat off any corsair that might come near us." 
 
 '' Yes ; but if we got down on their coast we might be 
 attacked by half a dozen of them," Gerald said. *' How- 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 245 
 
 ever, one need not begin to worry one's self at present ; 
 the gale may abate within a few hours." 
 
 At the end of the second day the wind went down sud- 
 denly ; and through the night the vessel rolled heavily, for 
 the sea was still high, and there was not a breath of wind 
 to fill her sails and steady her. By the morning the sea 
 had gone down, but there was still an absence of wind. 
 
 " We have had a horrible night,'' Gerald remarked, '^ but 
 we may think ourselves fortunate indeed," and he pointed 
 to the south, where the land was plainly visible at a dis- 
 tance of nine or ten miles. '' If the gale had continued 
 to blow until now we should have been on shore long be- 
 fore this." 
 
 " We are too near to be pleasant," Geoffrey said, '•' for 
 they can see us as plainly as we can see the land. It is to 
 be hoped that a breeze may spring up from the south be- 
 fore long and enable us to creep off the land. Unless I 
 am greatly mistaken I can see the masts of some craft or 
 other in a line with those white houses over there." 
 
 '^'I don't see them," Gerald replied, gazing intently in 
 the direction in which Geoffrey pointed. 
 
 " Let us go up to the top, Gerald ; we shall see her hull 
 from there plainly enough." 
 
 On reaching the top Gerald s?w at once that his friend's 
 eyes had not deceived him. 
 
 " Yes, there is a vessel there sure enough, Geoffrey. I 
 cannot see whether she has one or two masts, for her head 
 IS in this direction." 
 
 ^' This is not the worst of it," Geoffrey said, shading his 
 eyes and gazing intently on the distant object. *'She is 
 rowing ; I can see the light flash on her oars every stroke. 
 That is a Moorish gallev, and she is coming out towards 
 us." 
 
 '' I believe you are right," Gerald replied after gazing 
 earnestly for some time. *^ Yes, I saw the flash of the 
 oars then distinctly." 
 
^:3 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 They at once descended to the deck and informed tha 
 captain of what they had seen. He hastily mounted to 
 the top. 
 
 " There is no mistake about it/' he said after looking 
 in1;ently for a short time ; *^ it is one of the Barbary cor- 
 sairs, and she is making out towards us. The holy saints 
 preserve us from these bloodthirsty infidels." 
 
 " Tlie saints will do their work if we do ours," Gerald 
 remarked ; *' and we had best do as large a share as possible. 
 What is the number of your crew, captain ? " 
 
 '^Nineteen men altogether." 
 
 ^' And there are thirty soldiers, and six male passengers 
 in the cabin," Gerald said ; " so we muster fifty-four. 
 That ought to be enough to beat off the corsair." 
 
 On returning to the deck the captain informed the officer 
 in charge of the troops on board that a Moorish pirate was 
 putting off towards them, and that unless the wind came 
 to their aid there was no chance of escaping a conflict with 
 her. 
 
 ** Then we must fight her, captain," the officer, who was 
 still a youth, said cheerfully. " I have thirty men, of whom 
 at least half are veterans. You have four cannon on board, 
 and there are the crew and passengers." 
 
 '' Fifty-four in all," Gerald said. '' We ought to be able 
 to make a good fight of it." 
 
 Orders were at once given, soldiers and crew were mus- 
 tered and informed of the approaching danger. 
 
 " We have got to fight, men, and to fight hard," the 
 young officer said ; "'for if we are beaten you know the 
 result— either our throats will be cut or we shall have to 
 row in their galleys for the rest of our lives. So there is 
 not much choice." 
 
 In an hour the corsair was half-way between the coast 
 and the vessel. By this time every preparation had been 
 made for her reception. Arms had been distributed among 
 the crew and such of the passengers as were not already 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID, 247 
 
 provided, the gnns had been cast loose and ammunition 
 brought up, caldrons of pitch were ranged along the bul- 
 warks and fires lighted on slabs of stone placed beneath 
 them. The coppers in the galley were already boiling. 
 
 ** Now, captain/' the young officer said, '' do you and 
 your sailors work the guns and ladle out the pitch and 
 boiling water, and be in readiness to catch up their pikes 
 and axes and aid in the defense if the villains gain a foot- 
 ing on the deck. I and my men and the passengers will do 
 our best to keep them from climbing up." 
 
 The vessel was provided with sweeps, and the captain 
 had in the first place proposed to man them ; but Gerald 
 pointed out that the corsair would row three feet to their 
 one, and that it was important that all should be fresh 
 and vigorous when the pirates came alongside. The idea 
 had consequently been abandoned, and the vessel lay 
 motionless in the water while the corsair was approach- 
 ing. 
 
 Inez, who felt better now that the motion had subsided, 
 came on deck as the preparations were being made. Ger- 
 ald told her of the danger that was approaching. She 
 turned pale. 
 
 " This is dreadful, Gerald. I would rather face death 
 a thousand times than be captured by the Moors. ''^ 
 
 ^'Vi'e shall beat them off, dear, never fear. They will 
 not reckon upon the soldiers we have on board, and will 
 expect an easy prize. I do not suppose that, apart from 
 the galley slaves, they have more men on board than we 
 have, and fighting as we do for liberty, each of us ought 
 to be equal to a couple of these Moorish dogs. When the 
 conflict begins you must go below." 
 
 "I shall not do that," Inez said firmly. ''We will share 
 the same fate whatever it may be, Gerald ; and remember 
 that whatever happens I will not live to be carried captive 
 among them. I will stab mvself to the heart if I see that 
 aU is lost." 
 
248 B Y ENGLAND ' 5 AID, 
 
 " You shall come on deck if you will, Inez, when they 
 get close alongside. I do not suppose there will be many 
 shots fired — they will be in too great a hurry to board ; but 
 as long as they are shooting you must keep below. After 
 that come up if you will. It would made me a coward of 
 me did I know that a chance shot might strike you." 
 
 *' Very well, then, Gerald, to please you I will s^o down 
 until they come alongside, then come what will 1 shall be 
 on deck." 
 
 As tlie general opinion on board was that the corsairs 
 would not greatly outnumber them, while they would be 
 at a great disadvantage from the lowness of their vessel in 
 the water, there was a general feeling of confidence, and 
 the approach of the enemy was watched with calmness. 
 When half a mile distant two puffs of smoke burst out from 
 the corsair's bows. A moment later a shot struck the 
 ship, and another threw up the water close to her stern. 
 The four guns of the Tarifa had been brought over to the 
 side on which the enemy was approaching, and these were 
 now discharged. One of the shots carried away some oars on 
 the starboard side of the galley, another struck her in the 
 bow. There was a slight confusion on board ; two or 
 three o..rs were shifted over from the port to the starboard 
 side, and she continued her way. 
 
 The guns were loaded again, bags of bullets being this 
 time inserted instead of balls. The corsairs fired once more, 
 but their shots were unanswered : and with wild yolls and 
 shouts they approached the motionless Spanish vesiel. 
 
 '•She is crowded with men," Gerald remarked to Geof- 
 fery. '' She has far more on board than we reckoned on." 
 
 *' We have not given them a close volley yet," Geoffrey 
 replied. *'If the guns are well aimed they will make 
 matters equal." 
 
 The corsair was little more than her own length away 
 when the captain gave the order, and the four guns poured 
 their contents upon her crowded decks. The effect was 
 

 Geoffrey falls into the Hands of the Corsairs.— Page 249- 
 Eng.Aid.] 
 
B T ENGLAND 'S AID. 049 
 
 terrible. The mass of men gathered in her bow in readi- 
 ness to board as soon as she touched the Tarifa were liter- 
 ally swept away. Another half minute she was alongside 
 the Spaniard, and the Moors with wild shouts of vengeance 
 tried to clamber on board. 
 
 But they had not reckoned upon meeting with more 
 than the ordinary crew of a merchant ship. The soldiers 
 discharged their arquebuses, and then with pike and sword 
 opposed an impenetrable barrier to the assailants, while 
 the sailors from behind ladled over the boiling pitch and 
 water through intervals purposely left in the line of the 
 defenders. The conflict lasted but a few minutes. Well- 
 nigh half the Moors had been swept away by the discharge 
 of the cannon, and the rest, but little superior in numbers 
 to +he Spaniards, were not long before they lost heart, 
 t e.x efiorts relaxed, and shouts arose to the galley-slaves 
 to r w astern. 
 
 " Xow, it is our turn I " the young officer cried. '^ Fol- 
 low me, my men ; we will teach the dogs a lesson." As he 
 spo e he sprang from the bulwark down upon the deck of 
 the corsair. 
 
 Geoffrey, who was standing next to him, followed his 
 example, as did five or six soldiers. They were instantly 
 engaged in a hand-to-hand fight with the Moors. In the 
 din and confusion they heard not the shouts of their com- 
 rades. After a minute^s fierce fighting, Geoffrey, finding 
 that he and his companions were being pressed back, 
 glanced round to see why support did not arrive, and saw 
 that there were already thirty feet of water between the 
 two vessels. He was about to spring overboard, when the 
 Moors made a desperate rush, his guard wr.s beaten down, 
 a blow from a Moorish scimitar fell on his head, and he 
 lost consciousness. 
 
 It was a long time before he recovered. The first sound 
 he was aware of was the creaking of the oars. " He lay 
 dreamily listening to this, and wondering what it meant. 
 
250 BY ENGLAyD'S AID. 
 
 nnf-il the truth suddenly flashed across him. He opened 
 his tyes and looked round. A heavy weight lay across his 
 legs, and he saw the young Spanish officer lying dead there. 
 Several other Spaniards lay close by, while the deck was 
 fitrewn with the corpses of the Moors. He understood at 
 once what had happened. The vessels had drifted apart 
 just as he sprang on board, cutting off those wlio had 
 boarded the corsair from all assistance from their friends, 
 and as soon as they had been overpowered the galley had 
 started on her return to the port from which she had come 
 out. 
 
 -'At any rate," he said to himself, *^' Gerald and Inez 
 are safe ; that is a comfort, whatever comes of it." 
 
 It was not until the corsair dropped anchor near the 
 shore that the dispirited Moors paid any attention to those 
 by whom their deck was cumbered. Then the Spaniards 
 were first examined. Four, who were dead, were at once 
 tossed overboard. Geoffrey and two others who showed 
 signs of life were left for the present, a bucket of water be- 
 ing thrown over each to revive them. The Moorish 
 wounded and the dead were then lowered into boats and 
 taken on shore for care or burial. Then Geoffrey and the 
 two Spaniards were ordered to rise. 
 
 All three were able to do so with some difficulty, and 
 were rowed ashore. They were received when they landed 
 by the curses and execrations of the people of the little 
 town, who would have torn them to pieces had not their 
 captors marched them to the prison occupied by the galley- 
 slaves when on shore, and left them there. Most of the 
 galley-slaves were far too exhausted by their long row, and 
 too indifferent to aught but their own sufferings, to pay any 
 attention to the new-comers. Two or three, however, 
 came up to them and offered to assist in bandaging their 
 wounds. Their doublets had already been taken by their 
 captors ; but they now tore strips off their shirts, and with 
 these staunched the bleeding of their wounds. 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 251 
 
 'at was lucky for you that five or six of onr number 
 were killed by that discharge of grape you gave us/'' one 
 of them said/'' or they would have thrown you overboard 
 at once. Although, after all, death is almost preferable 
 to such a life as ours.'' 
 
 " How long have you been here ? " Geoffrey asked. 
 
 " I hardly know/'* the other replied ; ''one almost loses 
 count of time here. But it is somewhere about ten yeai*s, 
 I am sturdy, you see. Three years at most is the average 
 of our life in'the galleys, though there are plenty die be- 
 fore as many months have passed. I come of a hardy race. 
 I am not a Spaniard. I was captured in an attack on a 
 town in the West Indies, and had three years on board one 
 of your galleys at Cadiz. Then she was captured by the 
 Moors, and here I have been ever since." 
 
 * ' Then you must be an Englishman I " Geoffrey ex- 
 claimed in that language. 
 
 The man stared at him stupidly for a minute, and then 
 burst into tears. " I have never thought to hear my own 
 tongue again, lad," he said, holding out his hand. " Aye, 
 I am English, and was one of Hawkins' men. But how 
 come you to be in a Spanish ship ? I have heard our 
 masters say, when talking together, that there is war now 
 between the English and Spaniards ; that is, war at home. 
 There has always been war out on the Spanish Main, but 
 they know nothing of that." 
 
 " I was made prisoner in a fight we had with the great 
 Spanish Armada off Gravelines," Geoffrey said. 
 
 " We heard a year ago from some Spaniards they cap- 
 tured that a great fleet was being prepared to conquer Eng- 
 land ; but no news has come to us since. We are the only 
 galley here, and as our benches were full, the prisoners 
 they have taken since were sent off at once to Algiers or 
 other ports, so we have heard nothing. But I told the 
 Spaniards that if Drake and Hawkins were in England 
 when their great fleet got there, they were not likely to 
 
252 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 have it all their own way. Tell me all about it, lad. You 
 do not know how hungry I am for news from home." 
 
 Geoft'rey related to the sailor the tale of the overthrow 
 and destruction of the Armada, which threw him into an 
 ecstasy of satisfaction. 
 
 ** These fellows," he said, pointing to the other galley- 
 feJaves, '' have for the last year been telling me that I need 
 not call myself an Englishman any more, for that England 
 was only a part of Spain now. I will open their eyes a bit 
 in the morning. But I won't ask you any more questions 
 now ; it is a shame to have made you talk so much after 
 Buch a clip as you have had on the head." 
 
 Geoffrey turned round on the sand that formed their 
 only bed, and was soon asleep, the last sound he heard be- 
 ing the chuckling of his companion over the discomfiture 
 of the Armada. 
 
 In the morning the guard came in with a great dish 
 filled with a sort of porridge of coarsely-ground grain, 
 boiled with water. In a corner of the yard were a number 
 of calabashes, each composed of half a gourd. The slaves 
 each dipped one of these into the vessel, and so eat their 
 breakfast. Before beginning Geoffrey went to a trough, 
 into which a jet of water was constantly falling from a 
 small pipe, bathed his head and face, and took a long 
 drink. 
 
 " We may be thankful," the sailor, who had already told 
 him that his name was Stephen Boldero, said, '' that some- 
 one in the old times laid on that water. If it had not been 
 for that I do not know what we should have done, and a 
 drink of muddy stuff once or twice a day is all we should 
 have got. That there pure water is just the saving of us." 
 
 ^^What are we gomg to do now?" Geoffrey asked. 
 " Does the galley go out every day ?" 
 
 " Bless you, no ; sometimes not once a month ; only 
 when a sail is made out in sight, and the wind is light 
 enough to give us the chance of capturing her. Sometimes 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 253 
 
 we go out on a cruise for a month at a time ; but that is 
 not often. At other times we do the work of the town, 
 mend the roads, sweep up the filth, repair the quays ; do 
 anything, in fact, that wants doing. The work, except in 
 the galleys, is not above a man's strength. Some men die 
 under it, because the Spaniards lose heart and turn sullen, 
 and then down comes the whip on their backs, and they 
 break their hearts over it : but a man as does his best, and 
 is cheerful and willing, gets on well enough except in the 
 galleys. 
 
 '' That is work : that is. There is a chap walks up and 
 down with a whip, and when they are chasing he lets it 
 fall promiscuous, and even if you are rowing fit to kill 
 yourself you do not escape it, but on shore here if you keep 
 up your spirits things ain't altogether so bad. Now I have 
 got you here to talk to in my own lingo I feel quite a dif- 
 ferent man. For although I have been here ten years, and 
 can jabber in Spanish, I have never got on with these fel- 
 lows ; as is only natural, seeing that I am an Englishman 
 and know all about their doings in the Spanish Main, and 
 hate them worse than poison. Well, our time is up, so I 
 am off. I do not expect they will make you work till your 
 wounds are healed a bit.'' 
 
 This supposition turned out correct, and for the next 
 week Geoffrey was allowed to remain quietly in the yard 
 when the gang went out to their work. At the end of that 
 time his wound had closed, and being heartily sick of the 
 monotony of his life, he voluntarily fell in by the side of 
 Boldero when the gang was called to work. The overseer 
 was apparently pleased at this evidence of willingness on 
 the part of the young captive, and said something to him 
 in his own tongue. This his companion translated as 
 being an order that he was not to work too hard for the 
 present. 
 
 '' I am bound to say, mate, that these Moors are, as a 
 rule, much better masters than the Spaniards. 1 have 
 
2&4 B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 tried them both, and I would rather be in a Moorish galley 
 than a Spanish one by a long way, except just when they 
 are chasing a ship, and are half wild with excitement. 
 These Moors are not half bad fellows, while it don't seem 
 to me that a Spaniard has got a heart in him. Then again, 
 I do not think they are quite so hard on Englishmen as 
 they are on Spaniards ; for they hate the Spaniards because 
 they drove them out of their country. Once or twice 1 
 have had a talk with the overseer when he has been in a 
 special good humor, and he knows we hate the Spaniards 
 as much as they do, and that though they call us all 
 Christian dogs, our Christianity ain't a bit like that of the 
 Spaniards. I shall let him know the first chance I have 
 that you are English too, and I shall ask him to let you 
 always work by the side of me." , 
 
 As Stephen Boldero had foretold, Geoffrey did not find 
 his work on shore oppressively hard. lie did his best, and 
 as he and his companion always performed a far larger 
 share of work than that done by any two of the Spaniards, 
 they gained the good will of their overlooker, who, when a 
 fortnight later the principal bey of the place sent down a 
 request for two slaves to do some rough work in his garden, 
 selected them for the work. 
 
 *^^Now we will just buckle to, lad," Stephen Boldero 
 said. ^^This bey is the captain of the corsair, and he can 
 make things a deal easier for us if he chooses ; so we will 
 not spare ourselves. He had one of the men up there two 
 years ago, and kept him for some months, and the fellow 
 found it so hard when he came back here again that he 
 pined and died off in no time." 
 
 A guard took them to the be/s house, which stood on 
 high ground behind the town. The bey came out to 
 examine the men chosen for his work. 
 
 '' I hear," he said, " that you are both English, and hate 
 the Spaniards as much as we do. Well, if I find you work 
 -ni\^ yon will be well treated ; if not, you will J^e sent back 
 
BY ENGLAND 'S AID, 255 
 
 at once. Now, come with me, and I shall show yon what 
 you have to do." 
 
 The high wall at the back of the garden had been pulled 
 down, and the bey intended to enlarge the inclosure con- 
 siderably. 
 
 "You are first/' he said, " to dig a foundation for the 
 new wall along that line marked out by stakes. AVhen 
 that is done you will supply the masons with stone and 
 mortar. When the wall is finished the new ground will 
 all have to be dug deeply and planted with shrubs, under 
 the superintendence of my gardener. While you are work- 
 ing here you will not return to the prison, but ,vill sleep 
 in that out-house in the garden. ''' 
 
 '^ You shall have no reason to complain of oui work," 
 Boldero said. ^MVe Englishmen are no sluggards, and we 
 do not want a man always looking after us as those lazy 
 Spaniards do." 
 
 As soon as they were supplied with tools Geoffrey and 
 his companion set to work. The trench for the founda- 
 tions had to be dug three feet deep ; and though the sun 
 blazed fiercely down upon them, they worked unflinch- 
 ingly. From time to time the bey's head servant came 
 down to examine their progress, and occasionally watched 
 them from among the trees. At noon he bade them lay 
 aside their tools and come into the shed, and a slave boy 
 brought them out a large dish of vegetables, with small 
 pieces of meat in it. 
 
 " This is something like food," Stephen said as he sat 
 do^vn to it. ^^ It is ten years since such a mess as this has 
 passed my lips. I do not wonder that chap fell ill when 
 he got back to prison if this is he sort of way thev fed him 
 here." 
 
 That evening the ^loorish overseer reported to the bey 
 that the two slaves had done in the course of the day as 
 much work as six of the best native laborers could have 
 performed, and that without his standing over them or 
 
256 BT ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 paying them any attention whatever. Moved by the re- 
 port, the bey himself went down to the end of the garden. 
 
 " It is wonderful/' he said, stroking his beard. '* Truly 
 these Englishmen are men of sinews. Never have I seen 
 so much work done by two men in a day. Take care of 
 them, Mahmoud, and see that they are well fed ; the will- 
 ing servant should be well cared for." 
 
 The work went steadily on until the wall was raised, the 
 ground dug, and the shrubs planted. It was some months 
 before all this was done, and the two slaves continued to 
 attract the observation and good-will of the bey by their 
 steady and cheerful labor. Their work began soon after 
 sunrise, and continued until noon. Then they had three 
 hours to themselves to eat their midday meal and dose in 
 the shed, and then worked again until suns:!^. The bey 
 often strolled down to the edge of the trees to watch them, 
 and sometimes even took guests to admire the way in which 
 these two Englishmen, although ignorant that any eyes 
 were upon them, performed their work. 
 
 His satisfaction was evinced by the abundance of food 
 supplied them, their meal being frequently supplemented 
 by fruit and other little luxuries. Severely as they labored, 
 Geoffrey and his companion were comparatively happy. 
 Short as was the time that the former had worked with the 
 gang, he appreciated the liberty he now enjoyed, and espe- 
 cially congratulated himself upon being spared the pain- 
 ful life of a galley-slave at sea. As to Boldero, the 
 change from the prison with the companions he hated, its 
 degrading work, and coarse and scanty food, made a new 
 man of him. 
 
 He had been but two-and-twenty when captured by the 
 Spaniards, and was now in the prime of life and strength. 
 The work, which had seemed very hard to Geoffrey at first, 
 was to him but as play, while the companionship of his 
 countryman, his freedom from constant surveillance, the 
 absence of all care, and the abundance and excellence f^i 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 257 
 
 Lib food, filled him with new life ; and the ladies of the 
 bey's household often sat and listened to the strange songs 
 that rose from the slaves toiling in the garden. 
 
 As the work approached its conclusion Geoffrey and his 
 companion had many a talk over what would next befall 
 them. There was one reason only that weighed in favor 
 of the life with the slave-gang. In their present position 
 there was no possibility whatever, so far as they could dis- 
 cern, of effecting their escape ; whereas, as slaves, should 
 the galley in which they rowed be overpowered by any ship 
 it attacked, they would obtain their freedom. The chance 
 of this, however, was remote, as the fast-rowing galleys 
 could almost always mate their escape should the vessel 
 they attacked prove too strong to be captured. 
 
 "When the last bed had been leveled and the last shrub 
 planted the superintendent told them to follow him into 
 the house, as the bey was desirous of speaking with them. 
 They found him seated on a divan. 
 
 *' Christians,'*' he said, " I have watched you while you 
 have been at work, and truly you have not spared your- 
 selves in my service, but have labored for me with all your 
 strength, well and willingly. I see now that it is true 
 that the people of your nation differ much from the Span- 
 iards, who are dogs. 
 
 ** I see tliat trust is to be placed in you, and were you but 
 true believers I would appoint you to a position where you 
 could win credit and honor. As it is, I cannot place you 
 over believers in the prophet ; but neither am I willing 
 that you should return to the gang from which I took 
 you. I will, therefore, leave you free to work for your- 
 selves. There are many of my friends who have seen you 
 laboring, and will give you employment. It will be known 
 in the place that you are under my protection, and thai 
 any who insult or ill-treat you will be severely punished. 
 Should you have any complaint to make, come freely tome 
 and I will see that justice is done you. 
 
258 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 " This evening a crier will go through the place pro- 
 claiming that the two English galley-slaves have been given 
 their freedom by me, and will henceforth live in the town 
 without molestation from any one, carrying on their work 
 and selling tlieir labor like true believers. The crier will 
 inform the people that the nation to which yon belong is 
 at war with our enemies the Spaniards, and that, save as 
 to the matter of your religion, you are worthy of being re- 
 garded as friends by all good Moslems. My superintend- 
 ent will go down with you in the morning. I have ordered 
 him to hire a little house for you and furnish it with what 
 is needful, to recommend you to your neighbors, and to 
 give you a purse of piastres with which to maintain your- 
 selves until work comes to you." 
 
 Stephen Boldero expressed the warmest gratitude, on 
 the part of his companion and himself, to the bey for his 
 kindness. 
 
 '^ I have done but simple justice," the bey said, ^' and 
 no thanks are necessary. Faithful work should have its 
 reward, and as you have done to me so I do to you." 
 
 The next morning as they were leaving, a female slave 
 presented them with a purse of silver, the gift of the bey^s 
 wife and daughters, who had often derived much pleasure 
 from the songs of the two captives. The superintendent 
 conducted them to a small hut facing the sea. It was fur- 
 nished with the few articles that were, according to native 
 ideas, necessary for comfort. There were cushions on the 
 divan of baked clay raised about a foot above the floor, 
 which served as a sofa durmg the day and as a bed at night. 
 There was a small piece of carpet on the floor and a few 
 cooking utensils on a shelf, and some dishes of burnt clay ; 
 and nothing more was required. There was, however, a 
 small chest, in which, after the superintendent had left, 
 they found two sets of garments as worn by the natives. 
 
 " This is a comfort indeed," Geoffrey said. '' My 
 clothes are all in rags, and as for yours the less we say about 
 
BY Elf GLAND'S AID. 259 
 
 them the better. I shall feel like a new man in these 
 things." 
 
 "1 shall be glad myself/' Stephen agreed, ''for the 
 clothes they give the galley-slaves are scarce decent for a 
 Christian man to wear. My consolation has been that if 
 they had been shocked by our appearance they would have 
 given us more clothes ; but as they did not mind it there 
 w^as no reason why I should. Still it would be a comfort 
 to be cleanly and decent again." 
 
 For the first few days the natives of the place looked 
 askance at these Christians in their midst, but the bey^'s 
 orders had been peremptory that no insults should be 
 offered to them. Two days after their liberation one of 
 the principal men of the place sent for them and employed 
 them in digging the foundations for a fountain, and a deep 
 trench of some hundred yards in length for the pipe for 
 bringing water to it. After that they had many similar 
 jobs, receiving always the wages paid to regular workmen, 
 and giving great satisfaction by their steady toil. Some- 
 times when not otherwise engaged they went out in boats 
 with fishermen, receiving a portion of the catch in pay- 
 ment of their labors. 
 
 So so lie months passed away. Very frequently they 
 talked over methods of escape. The only plan that seemed 
 at all possible was to take a boat and make out to sea ; buc 
 they knew that they would be pursued, and if overtaken 
 would revert to their former life at the galleys, a change 
 which would be a terrible one indeed after the present life 
 of freedom and independence. They knew, too, that they 
 might be days before meeting with a ship, for all traders 
 in the Mediterranean hugged the northern shores as much 
 as possible in order to avoid the dreaded corsairs, and 
 there would be a far greater chance of their being recap- 
 tured by one of the Moorish cruisers than of lighting upon 
 a Christian trader. 
 
 ''It is a question of chance," Stephen said^ "and when 
 
260 BT ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 the chance comes we will seize it ; but it is no nse our 
 giving up a life against which there is not much to be 
 said, unless some fair prospect of escape offers itself to 
 
S T ENGLAND 'S AID. j^Ga 
 
 CHAPTER XYL 
 
 THE ESCAPE. 
 
 In one respect," Geoffrey said, as they were talkinsf over 
 their chance of escape, '^ I am sorry that the bey has be- 
 haved so kindly to us." 
 
 '' What is that ?" Stephen Boldero asked in surprise. 
 
 ^' Well, I was thinking that were it not for that we 
 might manage to contrive some plan of escape in concert 
 with the galley-slaves, get them down to the shore here, 
 row off to the galley, overpower the three or four men who 
 live on board her, and make off with her. Of course we 
 should have had to accumulate beforehand a quantity of 
 food and some barrels of water, for I have noticed that 
 when they go out they always take their stores on board 
 with them, and bring on shore on their return what has 
 not been consumed. Still, I suppose that could be man- 
 aged. However, it seems to me that our hands are tied in 
 that direction by the kindness of the bey. After his con- 
 duct to us it would be ungrateful in the extreme for us to 
 carry off his galley." 
 
 ^' So it would, Geoffrey. Besides I doubt wh ther the 
 plan would succeed. You may be sure the Spaniards are 
 as jealous as can be of the good fortune that we have met 
 with, and were we to propose such a scheme to them the 
 chances are strongly in favor of one of them trying to 
 better his own position by denouncing us. I would only 
 trust them as far as I can see them. Ko, if we ever do 
 anything it must be done by -urselves. There is no doubt 
 that if some night when there is a strong wind blowing 
 
262 B Y ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 from the southeast we were to get on board one of these 
 fishing-boats, hoist a sail, and run before it, we should not 
 be far oft from the coast of Spain before they started to 
 look for us. But what better should we be there ? We 
 can both talk Spanish well enough, but w^e could not pass 
 as Spaniards. Besides, they would find out soon enough 
 that we were not Catholics, and where should we be then ? 
 Either sent to row in their galleys or clapped into the 
 dungeons of the Inquisition, and like enough burnt alive 
 at the stake. That would be out of the frying-pan into 
 the tire with vengeance.'' 
 
 ''I think we might pass as Spaniards," Geoffrey said ; 
 " for there is a great deal of difference between the dia- 
 lects of the different provinces, and confined as you have 
 been for the last ten years with Spanish sailors you must 
 have caught their way of talking. Still, I agree with you 
 it will be better to wait for a bit longer for any chance that 
 may occur rather than risk landing in Spain again, where 
 even if we passed as natives we should have as hard work 
 to get our living as we have here, and with no greater 
 chance of making our way home again. ^' 
 
 During the time that they had been captives some three 
 or four vessels had been brought in by the corsair. Tl'e 
 men composing the crews had been either sold as sli*ves to 
 Moors or Arabs in the interior or sent to Algiers, which 
 town lay over a hundred miles to the east. They were of 
 various nationalities, Spanish, French, and Italian, as the 
 two friends learned from the talk of the natives, for tliey 
 always abstained from going near the point where the 
 prisoners were landed, as they were powerless to assist tlie 
 unfortunate captives in any way, and the sight of their 
 distress was very painful to them. 
 
 One day, however, they learned from the people who 
 ■were running down to the shore to see the captives landed 
 from a ship that had been brought in by the corsair during 
 the night, that there were two or three women among the 
 
B Y Ey GLAND ' S AID. 263 
 
 captives. This was the first time that any females had 
 been captured since their arrival at the place, for women 
 seldom traveled far from their homes in those days, ex- 
 cept the wives of high oflBcials journeying in great ships 
 that were safe from the attack of the Moorish corsairs. 
 
 '•'Let us go down and see them,^' Boldero said. ''I 
 have not seen the face of a white woman for nine years." 
 
 '' I will go if you like," Geoffrey said. '' They will not 
 guess that we are Europeans, for we are burnt as dark as 
 the Moors." 
 
 They went down to the landing-place. Eight men and 
 two women were landed from the boat. These were the 
 sole survivors of the crew. 
 
 " They are Spaniards," Boldero saia. '' I pity that poor 
 girl. I suppose the other woman is her servant." 
 
 The girl, who was about sixteen years of age, was very 
 pale, and had evidently been crying terribly. She did not 
 seem to heed the cries and threats with which the towns- 
 people as usual assailed the newly-arrived captives, but 
 kept her eyes fixed upon one of the captives who walked 
 ♦before her. 
 
 "That is her father, no doubt," Geoffrey said. ''It is 
 probably her last look at him. Come away, Stephen ; I 
 am awfully sorry we came here. I shall not be able to get 
 that girFs face out of my mind for I don't know how 
 long." 
 
 Without a word they went back to their hut. They had 
 no particular work that day. Geoffrey went restlessly in 
 and out, sometimes pacing along the strand, sometimes 
 coming in and throwing himself on the divan. Stephen 
 Eoldero went on quietly mending a net that had been 
 damaged the night before, saying nothing, but glancing 
 occasionally with an amused look at his companion's rest- 
 Il'ss movements. Late in the afternoon Geoffrey burst 
 out suddenly : " Stephen, we must try and rescue that 
 girl somehow from her fate." 
 
264 B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 " I supposed that was what it was coining to," Boldcro 
 said quietly. '' Well, let me hear all about i . 1 know 
 you have been thinking it over ever since morning. What 
 are your ideas ? " 
 
 '' I do not know that I have any ideas beyond getting 
 her and her father down to a boat and making off." 
 
 '' Well, you certainly have not done much if yoi haven't 
 got farther than that,'' Stephen said dryly. '' Now, if you 
 had spent the day talking it over with me instead of wan- 
 dering about like one out of his mind, we should have got 
 a great deal further than that by this time. However, I 
 have been thinking for you. I know what you young fel- 
 lows are. As soon as I saw that girFs face and looked at 
 you I was dead certain there was an end of peace and 
 quietness, and that you would be bent upon some plan of 
 getting her off. It did not need five minutes to show that 
 I was right ; and I have been spending my time thinking, 
 while you have thrown yours away in fidgeting. 
 
 *' Well, I think it is worth trying. Of course it will be 
 a vastly more difficult job getting the girl and her father 
 away than just taking a boat and sailing off as we have 
 often talked of doing. Then, on the other hand, it would 
 altogether alter our position afterwards. By his appear- 
 ance and hers I have no doubt he is a well-to-trader, per- 
 haps a wealthy one. He walked with his head upright 
 when the crowd were yelling and cursing, and is evidently 
 a man of courage and determination. Xow, if we had 
 reached the Spanish coast by ourselves we should have 
 been questioned right and left, and, as I have said all 
 along, they would soon have found that we were not Span- 
 iards, for we could not have said where we came from, or 
 given our past history, or said where our families lived. 
 But it would be altogether different if we landed with 
 them. Every one would be interested about them. We 
 should only be two poor devils of sailors who had escaped 
 with them, and he would help to pass it off and get us 
 
BY ENGLAND ' S AID, 265 
 
 employment ; so that the difficulty that has hitherto pre- 
 vented us from trying to escape is very greatly diminished. 
 Kow, as to getting them away. Of course she has been 
 taken up to the bey's, and no doubt he will send her as a 
 present to the bey of Algiers. I know that is what has 
 been done several times before when young women have 
 been captured. 
 
 '' 1 have been thinking it over, and I do not see a pos- 
 sibility of getting to speak to her as long as she is at the 
 bey's. I do not see that it can be done anyhow. She will 
 be indoors most of the time, and if she should go into the 
 garden there would be other women with her. Our only 
 plan, as far as I can see at present, would be to carry her 
 off from her escort on the journey. I do not suppose she 
 will have more than two, or at most three, mounted men 
 with her, and we ought to be able to dispose of them. As 
 to her father, the matter is comparatively easy. We know 
 the ways of the prison, and I have no doubt we can get 
 him out somehow ; only there is the trouble of the ques- 
 tion of time. She has got to be rescued and brought back 
 and hidden somewhere till nightfall, he has got to be set 
 free the same evening, and we have to embark early enough 
 to be well out of sight before daylight ; and maybe there 
 will not be a breath of wind stirring. It is a tough job, 
 Geoffrey, look at it which way you will." 
 
 '' It is a tough job," Geoffrey agreed. " I am afraid the 
 escort would be stronger than you think. A present of 
 this kind to the bey is regarded as important, and I should 
 say half a dozen horsemen at least will be sent with her. 
 In that case an attempt at rescue would be hopeless. We 
 have no arms, and if we had we could not kill six mounted 
 men ; and if even one escaped, our plans would be all de- 
 feated. The question is, would they send her by land ? 
 It seems to me quite as likely that they might send her by 
 water." 
 
 '' Yes, that is likely enough, Geoffrey, In that case 
 
266 BT ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 everything wonld depend upon the vessel he sent her in. 
 If it is the great galley there is an end of it ; if it is one of 
 their little coasters it might be managed. We are sure to 
 learn that before long. The bey might keep her for a fort- 
 night or so, perhaps longer, for her to recover somewhat 
 from her trouble and get up her good looks again, so as to 
 add to the value of the present. If she were well and 
 bright she would be pretty enough for anything. In tlie 
 meantime we can arrange our plans for getting her father 
 away. Of course if she goes with a big escort on horse- 
 back, or if she goes in the galley, there is an end of our 
 plans. I am ready to help you, Geoffrey, if there is a 
 chance of success ; but I am not going to throw away my 
 life if there is not, and unless she goes down in a coaster 
 there is an end of the scheme. 
 
 *' I quite agree to that," Geoffrey replied ; '* we cannot 
 accomplish impossibilities. 
 
 They learned upon the following day that three of tlie 
 newly-arrived captives were to take the places of the 
 galley-slaves who had been killed in the capture of the 
 Spanish ship, which had defended itself stoutly, and that 
 the others were to be sold for work in the interior. 
 
 '^ It is pretty certain," Boldcro said, '' that the trader 
 will not be one of the three chosen for the galley. Tlie 
 work would break him down in a month. That makes 
 the part of the business easier, for we can get him away on 
 the journey inland, and hide him up here until his daugh- 
 ter is sent off." 
 
 Geoffrey looked round the bare room. 
 
 " Well, I do not say as how we could hide him here,^' 
 Boldero said in answer to the look, ^'But we might hide 
 him somewhere among the sand-hills outside the place, 
 and take him food at night." 
 
 ^' Yes, we might do that," Geoffrey agreed. '' That 
 could be managed easily enough, I should think, for there 
 are clumps of bushes scattered all over the sand-hills half 
 
BY KNGLAND'S AID. 267 
 
 a mile back from the sea. The trouble will be if we get 
 him here, and find after all that we cannot rescue his 
 daughter/^ 
 
 " That will make no difference/' Boldero said. '^ In 
 that case we will make off with him alone. Everything 
 else will go on just the same. Of course, I should be very 
 sorry not to save the girl ; but, as far as we are concerned » 
 if we save the father it will answer our purpose. ^^ 
 
 Geoffrey made no reply. Just at that moment his own 
 future was a very secondary matter, in comparison, to the 
 rescue of this unhappy Spanish girl. 
 
 Geoffrey and his companion had been in the habit of 
 going up occasionally to the prison. They had won over 
 the guard by small presents, and were permitted to go m 
 and out with fruit and other little luxuries for the galley- 
 slaves. They now abstained from going near the place, in 
 order that no suspicion might fall upon them after his 
 escape of having had any communication with the Spanish 
 trader. 
 
 Shortly after the arrival of the captives two merchants 
 from the interior came down, and Geoffrey learned that 
 they had visited the prison, and had made a bargain with 
 the bey for all the captives except those transferred to the 
 galley. The two companions had talked the matter over 
 frequently, and had concluded it was best that only one of 
 them should be engaged in the adventure, for the absence 
 of both might be noticed. After some discussion it was 
 agreed that Geoffrey should undertake the task, and that 
 Boldero should go alone to the house where they were now 
 at work, and should mention that his friend was unwell, 
 and was obliged to remain at home for the day. 
 
 As they knew the direction in which the captives would 
 be taken Geoffrey started before daybreak, and kept 
 steadily along until he reached a spot where it was probable 
 they would halt for the night. It was twenty miles away, 
 and there was here a well of water and a grove of trees- 
 
268 BY EXGLAXD'S AID. 
 
 Late in the afternoon he saw the party approaching. It 
 consisted of the merchants, two armed Arabs, and the five 
 captives, all of whom were carrying burdens. They were 
 crawling painfully along, overpowered by the heat of the 
 sun, by the length of the journey, and by the weight they 
 carried. Several times the Arabs struck them heavily with 
 their sticks to force them to keep up. 
 
 Geoffrey retired from the other side of the clump of 
 trees, and lay down in a depression of the sand-hills until 
 darkness came on, when he again entered the grove, and 
 crawling cautiously forward made his way close up to the 
 party. A fire was blazing, and a meal had been already 
 cooked and eaten. The traders and the two Arabs were 
 sitting by the fire ; the captives were lying extended on 
 the ground. Presently, at the command of one of the 
 Arabs, they rose to their feet and proceeded to collect some 
 more pieces of wood for the fire. As they returned the 
 light fell on the gray hair of the man upon whom Geoffrey 
 had noticed that the girFs eyes were fixed. 
 
 He noted the place where h^ lay down, and had nothing 
 to do now but to wait until the party were asleep. He 
 felt sure that no guard would be set, for any attempt on 
 the part of the captives to escape would be nothing short 
 of madness. There was nowhere for them to go, and they 
 would simply wander about until they died of hunger and 
 exhaustion, or until they were recaptured, in which case 
 they would be almost beaten to death. In an hour's time 
 the traders and their men lay down by tl>e fire, and all was 
 quiet. Geoffrey crawled round until he was close to the 
 Spaniard. He waited until he felt sure that the AraVs 
 were asleep, and then crawled up to him. The'man started 
 as he touched him. 
 
 '' Silence, senor," Geoffrey whispered in Spanish ; '' I 
 am a friend, and have come to rescue you.'" 
 
 '•' I care not for life ; a few days of this work will kiH 
 me, and the sooner the better. I have nothing to live for. 
 
BY ENGLAyD'S AID, 269 
 
 ±hey killed my wife the other day, and my daughter is a 
 captive in their hands. I thank you, whoever yoa are, 
 but I will not go." 
 
 '•'We are going to try to save your daughter too/' Geof- 
 frey whispered ; *'*we have a plan for carrying you both 
 o5'> 
 
 The words gave new life to the Spaniard. 
 
 ^' In that case, sir, I am ready. Whoever you are whom 
 God has sent to my aid I will follow you blindly, whatever 
 comes of it."'' 
 
 Geoffrey crawled away a short distance, followed by the 
 Spaniard. As soon as they were well beyond the faint 
 light now given out by the expiring fire they rose to their 
 feet, and gaining the track, took their way on the back- 
 ward road. As soon as they were fairly away, Geoffrey 
 explained to the Spaniard who he was, and how he had un- 
 dertaken to endeavor to rescue him. The joy and grati- 
 tude of the Spaniard were too deep for words, and he 
 uttered his thanks in broken tones. When they had 
 walked about a mile Geoffrey halted. 
 
 '•Sit down here," he said. ''^I have some meat and 
 fruit here and a small skin of water. We have a long 
 journey before us, for we must get near the town you left 
 this morning before daybreak, and you must eat to keep 
 up your strength." 
 
 " I did not think," the Spaniard said, '•' when we arrived 
 at the well, that I could have walked another mile had my 
 life depended upon it. Now I feel a new man, after the 
 fresh hope you have given me. I no longer feel the pain 
 of my bare feet or the blisters the sun has raised on my 
 naked back. I am struggling now for more than life — - 
 for my daughter. You shall not find me fail, sir." 
 
 All night they toiled on. The Spaniard kept his promise, 
 and utterly exhausted as he was. and great as was the pain 
 in his limbs, held on bravely With the first dawn of morn- 
 ing they saw the line of tlie sca before them. They now 
 
270 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 turned off from the track, and in another half hour the 
 Spaniard took shelter in a clump of bushes in a hollow, 
 while Geoffrey, having left with him the remainder of the 
 supply of provisions and water, parsaed his way and reached 
 the hut jusL as the sun was shining in the east, and with- 
 out having encountered a single person. 
 
 *' Well, have you succeeded?" Boldero asked eagerly, 
 as he entered. 
 
 " Yes ; I have got him away. He is in hiding within a 
 mile of this place. He kept on like a hero. I was utterly 
 tired myself, and how he managed to walk the distance 
 after what he had gone tlirough in the day is more than 1 
 can tell. His name is Mendez. He is a trader in Cadiz, 
 and owns many vessels. He was on his way to Italy, with 
 his wife and daughter, in one of his own ships, in order to 
 gratify the desire of his wife to visit the holy places at 
 Rome, She was killed by a cannon-shot during the fight, 
 and his whole heart is now wrapped up in his daughter. 
 And now, Stephen, I must lie down and sleep. You will 
 have to go to work alone to-day again, and can truly say 
 that I am still unfit for labor." 
 
 Four days later it became known in the little town thnt 
 a messenger had arrived from the merchant who bought 
 the slaves from the bey, saying that one of them had made 
 his escape from their first halting-place. 
 
 '' The dog will doubtless die in the desert," the mer- 
 chant wrote ; '' but if he should find his way down, or you 
 should hear of him as arriving at any of the villages, I pray 
 you to send him up to me with a guard. I will so treat 
 him that it will be a lesson to my other slaves not to follow 
 his example." 
 
 Every evening after dark Geoffrey went out with a supply 
 of food and water to the fugitive. For a week he had no 
 news to give him as to his daughter ; but on the eighth 
 night he said that he and his companion had that morning 
 been sent by the bey on board the largest of the coasting 
 
B Y ENGL AND 'S AID. 271 
 
 vessels in the port, with orders to paint the cabins and put 
 them in a fit state for the reception of a personage of im- 
 portance, 
 
 " This is fortunate, indeed/' GeoSrey went on. '' Xo 
 doubt she is intended for the transpon of your daughter. 
 Her crew consists of a captain and five men, but at present 
 they are hving ashore ; and as we shall be going backwards 
 and forwards to her, we ought to have little difficulty in 
 getting on board and hiding away in the hold before she 
 starts. I think eyerything promises well for the success 
 of our scheme." 
 
 The bey's superintendent came down the next day to see 
 how matters were going on on board the vessel. The paint- 
 ing was finisned that evening, and the next day two slaves 
 brought down a quantity of hangings and cushions, which 
 Geoffrey and his companion assisted the superintendent to 
 hang up and place in order. Provisions and water had 
 already been taken on board, and they learnt that the 
 party who were to sail in her would come off early the next 
 morning. 
 
 At midnight Geoffrey, Boldero, and the Spaniard camo 
 down to the little port, embarked in a fisherman's boat 
 moored at the stairs, and noiselessly ro-ed off to the vessel. 
 They mounted on to her deck barefooted. Boldero was 
 the last to leave the boat, giving her a vigorous push with 
 his foot in the disection of the shore, from which the 
 vessel was but some forty yards away. They descended 
 into the hold, where they remained perfectly quiet until 
 the first light of dawn enabled them to see what they were 
 doing, and then moved some baskets full of vegetables, 
 and concealed themselves behind them. 
 
 A quarter of an hour later they heard a boat come along- 
 side, and the voices of the sailors. Then they heard the 
 creaking of cordage as the sails were let fall in readiness 
 for a start. Half an hour later another boat came along- 
 side. There was a trampling of feet on the deck above them. 
 
272 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 and the bey's voice giving orders. A few minntes later 
 the anchor was raised, there was more talking on deck, 
 and then they heard a boat push off, and knew by the 
 rustle of water against the planks beside them that the 
 vessel was under way. 
 
 The wind was light and the sea perfectly calm, and 
 beyond the slight murmur of the water, those below would 
 not have known that the ship was in motion. It was very 
 hot down in the hold, but fortunately the crew had not 
 taken the trouble to put on the hatches, and at times a faint 
 breath of air could be felt below. Geoffrey and his com- 
 panion talked occasionally in low tones ; but the Spaniard 
 was so absorbed by his anxiety as to the approacliing 
 struggle, and the thought that he might soon clasp his 
 daughter to his arms, that he seldom spoke. 
 
 Xo plans could be formed as to tlie course they were to 
 take, for they could not tell whether those of the crew ol! 
 duty would retire to sleep in the little forecastle or would 
 lie down on deck. Then, too, they were ignorant as to the 
 number of men who had come on board with the captive. 
 The overseer had mentioned the day before that he was 
 going, and it was probable thattliree or four others would 
 accompany him. T'lcrefore they had to reckon upon ten 
 opponents. Their only weapons were three heavy iron 
 bolts, some two feet long. These Boldero had purchased 
 in exchange for a few fish, when a prize brought in was 
 broken up as being useless for the purposes of the 
 Moors. 
 
 '^ "What I reckon is," he said, ''that you and I ought to 
 be able to settle two apiece of these fellows before they 
 fairly know what is happening. The Don ought very 
 well to account for another. So that only leaves five of 
 them ; and five against three are no odds worth speaking 
 of, especially when the five are woi^e up by a sudden 
 attack, and ain^t sure how many there are against them. 
 I don't expect much trouble over the affair." 
 
B T ENGL A ND ' S AID, 273 
 
 *' I don't want to kill more of the poor fellows than "^ 
 can help," Geoffrey said. 
 
 '^ Xo more do I ; but you see it's got to be either killing 
 or being killed, and I am perfectly certain which I prefer. 
 Still, as you say, if the beggars are at all reasonable I ain't 
 for hurting them, but the first few we have got to hit hard. 
 When we get matters a little even, we can speak them fair." 
 
 The day passed slowly, and in spite of their bent and 
 cramped position Geoffrey and Stephen Boldero dozed fre- 
 quently. The Spaniard never closed an eye. He was quite 
 prepared to take his part in the struggle ; and as he was 
 not yet fifty years of age, his assistance was not to be de- 
 spised. But the light-hearted carelessness of his compan- 
 ions, who joked under their breath, and laughed and eat 
 unconcernedly with a lif e-and-death struggle against heavy 
 odds before them, surprised him much. 
 
 As darkness came on the party below became wakeful. 
 Their time was coming now, and they had no doubt what- 
 ever as to the result. Their most formidable opponents 
 would be the men who had come on board with the bey's 
 superintendent, as these no doubt would be fully armed. 
 As for the sailors, they might have arms on board, but 
 these would not be ready to hand, and it was really only 
 with tlie guards they would have to deal. 
 
 " I tell you what I think would be a good plan, Stephen," 
 Geoffrey said suddenly. '' You see, there is plenty of spare 
 line down here ; if we wait until they are asleep we can go 
 round and tie their legs together, or put ropes round their 
 ankles and fasten them to ring-bolts. If we could manage 
 that without waking them, we might capture the craft 
 without shedding any blood, and might get them down into 
 the hold one after the other." 
 
 '' I think that is a very good plan," Stephen agreed. '' I 
 
 do not like the thought of knocking sleeping men on the 
 
 head any more than you do ; and if we are careful, we 
 
 might get them all tied up before an alarm is given. There, 
 
 28 
 
274 BT ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 the anchor has gone down. I thought very likely they 
 would not sail at night. That is capital. You may be 
 sure that they will be pretty close in shore, and they prob- 
 ably will have only one man on watch ; and as likely as 
 not not even one, for they will not dream of any possible 
 danger." 
 
 For another two hours the sound of talk on deck went 
 on, but at last all became perfectly quiet. The party be- 
 low waited for another lialf hour, and then noiselessly as- 
 cended the ladder to the deck, holding in one hand a cudgel, 
 in the other a number of lengths of line cut about six feet 
 long. Each as he reached the deck lay down flat. The 
 Spaniard had been told to remain perfectly quiet while the 
 other two went about their task. 
 
 First they crawled aft, for the bey's guards would, they 
 knew, be sleeping at that end, and working together they 
 tied the legs of these men without rousing them. The 
 ropes could not be tightly pulled, as this would at once have 
 disturbed them. They were therefore fastened somewhat 
 in the fashion of manacles, so that although the men might 
 rise to their feet they would fall headlong the moment they 
 tried to walk. In addition other ropes were fastened to 
 these and taken from one man to another. Then their 
 swords were drawn from the sheaths and their knives from 
 their sashes. 
 
 The operation was a long one, as it had to be conducted 
 with the greatest care and caution. They then crept back 
 to the hatchway and told the Spaniard that the most for- 
 midable enemies had been made safe. 
 
 " Here are a sword and a knife for you, senor ; and now 
 as we are all armed I consider the ship as good as won, for 
 the sailors are not likely to make much resistance by them- 
 selves. However, we will secure some of them. The moon 
 will be up in half an hour, and that will be an advantage 
 to us." 
 
 The captain and three of the sailors were ,soon tied up 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' 5 AW, 275 
 
 like t. le others. Two men were standing in the bow of the 
 vessel leaning against the bulwarks, and when the moon 
 rose it could be seen by their attitude that both were asleep. 
 
 '^Nc w, v/e may as well begin/' Geoffrey said. '' Let us 
 take th ^se two fellows in the bow by surprise. Hold a 
 knife tc their throats, and tell them if they utter the least 
 sound w ^ will kill them. Then we will make them go down 
 into the forecastle and fasten them there.'' 
 
 '' I am ready/' Stephen said, and they stole forward to 
 the two :ileeping men. They grasped them suddenly by 
 the throat and held a knife before their eyes, Boldero tell- 
 ing them in a stern whisper that if they uttered a cry they 
 would be stabbed to the heart. Paralyzed by the sudden 
 attack they did not make the slightest struggle, but ac- 
 companied their unknown assailants to the forecastle and 
 were there fastened in. Joined now by the Spaniard, 
 Geoffrey and his companion went aft and roused one of the 
 sleepers there with a threat similar to that which had 
 silenced the sailors. 
 
 He was, however, a man of different stuff. He gave a 
 loud shout and grappled with Boldero, who struck him a 
 heavy blow with his fist in the face, and this for a moment 
 silenced him ; but the alarm being given, the superinten- 
 dent and the two men struggled to their feet, only however 
 to fall prostrate as soon as they tried to walk. 
 
 '"Lie quiet and keep silence!" Boldero shouted in a 
 threatening voice. " You are unarmed and at our mercy. 
 Your feet are bound and you are perfectly helpless. We 
 do not wish to take your lives, but unless you are quiet we 
 shall be compelled to do so." 
 
 The men had discovered by this time that their arms had 
 gone, and were utterly di^ oncerted by the heavy and un- 
 expected fall they had just had. Feeling that they were 
 indeed at the mercy of their captors, they lay quiet. 
 
 ''Now then," Boldero went on, '' one at a time. Keep 
 quiet, you rascals there I " he broke off, shouting to the 
 
276 BT ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 sailors who were rolling and tumbling on the deck forward, 
 *' or I will cut all your throats for you. Xow then, Geoffrey, 
 do you and the senor cut the rope that fastens that man on 
 the port side to his comrades. March him to the hatch- 
 way and make him go down into the hold. Keep your 
 knives ready and kill him at once if he offers the slightest 
 resistance. " 
 
 One by one the superintendent the three guards, the 
 captain and sailors were all made to descend into the hold, 
 and the hatches were put over it and fastened down. 
 
 "Now, senor," Geoffrey said, *' we cau spare you.'' 
 
 The Spaniard hurried to the cabin, opened the door, and 
 called out his daughter's name. There was a scream of 
 delight within as Dolores Mendez, who had been awakened 
 by the tumult, recognized her father's voice, and leaping 
 up from her couch threw herself into his arms. Geoffrey 
 and his companion now opened the door of the forecastle 
 and called the two sailors out. 
 
 " Now,'' Boldero said, " if you want to save your lives 
 you have got to obey our orders. First of all fall to work 
 and get up the anchor, and then shnke out the sails again. 
 I will take the helm, Geoffrey, and do you keep your eye 
 on these two fellows. There is no fear of their playing any 
 tricks now that they see they are alone on deck, but they 
 might, if your back were turned, unfasten the hatches. 
 However, I do not think we need fear trouble that way, as 
 for ought they know we may have cut the throats of all 
 the others." 
 
 A few minutes later the vessel was moving slowly through 
 the water with her head to the northwest. 
 
 " We must be out of sight of land if we can by the morn- 
 ing," Stephen said, when Geoffrey two hours later came to 
 take his place at the helm ; "at any rate until we have 
 passed the place we started from. Once beyond that it 
 does not matter much ; but it will be best either to keep 
 out of sight of land altogether, or else to sail pretty close 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 277 
 
 to it, so that they can see the boat is one of their own craft. 
 We can choose which we will do when we see which way 
 the breeze sets in the morning.''' 
 
 It came strongly from the south, and they therefore 
 determined to sail direct for Carthagena. 
 
278 3T ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 A SPANISH MERCHANT. 
 
 As soon as the sails had been set, and the vessel was 
 under way, the Spaniard came out from the cabin. ^Oly 
 daughter is attiring herself, sefior," he said to Stephen 
 13oldero, for Geotfrey was at the time at the helm. " She 
 is longing to see you, and to thank you for the inestimable 
 services you have rendered to us both. But for yen I 
 sliould now be dying or dead, my daughter a slave for 
 life in the palace of the bey. What astonishes us botn is, 
 t!iat such noble service should have been rendered to us 
 by two absolute strangers, and not strangers only, but by 
 Englishmen — a people with v.iiom Spain is at wuf — and 
 who assuredly can have no reason to love us. ir^w came 
 you first to think of interesting yourself on our be- 
 half ?" 
 
 '' To tell you the truth, senor," Stephen Boldero said 
 bluntly, '' it w^as the sight of your daughter and not of 
 yourself that made us resolve to save you if possible, or 
 rather, I should say, made my friend Geoffrey do so. After 
 ten years in the galleys one's heart gets pretty tough, and 
 although even I felt a deep pity for your daughter, I own 
 it would never have entered my mind to risk my neck in 
 order to save her. But Geoffrey is younger and more 
 easily touched, and when he saw her as she landed pa'i^ and 
 white and grief-stricken, and yet looking as if he.- owa fate 
 touched her less than the parting from you, my ^-.,vd friend 
 Oeoffrey Vickars was well-nigh mad, and decla'-jd that in 
 some way or other, and at whatever risk to f»^^ elves, yoa 
 
The Spaniard and his Daughter thank Geoffrey for their Pescuf. 
 Eng. Aid.] Hage 279. 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 279 
 
 must both be saved. In this matter I have been but a 
 passive instrument in his hands ; as indeed it was only 
 right that I should be^ seeing that he is of gentle blood 
 and an esquire serving under Captain Vere in the army of 
 the queen, while 1 am but a rough sailor. What I have 
 done I have done partly because his heart was in the 
 matter, partly because the adventure promised, if successful, 
 to restore me to freedom, and partly also, senor, for the 
 sake of your brave young daughter/' 
 
 **Ah, you are modest, sir,'' the Spaniard said. ''You 
 are one of those who belittle your own good deeds. I feel 
 indeed more grateful than I can express to you as well as 
 to your friend." 
 
 The merchant's daughter now appeared at the door of 
 the cabin. Her father took her hand and led her up to 
 Boldero. '' This, Dolores, is one of the two Englishmen 
 who have at the risk of their lives saved me from death and 
 you from worse than death. Thank him, my child, and to 
 the end of your life never cease to remember him in 
 your prayers." 
 
 '' I am glad to have been of assistance, senora," Boldero 
 said as the girl began to speak ; '' but as I have just been 
 telling your father, I have played but a small part in the 
 business, it is my friend Don Geoffrey Yickars who has 
 been the leader in the matter. He saw you landed at the 
 boat, and then and there swore to save you, and all that 
 has been done has been under his direction. It was he 
 who followed and rescued your father, and I have really 
 had nothing to do with the affair beyond hiding myself in 
 the hold and helping to tie up your Moors." 
 
 '' Ah, sir," the girl said, laying her hands earnestly upon 
 the sailor's shoulder, '*' it is useless for you to try to lessen 
 the services you have rendered us. Think of what I was 
 but an hour since — a captive with the most horrible of all 
 fates before me, and with the belief that my father was 
 dying by inches in the hands of some cruel task-master. 
 
£80 BY ENGLAyD'S AID. 
 
 and uow he is beside me and I am free. This has been 
 done by two strangers, men of a nation which I have been 
 tiiught to regard as an enemy. It seems to me that no 
 words that I can speak could tell you even faintly what I 
 icely and it is God alone who can reward you for what you 
 have done." 
 
 Leaving Boldero, the Spaniard and his daughter went tc 
 the stern, where Geoffrey was standing at the helm. 
 
 '^^ly daughter and I have come to think you, senor, for 
 having saved us from tlie worst of fates and restored us to 
 each other. Your friend tells me that it is to you it is 
 chiefly due that this has come about, for that you were so 
 moved to pity at the sight of my daughter when we first 
 landed, that you declared at once that you would save her 
 from her fate at whatever risk to yourself, and that since 
 then he has been but following your directions.'" 
 
 ^' Then if he says that, seiior, he belies himself. I was, 
 it is true, the first to declare that we must save your 
 daughter at any cost if it were possible to do so ; but had 
 I not said so, I doubt not he would have announced the 
 same resolution. Since then we have planned everything 
 together ; and as he is older and more experienced than I 
 am, it was upon his opinion that we principally acted. We 
 had long made up our minds to escape when the opportunity 
 came. Had it not been that we were stirred into action 
 by seeing your daughter in the hands of the Moors, it 
 might have been years before we decided to run the risks. 
 Therefore if you owe your freedom to ns, to some extent 
 we owe ours to you ; and if we have been your protectors 
 so far, we hope that when we arrive in Spain you will be 
 our protectors there, for to us Spain is as much an enemy^s 
 country as Barbary. " 
 
 '•' That you can assuredly rely npon," the trader replied. 
 *' All that I have is at your disposal." 
 
 For an hour they stood talking. Dolores said but little. 
 She had felt no shvness with the stalwart sailor, but to this 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' 5 AID. 281 
 
 youth who had done her such signal service she felt unable 
 so frankly to express her feelings of thankfulness. 
 
 By morning the coast of Africa was but a faint line on 
 the horizon, and the ship was headed west. Except when 
 any alteration of the sails was required, the two Moors who 
 acted as the crew were made to retire into the forecastle, 
 and were there fastened in, Geoffrey and Boldero sleeping 
 by turns. 
 
 After breakfast the little party gathered round the helm,, 
 and at the request of Juan ^Mendez, Geoffrey and Stephen 
 both related how it befell that they had become slaves to 
 the Moors. 
 
 " Your adventures are both singular," the trader said 
 when they had finished. '^ Yours, Don Geoffrey, are ex- 
 traordinary. It is marvelous that you should have been 
 picked up in that terrible fight, and should have shared 
 in all the perils of that awful voyage back to Spain with- 
 out its being ever suspected that you were English. Once 
 landed in :he service as you say of Senor Burke, it is not 
 so surprising that you should have gone freely about 
 Spain. But your other adventures are wonderful, and you 
 and your friend were fortunate indeed in succeeding as 
 you die in carrying off the lady he loved ; and deeply they 
 must have mourned your supposed death on the deck of 
 the Moorish galley. And now tell me what are your plans 
 when you arrive in Spain ? '' 
 
 "We have no fixed plans, save that we hope some day to 
 be able to return home," Geoffrey said. " Stephen here 
 could pass well enough as a Spaniard when once ashore 
 without being questioned, and his idea is, if there is no 
 possibility of getting on board an English or Dutch ship at 
 Cadiz, to ship on board a Spaniard, and to take his chance 
 of leaving her at some port at which she may touch. As 
 for myself, although I speak Spanish fluently, my accent 
 would at once betray me to be a foreigner. But if you will 
 take me into your house for a time until I can see a chance 
 
282 3 F ENGLAND ' S AID. ' 
 
 of escaping, my past need not be inquired into. You 
 could of course mention, were it asked, that I was English by 
 birtli, but had sailed in the Armada with my patron, Mr. 
 liurke, and it would be naturally supposed that I was an 
 €xile from England." 
 
 '' That can certainly be managed," the trader said. ^' I 
 fear that it will be difficult to get you on board a ship 
 either of your countrymen or of the Hollanders ; these are 
 most closely watched lest fugitives from the law or from 
 the Inquisition should escape on board them. Still, some 
 opportunity may sooner or later occur ; and the later the 
 better pleased shall I be, for it will indeed be a pleasure to 
 me to have you with me." 
 
 In the afternoon Geoffrey said to Stephen, '* I have been 
 thinking, Stephen, about the men in the hold, and I should 
 be glad for them to return to their homes. If they go 
 with us to Spain they will be made galley-slaves, and this 
 I should not like, especially in the case of the bey's super- 
 intendent. The bey was most kind to us, and this man 
 himself always spoke in our favor to him, and behaved well 
 to us. I think, therefore, that out of gratitude to the bey 
 we should let them go. The wind is fair, and there are, 
 so far as I can see, no signs of any change of weather. By 
 to-morrow night the coast of Spain will be in sight. I see 
 no reason, therefore, why we should not be able to navigate 
 her until we get near the land, when Mendez can engage 
 the crew of some fishing-boat to take us into a port. If we 
 put them into the boat with plenty of water and provisions, 
 they will make the coast by morning ; and as I should 
 guess that we must at present be somewhere abreast of the 
 port from which we started, they will not be very far from 
 home when they land." 
 
 '' I have no objection whatever, Geoffrey. As you say 
 we were not treated badly, at any rate from the day when 
 the bey had us up to his house ; and after ten years in the 
 galleys, I do not wish my worst enemies such a fate. We 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. ' 283- 
 
 nrnst, of course, "b^ careful how we get them into the 
 boat." 
 
 *^ There will be three of us with swords and pistols, and 
 they will be unarmed/' Geoffrey said. ''We will put the 
 two men now in the forecastle into the boat first,, and let 
 the others come up one by one and take their places. We will 
 have a talk with the superintendent first, and give him a 
 message to the bey, saying that we are not ungrateful for 
 his kindness to us, but that of course we seized the oppor- 
 tunity that presented itself of making our escape, as he 
 would himself have done in similar circumstances ; never- 
 theless that as a proof of our gratitude to him, we for his 
 sake release the whole party on board, and give them the 
 means of safely returning. ''' 
 
 An hour later the boat, pulled by four oars, left the side 
 of the ship with the crew, the superintendent and guards, 
 and the two women who had come on board to attend upon 
 Dolores upon the voyage. 
 
 The next morning the vessel was within a few miles of 
 the Spanish coast. An hour later a fishing-boat was 
 hailed, and an arrangement made with the crew to take 
 the vessel down to Carthagena, which was, they learned, 
 some fifty miles distant. The wind was now very light, 
 and it was not until the following day that they entered 
 the port. As it was at once perceived that the little vessel 
 was Moorish in rigging and appearance, a boat immediately 
 came alongside to inquire whence she came. 
 
 Juan Mendez had no difficulty in satisfying the officer as 
 to his identity, he being well known to several traders in 
 the town. His story of the attack upon his ship by Bar- 
 bary pirates, its capture, and his own escape and that of 
 his daughter by the aid of two Christian captives, excited 
 great interest as soon as it became known in the town ; for 
 it was rare, indeed, that a captive ever succeeded in mak- 
 ing his escape from the hands of the Moors. It had al- 
 ready been arranged that, in telling his story^ thp trader 
 
-2S4 ^ y ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 should make as little as possible of his companions' share 
 ill the business, so that public attention should not be at- 
 tracted towards them. He himself with Dolores at once 
 disembarked, bnt his companions did not come ashore until 
 afuT nightfall. 
 
 Stephen Boldero took a Spanish name, but Geoffrey re- 
 tiiincd his own, as the story that he was traveling as a serr- 
 a;it with Mr. Burke, a well-known Irish gentleman who 
 had accompanied the Armada, was sufficient to account for 
 his nationality. Under the plea that he was anxious tore- 
 turn to Cadiz as soon as possible, Scnor Mendez arranged 
 for horses and mules to start the next morning. He had 
 sent off two trunks of clothes to the ship an hour after he 
 landed, and the two Englishmen therefore escaped all ob- 
 servation, as they wandered about for an hour or two after 
 lunding, and did not go to the inn where Mendez was stay- 
 ing until it was time to retire to bed. 
 
 The next morning the party started. The clothes that 
 Geoffrey was wearing were those suited to an employe in a 
 house of business, while those of Boldero were such as 
 would be worn by the captain or mate of a merchant ves- 
 sel on shore. Both were supplied with arms, for although 
 the party had nothing to attract the cupidity of robbers be- 
 yond tlie trunks containing the clothes purchased on the 
 preceding day, and the small amount of money necessary 
 ior their travel on the road, the country was so infested 
 by bands of robbers that no one traveled unarmed. The 
 journey to Cadiz was, however, accomplished without ad- 
 Tent u re. 
 
 The house of Senor Mendez was a large and comfortable 
 one. Upon the ground floor were his offices and store- 
 rooms. He himself and his family occupied the two next 
 floors, while in those above his clerks and employes lived. 
 His unexpected return caused great surprise, and in a few 
 liours a number of acquaintances called to hear the story of 
 the adventures through which he had passed, and to con- 
 
BY ENGLAXD'S AID. 285^ 
 
 dole with Lim on the loss of his wife. At his own request 
 Stephen Boldero had been given in charge of the principal 
 clerk, and a room assigned to him in the upper story. 
 
 ^^I shall be much more comfortable/' he said, *' among 
 your people, Don Mendez. I am a rough sailor, and ten 
 years in the galleys don't improve any manners a man may 
 have had. If I were among your friends I would be out 
 of place and uncomfortable, and should always have to be 
 bowing and scraping and exchanging compliments, and 
 besides they would soon find out that my Spanish was 
 doubtful. I talk a sailor's slang, but I doubt if I should 
 understand pure Spanish. Altogether, I should be very 
 uncomfortable, and should make you uncomfortable, and 
 I would very much rather take my place among the men 
 that work for you until I can get on board a ship again." 
 
 Geoffrey was installed in the portion of the house occu- 
 pied by the merchant, and was introduced by him to his 
 friends simply as the English gentleman who had rescued 
 him and his daughter from the hands of the Moors, it be- 
 ing incidentally mentioned that he had sailed in the Ar- 
 mada, and that he had fallen into the hands of the corsairs 
 in the course of a voyage made with his friend Mr. Burke to 
 Italy. lie at once took his place as a friend and assistant 
 of the merchant ; and as the latter had many dealings with 
 Dutch and English merchants, Geoffrey was able to be of 
 considerable use to him in his written communications to 
 the captains of the various vessels of those nationalities in. 
 the port. 
 
 ^^ I tliink,^' the merchant said to him a fortnight after 
 his arrival in Cadiz, "that, if it would not go against your 
 conscience, it would be most advisable that you should ac- 
 company me sometimes to church. Unless you do this, 
 sooner or later suspicion is sure to be roused, and you know 
 that if you were once suspected of being a heretic, the In- 
 quisition would lay its hands upon you in no time." 
 
 ** I have no objection whate-^- »r." Geoffrey said. '^ Were 
 
286 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 I questioned I shonld at once acknowledge that I was a 
 Protestant ; but I see no harm in going to a house of God 
 to say my prayers there, wliile others are saying theirs in 
 a different manner. There is no church of my own relig- 
 ion here, and I can see no harm whatever in doing as you 
 suggest/' 
 
 ** I am glad to hear that that is your opinion/' Senor 
 Mendcz said, *' for it is the one point concerning which I 
 ■was uneasy. I liave ordered a special mass at the cliurch 
 of St. Dominic to-morrow, in thanksgiving for our safe 
 escape from the nands of the Moors, and it would be well 
 that you should accompany us there."' 
 
 *' 1 will do so most willingly,'' Geoffrey said. '^ I have 
 returned thanks many times, but shall be glad to do so 
 again in a house dedicated to God's service." 
 
 Accordingly the next day Geoffrey accompanied Don 
 Mendez and his daughter to tlie church of St. Dominic, 
 and as he knelt by them wondered why men should hate 
 each other because they differed as to the ways and meth- 
 ods in which they should worship God. From that time 
 on he occasionally accompanied Senor Mendez to the 
 church, saying his prayers earnestly in his own fashion, 
 and praying that he might some day be restored to his 
 home and friends. 
 
 lie and the merchant had frequently talked over all 
 possible plans for his escape, but the extreme vigilance of 
 the Spanish authorities with reference to the English and 
 Dutch trading ships seemed to preclude any possibility of 
 his being smuggled on board. Every bale and package 
 was closely examined on the quay before being sent off. 
 Spanish officials were on board from the arrival to the de- 
 parture of each ship, and no communication whatever was 
 allowed between the shore and these vessels, except in boats 
 belonging to the authorities, every paper and document 
 passing first through tlieir hands for examination be- 
 :fore being sent on board. The trade carried on betweea 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID, 281 
 
 England, Holland, and Spain at the time when these 
 nations were engaged in war was a singular one ; but 
 it was permitted by all three countries, because the pro- 
 ducts of each were urgently required by the others. It 
 was kept within narrow limits, and there were frequent 
 angry complaints exchanged between the English govern- 
 ment and that of Holland, when either considered the other 
 to be going beyond that limit. 
 
 Geoffrey admitted to himself that he might again make 
 the attempt to return to England, by taking 2jassage as 
 before in a ship bound for Italy, but he knew that Eliza- 
 beth was negotiating with Philip for peace, and thought 
 that he might as well await the result. He was, indeed,, 
 very happy at Cadiz, and shrank from the thought of leav- 
 ing it. 
 
 Stephen Boldero soon became restless, and at his urgent 
 request Juan Mendez appointed him second mate on board 
 one of his ships sailing for the West Indies, his intentiorx 
 being to make his escape if an opportunity offered ; but if 
 not, he preferred a life of activity to wandering aimlessly 
 about the streets of Cadiz. He was gi-eatly grieved to part 
 from Geoffrey, and promised that, should he ever reach 
 England, he would at once journey down to Hedingham, 
 and report his safety to his father and mother. 
 
 '' You will do very well here. Master Geoffrey, ^^ he said. 
 '^You are quite at home with all the Spaniards, and it 
 will not be very long before you speak the language so well 
 that, except for your name, none would take you for a 
 foreigner. You have found work to do, and are really bet- 
 ter off here than you would be starving and fighting in 
 Holland. Besides,"^ he said with a sly wink, '^^ there are 
 other attractions for you. Juan Mendez treats you as a 
 son, and the senorita knows that she owes everything to 
 you. You might do worse than settle here for life. Like 
 enough you will see me back again in six months' time, 
 for if I see no chance of slipping off and reaching one of 
 
288 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 the islands held by the buccaneers, I shall perforce retnf"* 
 in the ship I go out in." 
 
 At parting Seilor Mendez bestowed a bag containing fiv\ 
 hundred gold pieces upon Stephen Boldero as a reward foi 
 the service he had rendered him. 
 
 Geoffrey missed him greatly. For eighteen months they 
 had been constantly together, and it was the sailor^s com- 
 panionship and cheerfulness that had lightened the first 
 days of his captivity ; and had it not been for his advice 
 and support he might now have been tugging at an oar in 
 the bey's corsair galley. Ever since they had been at Cadiz 
 he had daily spent an hour or two in his society ; for when 
 •work was done they generally went for a walk together on 
 the fortifications, and talked of England and discussed the 
 possibility of escape. After his departure he was thrown 
 more than before into the society of the merchant and his 
 daughter. The feeling that Dolores, had, when he first 
 saw her, excited within him had changed its character. 
 She was very pretty now that she had recovered her life 
 and spirits, and she made no secret of the deep feeling of 
 gratitude she entertained towards him. One day, three 
 months after Stephen's departure Senor Mendez, when they 
 were alone together, broached the subject on which his 
 thoughts had been turned so much of late. 
 
 '* Friend Geoffrey," he said, " I think that I am not 
 mistaken in supposing that you have an affection for Do- 
 lores. I have marked its growth, and although I would 
 naturally have rather bestowed her upon a countryman, 
 yet, I feel that you have a right to her as having saved 
 her from the horrible fate that would have undoubtedly 
 befallen her, and that it is not for me, to whom you have 
 restored her, besides saving my own life, to offer any ob- 
 jection. As to her feelings, I have no doubt whatever. 
 "Were you of my religion and race, such a match would 
 afford lY^e the greatest happiness. As it is I regret it only 
 because I feel that some day or other it will lead to a sep- 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 289 
 
 aration from me. It is natural that you should wish to 
 return to your own country, and as this war cannot go on 
 for ever, doubtless in time some opportunity for doing so 
 will arrive. This I foresee and must submit to, but if 
 there is peace I shall be able occasionally to visit her in her 
 home in England. I naturally hope that it will be long be- 
 fore I shall thus lose her. She is my only child, and I give 
 as her dower the half of my business, and you will join me 
 as an equal partner. When the war is over you can, if 
 you wish, establish yourself in London, and thence carry 
 on and enlarge the English and Dutch trade of our house. 
 I may even myself settle there. I have not thought this 
 over at present, nor is there any occasion to do so. I am 
 a wealthy man and there is no need for me to continue in 
 business, and I am not sure when the time comes I shall 
 not prefer to abandon my country rather than be sep- 
 arated from my daughter. At any rate for the present I 
 oifer you her hand and a share in my business." 
 
 Geoffrey expressed in suitable terms the gratitude and 
 delight he felt at the offer. It was contrary to Spanish 
 notions that he should receive from Dolores in private any 
 assurance that the proposal in which she was so largely 
 concerned was one to which she assented willingly, but her 
 father at once fetched her in and formally presented her to 
 Geoffrey as his promised wife, and a month later the mar- 
 riage was solemnized at the church of St. Dominic. 
 19 
 
290 BT ENGLAND ' S Am 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 lYKY. 
 
 The day after the capture of Breda Sir Francis Vere 
 sent for Lionel Vickars to his quarters. Prince Maurice 
 and several of his principal officers were there, and the 
 prince thanked him warmly for the share he had taken in 
 the capture of the town. 
 
 '^ Captain Ileraugiere has told me/' he said, "that the 
 invention of the scheme that has ended so well is due as 
 much to you as to him, that you accompanied him on the 
 reconnoiteriug expedition and shared in the dangers of the 
 party in tlie barge. I trust Sir Francis Vere will appoint 
 you to the first ensigncy vacant in his companies, but 
 should there be likely to be any delay in this I will gladly 
 give you a commission in one of my own regiments." 
 
 " I have forestalled your wish, prince," Sir Francis said, 
 " and have this morning given orders that his appointment 
 shall be made out as ensign in one of my companies, but 
 at present I do not intend him to join. I have been ordered 
 by the queen to send further aid to help the King of France 
 against the League. I have already despatched several com- 
 panies to Brittany, and will now send two others. I would 
 that my duties permitted me personally to take part in the 
 enterprise, for the battle of the Xetherlands is at present 
 being fought on the soil of France ; but this is impossible. 
 Several of my friends, however, volunteers and others, will 
 journey with the two companies, being desirous of fight- 
 ing under the banner of Henry of Xavarre. Sir Ralph 
 Pimpernel, who is married to a French Huguenot lady and 
 has connections at the French court, will lead them. I 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 291 
 
 have spoken to him this morning, and he will gladly allow 
 mv young friend here to accompany him. I think that 
 it 'is the highest reward I can give him, to afford him 
 thus an opportunity of seeing stirring service ; for I doubt 
 not that in a very short time a great battle will be fought. 
 We know that Alva has sent eighteen hundred of the best 
 cavalry of Flanders to aid the League, and he is sure to 
 have given orders that they are to be back again as soon as 
 possible. How do you like the prospect, Lionel ?" 
 
 Lionel warmly expressed his thanks to Sir Francis Vera 
 for his kindness', and said that nothing could delight him 
 more than to take part in such an enterprise. 
 
 " I must do something at any rate to prove my gratitude 
 for your share in the capture of this city," Prince Maurice 
 said ; '' and will send you presently two of the best horses 
 of those we have found in the governor's stables, together 
 wi'h arms and armor suitable to your rank as an officer of 
 Sir Francis Vere.'' 
 
 L^pon the following morning a party of ten knights and 
 gentlemen, including Lionel Vickars, rode to Bergen-op- 
 Zoom. The two companies, which were drawn from the 
 garrison of that town, had embarked the evening before in 
 ships that had come from England to transport them to 
 France. Sir Ralph Pimpernel and his party at once went 
 on board, and as soon as their horses were embarked the 
 sails were hoisted. Four days' voyage took them to the 
 mouth of the Seine, and they landed r/, Honfleur on the 
 south bank of the river. There was a large number of 
 ships in port, for the Protestant princes of Germany were, 
 as well as England, sending aid to Henry of Xavarre, and 
 numbers of gentlemen and volunteers were flocking to his 
 banners. 
 
 For the moment Henry IV. represented in the eyes of 
 Europe the Protestant cause. He was supported by the 
 Huguenots of France and by some of the Catholic noble- 
 men and gentry. Against him were arrayed the greater 
 
292 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 portion of the Catholic nobles, the whole faction of the 
 Guises and the Holy League, supported by Philip of Spain. 
 
 The party from Holland disembarked at midday on the 
 9th of March. Hearing rumors that a battle was expected 
 very shortly to take place, Sir Ralph Pimpernel started at 
 once with his mounted party for Dreux, which town was 
 being besieged by Henry, leaving the two companies of 
 foot to press on at their best speed behind him. The dis- 
 tance to be ridden was about sixty miles, and late at night 
 on the 10th they rode into a village eight miles from Dreux. 
 Here they heard that the Duke of Mayenne, who com- 
 manded the force of the League, was approaching the 
 Seine at Mantes with an army of ten thousand foot and 
 four tnousand horse. 
 
 " We must mount at daybreak, gentlemen," Sir Ralph 
 Pimpernel said, "or the forces of the League will get 
 between us and the king. It is evident that we have but 
 just arrived in time, and it is well we did not wait for our 
 foot-men." 
 
 The next morning they mounted early and rode on to 
 the royal camp near Dreux. Here Sir Ralph Pimpernel 
 found Marshal Biron, a relation of his wife, who at once 
 took him to the king. 
 
 "You have just arrived in time. Sir Ralph," the king 
 said when Marshal Biron introduced him, '' for to-morrow, 
 or at latest the day after, we are likely to try our strength 
 with Mayenne. You will find many of your compatriots 
 here. 1 can offer you but poor hospitality at present, but 
 hope to entertain you rarely some day when the good city 
 of Paris opens its gates to us." 
 
 " Thanks, sire," Sir Ralph replied ; " but we have come 
 to fight and not to feast. ^' 
 
 " I think I can promise you plenty of that at any rate," 
 the king said. *' You have ten gentlemen with you. I hear, 
 and also that there are two companies of foot from Holland 
 now on their way up from Honfleur." 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 293 
 
 " They landed at noon the day before yesterday, sire, and 
 will probably be up to-morrow/'" 
 
 '* They will be heartily welcome. Sir Ralph. Since Par- 
 ma has sent so large a force to help Mayenne it is but right 
 that Holland, which is relieved of the presence of these 
 troops, should lend me a helping hand/' 
 
 Quarters were found for the party in a village near the 
 camp ; for the force was badly provided with tents, the 
 king's resources being at a very low ebb ; he maintained the 
 war, indeed, chiefly by the loans he received from England 
 and Germany. The next day several bodies of troops were 
 seen approaching the camp. A quarter of an hour later the 
 trumpets blew ; officers rode about, ordering the tents to be 
 leveled and the troops to prepare to march. A messenger 
 from Marshal Biron rode at full speed into the village, 
 where many of the volunteers from England and Germany, 
 besides the party of Sir Ralph Pimpernel, were lodged. 
 
 " The marshal bids me tell you, gentlemen, that the army 
 moves at once. Marshal D'Aumont has fallen back from 
 Ivry ; Mayenne is advancing. The siege will be abandoned 
 at present, and we march towards Xonancourt, where we 
 shall give battle to-morrow if Mayenne is disposed for it.'* 
 
 The camps were struck and the wagons loaded, and the 
 army marched to St. Andre, a village situated on an ele- 
 Tated plain commanding a view of all the approaches from 
 the country between the Seine and Eure. 
 
 *^ This is a fine field a for battle/' Sir Ralph said, as the 
 troops halted on the ground indicated by the camp-marshals. 
 *^ It is splendid ground for cavalry to act, and it is upon 
 them the brunt of the fighting will fall. We are a little 
 stronger in foot; for several companies from Honfleur, our 
 own among them, have come up this morning, and I hear 
 we muster twelve thousand, which is more than they say 
 Mayenne has with him. But then he has four thousand 
 cavalry to our three thousand ; and Parma's regiments of 
 Spaniards, Walloons, and Italian veterans are far superior 
 
294 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 troops to Henry's bands of riders, who are mostly Hugne- 
 not noblemen and gentlemen, with their armed retainers, 
 tough and hardy men to fight, as they have shown them- 
 selves on many a field, bnt without any of the discipline of 
 Parma'3 troopers. 
 
 '^ If Parma himself commanded yonder army I should 
 not feel confident of the result : but Mayenne, though a 
 skilful general, is slow and cautious, while Henry of Xa- 
 varre is full of fire and energy, and brave almost to rash- 
 ness. We are to muster under the command of tlie king 
 himself. He will have eight hundred horse, formed into six 
 squadrons, behind him, and upon these will, I fancy, come 
 the chief shock of the battle. lie will be covered on each 
 side by the English and Swiss infantry ; in all four thousand 
 strong. 
 
 ** Marshal Biron will be on the right with five troops of 
 horse and four regiments of French infantry ; while on the 
 left will be the troops of D'Aumont, Montpensier, Biron Uiq 
 younger, D'Angouleme, and De Givry, supported in all by 
 two regiments of French infantry, one of Swiss, and one of 
 German. The marshal showed us the plan of battle last 
 night in his tent. It is well balanced and devised." 
 
 It was late in the evening before the whole of the force 
 had reached the position and the tents were erected. One 
 of these had been placed at the disposal of Sir Ealph's part3\ 
 Sir Ralph and four of his companions had been followed 
 by their mounted squires, and these collected firewood, and 
 supplied the horses with forage from the sacks they carried 
 slung from their saddles, while the knights and gentlemen 
 themselves polished up their arms and armor, so as to make 
 as brave a show as possible in the ranks of the king^s cavalry. 
 
 "When they had eaten their supper Lionel Vickars 
 strolled through the camp, and was amused at the contrast 
 presented by the various groups. The troops cf cavalry 
 of the French nobles were gayly attired ; the tents uf the 
 officers lartre and commodious, with rich hangings and ap- 
 
B T ENGLAND 'S AI^. 295 
 
 "pointments. The sound of light-hearted laaghter came 
 ..j-ii tiie groups rouud the campfires, squires and pages 
 moved about thickly, and it was evident that comfort, 
 and indeed luxury, were considered by the commanders as 
 essential even upon a campaign. The encampments of 
 the German, Swiss, and English infantry were of far hum- 
 bler design. The tents of the officers were few in number, 
 and of the simplest form and make. A considerable por- 
 tion of the English infantry had been drawn from Holland, 
 for the little army there was still the only body of trained 
 troops at Elizabeth's disposal. 
 
 The Swiss and Germans were for the most part mer- 
 cenaries. Some had been raised at the expense of the 
 Protestant princes, others were paid from the sums sup- 
 plied from England. The great proportion of the men 
 were hardy veterans who had fought under many banners, 
 and cared but little for the cause in which they were 
 fighting, provided they obtained their pay regularly and 
 that the rations were abundant and of good quality. 
 
 The French infantry regiments contained men influenced 
 by a variety of motives. Some were professional soldiers 
 who had fought in many a field during the long wars that 
 had for so many years agitated France, others were the re- 
 tainers of the nobles who had thrown in their cause with 
 Henry, while others again were Huguenot peasants who 
 were fighting, not for pay, but in the cause of their religion. 
 
 The cavalry were for the most part composed of men of 
 good family, relations, connections, or the superior vassals 
 of the nobles who commanded or officered them. The 
 king's own squadrons were chiefly composed of Huguenot 
 gentlemen and their mounted retainers ; but with these 
 rode many foreign volunteers like Sir Ralph PimperneFs 
 party, attracted to Henry's banner either from a desire 
 to aid the Protestant cause or to gain military knowl- 
 edge and fame under so brave and able a monarch, or 
 eimply from the love of excitement and military ardor. 
 
296 -B F ENGLAXD ' S AID, 
 
 The camp of this main body of cavalry or "battalia,'* 
 as the body on whom the commander of our army chiefly 
 relied for victory was called, was comparatively still and 
 silent. The Huguenot gentlemen, after the long years of 
 persecution to which those of their religion had been 
 exposed, were for the most part poor. Their appoint- 
 ments were simple, and they fought for conscience' sake, 
 and went into battle with the stern enthusiasm that after- 
 wards animated Cromwell's Ironsides. 
 
 It was not long before the camp quieted down ; for the 
 march had been a long one, and they would be on their 
 feet by daybreak. The king himself, attended by Mar- 
 shals D'Aumont and Biron, had gone through the whole 
 extent of the camp, seen that all was in order, that the 
 troops had everywhere received their rations, and that the 
 officers were acquainted with the orders for the morrow. 
 He stayed a short time in the camp of each regiment and 
 troop, saying a few words of encouragement to the sol- 
 diers, and laughing and joking with tlie officers. He 
 paused a short time and chatted with Sir Ralph Pimper- 
 nel, who, at his request, introduced each of his com- 
 panions to him. 
 
 Lionel looked with interest and admiration at the man 
 who was regarded as the champion of Protestantism 
 against Popery, and who combined in himself a remark- 
 able mixture of quahties seldom found existing in one 
 person. He was brave to excess and apparently reckless 
 in action, and yet astute, prudent, and calculating in 
 council. With a manner frank, open, and winning, he 
 was yet able to match the craftiest of opponents at their 
 own weapons of scheming and duplicity. The idol of the 
 Huguenots of France, he was ready to purchase the crown 
 of France at the price of accepting the Catholic doctrines, 
 for he saw that it was hopeless for him in the long run to 
 maintain himself against the hostility of almost all the 
 great noblf^s of France, backed by the great proportion of 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 297 
 
 the people and aided by the pope and the Catholic powers, 
 so long as he remained a Protestant. But this change of 
 creed ""was scarcely even foreseen by those who followed 
 him, and it was the apparent hopelessness of his cause, 
 and 'the gallantry with which he maintained it, that at- 
 tracted the admiration of Europe. 
 
 Henry's capital was at the time garrisoned by the troops 
 of the pope and Spain. The great nobles of France, who 
 had long maintained a sort of semi-independence of the 
 crown, were all against him, and were calculating on 
 founding independent kingdoms. He himself was excom- 
 municated. The League were masters of almost the 
 whole of France, and were well supplied with funds by the 
 pope and the Catholic powers, while Henry was entirely 
 dependent for money upon what he could borrow from 
 Queen Elizabeth and the States of Holland. But no one 
 who listened to the merry laugh of the king as he chatted 
 with the little group of English gentlemen would have 
 thought that he was engaged in a desperate and well-nigh 
 hopeless struggle, and that the following day was to be a 
 decisive one as to his future fortunes. 
 
 ''Well, gentlemen," he said as he turned his horse to 
 ride awav, " I must ask you to lie down as soon as possible. 
 As long as the officers are awake and talking the men can- 
 not sle^ep ; and I want all to have a good night^s rest. 
 The enemy's camp is close at hand, and the battle is sure 
 to take place at early dawn." 
 
 As the same orders were given everywhere, the camp 
 was quiet earlv, and before daylight the troops were called 
 under arms and ranged in the order appointed for them 
 
 to fisht in. 
 
 The army of the League was astir in equally good time. 
 In its center was the battalia, composed of six hundred 
 splendid cavalry, all noblemen of France, supported by a 
 column of three hundred Swiss and two thousand Frencn 
 infantry. On the left were six hundred French cuiras- 
 
298 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 siers and the eighteen hundred troops of Parma, com- 
 manded by Count Egmont. They were supported by six 
 regiments of French and Lorrainers, and two tliousand 
 Germans. The right wing was composed of three regi- 
 ments of Spanish lancers, two troops of Germans, four 
 hundred cuirassiers, and four regiments of infantry. 
 
 When the sun rose and lighted up the contending 
 armies, the difference between their appearance was very 
 marked. That of the League was gay with the gilded 
 armor, waving plumes, and silken scarfs of the French 
 nobles, whose banners fluttered brightly in the air, while 
 the Walloons and Flemish rivaled their French comrades 
 in the splendor of their appointments. In the opposite 
 ranks there was neither gayety or show. The Huguenot 
 nobles and gentlemen, who had for so many years been 
 fighting for life and religion, were clad in armor dinted 
 in a hundred battle-fields ; and while the nobles of tLe 
 League were confident of the victor}^ and loud in demanding 
 to be led against the foe, Henry of Xavarre and his sol- 
 diers were kneeling, praying to the God of battles to enable 
 them to bear themselves well in the coming fight. Henry 
 of Xavarre wore in his helmet a snow-white plume, whicli 
 he ordered his troops to keep in view, and to follow wher- 
 ever they should see it waving, in case his banner went 
 down. 
 
 Artillery still played but a small part in battles on the 
 field, and there were but twelve pieces on the ground, 
 equally divided between the two armies. These opened 
 the battle, and Count Egmont, whose cavalry had suffered 
 from the fire of the Huguenot cannon, ordered a charge, 
 and the splendid cavalry of Parma swept down upon the 
 right wing of Henry. The cavalry under Marshal Biron 
 were unable to withstand the shock and were swept before 
 them, and Egmont rode on right up to the guns and sa- 
 bered the artillerymen. Almost at the same moment the 
 German riders under Eric of Brunswick, the Spanish and 
 
B Y ENGL AS I) ' S AID, 2\ti0 
 
 French lancers, charged down upon the center of the 
 Royal Army. The rout of the right wing shook the 
 cavalry in the center. They wavered, and the infantry on 
 their flanks fell back, but the king and his officers rode 
 among them, shouting and entreating them to stand firm. 
 The ground in their front was soft and checked the im- 
 petuosity of the charge of the Leaguers, and by the time 
 they reached the ranks of the Huguenots they were broken 
 and disordered, and could make no impression whatever 
 i.pon them. 
 
 As soon as the charge was repulsed, Henry set his troops 
 in motion, and the battalia charged down upon the dis- 
 ordered cavalry of the League. The lancers and cuiras- 
 siers were borne down by the impetuosity of the charge, 
 and Marshal Biron, rallying his troops, followed the king^s 
 white plume into the heart of the battle. Egmont brought 
 up the cavalry of Flanders to the scene, and was charging 
 at their head when he fell dead with a musket- ball through 
 the heart. Brunswick went down in the fight, and the 
 shattered German and Walloon horse were completely 
 overthrown and cut to pieces by the furious charges of 
 the Huguenot cavalry. 
 
 At one time the victorious onset was checked by the 
 disappearance of the king's snow-white plumes, and a re- 
 port ran through the army that the king was killed. They 
 wavered irresolutely. The enemy, regaining courage from 
 the cessation of their attacks, were again advancing, when 
 the king reappeared bareheaded and covered with dust 
 and blood, but entirely unhurt. He addressed a few 
 ciieerful words to his soldiers, and again led a charge. It 
 wiis irresistible ; the enemy broke and fled in the wildest 
 coTiiUsion hotly pursued by the royalist cavalry, while the 
 i'.ifantry of the League, who had so far taken no part 
 whatever in the battle, were seized with a panic, threw 
 away their arms, and sought refuge in the woods in their 
 rear. 
 
300 BT ENGL A ND 'S AID. 
 
 Thus the battle was decided only by the cavalry, the 
 infantry taking no part in the fight on either side. Eight 
 hundred of the Leaguers either fell on the battle-field or 
 were drowned in crossing the river in their rear. The 
 loss of the royalists was but one-fourth that number. Had 
 the king pushed forward upon Paris immediately after tlie 
 battle, the city would probably have surrendered without 
 a blow ; and the Huguenot leaders urged this course upon 
 him. Biron and the other Catholics, however, argued 
 that it was better to undertake a regular siege, and the 
 kinjr vielded to this advice, althouirh the bolder course 
 w^ould have been far more in accordance with his own 
 disposition. 
 
 He was probably influenced b}^ a variety of motives. In 
 the first place his Swiss mercenaries were in a mutinous 
 condition, and refused to advance a single foot unless they 
 received their arrears of pay, and this Henry, whose chests 
 were entirely empty, had no means of providing. In the 
 second place he was at the time secretly in negotiation 
 with the pope for his conversion, and may have feared to 
 give so heavy a blow to the Catholic cause as would have 
 been effected by the capture of Paris following closely 
 after the victory of Ivry. At any rate he determined 
 upon a regular siege. Moving forward he seized the 
 towns of Lagny on the Marne, and Corbeil on the Seiue, 
 thus entirely cutting off the food supply of Paris. 
 
 Lionel Vickars had borne his part in the charges of the 
 Huguenot cavalry, but as the company to which he be- 
 longed was in the rear of the battalia, he had no personal 
 encounters with the enemy. 
 
 After the advance towards Paris the duties of the cavalry 
 consisted entirely in scouting the country, sweeping in 
 provisions for their own army, and preventing supplies 
 from entering Paris. Xo siege operations w^ere under- 
 taken, the king relying upon famine alone to reduce tlie 
 city. Its population at the time the siege commenced wai^ 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 301 
 
 estimated at 400,000, and the supply of provisions to be 
 sufficient for a month. It was calculated therefore that 
 before the League could bring up another army to it-s 
 relief, it must fall by famine. 
 
 But no allowance had been made for the religious en- 
 tliusiasm and devotion to the cause of the League that 
 animated the population of Paris. Its governor, the Duke 
 of Xemours, brother of Mayenne, aided by the three 
 Spanish delegates, the Cardinal Gaetano, and by an army 
 of priests and monks, sustained the spirits of the popula- 
 tion ; and though the people starved by thousands, the 
 city resisted until towards the end of August. In that 
 month the army of the League, united with twelve thou- 
 sand foot and three thousand horse from the Netherlands 
 under Parma himself, advanced to its assistance ; while 
 Maurice of Holland, with a small body of Dutch troops 
 and reinforcements from England, had strengthened the 
 army of the king. 
 
 The numbers of the two armies were not unequal 
 Many of the French nobles had rallied round Henry after 
 his victory, and of his cavalry four thousand were nobles 
 and their retainers who served at their own expense, and 
 were eager for a battle. Parma himself had doubts as to 
 the result of the conflict. He could rely upon the troops 
 he himself had brought, but had no confidence in those of 
 the League ; and when Henry sent him a formal challenge 
 to a general engagement, Parma replied that it was his 
 custom to refuse a combat when a refusal seemed advan- 
 tageous for himself, and to offer battle whenever it suited 
 his purpose to fight. 
 
 For seven days the two armies, each some twenty-five 
 thousand strong, lay within a mile or two of each other. 
 Then the splendid cavalry of Parma moved out in order of 
 battle, with banners flying, and the pennons of the lances 
 fluttering in the wind. The king was delighted when he 
 saw that the enemy were at last advancing to the fight. 
 
302 BT ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 He put his troops at once unaer arms, but waited until 
 the plan of the enemy's battle developed itself before 
 making his dispositions. But while the imposing array of 
 cavalry was attracting the king^s attention, Parma moved 
 off with the main body of his army, threw a division across 
 the river on a pontoon bridge, and attacked Lagny on botli 
 sides. 
 
 When Lagny was first occupied some of Sir Ralph ^ . a- 
 perners party were appointed to take up their quarters 
 there, half a company of the English, who had come with 
 them from Holland, were also stationed in the town, the 
 garrison being altogether 1200 strong. Lionel's horse had 
 received a bullet wound at Ivry, and although it carried 
 him for the next day or two, it was evident that it needed 
 rest and attention, and would be unfit to carry his rider 
 for some time. Lionel had no liking for the work of 
 driving off the cattle of the unfortunate landowners and 
 peasants, however necessary it might be to keep the army 
 supplied with food, and was glad of the excuse that his 
 wounded horse afforded him for remaining quietly in the 
 town when his comrades rode out with the troop of cavalry 
 stationed there. 
 
 It happened that the officer in command of the little 
 body of English infantry was taken ill with fever, and Sir 
 Ralph Pimpernel requested Lionel to take his place. This 
 he was glad to do, as he was more at home at infanti-y 
 work than with cavalry. The time went slowly, but 
 Lionel, who had comfortable quarters in the house of a 
 citizen, did not find it long. The burgher's family con- 
 sisted of his wife and two daughters, and these congratu- 
 lated themselves greatly upon having an officer quartered 
 upon them who not only acted as a protection to them 
 against the insolence of the rough soldiery, but was 
 courteous and pleasant in his manner, and tried in every 
 way to show that he regarded himself as a guest and not a 
 master. 
 
BT ENGLAND' 8 AW. 303 
 
 After the first week's stay he requested that instead of 
 having his meals served to him in a room apart he might 
 take them with the family. The girls were about Lionel's 
 age, and after the first constraint wore off he became great 
 friends with them ; and although at first he had diflSculty 
 in making himself understood, he rapidly picked up a 
 little French, the girls acting as his teachers. 
 
 '* What do you English do here ? " the eldest of them 
 asked him vrhen six weeks after his arrival they were able 
 to converse fairly in a mixture of French and Spanish. 
 '^ Why do you not leave us French people to fight out our 
 quarrels by ourselves ? '' 
 
 " I should put it the other way,'' Lionel laughed. " Why 
 don't yon French people fight out your quarrels among 
 yourselves instead of calling in foreigners to help you ? It 
 is because the Guises and the League have called in the 
 Spaniards to fight on the Catholic side that the English 
 and Dutch have come to help the Huguenots. We are 
 fighting the battle of our own religion here, not the battle 
 of Henry of Xavarre." 
 
 ''1 hate these wars of religion," the girl said. '^Why 
 can we not all worship in our own way ?" 
 
 " Ah, that is what we Protestants want to know. Made- 
 moiselle Claire ; that is just what your people won't allow. 
 Did you not massacre the Protestants in France on the eve 
 of St. Bartholomew ? and have not the Spaniards been for 
 the last twenty years trying to stamp out with fire and 
 Bword the new religion in the Low Countries ? We only 
 want to be left alone." 
 
 " But your queen of England kills the Catholics." 
 
 '^ Not at all," Lionel said warmly ; " that is only one of 
 the stories they spread to excuse their own doings. It is 
 true that Catholics in England have been put to death, 
 and so have people of the sect that call themselves Ana- 
 baptists ; but this has been because they had been engaged 
 in plots against the queen, and not because "^^ ^^'^\i re- 
 
304 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 ligion. The Catholics of England for the most part 
 joined as heartily as the Protestants in the preparations for 
 the defense of England in the time of the Armada. For 
 my part, I cannot understand why people should quarrel 
 with each other because they worsiiip God in different 
 ways. " 
 
 '' It is all very bad, I am sure," the girl said ; " France 
 ha5 been torn to pieces by these religious wars for years 
 and years. It is dreadful to think what they must be suf- 
 fering in Paris now." 
 
 *' Then why don't they open their gates to King Henrj 
 instead of starving themselves at the orders of the legate 
 of the pope and the agent of Philip of Spain ? I could 
 understand if there was another French prince whom they 
 wanted as king instead of Henry of Navarre. "We fought 
 for years in England as to whether we would have a king 
 from the house of York or the house of Lancaster, but 
 when it comes to choosing between a king of your own 
 race and a king named for you by Philip of Spain, I can't 
 understand it." 
 
 ''Never mind. Master Vickars. You know what you 
 are fighting for, don't you ? " 
 
 ''I do; lam fighting here to aid Holland. Parma is 
 bringing all his troops to aid the Guises here, and while 
 they are away the Dutch will take town after town, and 
 will make themselves so strong that when Parma goes back 
 he will find the nut harder than ever to crack." 
 
 '' How long will Paris hold out, think you, Master 
 Vickars ? They say that provisions are well-nigh spent." 
 
 '' Judging from the way in which the Dutch towns held 
 on for weeks and weeks after, as it seemed, all supplies 
 were exhausted, I should say that if the people of Pans are 
 as ready to suffer rather than yield as were the Dutch 
 burghers, they may hold on for along time yet. It is cer- 
 tain that no provisions can come to them as long as we kold 
 possession of this town, and so block the river." 
 
BY ENGLAND'S ALL. 305 
 
 '* But if the armies of Parma and the League come they 
 may drive you away^ Master Vickars/' 
 
 " It is quite possible, mademoiselle ; we do not pretend 
 to be invincible, but I think there will be some tough fight- 
 ing first." 
 
 As the weeks went on Lionel Vickars came to be on very 
 intimate terms with the family. The two maid-servants 
 shared in the general liking for the young ofl&cer. He 
 gave no more trouble than if he were one of the family, 
 and on one or two occasions when disturbances were caused 
 by the ill-conduct of the miscellaneous bands which con- 
 stituted the garrison, he brought his half company 
 of English soldiers at once into the house, and by 
 his resolute attitude prevented the marauders from enter- 
 ing. 
 
 When Parma^s army approached Sir Ralph Pimpernel 
 with the cavalry joined the king, but Lionel shared in the 
 disappointment felt by all the infantry of the garrison of 
 Lagny that they could take no share in the great battle 
 that was expected. Their excitement roee high while the 
 armies lay watching each other. From the position of the 
 town down by the river neither army was visible from its 
 walls, and they only learned when occasional messengers 
 rode in how matters were going on. One morning Lionel 
 was awoke by a loud knocking at his door. '' What is it ? " 
 he shouted, as he sat up in bed. 
 
 '^ It is I — Timothy Short, Master Yickars. The sergeant 
 has sent me to wake you in all haste. The Spaniards have 
 stolen a march upon us. They have thrown a bridge across 
 the river somewhere in the night, and most all their army 
 stands between us and the king, while a division are pre- 
 paring to besiege the town on the other side. "*' Lionel was 
 hastily throwing on his clothes and arming himself while 
 the man was speaking. 
 
 '^Tell the sergeant," he said, "to get the men under 
 arms. I will be with him in a few minutes." 
 
 70 
 
306 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 When Lionel went out he found that the household was 
 already astir. 
 
 *' Go not out fasting/' his host said. '^ Take a cup of 
 wme and some food before you start. You may be some 
 time before you get an opportunity of eating again if what 
 they say is true." 
 
 *' Thank you heartily," Lionel replied as he sat down to 
 the table, on which some food had already been placed ; 
 *'it is always better to fight full than fasting." 
 
 *' Ilark you ! " the bourgeois said in his ear ; '' if things 
 go badly with you make your way here. I have a snug 
 hiding-place, and I shall take refuge there with my family 
 if the Spaniards capture the town. I have heard of tlieir 
 doings in Holland, and that when they capture a town they 
 spare neither age nor sex, and slay Catholics as well as Prot- 
 estants ; therefore I shall take refuge till matters have 
 quieted down and order is restored. I shall set to work 
 at once to carry my valuables there, and a goodly store of 
 provisions. My warehouseman will remain in charge above. 
 He is faithful and can be trusted, and he will tell the Span- 
 iards that I am a good Catholic, and lead them to believe 
 that I fled with my family before the Huguenots entered 
 the town. 
 
 '' Thank you greatly," Lionel replied ; '' should the need 
 arise I will take advantage of your kind offer. But it 
 should not do so. We have twelve hundred men here, and 
 half that number of citizens have kept the Spaniards at 
 bay for months before towns no stronger than this in Hol- 
 land. We ought to be able to defend ourselves here for 
 weeks, and the king will assuredly come to our relief in 
 two or three days at the outside." 
 
 Upon Lionel sallying out he found the utmost confusion 
 and disorder reigning. The commandant was hurriedly 
 assigning to the various companies composing the garrison 
 their places upon the walls. Many of the soldiers were 
 exclaiming that they had been betrayed, and that it were 
 
BY ENGLAND ' S A^. 307 
 
 best to make terms with the Spaniards at once. The 
 difference between the air of quiet resolution that marked 
 the conduct of the people and troops at Sluys and the ex- 
 citement manifested here struck Lionel unpleasantly. 
 The citizens all remameri in their houses, afraid lest the 
 exultation they felt at the prospect of deliverance would 
 be so marked as to enrage the soldiery. Lionel's own 
 company was standing quietly and in good order in the 
 market-place, and as soon as he received orders as to the 
 point that he should occupy on the walls Lionel marched 
 them away. 
 
 In half an hour the Spanish batteries, which had been 
 erected during the night, opened fire upon several points 
 of the walls. The town was ill provided with artillery, 
 and the answer was feeble, and before evening several 
 breaches had been effected, two of the gates blown in, and 
 the Spaniards advanced to the assault. Lionel and his 
 company, with one composed of Huguenot gentlemen and 
 their retainers and another of Germans, defended the gate 
 at which they were posted with great bravery, and succeeded 
 in repulsing the attacks of the Spaniards time after time. 
 The latter pressed forward in hea^■y column, only to recoil 
 broken and shattered from the archway, which was filled 
 high with their dead. The defenders had just succeeded 
 in repulsing the last of these attacks, when some soldiers 
 ran by shouting '' All is lost, the Spaniards have entered 
 the town at three points I '"' 
 
 The German company at once disbanded and scattered. 
 The Huguenot noble said to Lionel : '' I fear that the 
 news is true ; listen to the shouts and the cries in the 
 town behind us. I will march with my men and see if 
 there is any chance of beating back the Spaniards ; if not 
 it were best to lay down our arms and ask for quarter. 
 Will you try to hold this gate until I return ? " 
 
 *' I will do so,'' Lionel said; *' but I have only about 
 
308 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 thirty men left, and if the Spaniards come on again we 
 cannot hope to repulse them." 
 
 ^' If I am not back in ten minutes it will be because all 
 all is lost," the Huguenot said ; '' and you had then best 
 save yourself as you can." 
 
 But long before the ten minutes passed crowds of fugitives 
 tan past, and Lionel learned that great numbers of the 
 enemy had entered, and that they were refusing quarter 
 and slaying all they met. 
 
 It is useless to stay here longer to be massacred," he 
 said to his men. '' I should advise you to take refuge 
 in the churches, leaving your arms behind you as you enter. 
 It is evident that further resistance is useless, and would 
 only cost us our lives. The Spaniards are twenty to one, 
 and it is evident that all hope of resistance is at an end." 
 The men were only too glad to accept the advice, and, 
 throwing down their arms, hurried away. Lionel slieathed 
 his sword, and with the greatest difficulty made liis way 
 through the scene of wild confusion to the house where he 
 had lodged. The doors of most of the houses wore fast 
 closed, and the inhabitants were hurling down missiles of 
 all kinds from the upper windows upon their late masters. 
 The triumphant shouts of the Spaniards rose loud in the air, 
 mingled with despairing cries and the crack of firearms. 
 Lionel had several narrow escapes from the missiles 
 thrown from the windows and roofs, but reached th© 
 house of the merchant safely. The door was half opened, 
 
 '^ Thanks be to heaven that you have come. I had well- 
 nigh given you up, and in another minute should have 
 closed the door. The women are all below, but I waited 
 until the last minute for you." 
 
 Barring the door Lionel^s host led the way downstairs 
 into a great cellar, which served as a warehouse, and ex- 
 tended under the whole house. He made his way through 
 the boxes and bales to the darkest corner of the great 
 Gel!ar Here he pulled up a flag and showed another 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 309 
 
 narrow stair, at the bottom of which a torch was bnrning. 
 Bidding Lionel descend he followed him, lowered the flag 
 behind him, and then led the way along a narrow passage, 
 at the end of which was a door. Opening it Lionel found 
 himself in an arched chamber. Two torches were burning, 
 aud the merchant's wife and daughters and the two female 
 domestics were assembled. There was a general exclama- 
 tion of gladness as Lionel entered. 
 
 ''We have been greatly alarmed," the mercers wife 
 said, '*' lest you should not be able to gain the house. 
 Master Vickars ; for we heard that the Spaniards are broken 
 in at several points." 
 
 '' It was fortunately at the other end of the town to that 
 at which I Avas stationed," Lionel said ; *' and I was just in 
 time. You have a grand hiding-place here. It looks like 
 the crypt of a church." 
 
 " That is just what it is," the mercer said. '' It was the 
 church of a monastery that stood here a hundred years ago. 
 The monks then moved into a grander place in Paris, and 
 the monastery and church which adjoined our house were 
 pulled down and houses erected upon the site. My grand- 
 father, knowing of the existence of the crypt, thought that 
 it might afford a rare hiding-place in case of danger, and 
 had the passage driven from his cellar into it. Its ex- 
 istence could never be suspected ; for as our cellar extends 
 over the whole of our house, as can easily be seen, none would 
 suspect that there was a hiding-place without our walls. 
 There are three or four chambers as large as this. One of 
 them is stored with all my choicest silks and velvets, 
 another will serve as a chamber for yon and me. I have 
 enough provisions for a couple of months, and even should 
 they burn the house down we are safe enough here." 
 
31^ BT ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 STEENWYK. 
 
 Three days passed, and then a slight noise was heard 
 as of the trap-door being raised. Lionel drew his sword. 
 
 *' It is my servant, no doubt/' the merchant said ; " he 
 promised to come and tell me how things went as soon as 
 he could get an opportunity to come down unobserved. 
 TTe should hear more noise if it were the Spaniards." 
 Taking a light he went along the passage, and returned 
 immediately afterwards followed by his man ; the latter 
 had his head bound up, and carried his arm in a sling. 
 An exclamation of pity broke from the ladies. 
 
 "You are badly hurt, Jacques. AVhat has happened ?*' 
 
 " It is well it is no worse, mistress, '^ he replied. " The 
 Spaniards are fiends, and behaved as if they were sacking 
 a city of Dutch Huguenots instead of entering a town in- 
 habited by friends. For an hour or two they cut and 
 slashed, pillaged and robbed. They came rushing into the 
 shop, and before I could say a word one run me through 
 the shoulder and another laid my head open. It was an 
 hour or two before I came to my senses. I found the 
 house turned topsy-turvy ; everything worth taking had 
 gone, and what was not taken was damaged. I tied up my 
 head and arms as best I could, and then sat quiet in a 
 corner till the din outside began to subside. The officers 
 did thei.' best, I hear, and at last got the men into order. 
 Kumbers of the townsfolk hau been killed, and every on& 
 of the garrison was butchered. I tell you, mistress, it ii 
 better to have ten Huguenot armies in possession one after 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 311 
 
 another than one Spanish force, though the latter come as 
 friends and co-religionists. Well, as soon as things quieted 
 down the soldiers were divided among the houses of the 
 townsfolk, and we have a sergeant and ten men quartered 
 above ; but half an hour ago they were called away on 
 some duty, and I took the opportunity to steal down/i3re/' 
 
 *^ Have you told them that we were away, Jacques ? '* 
 
 ^'No, monsieur ; no one has asked me about it. They 
 saw by the pictures a^d shrines that you were good Catholics, 
 and after the first outburst they have left things alone. 
 But if it is not too dreary for the ladies here, I should ad- 
 vise you to wait for a time and see how things go before 
 you show yourselves." 
 
 " That is my opinion too, Jacques. We can wait here 
 for another two months if need be. Doubtless, unless the 
 Huguenots show signs of an intention to attack the town, 
 only a small garrison will be left here, and it may bo that 
 those in our house will be withdrawn. ''^ 
 
 ** Do you think it will be possible for me to make my 
 escape, Jacques ?" Lionel asked. 
 
 '' I should think so, sir. Ever since the Spaniards 
 entered the town boats with provisions for Paris have been 
 coming along in great numbers. From what I hear the 
 soldiers say there is no chance of a battle at present, for 
 the Huguenot army have drawn off to a distance, seeing 
 that Paris is revictualled and that there is no chance of 
 taking it. They say that numbers of the French lords 
 with the Huguenot army have drawn off and are making 
 for their homes. At any rate there is no fear of an attack 
 here, and the gates stand open all day. Numbers of the 
 townsfolk have been to Paris to see friends there, and I 
 should say that if you had a disguise you could pass out 
 easily enough." 
 
 The question was discussed for some time. Lionel was 
 very anxious to rejoin the army, and it was finally settled 
 that Jacques should the next night bring him down a suit 
 
312 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 of his own clothes, and the first time the soldiers were ah 
 away should fetch him out, accompany him through the 
 gates of the town, and act as his guide as far as he could. 
 
 The next night Lionel received the clothes. Two days 
 later Jacques came down early in the morning to say that 
 the soldiers above had just gone out on duty. Lionel at 
 once assumed his disguise, and with the heartiest thanks 
 for the great service they had rendered him took his leave 
 of the kind merchant and his family. Jacques was charged 
 to accompany him as far as possible, and to set him well 
 on his way towards the Huguenot army, for Lionel's small 
 knowledge of French would be detected by the first person 
 w^ho accosted him. On going out into the street Lionel 
 found that there were many peasants who had come in to 
 sell fowls, eggs, and vegetables in the to^vn, and he and 
 Jacques passed without a question through the gates. 
 
 Jacques had, the evening before, ascertained from the 
 soldiers the position of Parma's army. A long detour had 
 to be made, and it was two days before they came in sight 
 of the tents of Henry's camp. They had observed the 
 greatest precautions on their way, and had only once fallen 
 in with a troop of Parma's cavalry. These had asked no 
 questions, supposing that Jacques and his companion were 
 making their way from Paris to visit their friends after the 
 siege, there being nothing in their attire to attract attention, 
 still less suspicion. The peasants they met on their way 
 eagerly demanded news from Paris, but Jacques easily sat- 
 isfied them by saying that they had had a terrible time> 
 and that many had died of hunger, but that now that the 
 river was open again better times had come. AVhen within 
 a couple of miles of the army Jacques said good-bye to 
 Lionel, who would have rewarded him handsomely for his 
 guidance, but Jacques would not accept money. 
 
 '• You are the master's guest," he said, '' and you saved 
 his house from plunder when your people were in posses- 
 sion. He and my mistress would never forgive me if I 
 
B T ENGLAND ' 5 AID, 313 
 
 took money from you. I am well content in having been 
 able to assist so kind a young gentleman/' 
 
 When Lionel arrived at the camp he soon found his way 
 to Sir Ralph Pimpernel's tent, where he was received as 
 one from the dead. There was no difficulty in providing 
 himself again with armor and arms, for of these there were 
 abundance — the spoils of Ivry — in the camp. When he 
 was reclothed and rearmed Sir Ralph took him to the king's 
 tent, and from him Henry learned for the first time the 
 circumstances that had attended the capture of Lagny. 
 
 *' And so they put the whole garrison to the sword,'' the 
 king said with indignation. '^ I will make any Spaniards 
 that fall in my hands pay dearly for it I " 
 
 Henry had indeed been completely out-generaled by his 
 opponent. While he had been waiting with his army for 
 a pitched battle Parma had invested Lagny, and there 
 were no means of relieving it except by crossing the river 
 in the face of the whole army of the enemy, an enterprise 
 impossible of execution. As soon as Lagny had fallen 
 provisions and ammunition were at once poured into Paris, 
 two thousand boat-loads arriving in a single day. 
 
 King Henr/s army immediately fell to pieces. The cav- 
 alry having neither food nor forage rode off by hundreds 
 every day, and in a week but two thousand out of his six 
 thousand horse remained with him. The infantry also, 
 seeing now no hope of receiving their arrears of pay, dis- 
 banded in large numbers and after an unsuccessful attempt 
 to carry Paris by a night attack, the king fell back with 
 the remnant of his force. Corbeil was assaulted and cap* 
 tured by Parma, and the two great rivers of Paris were 
 now open. 
 
 If Parma could have remained with his army in France, 
 the cause of Henry of Navarre would have been lost. 
 But sickness was making ravages among his troops. Dis- 
 sensions broke out between the Spaniards, Italians, and 
 Ketherlanders of his army and their French allies, who 
 
iili B T ENGL A ND'S A ID. 
 
 hated the foreigners, though they had come to their assist- 
 ance. Lastly, his presence was urgently required in the 
 Netherlands, where his work was as far from being done 
 as ever. Therefore to the dismay of the Leaguers he 
 started early in November on his march back. 
 
 No sooner did he retire than the king took the field 
 again, recaptured Lagny and Corbeil, and recommenced 
 the siege of Paris, while his cavalry hung upon the rear 
 and flanks of Parma's army and harassed them continually, 
 until they crossed the frontier, where tlie duke found that 
 a5airs had not improved during his absence. 
 
 Lionel had obtained permission to accompany the force 
 which captured Lagny, and as soon as they entered the 
 town hurried to the mercer's house. He found Jacques 
 in possession, and learned that the family had weeks before 
 left the crypt and reoccupied the house, but had again 
 taken refuge there when the Huguenots attacked the town. 
 Lionel at once went below, and was received with delight. 
 He was now able to repay to some extent the obligations 
 he had received from them, by protecting them from all 
 interference by the new captors of the town, from whom 
 the majority of the citizens received harsh treatment for 
 the part they had taken in attacking the garrison when the 
 Spaniards first entered. 
 
 Prince Maurice's visit to the camp of Henry had been 
 but a short one ; and as soon as Parma had effected the re- 
 lief of Paris, and there was no longer a chance of a great 
 battle being fought, he returned to Holland, followed after 
 the recapture of Lagny by Sir Ealph Pimpernel and the 
 few survivors of his party, who were all heartily weary of 
 the long period of inaction that had followed the victory 
 at Ivry. 
 
 They found that during their absence there had been 
 little doing in the Netherlands, save that Sir Francis Vere, 
 with a small body of English infantry and cavalry, had 
 stormed some formidable works the Spaniards had thrown 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 815 
 
 tip to prevent relief being given to Recklinghausen, which 
 they were besieging. He effected the relief of the town 
 and drove off the besiegers. He then attacked and cap- 
 tured a fort on the bank of tne Rhine, opposite the town 
 of Wesel. 
 
 At the end of the year 1590 there were, including th« 
 garrisons, some eight thousand English infantry and cav- 
 alry in Holland, and the year that followed was to see a 
 great change in the nature of the war. The efforts of 
 Prince Maurice to improve his army were to bear effect, 
 and with the assistance of his English allies he was td 
 commence an active offensive war, to astonish his foes by 
 the rapidity with which he maneuvered the new fighting 
 machine he had created, and to commence a new depart- 
 ure in the tactics of war. 
 
 In May he took the field, requesting Vere to co-operate 
 with him in the siege of Zutphen. But Sir Francis deter- 
 mined in the first place to capture on his own account the 
 Zutphen forts on the opposite side of the river, since these 
 had been lost by the treachery of Rolaud Yorke. He 
 dressed up a score of soldiers, some as peasants, others as 
 countrywomen, and provided them with baskets of eggs 
 and other provisions. At daybreak these went down by 
 twos and threes to the Zutphen ferry, as if waiting to be 
 taken across to the town ; and while waiting for the boat 
 to come across for them, they sat down near the gate of 
 the fort. 
 
 A few minutes later a party of English cavalry were 
 seen riding rapidly towards the fort. The pretended 
 country people sprang to their feet, and with cries of alarm 
 ran towards it for shelter. The gates were thrown open 
 to allow them to enter. As they ran in they drew out the 
 arms concealed under their clothes and overpowered the 
 guard. The cavalry dashed up and entered the gate be- 
 fore the garrison could assemble, and the fort was cap- 
 tured. 
 
n(j BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 Vere at once began to throw up his batteries for the 
 attack upon the town across the river, and the prince in- 
 vested the city on the other side. So diligently did the 
 besiegers work that before a week had passed after the 
 surprise of the fort the batteries were completed, thirty- 
 two guns placed in position, and the garrison, seeing 
 there was no hope of relief, surrendered. 
 
 On the very day of taking possession of the town, the 
 allies, leaving a garrison there, marched against Deventer, 
 seven miles down the river, and within five days had in- 
 vested the place, and opened their batteries upon the 
 weakest part of the town. A breach was effected, and a 
 storm was ordered. A dispute arose between the English, 
 Scotch, and Dutch troops as to who should have the honor 
 of leading the assault. Prince Maurice decided in favor 
 of the English, in order that they might have an oppor- 
 tunity of wiping out the stigma on the national honor 
 caused by the betrayal of Deventer by the traitor Sir 
 William Stanley. 
 
 To reach the breach it was necessary to cross a piece of 
 water called the Haven. Sir Francis Yere led the English 
 across the bridge of boats which had been thrown over the 
 water ; but the bridge was too short. Some of the troops 
 sprang over and pushed boldly for the breach, others were 
 pushed over and drowned. Many of those behind stripped 
 off their armor and swam across the Haven, supported by 
 some Dutch troops who had been told off to follow the as- 
 saulting party. But at the breach they were met by Van 
 der Berg, the governor, with seven companies of soldiers, 
 and these fought so courageously that the assailants were 
 unable to win their way up the breach^ and fell back at 
 last with a loss of two hundred and twenty-five men killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 While the assault was going on, the artillery of the be- 
 siegers continued to play upon other pares of the town, 
 and effected great damage. On the following night tha 
 
Crossing the Bridge of Boats over the Haven.— Page 316. 
 ^.' -. Aid.] 
 
BT ENGLAND ' S AID. 317 
 
 garrison endeavored to capture the bridge across the Haven, 
 but were repulsed with loss, and in the morning the place 
 surrendered. The success of the patriots was due in no 
 slight degree to the fact that Parma with the greatest part 
 of his army was again absent in France, and the besieged 
 towns had therefore no hope of assistance from without. 
 The States now determined to seize the opportunity of 
 capturing the towns held by the Spaniards in Friesland. 
 
 The three principal towns in the possession of the Span- 
 iards were Groningen, Steenwyk, and Coevorden. After 
 capturing several less important places and forts Prince 
 Maurice advanced against Steenwyk. But just as he was 
 about to commence the siege he received pressing letters 
 from the States to hurry south, as Parma was marcliing 
 with his whole army to capture the fort of Knodsenburg, 
 which had been raised in the previous autumn as a prep- 
 aration for the siege of the important city of Xymegen. 
 
 The Duke of Parma considered that he had ample time 
 to reduce Knodsenburg before Prince Maurice could return 
 to its assistance. Two great rivers barred the prince's 
 return, and he would have to traverse the dangerous dis- 
 trict called the Foul Meadow, and the great quagmire 
 known as the Rouvenian Morass. But Prince Maurice had 
 now an opportunity of showing the excellence of the army 
 he had raised and trained. He received the news of 
 Parma's advance on the loth of July ; two days later he 
 was on the march south, and in five days had thrown 
 bridges of boats across the two rivers, had crossed morass 
 and swamp, and appeared in front of the Spanish army. 
 
 One assault had already been delivered by the Spaniards 
 against Knodsenburg, but this had been repulsed with 
 heavy loss. As soon as the patriot army approached the 
 neighborhood, Parma's cavalry went out to drive in its 
 skirmishers. Yere at once proposed to Prince Maurice to 
 inflict a sharp blow upon the enemy, and with the approval 
 of the prince marched with 1200 ^^ot and 500 horse along 
 
318 BY Ey GLAND '5 AID. 
 
 the dyke which ran across the low country. Marching to 
 a spot where a bridge crossed a narrow river he placed half 
 his infantry in ambush there ; the other half a quarter of 
 a mile further back. 
 
 Two hundred light cavalry were sent forward to beat up 
 the enemy's outposts, and then retreat ; the rest of the 
 cavalry were posted in the rear of the infantry. Another 
 dyke ran nearly parallel with the first, falling into it at 
 some distance in the rear of Vere's position, and here 
 Prince Maurice stationed himself with a body of horse and 
 foot to cover Vere's retreat, should he be obliged to fall 
 back. About noon the light cavalry skirmished with the 
 enemy and fell back, but were not followed. About half 
 an hour later the scouts brought word that the Spaniards 
 were at hand. 
 
 Suddenly and without orders 800 of Maurice's cavalry 
 galloped off to meet the enemy ; but they soon came back 
 again at full speed, with a strong force of Spanish cavalry in 
 pursuit. Vere's infantry at once sallied out from their am- 
 bush among the trees, poured their fire into the enemy, and 
 charged them with their pikes. The Spaniards turned to 
 fly, when Vere's cavalry charged them furiously and drove 
 them back in headlong rout to their own camp, taking a 
 great number of prisoners, among them many officers of 
 rank, and 500 horses. Parma finding himself thus sud- 
 denly in face of a superior army, with a rapid river in his 
 rear, fell back across the "Waal, and then proceeded to Spa 
 to recruit his shattered health, leaving Verdugo, an expe- 
 rienced officer, in command. 
 
 Instead of proceeding to besiege Xymegen, Maurice 
 marched away as suddenly and quickly as before, and cap- 
 tured Hulst, on the borders of Zeeland and Brabant, a 
 dozen miles only from Antwerp, and then turning again 
 was, in three days, back at Xymegen, and had placed sixty- 
 eight pieces of artillery in position. He opened fire on the 
 20th of October, and the next day the important city of 
 
B Y ENGLAND ' S AID. 319 
 
 Nymegen surrendered. This series of brilliant successes 
 greatly raised the spirits of the Netherlanders, and pro- 
 portionately depressed those of the Spaniards and their 
 adherents. 
 
 Parma himself was ill from annoyance and disappoint- 
 ment. The army with which he might have completed 
 the conquest of the Netherlands had, in opposition to his 
 entreaties and prayers, been frittered away by Philip's 
 orders in useless expeditions in France, while the young 
 and active generals of the Dutch and English armies were 
 snatching town after town from his grasp, and consolidat- 
 ing the Netherlands, so recently broken up by Spanish 
 strongholds, into a compact body, whose increasing wealth 
 and importance rendered it every day a more formidable 
 opponent. It is true that Parma had saved first Paris and 
 afterwards Rouen for the League, but it was at the cost of 
 loosening Philip's hold over the most important outpost of 
 the Spanish dominions. 
 
 In the following spring Parma was again forced to 
 march into France with 20,000 men, and Maurice, as soon 
 as the force started, prepared to take advantage of its 
 absence. With 6000 foot and 2000 horse he again appeared 
 at the end of May before Steenwyk. This town was the 
 key to the province of Drenthe, and one of the safeguards 
 of Friesland ; it was considered one of the strongest fort- 
 resses of the time. Its garrison consisted of sixteen com- 
 panies of foot and some cavalry, and 1200 Walloon in- 
 fantry, commanded by Lewis, the youngest of the Counts 
 de Berg, a brave lad of eighteen years of age. 
 
 In this siege, for the first time, the spade was used by 
 soldiers in the field. Hitherto the work had been consid- 
 ered derogatory to troops, and peasants and miners had 
 been engaged for the work ; but Prince Maurice had 
 taught his soldiers that their duty was to work as well as 
 fight, and they now proved the value of his teaching. 
 
 The besieged made several successful sorties, and Sir 
 
320 BT ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 Francis Vere had been severely wounded in the leg. The 
 cannonade effected bnt little damage on the strong walls ; 
 but the soldiers, working night and day, drove mines under 
 two of the principal bastions, and constructed two great 
 chambers there ; these were charged, one with five thou- 
 sand pounds of powder, tlie other with half that quantity. 
 On the 3d of July the mines were sprung. The bastion of 
 the east gate was blown to pieces and the other bastion 
 greatly injured, but many of the Dutch troops standing 
 ready for the assault were also killed by the explo- 
 sion. 
 
 The storming parties, however, rushed forward, and the 
 two bastions were captured. This left the town at the 
 mercy of the besiegers. The next day the garrison surren- 
 dered, and were permitted to march away. Three hun- 
 dred and fifty had been killed, among them young Count 
 Lewis Van der Berg, and two hundred had been left behind, 
 severely wounded, in the town. Between five and six hun- 
 dred of the besiegers were killed during the course of he 
 siege. The very day after the surrender of Steenwyk 
 Maurice marched away and laid siege to Coevorden. This 
 city, which was most strongly fortified, lay between two 
 great swamps, between which there was a passage of about 
 half a mile in width. 
 
 Another of the Van der Bergs, Count Frederick, com- 
 manded the garrison of a thousand veterans. Verdugo 
 sent to Parma and Mondragon for aid, but none could be 
 sent to him, and the prince worked at his fortifications 
 undisturbed. His force was weakened by the withdrawal 
 of Sir Francis Vere with three of the English regiments, 
 Elizabeth having sent peremptory orders that this force 
 should follow those already withdrawn to aid Henry of 
 Navarre in Brittany. Very unwillingly Vere obeyed, an:, 
 marched to Doesburg on the Yssel. But a fortnight after 
 he arrived there, w..lle he was waiting for ships to trans- 
 73ort him to Brittany the news came to him that Verdugo, 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 32! 
 
 having gathered a large force together, was about to attack 
 Prince Maurice in his camp, and Vere at once started to 
 the prince's aid. 
 
 On the night of the 6th of September, Verdngo, with 
 4000 foot and 1800 cavalry, wearing their shirts outside 
 their armor to enable them to distinguish each other in the 
 dark, fell upon Maurice^'s camp. Fortunately the prince 
 was prepared, having intercepted a letter from Verdugo to 
 the governor of the town. A desperate battle took place, 
 but at break of day, while ^ts issue was still uncertain, 
 Vere, who had marched all night, came up and threw him- 
 self into the battle. His arrival was decisive. Verdugo 
 drew o5 with a loss of 300 killed, and five days later 
 Coevorden surrendered, and Prince Maurice's army went 
 into winter quarters. 
 
 A few weeks later Parma died, killed by the burden 
 Philip threw upon him, broken down by the constant dis- 
 appointment of his hopes of carrying his work to a suc- 
 cessful end, by the incessant interference of Philip with 
 his plans, and by the anxiety caused by the mutinies aris- 
 ing from his inability to pay his troops, although he had 
 borrowed to the utmost on his own possessions, and pawned 
 even his jewels to keep them from starvation. He was un- 
 doubtedly the greatest commander of his age, and had he 
 been left to carry out his own plans would have crushed 
 out the last ember of resistance in the Xetherlands and 
 consolidated the power of Spain there. 
 
 He was succeeded in his post by the Archduke Albert, 
 but for a time Ernest Mansfeldt continued to command 
 the army, and to manage the affairs in the Xetherlands. 
 In March, 1593, Prince Maurice appeared with his army in 
 front of Gertruydenberg. Th3 2ity itself was an important 
 one, and its position on the Maas rendered it of the greatest 
 use to the Spaniards, as through it they were at any 
 moment enabled to penetrate into the heart of Holland. 
 Gertruydenberg and Groningen, the capital of Friesland, 
 
 SI 
 
822 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 were now, indeed, the only important places in the re- 
 public that remained in possession of the Spaniard. Ho- 
 henlohe with a portion of the army establislied himself to 
 the east of the city, Maurice with its main body to the 
 west. 
 
 Two bridges constructed across the river Douge afforded 
 a means of communication between two armies, and 
 plank roads were laid across the swamps for the passage of 
 baggage wagons. Three thousand soldiers labored inces- 
 santly at the works, which were intended not only to isolate 
 the city, but to defend the besiegers from any attack that 
 might be made upon them by a relieving army. The 
 better to protect themselves, miles of country were laid 
 under water, and palisade work erected to render the coun- 
 try impregnable by cavalry. 
 
 Ernest Mansfeldt did his best to relieve the town. His 
 son. Count Charles, with five tliousand troops, had been 
 sent into France, but by sweeping up all the garrisons, he 
 moved with a considerable army towards Gertruydenberg 
 and challenged Maurice to issue out from his lines to figlit 
 him. But the prince had no idea of risking a certain suc- 
 cess upon the issue of a battle. 
 
 A hundred pieces of artillery on the batteries played in- 
 cessantly on the town, while a blockading squadron of Zee- 
 land ships assisted in the bombardment, and so terrible 
 was the fire, that when the town was finally taken only 
 four houses were found to have escaped injury. 
 
 Two commandants of the place were killed one after the 
 other, and the garrison of a thousand veterans, besides the 
 burgher militia, was greatly reduced in strength. At last, 
 after ninety days' siege, the town suddenly fell. Upon 
 the 24th of June three Dutch captains were relieving 
 guard in the trenches near the great north bastion of the 
 town, when it occurred to them to scale the wall of the 
 fort and see what was going on inside. They threw some 
 planks across the ditch, and taking half a company of 
 
BY EyGLAXD'S AID. 323 
 
 soldiers, climbed cautiously up. They obtained a footbold 
 before the alarm was given. There was a fierce hand-to- 
 hand struggle, and sixteen of the party fell, and nine of 
 the garrison. The rest fled into the city. The Governor 
 Gysant, rushing to the rescue without staying to put on his 
 armor, was killed. 
 
 Count Solms came from the besieging camp to investi- 
 gate the sudden uproar, and to his profound astonishment 
 was met by a deputation from the city asking for terms of 
 surrender. Prince Maurice soon afterwards came up, and 
 the terms of capitulation were agreed upon. The garrison 
 were allowed to retire with side-arms and baggage, and 
 fifty wagons were lent to them to carry off their wounded. 
 
 In the following spring Coevorden, which had been in- 
 vested by Yerdugo, was relieved, and Groningen, the last 
 great city of the Xetherlands in the hands of the Span- 
 iards, was besieged. Mines were driven under its principal 
 bastion, and when these were sprung, after sixty-five days' 
 siege, the city was forced to surrender. Thus for the first 
 time, after years of warfare, Holland, Zeeland, and Fries- 
 land became truly united, and free from the grasp of the 
 hated invader. 
 
 Throughout the last three years of warfare Sir Francis 
 Yere had proved an able assistant to the prince, and the 
 English troops had fought bravely side by side with the 
 Dutch ; but their contingent had been but a small one, 
 for the majority of Yere's force had, like that of the Span- 
 iards, been withdrawn for service in France. The struggle 
 in that country was nearly at an end. The conversion of 
 Henry of Xavarre for the second time to the Catholic re- 
 ligion had ranged many Catholics, who had hitherto been 
 opposed to him, under his banner, while many had fallen 
 away from the ranks of the League in disgust, when Philip 
 of Spain at last threw off the mask of disinterestedness, and 
 proposed his nephew the Archduke Ernest as king of 
 France. 
 
824 BY ENGLAND'S Am. 
 
 In July, 1595, a serious misfortune befell the allied 
 army. They had laid siege to Crolle, and had made con- 
 siderable progress with the siege, when the Spanish army, 
 under command of Mondragon, the aged governor of Ant- 
 werp, marched to its relief. As the army of Maurice was 
 inferior in numbers, the States would not consent to a 
 general action. The siege was consequently raised ; and 
 Mondragon having attained his object, fell back to a posi- 
 tion on the Rhine at Orsoy, above Rheinberg, whence he 
 could watch the movements of the allied army encamped 
 on the opposite bank at Bislich, a few miles below 
 Wesel. 
 
 The Spanish army occupied both sides of the river, the 
 wing on the right bank being protected from attack by the 
 river Lippe, which falls into the Rhine at Wesel, and by a 
 range of moorland hills called the Testerburg. The Dutch 
 cavalry saw. that the slopes of this hill were occupied by 
 the Spaniards, but believed that tlieir force consisted only 
 of a few troops of horse. Young Count Philip of Nassau 
 proposed that a body of cavalry should swim the Lippe, 
 and attack and cut them off. Prince Maurice and Sir 
 Francis Vere gave a very reluctant consent to the enter- 
 prise, but finally allowed him to take a force of five hun- 
 dred men. 
 
 With him were his brothers Ernest and Louis, his 
 nephew Ernest de Solms, and many other nobles of Hol- 
 land. Sir Marcellus Bacx was in command of them. The 
 English contingent was commanded by Sir Nicholas Par- 
 ker and Robert Vere. On August 22d they swam tlie 
 Lippe and galloped in the direction where they expected 
 to find two or three troops of Spanish horse ; but Mon- 
 dragon had received news of their intentions, and they 
 suddenly saw before them half the Spanish army. With- 
 out hesitation the five hundred English and Dutch horse- 
 men charged desperately into the enemy^s ranks, and fought 
 with extraordinary valor, until, altogether overpowered by 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 325 
 
 numbers, Philip of Xassau and his nephew Ernest were 
 both mortally wounded and taken prisoners. 
 
 Robert Vere was slain by a lance-thrust in the face, and 
 many other nobles and gentlemen fell. Thus died one of 
 the three brave brothers, for the youngest, Horace, had 
 also joined the army in 1590. The survivors of the band 
 under Sir Nicholas Parker and Marcellus Bacx managed 
 to effect their retreat, covered by a reserve Prince Maurice 
 had posted on the opposite side of the river. 
 
326 BY ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CADIZ. 
 
 In March, 1596, Sir Francis Vere returned to Holland. 
 He had during his absence in England been largely taken 
 into the counsels of Queen Elizabeth, and it had been de- 
 cided that the war should be carried into the enemy's 
 country, and a heavy blow struck at the power of Spain. 
 Vere had been appointed to an important command in the 
 proposed expedition, and had now come out charged with 
 the mission of persuading the States-general to co-operate 
 heartily with England, and to contribute both money and 
 men. There was much discussion in the States ; but they 
 finally agreed to comply with the queen's wishes, consider- 
 ing that there was no surer way of bringing the war to a 
 termination than to transport it nearer to the heart of the 
 enemy. 
 
 As soon as the matter was arranged, Sir Francis Vere 
 left the Hague and went to Middleburg, where the prep- 
 arations for the Dutch portions of the expedition were 
 carried out. It consisted of twenty-two Dutch ships, under 
 Count William of Xassau, and a thousand of the English 
 troops in the pay of the States. The company commanded 
 by Lionel Yickars was one of those chosen to accompany 
 the expedition ; and on the 22d of April it started from 
 Flushing and joined the British fleet assembled at Dover. 
 This was under the command of Lord Howard as lord- 
 admiral, the Earl of Essex as general. Lord Thomas 
 Howard as vice-admiral, and Sir Walter Ealeigh as rear- 
 admiral. 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 327 
 
 Sir Francis Vere was lieutenant-general and lord- 
 marshal. He was to be the chief adviser of the Earl of 
 Essex, and to have the command of operations on shore. 
 The ships of war consisted of ih.Q Arlc- Royal, the Repulse, 
 Mere-Honor, War-Sprite, Rainbow, Mary, Rose, Dread- 
 nauglit. Vanguard, Nonpareil, Lion, Swiff sure, Quittance, 
 and Tremontaine. There were also twelve ships belong- 
 ing to London, and the twenty-two Dutch vessels. The 
 fleet, which was largely fitted out at the private expense 
 of Lord Howard and the Earl of Essex, sailed from Dover 
 to Plymouth. Sir Francis Vere went by land, and set to 
 work at the organization of the army. 
 
 A month was thus spent, and on the 1st of June the 
 fleet set sail. It carried 0360 soldiers and 1000 volun- 
 teers, and was manned by nearly 7000 sailors. There had 
 been some dispute as to the relative ranks of Sir Francis 
 Vere and Sir Walter Raleigh, and it was settled that Sir 
 Francis should have precedence on shore, and Sir Walter 
 Ealeigh at sea. 
 
 All on board the fleet were full of enthusiasm at the en- 
 terjirise upon which they were embarked. It was eight 
 years since the Spanish Armada had sailed to invade 
 England ; now an English fleet was sailing to attack Spain 
 on her own ground. Things had changed indeed in that 
 time. Spain, which had been deemed invincible, had suf- 
 fered many reverses ; while England had made great 
 strides in power, and was now mistress of the seas, on 
 whiclL Spain had formerly considered herself to be su- 
 preme. 
 
 A favorable wind from the northeast carried the fleet 
 rapidly across the Bay of Biscay, and it proceeded on its 
 way, keeping well out of sight of the coast of Portugal. 
 The three fastest sailers of the fleet were sent on ahead as 
 soon as they rounded Cape St. Vincent, with orders to 
 capture all small vessels which might carry to Cadiz the 
 tidings oi the approach of the fleet. 
 
328 
 
 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 20th June the fleet an- 
 chored off the spit of San Sebastian on the southern side 
 of the city. 
 
 Cadiz was defended by the fort of San Sebastian on one 
 side and that of San Felipe on the other ; while tlie fort of 
 
 Puntales, on the long spit of sand connecting the city with 
 the mainland, defended the channel leading up to Puerto 
 Eeal, and covered by its guns the Spanish galleys and ships 
 of war anchored there. Lying off the town when the 
 English fleet came in sight were forty rich-laden merchant 
 
JiT ENGLAND'S AID. 329 
 
 ships about to sail for Mexico, under the convoy of four 
 great men-of-war, two Lisbon galleons, two argosies, and 
 three frigates. 
 
 As soon as the English were seen, the merchant ships 
 were ordered up the channel to Puerto Real, and the men- 
 of-war and the fleet of seventeen war galleys were ranged 
 under the guns of Fort Puntales to prevent the English 
 passing up. It had first been decided to attempt a land- 
 ing in the harbor of Galeta, on the south side of the city ; 
 but a heavy sea was setting in, and although the troops 
 had been got into the boats they were re-embarked, and 
 the fleet sailed round and anchored at the mouth of the 
 channel leading up the bay. A council of war was held 
 that night, and it was decided that the fleet should move 
 up the bay with the tide next morning, and attack the 
 Spanish fleet. 
 
 The next morning at daybreak the ships got up their 
 anchors and sailed up the channel, each commander vieing 
 with the rest in his eagerness to be first in the fray. They 
 were soon hotly engaged with the enemy ; the fort, men- 
 of-war, and galleys opening a heavy fire upon them, to 
 which, anchoring as close as they could get to the foe, the 
 English ships hotly responded. The galleys were driven 
 closer in under the shelter of the fire of the fort, and the 
 fire was kept up without intermission from six o'clock in 
 the morning until four in the afternoon. 
 
 By that time the Spaniards had had enough of it. The 
 galleys slipped their cables and made sail for a narrow 
 channel across the spit, covered by the guns of the fort. 
 Three of them were captured by Sir John Wingfield in 
 the Vanguard, but the rest got through the channel and 
 escaped. The men-of-war endeavored to run ashore, but 
 boarding parties in boats from the Ark- Royal and Repulse 
 captured two of them. The Spaniards set fire to the other 
 two. The argosies and galleons were also captured. Sir 
 Francis Yere at once took the command of the land opera- 
 
330 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 tions. The boats were all lowered, and the regiments cl 
 Essex, Vere, Blount, Gerard, and Clifford told off as a 
 landing party. They were formed in line. The Earl of 
 Essex and Sir Francis Vere took their places in a boat in 
 advance of the line, and were followed by smaller boats 
 crowded with gentlemen volunteers. 
 
 They landed between the fort of Puntales and the 
 town. The regiments of Blount, Gerard, and Clifford were 
 sent to the narrowest part of the spit to prevent reinforce- 
 ments being thrown into the place ; while those of Essex 
 and Vere and the gentlemen volunteers turned towards 
 Cadiz. Each of these parties consisted of about a thou- 
 sand men. 
 
 The walls of Cadiz were so strong that it had been in- 
 tended to land guns from the fleet, raise batteries, and 
 make a breach in the walls. Vere, however, perceiving 
 some Spanish cavalry and infantry drawn up outside the 
 walls, suggested to Essex that an attempt should be made 
 to take the place by surprise. The earl at once agreed to 
 the plan. 
 
 Vere marched the force across to the west side of the 
 spit, his movements being concealed by the sand-hills from 
 the Spanish. Sir John Wingfield with two hundred men 
 was ordered to march rapidly on against the enemy, driv- 
 ing in their skirmishers, and then to retreat hastily when 
 the main body advanced against him. Three hundred 
 men under Sir Matthew Morgan were posted as supports 
 to "W'ingfield, and as soon as the latter's flying force joined 
 them the whole were to fall upon the Spaniards and in 
 turn chase them back to the walls, against which the main 
 body under Essex and Vere were to advance. The orders 
 ably carried out. The Spaniards were in hot chase of ^ing- 
 field found themselves suddenly confronted by Morgan's 
 force, who fell upon them so furiously that they fled back 
 to the town closely followed by the English. Some of the 
 fugitives made their way in at the gates, which were hur- 
 
BY ZyGLASD'S AID. 331 
 
 riedly closed, while others climbed np at the bastions, 
 which sloped sufficiently to aSord foothold. Yere's troops 
 from the Xetherlands, led by Essex, also scaled the bastions 
 and then an inner wall behind ir. As soon as they had 
 captured this they rushed through the streets, shooting 
 and cutting down any who opposed them. 
 
 Sir Francis Vere, who had also scaled the ramparts, knew 
 that cities captured by assaults had often been lost again 
 by the soldiers scattering. He therefore directed the rest 
 of the troops to burst open the gate. This was with some 
 difficulty effected, and he then marched them in good order 
 to the market-place, where the Spaniards had rallied and 
 were hotly engaged with Essex. The opposition was soon 
 beaten down, and those defending the town-hall were 
 forced to surrender. The troops were then marched 
 through the town, and the garrison driven either into the 
 convent of San Erancisco or into the castle of Felipe. 
 The convent surrendered on the same evening and the 
 castle on the following day. The loss upon the part of 
 the assailants was very small, but Sir John Wingfield was 
 mortally wounded. 
 
 The English behaved with the greatest courtesy to their 
 captives, their conduct presenting an extraordinary con- 
 trast to that of the Spaniards under similar circumstance 
 in the Xetherlands. The women were treated with the 
 greatest courtesy, and five thousand inhabitants, includ- 
 ing women and priests, were allowed to leave the town with 
 their clothes. The terms were that the city should pay a 
 ransom of 520,000 ducats, and that some of the chief citi- 
 zens should remain as hostages for payment. 
 
 As soon as the fighting ceased, Lionel Vickars accom- 
 panied Sir Francis Vere through the streets to set guards, 
 and see that no insult was offered to any of the inhabit- 
 ants. As they passed along, the door of one of the mansions 
 was thrown open. A gentleman hurried out ; he paused 
 for a moment, exclaiming, '*' Sir Francis Vere "' and then 
 
332 BT ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 looking at Lionel rushed forward towards him with a cry 
 of delight. Sir Francis Vere and Lionel stared in astonish- 
 ment as the former^s name was called ; bnt at the sound 
 of his own name Lionel fell back a step as if stupefied, and 
 then with a cry of *' Geoffrey I" fell into his brother's 
 arms. 
 
 '' It is indeed Geoffrey Vickars ! " Sir Francis Vere ex- 
 claimed. '' Why, Geoffrey, what miracle is this ! We 
 have thought you dead these six years, and now we find 
 you transmuted into a Spanish don." 
 
 ''I may look like one, Sir Francis," Geoffrey said as he 
 shook his old commander's hand, '' but I am English to 
 the backbone still. But my story is too long to tell now. 
 You will be doubtless too busy to-night to spare time to 
 listen to it, but I pray you to breakfast with me in the 
 morning, when I will briefly relate to you tlie outline of 
 my adventures. Can you spare my brother for to-night. 
 Sir Francis ? " 
 
 *' I would do so were there ten times the work to be got 
 through," Sir Francis replied. ^' Assuredly I would not 
 keep asunder for a minute two brothers who have so long 
 been separated. I will breakfast with you in the morning 
 and hear this strange story of yours ; for strange it must 
 assuredly be, fince it has changed my young page of the 
 Xetherlands into a Spanish hidalgo." 
 
 ''I am no hidalgo, Sir Francis, but a trader of Cadiz, 
 and I own that although I have been in some way a pris- 
 soner, seeing that I could not effect my escape, I have not 
 fared badly. Xow, Lionel come in. I have another sur- 
 prise for you." 
 
 Lionel, still confused and wonder-stricken at this ap- 
 parent resurrection of his brother from the dead, followed 
 him upstairs. Geoffrey led the way into a handsomely 
 furnished apartment, where a young lady was sitting with 
 a boy two years old in her lap. 
 
 *' Dolores, this is my brother Lionel, of whom you have 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 338 
 
 so often heard me speak. Lionel, this is my wife and my 
 eldest boy, who is named after you.''' 
 
 It was some time before Lionel could completely realize 
 the position, and it was not until Dolores in somewhat 
 broken English bade him welcome that he found his 
 tongue. 
 
 " But I cannot uLderstand it all I" he exclaimed, after 
 responding to the words of Dolores. '' I saw my brother 
 in the middle of the battle with the Armada. We came 
 into collision with a great galleon, we lost one of our 
 masts, and I never saw Geoffrey afterwards ; and we all 
 thought that he had either been shot by the musketeers 
 on the galleon, or had been knocked overboard and killed 
 by the falling mast.'' 
 
 ''I had hoped that long before this you would have 
 heard of my safety, Lionel, for a sailor friend of mine 
 promised if he reached England to go down at once to 
 Hedingham to tell them there. He left the ship he was 
 in out in the West Indies, and I hoped had reached home 
 safely." 
 
 '' We have heard nothing, Geoffrey. The man has never 
 come with your message. But now tell me how you were 
 saved." 
 
 ''I was knocked over by the mast, Lionel, but as you 
 see I was not killed. I climbed up into a passing Spanish 
 ship, and concealed myself in the chains until she was 
 sunk, when I was, with many of the crew, picked up by 
 the boats of other ships. I pretended to have lost my 
 senses and my speech, and none suspected that I was 
 English. The ship I was on board of was one of those 
 which succeeded after terrible hardships in returning to 
 Spain. An Irish gentleman on board her, to whom I con- 
 fided my secret, took me as a servant. After many ad- 
 ventures I sailed with him for Italy, where we hoped to 
 get a ship for England. On the way we were attacked by 
 Barbary pirates. We beat them off, but I was taken pris- 
 
334 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 oner. I remained a captive among them for nearly two 
 years, and then with a fellow-prisoner escaped, together 
 with Dolores and her father, who had also been captured 
 by the pirates. We reached Spain in safety, and I have 
 since passed as one of the many exiles from England and 
 Ireland who have taken refuge here ; and Senor Mendez, 
 my wife's father, was good enongh to bestow her hand 
 upon me, partly in gratitude for the services I had ren- 
 dered him in his escape, partly because he saw she would 
 break her heart if he refused." 
 
 '' You know that is not true, Geoffrey," Dolores inter- 
 rupted. 
 
 ''Never mind, Dolores, it is near enough. And with 
 his daughter," he continued, *'he gave me a share in his 
 business. I have been a fortunate man indeed, Lionel ; 
 but I have always longed for a chance to return home ; 
 until now none has ever offered itself, and I have grieved 
 continually at the thought that my father and mother and 
 you were mourning for me as dead. Now you have the 
 outline of my story ; tell me about all at home." 
 
 '' Our father and mother are both well, Geoffrey, though 
 your supposed loss was a great blow for them. But is it 
 still home for you, Geoffrey ? Do you really mean to 
 return with us." 
 
 ' ' Of course I do, Lionel. At the time I married I ar^ 
 ranged with Senor Mendez that whenever an opportunity 
 occurred I was to return home, taking, of course, Dolores 
 with me. She has been learning English ever since, and 
 although naturally she would rather that we remained 
 here she is quite prepared to make her home in England. 
 We have two boys, this youngster, and a baby three months 
 old ; so, you see, you have all at once acquired nephews 
 as well as a brother and sister. Here is Senor Mendez. 
 This is my brother, senor, the Lionel after whom I named 
 my boy, though I never dreamed that our next meeting 
 would take place within the walls of Cadiz." 
 
BY ENGLAND' 8 AID, 335 
 
 '^Yon have astounded ns, senor," the merchant said 
 courteously. ^' We thought that Cadiz was safe from an 
 attack ; and though we were aware you had defeated our 
 fleet we were astonished indeed when two hours since we 
 heard by the din and firing in the streets that you had 
 captured the city. Truly you English do not suffer the 
 grass to grow under your feet. When we woke this morn- 
 ing no one dreamed of danger, and now in the course of 
 one day you have destroyed our fleet, captured our town, 
 and have our lives and properties at your disposal." 
 
 *' Your lives are in no danger, senor, and all who choose 
 are free to depart without harm or hindrance. But as to 
 your property — I don't mean yours of course, because as 
 Geoffrey's father-in-law I am sure that Sir Francis Vere 
 will inflict no fine upon you — but the city generally will 
 have to pay, I hear, some half million ducats as ransom." 
 
 "That is as nothing," the Spaniard said, ''to the loss 
 the city will suffer in the loss of the forty merchant ships 
 which you will doubtless capture or bum. Right glad am 
 I that no cargo of mine is on board any of them, for I do 
 not trade with Mexico ; but I am sure the value of the 
 ships with their cargoes cannot be less than twenty millions 
 of ducats. This will fall upon the traders of this town 
 and of Seville. Still, I own that the ransom of half-a- 
 million for a city like Cadiz seems to me to be very moder- 
 ate, and the tranquillity that already prevails in the town 
 is beyond all praise. Would that such had been the be- 
 havior of my countrymen in the Ketherlands ! " 
 
 Don Mendez spoke in a tone of deep depression. Geof- 
 frey made a sign to his brother to come out on the balcony, 
 while the merchant took a seat beside his daughter. 
 
 '' 'Tis best to leave them alone," he said as they looked 
 down into the street, where the English and their Dutch 
 allies, many of whom had now landed, were wandering 
 about examining the public buildings and churches, while 
 the inhabitants looked with timid curiosity from their win- 
 
S3G BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 dows and balconies at the men who had, .s if by magic, sud- 
 denly become their masters. '' I can see ihat the old gentle 
 man is terribly cut up. Of course, nothing has been said 
 between us yet, for it was not until we heard the sound of 
 firing in the streets that any one thought there was the 
 smallest risk of your capturing the city. Nevertheless, 
 he must be sure that I shall take this opportunity of return- 
 ing home. 
 
 '' It has always been understood between us that I should 
 do so as soon as any safe method of making a passage could 
 be discovered ; but after being here with him more than 
 three years he had doubtless come to believe that such a 
 chance would never come during his lifetime, and the 
 thouglit of an early separation from his daughter, and the 
 break up of our household here, must be painful to him in 
 the extreme. It has been settled that I should still remain 
 partner in the firm, and should manage our affairs in Eng- 
 land and Holland ; but this will, of course, be a compara- 
 •••ively small business until peace is restored, and ships are 
 free to come and go on both sides as they please. But I 
 think it is likely he will himself come to live with us in 
 England, and that we shall make that the headquarters 
 of the firm, employing our ships in traffic with Holland, 
 France, and the Mediterranean until peace is restored 
 with Spain, and having only an agent here to conduct such 
 business as we may be able to carry on under the present 
 stringent regulations. 
 
 " In point of fact, even if we wound up our affairs and 
 disposed of our ships, it would matter little to us, for 
 Mendez is a very rich man, and as Dolores is his only child 
 he has no great motive beyond the occupation it gives him 
 for continuing in business. So you are a captain now, 
 Lionel ! Have you had a great deal of fighting ? '' 
 
 ''Not a great deal. The Spaniards have been too 
 much occupied with their affairs in France to give us much 
 •work to do. In Holland I took part in the adventure that 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 337 
 
 led to the capture of Breda, did some fighting in Prauce 
 with I Le army of Henry of Xavarre, and have been con- 
 cerned in a good many sieges and skirmishes. I do not 
 know whether you heard of the death of Robert Yere. He 
 came out just after the business of the Armada, and fell 
 in the fight the other day near Wesel — a mad business of 
 Count Philip of Nassau. Horace is serving with his troop. 
 We have recovered all the cities in the three provinces, 
 and Holland is now virtually rid of the Spaniards. 
 
 " Things have greatly changed since the days of Sluys 
 and Bergen-op-Zoom. Holland has increased marvelouslj 
 in strength and wealth. We have now a splendidly- 
 organized army, and should not fear meeting the Spaniards 
 in the open field if they would but give the chance to do 
 so in anything like equal numbers. Sir Francis is marshal 
 of our army here, and is now considered the ablest of our 
 generals ; and he and Prince Maurice have never yet met 
 with a serious disaster. But how have you escaped the 
 Inquisition here, Geoffrey ? I thought they laid hands on 
 every heretic ? " 
 
 '' So they do," Geoff rev replied ; '' but you see they have 
 never dreamed that I was a heretic. The English, Irish, 
 and Scotchmen here, either serving in the army or living 
 quietly as exiles, are of course, all Catholics, and as they 
 suppose me to be one of them, it does not seem to have 
 entered their minds that I was a Protestant. Since I have 
 been here I have gone with my wife and father-in-law to 
 church, and have said my prayers in my own way while 
 they have said theirs. I cannot say I have liked it, but as 
 there was no church of my own it did not go against my 
 conscience to kneel in theirs. I can tell you that, afte. 
 being for nearly a couple of years a slave among the Moors, 
 one thinks less of these distinctions than one used to do. 
 Had the Inquisition laid hands on me and questioned me 
 I should at once have declared myself a Protestant ; but 
 as long as I was not questioned I thought it no harm ta 
 
333 BY ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 go quietly and pay my devotions in a church, even though 
 there were many things in that church with which 1 wholly 
 disagreed. 
 
 *' Dolores and I have talked the matter over often, and 
 have arrived at the conclusion long since that there is no 
 such great difference between us as would lead us to hate 
 each other." 
 
 Lionel laughed. 
 
 " I suppose we generally see matters as we want to, Geof- 
 frey ; but it will be rather a shock to our good father and 
 mother when you bring them home a Catholic daughter.'' 
 
 '' I daresay when she has once settled in England among 
 us, Lionel, she will turn round to our views on the subject ; 
 not that I should ever try to convert her, but it will likely 
 enough come of itself. Of course, she has been brought 
 up with the belief that heretics are very terrible people. 
 She has naturally grown out of that belief now, and is ready 
 to admit that there may be good heretics as well as good 
 Catholics, which is a long step for a Spanish woman to take. 
 1 have no fear but that the rest will come in time. At 
 present I have most carefully abstained from talking with 
 her on the subject. When she is once in England I shall 
 be able to talk to her freely without endangering her life 
 by doing so.'* 
 
 Upon the following morning Sir Francis Vere break- 
 fasted with Geoffrey, and then he and Lionel heard the full 
 account of his adventures, and the manner in which it came 
 about that he was found established as a merchant in 
 Cadiz. 
 
 They then talked over the situation. Sir Francis was 
 much vexed that the lord-admiral had not complied with 
 the earnest request the Earl of Essex had sent him, as soon 
 as he landed, to take prompt measures for the pursuit and 
 capture of the merchant ships. Instead of doing this, the 
 admiral, considering the force that had landed to be dan- 
 gerously weak, had sent large reinforcements on shore as 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 339 
 
 soon as the boats came oS, and the consequence was that 
 at dawn that morning masses of smoke rising from the 
 Puerto Real showed that the Duke of Medina-Sidonia had 
 set the merchant ships on fire rather than that they should 
 fall into the hands of the English. 
 
 For a fortnight the captors of Cadiz remained in posses- 
 sion. Senor Mendez had, upon the day after their entry, 
 diicussed the future with Geoffrey. To the latters great 
 satisfaction he took it for granted that his son-in-law would 
 sail with Dolores and the children in the English fleet, 
 and he at once entered into arrangements with him for his 
 undertaking the management of the business of the firm 
 in England and Holland. 
 
 '^Had I wound up my affairs I should accompany you 
 at once, for Dolores is everything to me, and you, Geoffrey, 
 have also a large share of my affection ; but this is impos- 
 sible. We have at present all onr fifteen ships at sea, and 
 these on their return to port would be confiscated at once 
 were I to leave. Besides, there are large transactions open 
 with the merchants at Seville and elsewhere. Therefore I 
 must, for the present at any rate, remain here. I shall 
 incur no odium by your departure. It will be supposed 
 that you have reconciled yourself with your government, 
 and your going home will therefore seem only natural ; 
 and it will be seen that I could not, however much I were 
 inclined, interfere to prevent the departure of Dolores and 
 the children with you. 
 
 '' I propose to send on board your ships the greater por- 
 tion of my goods here suitable for your market. This, 
 again, will not excite bad feelings, as I shall say that you 
 as my partner insisted upon your right to take your share 
 of our merchandise back to England with you, leaving me 
 as my portion our fieet of vessels. Therefore, all will go on 
 here as before. I shall gradually reduce my business and 
 dispose of the ships, transmitting my fortune to a banker 
 in Brussels, who will be able to send it to England through 
 
340 B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 
 
 merchants in Antwerp, and you can purchase vessels to 
 replace those I sell. 
 
 *^ I calculate that it will take me a year to complete all 
 my arrangements. After that I shall again sail for Italy, 
 and shall come to England either by sea or by traveling 
 through Germany, as circumstances may dictate. On 
 arriving in London I shall know where to find you, for by 
 that time you will be well known there ; and at any rate 
 the bankers to whom my money is sent will be able to in- 
 form me of your address." 
 
 These arrangements were carried out, and at the depart- 
 ure of the fleet, Geoffrey, with Dolores and the children, 
 sailed in Sir Francis Vere's ship the Rainbow y Sir Francis 
 having insisted on giving up his own cabin for the use of 
 Dolores. On leaving Cadiz the town was fired, and the 
 cathedral, the church of the Jesuits, the nunneries of Santa 
 Maria and Candelaria, two hundred and ninety houses, 
 and, greatest loss of all, the library of the Jesuits, contain- 
 ing invaluable manuscripts respecting the Incas of Peru, 
 were destroyed. 
 
 The destruction of the Spanish fleet, and the enormous 
 loss caused by the burning of Cadiz and the loss of the rich 
 merchant fleet, struck a terrible blow at the power and re- 
 sources of Spain. Her trade never recovered from its 
 effects, and her prestige suffered very greatly in the eyes 
 of Europe. Philip never rallied from the blow to his pride 
 inflicted by this humiliation. 
 
 Lionel had at first been almost shocked to find that Geof- 
 frey had married a Spanish woman and a Catholic ; but 
 the charming manner of Dolores, her evident desire to 
 please, and the deep affection with which she regarded her 
 husband, soon won his heart. He, Sir Francis Vere, and 
 the other officers and volunteers on board, vied with each 
 other in attention to her during the voyage ; and Dolores, 
 who had hitherto been convinced that Geoffrey was a 
 strange exception to the rule that all Englishmen were 
 
B Y ENGL A ND ' S AID. 341 
 
 rongh and savage animals, and who looked forward with 
 much secret dread to taking up her residence among them, 
 was quite delighted, and assured Geoffrey she was at last 
 convinced that all she had heard to the disadvantage of his 
 countrymen was wholly untrue. 
 
 The fleet touched at Plymouth, where the news of the 
 immense success they had gained was received with great 
 rejoicings ; and after taking in fresh water and stores, 
 they proceeded along the coast and anchored in the mouth 
 of the Thames. Here the greater part of the fleet was dis- 
 banded, the Rainbow and a few other vessels sailing up to 
 Greenwich, where the captains and officers were received 
 with great honor by the queen, and were feasted and made 
 much of by the city. 
 
 The brothers, the day after the ship cast anchor, pro- 
 ceeded to town, and there hired horses for their journey 
 down into Essex. This was accomplished in two days, 
 Geoffrey riding with Dolores on a pillion behind him with 
 her baby in her lap, while young Lionel was on the saddle 
 before his uncle. 
 
 When they apjoroached Hedingham Lionel said, " I had 
 best ride forward Geoffrey, to break the news to them of 
 your coming. Although our mother has always declared 
 that she would not give up hope that you would some day 
 be restored to us, they have now really mourned you as 
 dead." 
 
 " Very well, Lionel. It is but a mile or so ; I will dis- 
 mount and put the boy up in the saddle and walk beside 
 him, and we shall be in a quarter of an hour after you.'' 
 
 The delight of Mr. and Mrs. Yickars on hearing Geoffrey 
 was alive and close at hand was so great that the fact he 
 brought home a Spanish wife, which would under other 
 circumstances have been a great shock to them, was now 
 scarcely felt, and when the rapturous greeting with which 
 he was received on his arrival was over, they welcomed his 
 pretty young wife with a degree of warmth which fully 
 
842 BT ENGLAND'S AID, 
 
 satisfied him. Her welcome was, of course, in the first 
 place as Geoffrey's wife, but in a very short time his father 
 and mother both came to love her for herself, and Dolores 
 Tery quickly found herself far happier at Hedingham 
 Rectory than she had thought she could be away from 
 her native Spain. 
 
 The announcement Geoffrey made shortly after his ar- 
 rival, that lie had altogether abandoned the trade of soldier- 
 ing, and should in future make his home in London, trading 
 in conjunction with his father-in-law, avssisted to reconcile 
 them tc his marriage. After a fortnight's stay at Heding- 
 ham Geoffrey went up to London, and there took a house 
 in the city, purchased several vessels, and entered upon 
 business, being unable to take at once a good position among 
 the merchants of London, thanks to the ample funds with 
 which he was provided. 
 
 Two months later he went down to Essex and brought up 
 Dolores and the children, and established them in his new 
 abode. 
 
 The apprenticeship he had served in trade at Cadiz en- 
 abled Geoffrey to start with confidence in his business. He 
 at once notified all the correspondents of the firm in the 
 different ports of Europe, that in future the business carried 
 on by Signor Juan Mendez at Cadiz would have its head- 
 quarters in London, and that the firm would trade with all 
 ports with the exception of those of Spain. The result was 
 that before many months had elapsed there were few houses 
 in London doing a larger trade with the Continent than 
 that of Mendez and Vickars, under which title they had 
 traded from the time of Geoffrey's marriage with Dolores. 
 
B T ENGLAND ' 5 AID, 343 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 THE BATTLE OF XIEUPOET. 
 
 The year after the capture of Cadiz, Lionel Vickars 
 sailed under Sir Francis Vere with the expedition designed 
 to attack the fleet which Philip of Spain had gathered 
 in Ferrol, with the intention, it was believed, of invading 
 Ireland in retaliation for the disaster at Cadiz. The ex- 
 pedition met with terrible weather in the Bay of Biscay, 
 and put back scattered and disabled to Plymouth and Fal- 
 mouth. In August they again sailed, but were so battered 
 by another storm that the expedition against Ferrol was 
 abandoned, and they sailed to the Azores. There, after a 
 skirmish with the Spaniards, they scattered among the 
 islands, but missed the great Spanish fleet laden with silver 
 from the west, and finally returned to England without 
 having accomplished anything, while they suffered from 
 another tempest on their way home, and reached Plymouth 
 with difficulty. 
 
 Fortunately the same storm scattered and destroyed the 
 great Spanish fleet at Ferrol, and the weather thus for the 
 second time saved England from invasion. Late in the 
 autumn, after his return from the expedition. Sir Francis 
 Vere went over to Holland, and by his advice Prince 
 Maurice prepared in December to attack a force of 4000 
 Spanish infantry and 600 cavalry, which, under the com- 
 mand of the Count of Varras, had gathered at the village 
 of Turnhout, twenty miles from Breda. 
 
 A force of 5000 foot and 800 horse were secretly assembled 
 at Gertruydenberg. Sir Francis Vere brought an English 
 
34 1 B Y ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 regiment, and personally commanded one of the two troops 
 into which the English cavalry was divided. Sir Robert 
 Sidney came with 300 of the English garrison at Flushing, 
 and Sir Alexander Murray with a Scotch regiment. The 
 expedition started on the 23d of January, 1508, and after 
 marching twenty-four miles reached the village of Rivels, 
 three miles from Turnhout, two hours after dark. 
 
 The night was bitter cold, and after cooking supper the 
 men wrapjoed tliemselves up in their cloaks, and lay down on 
 the frozen ground until daybreak. The delay, although 
 necessary, enabled the enemy to make their escape. The 
 news that the allies had arrived close at hand reached Count 
 Varras at midnight, and a retreat was at once ordered. 
 Baggage wagons were packed and despatched, escorted by 
 the cavalry, and before dawn the whole force was well on 
 its road. Prince Maurice had set off an hour before day- 
 break, and on reaching Turnhout found that the rear-guard 
 of the enemy had just left the village. They had broken 
 down the wooden bridge across the River Aa, only one 
 plank being left standing, and had stationed a party to 
 defend it. 
 
 Maurice held a hasty council of war. All, with the ex- 
 ception of Sir Francis Vere and Sir Marcellus Bacx, were 
 against pursuit, but Maurice took the advice of the minority. 
 A^ere with two hundred Dutch musketeers advanced against 
 the bridge ; his musketry fire drove off the guard, and with 
 a few mounted officers and the two hundred musketeers he 
 set out in pursuit. He saw that the enemy's infantry were 
 marching but slowly, and guessed that they were delayed 
 "by the baggage wagons in front. 
 
 The country was wooded, and he threw the musketeers 
 among the trees with orders to keep up a dropping fire, 
 while he himself with sixteen horsemen followed closely 
 upon the enemy along the road. Their rear guard kept up 
 a skirmishing fire, slightly wounding Vere in the leg ; but 
 all this caused delay, and it was three hours before thej 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 345 
 
 emerged on an open heath, three miles from the bridge. 
 Vere placed his musketeers among some woods and inclosed 
 fields on the left of the heath, and ordered them to keep 
 np a brisk fire and to show themselves as if advancing tc 
 the attack. He himself, reinforced by some more horse- 
 men who had come up, continued to follow in the open. 
 
 The heath was three miles across, and Yere, constantly 
 skirmishing with the Spanish infantry, who were formed in 
 four solid squares, kept watching for the appearance of Mau- 
 rice and the cavalry. At length these came in sight. Yere 
 galloped up to the prince, and urged that a charge should 
 be made at once. The prince assented. Yere, with the 
 English cavalry, charged down upon the rear of the squares, 
 while Hohenlohe swept down with the Dutch cavalry upon 
 their flanks. The Spanish musketeers fired and at once 
 fled, and the cavalry dashed in among the squares of pike- 
 men and broke them. 
 
 Several of the companies of horse galloped on in pursuit 
 of the enemjr's horse and baggage. Yere saw that these 
 would be repulsed, and formed up the English cavalry to 
 cover their retreat. In a short time the disordered horse 
 came back at full gallop, pursued by the Spanish cavalry, 
 but these, seeing Yere^s troops ready to receive them, re- 
 treated at once. Count Yarras was slain, together with 
 three hundred ^f the Spanish infantry. Six hundred pris- 
 oners were taken, and thirty-eight colors fell into the 
 victor's hands. 
 
 The success was gained entirely by the eight hundred 
 allied horse, the infantry never arriving upon the field. 
 The brilliant little victory, which was one of the first gained 
 by the allies in the open field, was the cause of great re- 
 joicings. Xot only were the Spaniards no longer invinci- 
 ble, but they had been routed by a force but one-sixth of 
 their own number, and the battle showed how greatly the 
 individual prowess of the two peoples had changed during 
 the progress of the war. 
 
345 BY ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 The Archduke Ernest had died in 1595, and had been 
 succeeded by the Archduke Albert in the government of 
 the Netherlands. He had with him no generals compara- 
 ble with Parma, or even with Alva. His troops had lost 
 their faith in themselves and their contempt for their 
 foes. Holland was grown rich and prosperous, while the 
 enormous expenses of carrying on the war both in the 
 Netherlands and in France, together with the loss of the 
 Armada, the destruction of the great fleet at Ferrol, and 
 the capture of Cadiz and the ships there, had exhausted 
 the resources of Spain, and Philip was driven to make 
 advances for peace to France and England. Henry IV., 
 knowing that peace with Spain meant an end of the civil 
 war that had so long exhausted France, at once accepted 
 the terms of Philip, and made a separate peace, in spite of 
 the remonstrances of the ambassadors of England and 
 Holland, to both of which countries he owed it in no 
 small degree that he had been enabled to support himself 
 against the faction of the Guises backed by the power of 
 Spain. 
 
 A fresh treaty was made between England and the 
 Netherlands, Sir Francis Vere being sent out as special 
 ambassador to negotiate. England was anxious for peace, 
 but would not desert the Netherlands if they on their part 
 would relieve her to some extent of the heavy expenses 
 caused by the war. This the states consented to do, and 
 the treaty was duly signed on both sides. A few days be- 
 fore its conclusion Lord Burleigh, who had been Queen 
 Elizabeth's chief adviser for forty years, died, and within 
 a month of its signature Philip of Spain, whose schemes 
 he had so long opposed followed him to the grave. 
 
 On the 6th of the previous May Philip had formally ceded 
 the Netherlands to his daughter Isabella, between whom 
 and the Archduke Albert a marriage had been arranged. 
 This took place on the 18th of April following, shortly 
 after his death. It was celebrated at Valencia, and at the 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. S4T 
 
 same time King Philip III. was united to Margaret of Aus- 
 tria. 
 
 In the course of 1599 there was severe fighting on the 
 swampy island between the rivers Waal and Maas, known 
 as the Bommel-Waat, and a fresh attempt at invasion by 
 the Spaniards was repulsed with heavy loss. Sir Francis 
 Vere and the English troops taking a leading part in the 
 operations. 
 
 The success thus gained decided the States-general to un- 
 dertake an offensive campaign in the following year. The 
 plan they decided upon was opposed both by prince Maurice 
 and Sir Francis Vere as being altogether too hazardous ; but 
 the States, who upon most occasions were averse to any- 
 thing like bold action, upon the present occasion stood 
 firm to their decision. Their plan was to land an army 
 near Ostend, which was held by the English, and to besiege 
 the town of Xieuport, west of Ostend, and after that to 
 attack Dunkirk. In the opinion of the two generals an 
 offensive operation direct from Holland would have been 
 far preferable, as in case of disaster the army could fall 
 back upon one of their fortified towns, whereas, if beaten 
 upon the coast, they might be cut off from Ostend and en- 
 tirely destroyed. However, their opinions were overruled, 
 and the expedition prepared. 
 
 It consisted of 12,000 infantry, 1600 cavalry, and 10 guns. 
 It was formed into three divisions. The van, 4500 strong, 
 including 1600 English veterans, was commanded by Sir 
 Francis Vere ; the second division by Count Everard 
 Solms ; the rear division by Count Ernest of Xassau ; 
 while Count Louis Gunther of Xassau was in command 
 of the cavalry. The army embarked at Flushing and 
 landed at Philippine, a town at the head of the Braake- 
 man inlet. 
 
 There was at the time only a small body of Spaniards in 
 the neighborhood, but as soon as the news reached the 
 Archduke Albert at Brussels he concentrated his army 
 
348 B Y ENGLAND ' S AI^, 
 
 round Ghent. The troops had for some time been in ft 
 mutinous state, but, as was always the case with them^ 
 they returned to their habits of military obedience the 
 moment danger threatened. 
 
 The Dutch army advanced by rapid marches to the 
 neighborliood of Ostend, and captured the fort and redoubts 
 which the Spaniards had raised to prevent its garrison from 
 undertaking offensive operations. 
 
 Two thousand men were left to garrison these important 
 positions, which lay on the line of march which the Span- 
 iards must take coming from Bruges to Nieuport. The 
 rest of the army then made their way across the country, 
 intersected with ditches, and upon the following day 
 arrived before Nieuport and prepared to besiege it. The 
 Dutch fleet had arrived off the town, and co-operated with 
 the army in building a bridge across the little river, and 
 preparing for the siege. 
 
 Towards the evening, however, the news arrived from 
 Ostend, nine miles away, that a large force of the enemy 
 had appeared before one of the forts just captured. Most 
 of the officers were of opinion that the Spanish force was 
 not a large one, and that it was a mere feint to induce the 
 Dutch to abandon the siege of Xieuport and return to Os- 
 tend. Sir Francis Vere maintained that it was the main 
 body of the archduke's army, and advised Maurice to march 
 back at once with his whole force to attack the enemy 
 before they had time to take the forts. 
 
 Later on in the evening, however, two of the messengers 
 arrived with the news that the forts had surrendered. 
 Prince Maurice then, in opposition to Vere^s advice, sent 
 oil 2500 infantry, 500 horse, and 2 guns, under the com- 
 mand of Ernest of Nassau, to prevent the enemy from 
 <)rossing the low ground between Ostend and the sand- 
 hills, Vere insisting that the whole army ought to move. 
 It fell out exactly as he predicted ; the detachment met 
 the whole Spanish army, and broke and fled at the first 
 
B T ENGLAND ' 8 AID. 349 
 
 fire, and thus 2500 men were lost in addition to the 2000 
 who had been left to garrison the forts. 
 
 At break of day the army marched down tc the creek, 
 and as soon as the water had ebbed sufficiently, waded across 
 and took up their position among the sand-hills on the 
 seashore. The enemy^s army was already in sight, march- 
 ing along on the narrow strip of land between the foot of 
 the dunes and the sea. A few hundred yards towards Os« 
 tend the sand-hills narrowed, and here Sir Francis Vere 
 took up his position with his division, fie placed a 
 thousand picked men, consisting of 250 English, 250 of 
 Prince Maurice's guard, and 500 musketeers, partly upon 
 two sand-hills called the East and West Hill, and partly 
 in the bottom between them, where they were covered by 
 a low ridge connecting the two hills. 
 
 The five hundred musketeers were placed so that their 
 fire swept the ground on the south, by which alone the 
 enemy's cavalry could pass on that side. On the other 
 ridge, facing the sea, were seven hundred English pikemen 
 and musketeers ; two hundred and fifty English and fifty 
 of the guard held the position of East Hill, which was most 
 exposed to the attack. The rest of the division, which 
 consisted of six hundred and fifty English and two thou- 
 sand Dutch, were placed in readiness to reinforce the ad- 
 vanced party. Half the cavalry, under Count Louis, were 
 on the right of the dunes, and the other half, under Mar- 
 cellus Bacx, on the left by the sea. 
 
 The division of Count Solms and Count Ernest of 
 Nassau were also on the seashore in the rear of West Hill. 
 A council of war was held to decide whether the army 
 should advance to the attack or await it. Vere advised 
 the latter course, and his advice was adopted. 
 
 The archduke's army consisted of ten thousand infantry, 
 sixteen hundred horse, and six guns. Marshal Zapena was 
 in command, while the cavalry were led by the Admiral of 
 Aragon, They rested for two hours before advancing — 
 
350 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 waiting until the rise of the tide should render the sandw 
 nnserviceahle for cavalry, their main reliance being upon 
 their infantry. Their cavalry led the advance, but the two 
 guns Vere had placed on West hill plied them so hotly 
 with the shot that they fell back in confusion. 
 
 It was now high tide, and there were but thirty 
 yards between the sea and the sand-hills. The Spaniards 
 therefore marched their infantry into the dunes, while the 
 cavalry prepared to advance between the sand-hills and 
 the cultivated fields inland. The second and third divis- 
 ions of Maurice's army also moved away from the shore 
 inland. They now numbered but three thousand men, 
 as the four thousand five hundred who had been lost be- 
 longed entirely to these divisions. Sir Francis Vere's divis- 
 sion having been left intact. It was upon the first divis- 
 sion that the whole brunt of the battle fell, they receiving 
 some assistance from the thousand men remaining under 
 Oount Solms that were posted next to them ; while the 
 rear division was never engaged at all. 
 
 At half -past two o'clock on the afternoon of the 2d of 
 June, 1600, the battle began. Vere's plan was to hold his 
 advanced position as long as possible, bring the reserves 
 up as required until he had worn out the Spaniards, then 
 to send for the other two divisions and to fall upon them. 
 The company of Lionel Vickars formed part of the three 
 hundred men stationed on the East Hill, where Vere also 
 had taken up his position. After an exchange of fire for 
 some time five hundred picked Spanish infantry rushed 
 across the hollow between the two armies, and charged 
 the hill. For half-an-hour a desperate struggle took 
 place ; the Spaniards were then obliged to fall back behind 
 some low ridges at its foot. 
 
 In the meantime the enemy's cavalry had advanced 
 along the grass-grown tract, a hundred and fifty yards 
 wide, between the foot of the dunes and the cultivated 
 country inland. They were received, however, bj so hot 
 
Veres horse shot under hi.h at the Fight before Ostend.— Page 351. 
 Eng. Aid ] 
 
^Y ENGLAND ■ S AID, 351 
 
 a fire by the five hundred musketeers posted by Vere in 
 the sand-hills on their flank, and by the two cannon on 
 West Hill, that they fell back upon their infantry just as 
 the Dutch horse, under Count Louis, advanced to charge 
 them. 
 
 Vere sent orders to a hundred Englishmen to move 
 round from the ridge and to attack the Spaniards who had 
 fallen back from the attack of East Hill, on their flank, 
 while sixty men charged down the hill and engaged them 
 in front. The Spaniards broke and fled back to their main 
 body. Then, being largely reinforced, they advanced and 
 seized a sandy knoll near West Hill. Here they were at- 
 tacked by the English, and after a long and obstinate fight 
 forced to retire. The whole of the Spanish force now 
 advanced, and tried to drive the English back from their 
 position on the low ridge across the bottom connecting the 
 two hills. The seven hundred men were drawn from the 
 north ridge, and as the fight grew hotter the whole of the 
 sixteen hundred English were brought up. 
 
 Vere sent for reinforcements, but none came up, and 
 for hours the sixteen hundred Englishmen alone checked 
 the advance of the whole of the Spanish army. Sir Francis 
 Vere was fighting like a private soldier in the midst of his 
 troops. He received two balls in the leg, but still kept 
 his seat and encouraged his men. At last the little band, 
 receiving no aid or reinforcements from the Dutch, were 
 forced to fall back. As they did so, Vere^s horse fell dead 
 under him and partly upon him, and it was with great 
 difficulty that those around him extricated him. On 
 reaching the battery on the sands Vere found the thousand 
 Dutch of his division, who asserted that they had received 
 no orders to advance. There were also three hundred foot 
 under Sir Horace Vere and some cavalry under Captain 
 Ball. These and Horace's infantry at once charged the 
 Spaniards, who were pouring out from the sand-hills near 
 to the beach, and drove them back. 
 
352 B Y ENGLAND ' S AID, 
 
 The Spaniards had now captured East Hill, and two 
 thousand of their infantry advanced into the valley beyond, 
 and drove back the musketeers from the south ridge, and 
 a large force advanced along the green way ; bat their 
 movements were slow, for they were worn out by their long 
 struggle, and the English officers had time to rally their 
 men again. Horace Vere returned from his charge on the 
 beach, and other companies rallied and joined him, and 
 charged furiously down upon the two thousand Spaniards. 
 The whole of the Dutch and English cavalry also advanced. 
 Solms's thousand men came up and took part in the action, 
 and the batteries plied the Spaniards with their shot. The 
 latter had done all they could, and were confounded by 
 this fresh attack when they had considered the victory as 
 won. In spite of the efforts of tlieir officers they broke 
 and fled in all directions. The archduke headed their 
 flight, and never drew rein until he reached Brussels. 
 
 Zapena and the Admiral of Arragon were both taken 
 prisoners, and about a third of the Spanisn army killed 
 and wounded. Of the sixteen hundred English half were 
 killed or wounded ; while the rest of the Dutch army suf- 
 fered scarcely any loss — a fact that shows clearly to whom 
 the honor of the victory belongs. Prince Maurice, in his 
 letter to the queen, attributed his success entirely to the 
 good order and directions of Sir Francis Vere. Thus, in a 
 pitched battle the English troops met and defeated an 
 army of six times their strength of the veterans of Spain, 
 and showed conclusively that the English fighting men had 
 in no way deteriorated since the days of Agincourt, the 
 last great battle they had fought upon the Continent. 
 
 The battle at Xieuport may be considered to have set 
 the final seal upon the independence of Holland. The 
 lesson first taught at Tnmhout had now been impressed 
 with crushing force. The Spaniards were no longer in- 
 vincible ; they had been twice signally defeated in an open 
 field by greatly inferior forces. Their prestige was an- 
 
BT ENGLAND ' S AID. 353 
 
 nihilated ; and although a war continued, there was no 
 longer the slightest chance that the result of the long and 
 bloody struggle would be reversed, or that Spain would ever 
 again recover her grip of the lost provinces. 
 
 Sir Francis Yere was laid up for some months with his 
 wounds. Among the officers who fought under him at 
 Xieuport were several whose names were to become famous 
 for the part they afterwards bore in the civil struggle in 
 England. Among others were Fairfax, Ogle, Lambart, 
 and Parker. Among those who received the honor of 
 knighthood for their behavior at the battle was Lionel 
 Vickars. He had been severely wounded in the fight at 
 East Hill, and was sent home to be cured there. It was 
 some months before he again took the field, which he did 
 upon the receipt of a letter from Sir Francis Yere, telling 
 him that the Spaniards were closing in in great force 
 round Ostend, and that his com23any was one of those that 
 had been sent off to aid in the defense of that town. 
 
 During his stay in England he had spent some time with 
 Geoffrey in London. Juan Mendez had now arrived there, 
 and the business carried on by him and Geoffrey was 
 flourishing greatly. Dolores had much missed the out- 
 door life to which she was accustomed, and her father had 
 bought a large house with a fine garden in Chelsea ; and 
 she and Geoffrey were now installed there with him, 
 Geoffrey going to and fro from the city by boat. They had 
 now replaced the Spanish trading vessels by an equal 
 number of English craft ; and at the suggestion of Juan 
 Mendez himself his name now stood second to that of 
 Geoffrey, for the prejudice against foreigners was still 
 strong in Jilngland. 
 23 
 
364 BY ENGLAND ' 8 AID. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIL 
 
 OLD FRIENDS. 
 
 The succession of blows that had been given to the 
 power and commerce of Spain had immensely benefited 
 the trade of England and Holland. France, devastated 
 by civil war, had been in no position to take advantage of 
 the falling off in Spanish commerce, and had indeed her- 
 self suffered enormously by the emigration of tens of 
 thousands of the most intelligent of her population owing 
 to her persecution of the Protestants. Her traders and 
 manufacturers largely belonged to the new religion, and 
 these had carried their industry and knowledge to Eng- 
 land and Holland. Thus the religious bigotry of the 
 kings of Spain and France had resulted in enormous loss 
 to the trade and commerce of those countries, and in cor- 
 responding advantage to their Protestant rivals. 
 
 Geoffrey Yickars and his partner reaped the full benefit 
 oi the change, and the extensive acquaintance of the 
 Spanish trader with merchants in all the Mediterranean 
 ports enabbd him to turn a large share of the new current 
 of trade into the hands of Geoffrey and himself. The 
 capital which he transferred from Spain to England was 
 very much larger than that employed by the majority of 
 English merchants, whose wealth had been small indeed 
 in comparison to that of the merchant princes of the great 
 centers of trade such as Antw^erp, Amsterdam, Genoa, 
 and Cadiz, and Geoffrey Vickars soon came to be looked 
 upon as one of the leading merchants in the city of Lon- 
 don. 
 
 *^ There can be no doubt Geoffrey/^ his brother said as 
 
B T ENGLAND 'S AID. 355 
 
 ^e lay en a couch in the garden in the early days of his 
 c.juvalescence, and looked at the river dotted with boats 
 that flowed past it, '' the falling of that mast was a fortu- 
 nate thing for you. One never can tell how things will 
 turn out. It would have seemed as if, were you not 
 drowned at once, your lot would have been either a life's 
 work in the Spanish galleys, or death in the dungeons of 
 the Inquisition. Instead of this, here you are a wealthy 
 merchant in the city, with a charming wife, and a father- 
 in-law who is, although a Spaniard, one of the kindest 
 and best men I ever met. All this time I, who was not 
 knocked over by that mast, have been drilling recruits, 
 making long marches, and occasionally fighting battles, 
 and am no richer now than the day when we started to- 
 gether as Francis Vere's pages. It is true I have received 
 the honor of knighthood, and that of course I prize much ; 
 but I have only my captain's pay to support my dignity, 
 and as I hardly think Spain will continue this useless 
 struggle much longer, in which case our army in Holland 
 will be speedily disbanded, the prospect before me is not 
 altogether an advantageous one/' 
 
 " You must marry an heiress, Lionel,'' Geoffrey 
 laughed. " Surely Sir Lionel Yickars, one of the heroes-of 
 Xieuport, and many another field, should be able to win the 
 heart of some fair English damsel, with broad acres as 
 her dower. But seriously, Lionel," he went on, changing 
 his tone, ''•'if peace come, and with it lack of employment, 
 the best thing for you will be to join me. Mendez is get- 
 ting on in years ; and although he is working hard at 
 present, in order, as he says, to set everything going 
 smocthly and well here, he is looking forward to taking 
 matters more easily, and to spending his time in tranquil 
 pleasure with Dolores and her children. Therefore, when- 
 soever it pleases you, there is a place for you here. We 
 always contemplated our lines runniistg in the same groove, 
 and I should be glad that they should do so stiU. When 
 
356 B Y ENGLAND ' 5 AID. 
 
 the time comes we can discuss what share yon shall haye 
 of the business ; but at any rate I can promise you that 
 it shall be sufficient to make you a rich man/' 
 
 '' Thank you, with all my heart, Geoffrey. It may be 
 that some day I will accept your oJBEer, though I fear you 
 will find me but a sorry assistant. It seems to me that 
 after twelve years of campaigning I am little fitted for 
 life as a city merchant." 
 
 '' I went through plenty of adventures for six years, 
 Lionel, but my father-in-law has frDm the first been well 
 satisfied with my capacity for business. You are not 
 seven-and-twenty yet. You have had enough rough cam- 
 paigning to satisfy any one, and should be glad now of an 
 easier and more sober method of life. Well, there is no 
 occasion to settle anything at present, and I can well iti- 
 derstand that you should prefer remaining in the army 
 until the war comes to an end. When it does so, we can 
 talk the matter over again ; only be well assured that the 
 offer will be always open to you, and that I shall be glad 
 indeed to have you with me." 
 
 A few days later, after Lionel left him, Geoffrey was 
 passing along Chepe, when he stopped suddenly, stared 
 hard at a gentleman who was approaching him, and then 
 rushed towards him with outstretched hand. 
 
 ''My dear Gerald! "he exclaimed, ''I am glad to see 
 you." 
 
 The gentleman started back with an expression of the 
 profoundest astonishment. 
 
 ''Is it possible ?" he cried. "Is it really Geoffry 
 Yickars?" 
 
 " Myself, and no other, Gerald." 
 
 " The saints be praised ! Why, I have been thinking 
 of you all these years as either dead or laboring at an oar 
 in the Moorish galleys. By what good fortune did you 
 escape ? and how is it I find you here, looking for all the 
 world like a merchant of the city ? " 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 357 
 
 ^^It is too long a story to tell now, Gerald. Where 
 are yon staying? '' 
 
 ''I have lodgings at Westminster, being at present a 
 suitor at court." 
 
 '' Is your wife with you?" 
 
 '* She is. I have left my four children at home in Ire- 
 land." 
 
 '' Then bring her to sup with me this evening. I have 
 a wife to introduce to yours, and as she is also a Spaniard 
 it will doubtless be a pleasure to them both." 
 
 '' You astound me, Geoffrey. However, you shall tell 
 me all about it this evening, for be assured that we shall 
 come. Inez has so often talked about you, and lamented 
 the ill-fortune that befell you owing to your ardor." 
 
 '^ At six o'clock, then," Geoffrey said. '^ I generally 
 dwell with my father-in-law at Chelsea, but am just at 
 present at home. My house is in St. Mary Axe ; any one 
 there will tell you which it is." 
 
 That evening the two friends had a long talk together. 
 Geoffrey learnt that Gerald Burke reached Italy without 
 further adventure, and thence took ship to Bristol, and so 
 crossed over to Ireland. On his petition, and solemn 
 promise of good behavior in future, he was pardoned and a 
 small portion of his estate restored to him. He was now 
 in London endeavoring to obtain a remission of the for- 
 feiture of the rest. 
 
 '' I may be able to help you in that," Geoffrey said, 
 ^' Sir Francis Vere is high in favor at court, and he will, 
 at my prayer, I feel sure, use his influence in your favor 
 when I tell him how you acted my friend on my landing 
 in Spain from the Armada." 
 
 Geoffrey then gave an account of his various adventures 
 from the time when he was struck down from the deck of 
 the Barbary oorsair until the present time. 
 
 '' How was it," he asked when he concluded, '' that you 
 
S58 BY ENGLAND 'S AID. 
 
 did not write to my parents, Gerald, on your return home ? 
 YoQ knew where they lived." 
 
 " I talked the matter over with inez," Gerald replied, 
 *' and we agreed that it was kinder to them to be silent. 
 Of course they had mourned you as killed in the fight 
 with the Armada. A year had passed, and the wound 
 must have somewhat healed. Had I told them that you 
 had escaped death at that time, had been months witli mo 
 in Spain, and had, on your way home, been either killed 
 by the Moors or were a prisoner in their galleys, it would 
 have opened the wound afresh, and caused them renewed 
 pain and sorrow." 
 
 *'Xo doubt you were right, Gerald, and that it was, as 
 you say, the kindest thing to leave them in ignorance of 
 my fate." 
 
 Upon the next visit Sir Francis Vere paid to England, 
 Geoffrey spoke to him with regard to Gerald Burke's affairs. 
 Sir Francis took the matter up warmly, and his influence 
 sufficed in a very short time to obtain an order for the res- 
 toration to Gerald of all his estates. Inez and Dolores 
 became as fast friends as were their husbands ; and when 
 the Burkes came to England Geoffrey's house was their 
 home. 
 
 The meeting with Gerald was followed by a still greater 
 surprise, for not many days after, when Geoffrey was sitting 
 with his wife and Don Mendez under the shade of a broad 
 cypress in the garden of the merchant's house at Chelsea, 
 they saw a servant coming across towards them, followed 
 by a man in seafaring attire. *' Here is a person who 
 would speak to you. Master Vickars," the servant said. 
 "1 told him it was not your custom to see any here, and 
 that if he had aught to say he should call at your house in 
 St. Mary Axe ; but he said that he had but just arrived 
 from Hedingham, and that your honor would excuse his 
 intrusion when you saw him." 
 
 •^ Bring him up ; he may be the bearer of a message from 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 359 
 
 my father/' Geoffrey said ; and the servant went back to 
 the man, whom he had left a short distance off. 
 
 *' Master Vickars will speak with you/'' 
 
 The sailor approached the party. He stood for a minute 
 before Geoffrey without speaking. Geoffrey looked at him 
 with some surprise, and saw that the muscles of his face 
 were twitching, and that he was much agitated. As he 
 looked at him, remembrance suddenly flashed upon him, 
 and he sprang to his feet. *^ Stephen Boldero !" he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 '' Ay, ay, Geoffrey, it is me." 
 
 For a time the men stood with their right hands clasped 
 and the left on each other's shoulders. Tears fell down 
 the sailor's weather-beaten cheeks, and Geoffrey himself 
 was too moved to speak. For two years they had lived as 
 brothers, had shared each other's toils and dangers, had 
 talked over their plans and hopes together ; and it was to 
 Stephen that Geoffrey owed it that he was not now a galley- 
 slave in Barbary. 
 
 '' Old friend, where have you been all this time ?" he 
 said at last. " I had thought you dead, and have grieved 
 sorely for you." 
 
 '' I have had some narrow escapes," Stephen said ; '' but 
 you know I am tough. I am worth a good many dead men 
 
 yet." 
 
 '' Inez, Senor Mendez, you both remember Stephen Bol- 
 dero ? " Geoffrey said, turning to them. 
 
 '' We have never forgotten you," the Spaniard said shak- 
 ing hands with the sailor, ''nor how much we owe to you. 
 I sent out instructions by every ship that sailed to the 
 Indies that inquiries should be made for you ; and more- 
 over had letters sent by influential friends to the governors 
 of most of the islands saying that you had done great 
 service to me and mine, and praying that if you were in 
 any need or trouble you might be sent back to Cadiz, and 
 that any moneys you required might be given to you at my 
 
360 BY ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 charge. But we have heard naught of you from the day 
 when the news came that you had left the sliip in which 
 you went out." 
 
 '^ I have had a rough time of it these five years," Stephen 
 said. '*But I care not now that I am home again and 
 have found my friend Geoffrey. I arrived in Bristol but 
 last week, and started for London on the day I landed, 
 mindful of my promise to let his people know that he was 
 safe and well, and with some faint hope that the capture 
 of Cadiz had set him at liberty. I got to Hedingham last 
 night, and if I had been a prince Mr. Vickars and his dame 
 and Sir Lionel could not have made more of me. They 
 were fain that I should stop with them a day or two ; but 
 when I lieard that you were in London and had married 
 Senora Dolores, and that Sefior Mendez was with you — all 
 of which in no way surprised me, for methought I saw it 
 coming before I left Cadiz — I could not rest, but was up 
 at daylight this morning. Your brother offered to pro- 
 cure me a horse, but I should have made bad weather on 
 the craft, and after walking from Bristol the tramp up to 
 London was nothing. I got to your house in the city at 
 four ; and, finding that you were here, took a boat at once, 
 for I could not rest until I saw my friend again." 
 
 Geoffrey at once took him into the house and set him 
 down to a meal ; and when the party were gathered later on 
 in the sitting-room, and the candles were lighted, Stephen 
 told his story. 
 
 ^' As you will have heard, we made a good voyage to the 
 Indies. We discharged our cargo, and took in another. I 
 learned that there were two English ships cruising ner.r 
 San Domingo, and the Dons were in great fear of them. 
 I thought that my chance lay in joining them, so when we 
 were at our nearest port to that island I one night bor- 
 rowed one of the ship's boats without asking leave, and 
 made off. I knew the direction in which San Domingo 
 lay, but no more. My hope was that I should either fall 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AID. 361 
 
 in with our ships at sea^, or, when I made the island, should 
 be able to gather such information as might guide me to 
 them. When I made the land, after being four days, out 
 I cruised about till the provisions and water I had put on 
 board were exhausted, and I could hold out no longer. 
 Then I made for the island and landed. 
 
 *' You may be sure I did not make for a port, where I 
 should be questioned, but ran ashore in a wooded bay that 
 looked as if no one had ever set foot there before. I 
 dragged the boat up beyond, sls I thought, the reach of the 
 sea, and started to hunt for food and water. I found 
 enough berries and things to keep me alive, but not enough 
 to stock my boat for another cruise. A week after I 
 landed there was a tornado, and when it cleared off and I 
 had recovered from my fright — for the trees were blown 
 down like rushes, and I thought my last day was come — I 
 found that the boat was washed away. 
 
 I was mightily disheartened at this, and after much think- 
 ing made up my mind that there was naught for it but to 
 keep along the shore until I arrived at a port, and then to 
 give out that I was a shipwrecked sailor, and either try to 
 get hold of another boat, or take passage back to Spain and 
 make a fresh start. However, the next morning, just as I 
 was starting, a number of natives ran out of the bush and 
 seized me, and carried me away up into the hills. 
 
 It was not pleasant at first, for they lit a big fire and 
 were going to set me on the top of it, taking me for a 
 Spaniard. Seeing their intentions, I took to arguing with 
 them, and told them in Spanish that I was no Spaniard, but 
 an Englishman and that I had been a slave to the Spaniards 
 and had escaped. Most of them understood some Spanish, 
 having themselves been made to work as slaves in their 
 plantations, and being all runaways from the tyranny of 
 their masters. They knew, of course, that we were the 
 enemies of the Spaniards, and had heard of places being 
 sacked and ships taken by us. But they doubted my story 
 
362 BY E^ GLAIfB 'S AID, 
 
 for a long time, till at last one of them brought a crucifix 
 that had somehow fallen into their hands, and held it up 
 before me. When I struck it down, as a good Protestant 
 should do, they saw that I was not of the Spanish religion, 
 and so loosed my bonds and made much of me. 
 
 '' They could tell me nothing of the whereabouts of our 
 ships, for though they had seen vessels at times sail by, the 
 poor creatures knew nothing of the difference of rig be- 
 tween an English craft and a Spaniard. I abode with them 
 for two years, and aided them in their figlits whenever the 
 Spaniards sent out parties, wliich they did many times, to 
 capture them. They were poor, timorous creatures, their 
 spirits being altogether broken by the tyranny of the Dons ; 
 but when they saw that I feared them not, and was ready 
 at any time to match myself against two or, if need be, 
 three of the Spaniards, they phicked up heart, and in time 
 came to fight so stoutly that the Spaniards thought it best 
 to leave them alone, seeing that we had the advantage of 
 knowing every foot of the woods, and were able to pounce 
 down upon them when they were in straitened places and 
 forced to fight at great disadvantage. 
 
 '' I was regarded as a great chief by the natives, and 
 could have gone on living with them comfortably enough 
 had not my thoughts been always turning homeward, and 
 a great desire to be among my own people, from whom I 
 had been so long separated, devoured me. At last a Spanish 
 ship was driven ashore in a gale ; she went to pieces, and 
 every soul was drowned. When the gale abated the natives 
 went down to collect the stores driven ashore, and I found 
 on the beach one of her boats washed up almost uninjured, 
 so nothing would do but I must sail away in her. The 
 natives tried their hardest to persuade me to stay with 
 them, but finding that my mind was fixed beyond recall 
 they gave way and did their best to aid me. The boat 
 was well stored with provisions ; we made a sail for her out 
 of one belonging to the ship, and I set off, promising them 
 
BY ENGLAND'S AID. 863 
 
 that if I conld not alight upon an English ship I would 
 return to them. 
 
 '' I had intended to keep my promise, but things turned 
 out other^'ise. I had not been two days at sea when there 
 was another storm, for at one time of the year they have 
 tornadoes very frequently. I had nothing to do but to run 
 for it, casting much of my provisions overboard to lighten 
 the boat, and baling without ceasing to keep out the water 
 she took in. After running for many hours I was, some- 
 where about midnight, cast on shore. I made a shift to 
 save myself, and in the morning found that I was on a low 
 key. Here I lived for three weeks. Fortunately there 
 was water ii some of the hollows of the rocks, and as tur- 
 tles came ashore to lay their eggs I managed pretty well 
 for a time ; but the water dried up, and for the last week 
 I had naught to drink but the blood of the turtles. 
 
 One morning I saw a ship passing not far off, and mak- 
 ing a signal with the mast of the boat that had beea 
 washed ashore with me I attracted their attention. I saw 
 that she was a Spaniard, but I could not help that, for I 
 had no choice but to hail her. They took me to Porto 
 Rico and there reported me as a shipwrecked sailor they had 
 picked up. The governor questioned me closely as to 
 what vessel I had been lost from, and although I made up 
 a good story he had his doubts. Fortunately it did not 
 enter his mind that I was not a Spaniard ; but he said he 
 believed I was some bad character who had been marooned 
 by my comrades for murder or some other crime, and so 
 put me in prison until he could learn something that would 
 verify my story. 
 
 '' After three months I was taken out of prison, but was 
 set to work on the fortifications, and there for another two 
 years I had to stop. Then I managed to slip away one 
 day, and, hiding till nightfall, made my way down through 
 the town to the quays and swam out to a vessel at anchor. 
 I climbed on board without notice, and hid myself below. 
 
864 -B "^ ENGLAND ' 8 AID, 
 
 where I lay for two days until she got up sail. When I 
 judged she was well away from the land I went on deck 
 and told my story, that I was a shipwrecked sailor who 
 had been forced by the governor to work at the fortifica- 
 tions. They did not believe me, saying that I must be 
 some criminal who had escaped from justice, and the cap- 
 tain said he should give me up at the next port the ship 
 touched. Fortunately four days afterwards a sail hove in 
 sight and gave chase, and before it was dark was near 
 enough to fire a gun and make us heave to, and a quarter 
 of an hour later a boat came alongside, and I again heard 
 English spoken for the first time since I had left you at 
 Cadiz. 
 
 '' It was an English buccaneer, who, being short of water 
 and fresh vegetables, had chased us, though seeing we were 
 but a petty trader and not likely to have aught else worth 
 taking on board. They wondered much when I discovered 
 myself to them and told them who I was and how I had 
 come there ; and when, on their rowing me on board their 
 ship, I told the captain my story he told me tliat he thought 
 I was the greatest liar he had ever met. To be a galley- 
 slave among the Spaniards, a galley-slave among the 
 Moors, a consorter with Indians for two years, and again 
 a prisoner with the Spaniards for as much more, was more 
 than fell to the lot of any one man, and he, like the Span^ 
 ish governor, believed that I was some rascal who had been 
 marooned, only he thought that it was from an English 
 ship. However, he said that as I was a stout fellow he 
 would give me another chance ; and when, a fortnight 
 later, we fell in with a great Spanish galleon and captured 
 her with a great store of prize-money after a hard fight for 
 six hours, the last of which was passed on the deck of 
 the Spaniard cutting a^d slashing— for, being laden with 
 silver, she had a company of troops on board in addition 
 to her crew— the captain said, that though an astonish- 
 ing liar there was no better fellow on board a ship, and. 
 
B T ENGLAND ' S AIL. 865 
 
 putting it to the crew, they agi-eed I had well earned my 
 share of the prize-money. When we had got the silver on 
 board, which was a heavy job I can tell you, though not 
 an unpleasant one, we put what Spaniards remained alive 
 into the boats, fired the galleon, and set sail for England, 
 where we arrived without adventure. 
 
 The silver was divided on the day before we cast anchor, 
 the owner's share being first set aside, every man his share, 
 and the officers theirs in proportion. Mine came to over 
 a thousand pounds, and it needed tw:„ itrong men to carry 
 the chest up to the office of the owners, who gave me a re- 
 ceipt for it, which, as soon :^s I got, I started for London ; 
 and here, as you see, I am."' 
 
 ^' And now, what do you propose to do with yourself, 
 Stephen ? " Geoffrey asked. 
 
 *' I shall first travel down again to Devonshire and see 
 what friends I have remaining there. I do not expect to 
 find many alive, for fifteen years make many changes. My 
 father and mother were both dead before I started, and my 
 uncle, with whom I lived for a time, is scarce like to be 
 alive now. Still I may find some cousins and friends I 
 knew as a boy." 
 
 ''1 should think you have had enough of the sea, 
 Stephen, and you have now ample to live ashore in com- 
 fort for the rest of your Ae.'^ 
 
 ''Yes, I shall go no more to sea,'' Stephen said. ''Ex- 
 cept for this last stroke of luck fortune has always been 
 against me. What I should like. Master Geoffrey, most of 
 all, would be to come up and work under you. I could be 
 of advantage in seeing to the loading and unloading vessels 
 and the storage of cargo. As for pay, I should not want 
 it, having, as you say, enough to live comfortably upon. 
 Still I should like to be with you." 
 
 " And I should like to have you with me, Stephen. 
 Kothing would give me greater pleasure. If you are still 
 of that mind when you return from Devonshire we can 
 
366 BT ENOLAXD'S AID, 
 
 ao-ain talk the matter over, and as our wishes are both the 
 same way we can have no difficulty in coming to an agree- 
 ment/' 
 
 Stephen Boldero remained for a week in London and 
 then journeyed down to Devonshire. His idea of entering 
 Geoffrey's service was never carried out, for after he had 
 been gone two months Geoffrey received a letter from him 
 saving that one of his cousins, who had been but a little 
 girl when he went away, had laid her orders upon him to 
 buv a small estate and settle down there, and that as she 
 was willing to marry him on no other terms he had noth- 
 ing to do but to assent. 
 
 Once a year, however, regularly to the end of his life 
 Stephen Boldero came up to London to stay for a fort- 
 night with Geoffrey, always coming by road, for he de- 
 clared that he was convinced if he sot foot on board a ship 
 again she would infallibly be wrecked on her voyage to 
 London. 
 
BT ENGLAND ' S AID, 867 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE SIEGE OF OSTEXD. 
 
 On- the 5th of July, 1601, the Archduke Albert began 
 the siege of Ostend with 20,000 men and 50 siege-guns. 
 Ostend had been completely rebuilt and fortified eighteen 
 years previously, and was defended by ramparts, counter- 
 scarps, and two broad ditches. The sand-hills between it 
 and the sea were cut through, and the water filled the 
 ditches and surrounded the town. To the south the 
 country was intersected by a network of canals. The 
 river Yper-Leet came in at the back of the town, and after 
 mingling with the salt water in the ditches found its way 
 to the sea through the channels known as the Old Haven 
 and the Geule, the first on the west, the second on the 
 east of the town. 
 
 On either side of these channels tlie land rose slightly, 
 enabling the besiegers to plant their batteries in very ad- 
 vantageous positions. The garrison at first consisted of 
 but 2000 men under Governor Yander Nood. The States- 
 general considered the defense of Ostend to be of extreme 
 importance to the cause, and appointed Sir Francis Vere 
 general of the army in and about Ostend, and sent with 
 him 600 Dutch troops and eight companies of English 
 under the command of his brother. Sir Horace. This 
 raised the garrison to the strength of 3G00 men. Sir 
 Francis landed with these reinforcements on the sands 
 opposite the old town, which stood near the seashore be- 
 ween the Old Haven and the Geule, and was separated 
 from the new town by a broao channel. He was forced to 
 
368 
 
 BY ENGL^^rU'» AID. 
 
 land here, as the Spanish guns on the sand-hills com- 
 manded the entrances of the two channels. 
 
 Sixteen thousand of the Spanish troops under the order 
 of the archduke were encamped to the west of the town, 
 and had 30 of their sieg3-guns in position there, while 
 4000 men were stationed on the east of the town under 
 Count Bucquoy. Ten guns wer^ in position on that side. 
 
 Ostend had no natural advantages for defense beyond the 
 facility of letting the sea into the numerous channels and 
 ditches which intersected the city, and protected it from 
 any operations on the south side. On the east the Geule 
 was broad and deep, and an assault from this side was very 
 difficult. The Old Haven, on the west side, was fast fill- 
 ing up, and was fordable for four hours every tide. 
 
 This, therefore, was the weak side of the town. The 
 
BT Ey GLAND'S AID. 8G9 
 
 portion especially exposed to attaol: v^?? the low sandy fiat 
 on which the old town stood, to the r^rth of Ostend. It 
 was against this point, separated only fiom the enemv^«- 
 position by the shallow Old Haven, that the Spaniards 
 concentrated their e5orts. The de^?r:e ""^eie consisted of 
 a work called the Porc-Espic, an'" .. bastion in its rear 
 called the Helmonc^ These works lay to the z.:rth of th^ 
 ditch dividing the oid from the new town, while on tn^ 
 opposite side of this ditch was a fort called the Sand-hill, 
 from which along the sea face of the town ran strong pali- 
 sades and bastions. 
 
 The three principal bastions were named the Schotten- 
 burg, Moses' Table, and the Flamenburg, the last-named 
 defending the entrance to the Genie on the eastern side. 
 There was a strong wall with t- .ee bastions, the Xorth 
 Bulwark, the East Bulwark or Pekell, and the Spanish 
 Bulwark at the southeast angle, with an outwork called 
 the Spanish Half-moon on the other side of the Geule. 
 The south side was similarly defended by a wall with four 
 strong bastions, while beyond these at the southwest cor- 
 ner lay a field called the Polder, extending to the poin^ 
 where the Yper-Leet ran into the ditches. 
 
 Sir Francis Vere's first st-ep after his arrival was to throw 
 up three redoubts to strengthen the wall round this field, 
 as had the enemy taken possession of it they might have 
 set the windmills npon it to work and have drained out 
 many of the ditcher. Having secured this point he cut a 
 passage to the sea between the Xorthwest Bulwark and 
 the Flamenburg Fort, so that shipping might enter the 
 port without having to ascend the Geule, exposed to the 
 fire of the Spanish guns. To annoy the enemy and draw 
 them away from the vital point near the sea, he then 
 stationed 200 men on some rising ground surrounded by 
 Bwamps and ditches at some distance to the south of the 
 city, and from here they were able to open fire on the 
 enemy's boats comins w'th supplies from Bruges- 
 
370 BY ESGL A ND ' S a ID. 
 
 The operation was saccessful. The Spaniards, finding 
 their line of communication threatened, advanced in force 
 from their position by the sea, and their forts opened a 
 heavy fire on the little work thrown up. Other similar 
 attempts would have been made to harass the Spaniards 
 and divert them from their main work, had not Sir Francis 
 Vere been severely wounded in the head on the 4th of 
 Au'^ust by a shot from the Spanish batteries, which con- 
 tinued to keep up a tremendous fire upon the town. So 
 serious was the wound that the surgeons were of opinion 
 that the only chance of saving his life was to send him 
 away from the din and turmoil of the siege ; and on the 
 10th he was taken to Middleburg, where he remained for a 
 month, returning to Ostend long before his wound vvas 
 properly healed. 
 
 On the 1st of August a bati-h of recruits had arrived 
 from England-, and on the 8th 1--300 more were landed. 
 The fire of the besiegers was now so heavy that the soldiers 
 were forced to dig underground quarters to shelter tiiem- 
 selves. Sir Horace Vere led out several sorties ; but the 
 besiegers, no longer distracted by the feints contrived by 
 Sir Francis, succeeded in erecting a battery on the margin 
 of the Old Haven, and opened fire on the Sand-hill Firt. 
 
 On the 19th of September Sir Francis Vere returned to 
 the town, to the great joy of the garrison. Reinforce- 
 ments continued to arrive, and at this time the garrison 
 numbered 4480. There were, too, a large number of 
 noblemen and gentlemen from England, France, and Hol- 
 land, who had come to learn the art of war under the 
 man who was regarded as the greatest general of the time. 
 All who vrere willing to work and learn were heartily 
 welcomed ; those who were unwilling to do so were soon 
 made to feel that a besieged city was no place for them. 
 
 While the fighting was going on the archduke had at- 
 tempted to capture the place by treason. He engaged a 
 traitor named Coningsby ; who crossed to England, oh- 
 
S Y ENGL A XB ' S AID. M 1 
 
 tained letU.. introduction to Yere, and then went to 
 
 Ostend. Thence he sent intelligence to the besieg-p-s of 
 all that took place in the town, placing his letters ^^•-- ght 
 in an old boat sunk in the mud on the bank of c.ie Old 
 Haven, a Spaniard wading across at low tide and fetching 
 them away. He then attempted to bribe a sergeant tc 
 blow up tiie powder magazine. The sergeant revea'-d the 
 plot. Coningsby was seized and confessed everything, and 
 by an act of extraordinary clemency was only sentenced to 
 be whipped out of town. 
 
 This act of treachery on the part of the archduke justi- 
 fied the otherwise dishonorable stratagem afterwards played 
 by Vere upon him. All through October and November 
 the Spaniards were hard at work advancing their batteries, 
 sinking great baskets filled with sand in the Old Haven to 
 facilitate the passage of the troops, and building floating 
 batteries in the Geule. On the night of the ith of Decem- 
 ber they advanced suddenly to the attack. Vere and his 
 officers ^leapt from their beds and rushed to the walls, and 
 after a fierce struggle the besiegers were driven back. 
 Straw was lighted to enable the musketeers and gunners to 
 fire upon them as they retreated, and the assault cost them 
 five hundred lives. 
 
 On the 12th a hard frost set in, and until Christmas a 
 strong gale from the southeast blew. No succor could 
 reach the town. The garrison were dwindling far^ ind 
 ammunition falling short. It required fully 4000 men to 
 guard the walls and forts, while but 2500 remained capa- 
 ble of bearing arms. It was known that the archduke 
 soon intended to make an assault with his whole force, 
 and Yere knew that he could scarcely hope to repel it. 
 He called a council of his chief officers, and asked their 
 opinion whether with the present numbers all parts of the 
 works could be manned in case of assault, and if not 
 whether it was advisable to withdraw the guards from all 
 the outlying positions and to hold only the town. 
 
372 B Y ENGL A ND's A IB. 
 
 They were nnaDimously of opinion that the force wa«» 
 too small to defend the whole, but Sir Horace Vere and 
 Sir John Ogle alone gave their advice to abandon the out- 
 lying forts rather tlian endanger the loss of the town. 
 The other officers were of opinion that all the works 
 fthould be held, although thev acknowledged that the dis- 
 posal force was incapable of doing so. Some days elapsed, 
 and Vere learned that the Spanish preparations were all 
 complete, and that they were only waiting for a low tide 
 to attack. Time was everything, for a change of wind 
 would bring speedy succor, so without taking council 
 with any one he sent Sir John Ogle with a drummer to the 
 side of the Old Haven. 
 
 Don Mateo Serrano came forward, and Ogle gave his 
 message, which was that General Vere wished to have 
 some qualified person speak to him. This was reported 
 to the archduke, who agreed that Serrano and another 
 Spanish officer should go into the town, and that Ogle and 
 a comrade should come as hostages into the Spanish camp. 
 Sir John Ogle took his friend Sir Charles Fairfax with 
 him, and Serrano and Colonel Antonio crossed into Ostend. 
 The two Englishmen were conducted to the archduke, 
 who asked Sir John Ogle to tell him if there was any de- 
 ceit in the matter. Ogle answered if there were it was 
 more than he knew, for Vere had simply charged him to 
 carry the message, and that he and Fairfax had merely 
 come as hostages for the safe return of the Spanish officers. 
 
 Ogle wa-s next asked whether he thought the general in^ 
 tended sincerely or not, and could only reply that he was 
 altogether unacquainted with the general's purpose. 
 
 The next morning Serrano and Antonio returned with- 
 out having seen Vere. The pretext on which they had 
 been sent back was that there was some irregularity in 
 their coming across ; but instead of their being sent back 
 across the Old Haven they were sent across the Geule, and 
 had to make a long round to regain the archduke's camp. 
 
3T ENGLAND'S AID. 373 
 
 Thus ad il a night were gained. The next day, 
 
 towards evening, the two Spanish officers were admitted 
 into Ostend, and received very hospitably by Sir Francis. 
 After supper many healths were drunk, and then Sir 
 Francis informed them to their astonishment that his 
 proposal was not that he should surrender Ostend, but 
 that the archduke should raise the siege. But it was now 
 far too late for them to return, and they went to bed in 
 the general's quarters. During the two nights thus gained 
 the defenders had worked incessantly in repairing the 
 palisades facing the point at which the attack would take 
 place, a work that they had hitherto been unable to per- 
 form owing to the tremendous fire that the Spaniards kept 
 up night and day upon it. 
 
 At break of day five men-of-war from Zeeland came to 
 anchor off the town. They brought four hundred men, 
 and provisions and materials of war of all kinds. They 
 were immediately landed under a heavy fire from the 
 enemy's batteries on both sides. The firing awoke the 
 two Spanish envoys, who inquired what was taking place. 
 They were politely informed by Sir Francis Vere that 
 succor had arrived, and the negotiations were of course 
 broken off ; and they were accordingly sent back, while 
 Ogle and Fairfax returned to Ostend. 
 
 Vere's account of the transaction was that he had 
 simply asked for two Spanish officers to speak with him. 
 He had offered no terms, and there was therefore no breach 
 of faith. The commander of a besieged town, he insisted, 
 is always at liberty to propose a parley, which the enemy 
 can accept or not as he chooses. At any rate, it was not 
 for the archduke, who had hired a traitor to corrupt the 
 garrison, to make a complaint of treachery. 
 
 Twelve hundred men were employed for the next eight 
 days in strengthening the works, Sir Francis being always 
 with them at night, when the water was low, encouraging 
 them by his presence and example. 
 
374 -BF ENGLAND'S AID. 
 
 Early in January he learned thiit the enemy were pre- 
 paring for tie assault, and on the Tth a crushing tire v»-a8 
 kept up on tLe Porc-Espic, Ilelmond and Sand-hill forts. 
 The Spaniar .■£ had by this time fired 103,200 cannon-shot 
 into the tow.i, and scarcely a whole house was left stand- 
 ing. Towar'Is evening they were seen bringing scaling- 
 ladders to the o^'posite bank of the Haven. Two thou- 
 sand Itixlian and Spanish troops had been told off to attack 
 the sand-hill, two thousand were to assault Ilelmond and 
 the Porc-Espic, two parties of five hundred men each were 
 to attack other works, while on the east side Count Buc- 
 quoy was to deliver a general assault. 
 
 The English general watched all these preparations with 
 the greatest vigilance. At high water he closed tlie west 
 sluice, which let the water into the town ditch from the 
 Old Haven, in ihe rear of Helmond, in order to retain as 
 much water as possible, and stationed his troops at the 
 various points most threatened. Sir Horace Vcre and Sir 
 Charles Fairfax, with twelve weak companies, some of 
 them reduced to ten or twelve men, were stationed on the 
 sand-hill. 
 
 Four of the strongest companies garrisoned the Porc- 
 Espic ; ten weak companies and nine cannon loaded with 
 musket bullets defended the Helmond. These posts were 
 commanded by Sergeant-major Carpenter and Captain 
 Meetkerk ; the rest of the force were disposed at the other 
 threatened points. Sir Francis himself, with Sir Lionel 
 7ickars as his right hand, took his post on the wall of the 
 old town, between the sand-hill and the Schottenburg, 
 which had been much damaged by the action of the waves 
 during the gales and by the enemy's shot. Barrels of ashes, 
 heaps of stones and bricks, hoops bound with squibs and 
 fireworks, ropes of pitch, hand-grenades, and barrels of 
 nails were collected in readiness to hurl down upon the 
 assailants. 
 
 At dusk the besiegers ceased firing, to allow the guns t^ 
 
BY ENGLAND S AID. 375 
 
 cool. Two engineer officers with fifty stont sappers, who 
 each had a rose-noble for every quarter of an hour^s work, 
 got on to the breach in front of the sand-hill, and threw 
 up a small breastwork, strengthened by palisades, across 
 it. An officer crept down towards the Old Haven, and 
 presently returned with the news that two thousand of the 
 enemy were wading across, and forming up in battalions 
 on the Ostend side. 
 
 Suddenly a gun boomed out from the archduke's camp 
 as a signal to Bucquoy, and just as the night had fairly 
 set in the besiegers rushed to the assault from all points. 
 They were received by a tremendous fire from the guns of 
 the forts and the muskets of the soldiers ; but, although the 
 elTect was serious, they did not hesitate a moment, but 
 dashed forward towards the foot of the sand-hill and the wall 
 of the old town, halted for a moment, poured in a volley, and 
 then rushed into the breach and against the walls. The 
 volley had been harmless, for Vere had ordered the men 
 to lie flat until it was given. As the Spaniards climbed 
 up barrels of ashes were emptied upon them, stones and 
 heavy timbers hurled down, and flaming hoops cast over 
 their necks. Three times they climbed to the crest of the 
 sand-hill, and as many times gained a footing on the 
 Schottenburg ; but each time they were beaten back with 
 great slaughter. As fiercely did they attack at the other 
 points, but were everywhere repulsed. 
 
 On the east side three strong battalions of the enemy 
 attacked the outwork across the Geule, known as the 
 Spanish Half-moon. Vere, who was everywhere supervis- 
 ing the defense, ordered the weak garrison there to with- 
 draw, and sent a soldier out to give himself up, and to tell 
 them that the Half -moon was slenderly manned, and to 
 offer to lead them in. The offer was accepted, and the 
 Spaniards took possession of the work. 
 
 The general's object was to occupy them, and prevent 
 their supporting their comrades in the western attack. 
 
376 B T Ey GLAND ' S AID, 
 
 The Half -moon, indeed, was quite open towards the town. 
 Tide was rising, and a heavy lire was opened upon the 
 captors of the work from the batteries across the Geule, 
 and they were driven out with the loss of three hundred 
 men. At length the assault was repulsed at all points, and 
 the assailants began ..: retire across the Old Haven. No 
 sooner did they begin to ford it than Vere opened the west 
 siuice, and the water in the town ditch rushed down in a 
 torrent,carrying numbers of the Spaniards away into the sea. 
 
 Altogether, the assault cost the Spaniards two thousand 
 men. An enormous amount of plunder in arms, gold 
 chains, jewels, and rich garments were obtained by the de- 
 fenders fr m the bodies of the fallen. The loss of the 
 garrison was only thirty killed and a hundred wounded. 
 
 The repulse of the grand attack upon Ostend by no 
 means put an end to the siege. Sir Francis Vere, his 
 brother Horace, Sir John Ogle, and Sir Lionel Vickars 
 left, the general being summoned to assume command 
 in the field ; but the siege continued for two years and a 
 half longer. Many assaults were repulsed during that 
 time, and the town surrendered on the 20th September, 
 1G04, when the sand-hill, which was the key of the whole 
 position, was at last captured by the Spaniards. 
 
 It was but a heap of ruins that they had become possessed 
 of after their three years' siege, and its capture had not 
 only cost them an immense number of men and a vast 
 amount of money, but the long and gallant defense had 
 secured upon a firm basis the independence of Holland. 
 >Vhile the whole available force of Spain had been so oc- 
 cupied Prince Maurice and his English allies had captured 
 town after town, and had beaten the enemy whenever they 
 attempted to show themselves in the open field. They 
 had more than counterbalanced the loss of Ostend by the 
 recapture of Sluys, and had so lowered the Spanish pride 
 that not long afterwards a twelve years* truce was con- 
 cluded, which virtually brought the war to an end, and 
 secured for ever the independence of Holland* 
 
BT ENGLAND'S AID. 377 
 
 During the last year or two of the war Sir Francis Vere, 
 worn out by his fatigues and the countless wounds he had 
 received in the service of the Netherlands, had resio:ned 
 his command and retired to England, being succeeded in 
 his position by Sir Horace. Lionel Vickars fought no 
 more after he had borne his part in the repulse of the 
 great assault against Ostend. He had barely recovered 
 from the effect of the wound he had received at the battle 
 of Xieuport, and the fatigues and anxiety of the siege, to- 
 gether with the damp air from the marshes, brought on 
 a serious attack of fever, which completely prostrated him 
 as soon as the necessity for exertion had passed. He re- 
 mained some weeks at the Hague, and then, being some- 
 what recovered, returned home. 
 
 While throughout all England the greatest enthusiasm 
 had been aroused by the victory of Xieuport and the re- 
 pulse of the Spaniards at Ostend, the feeling was naturally 
 higher in the Vere's county of Essex than elsewhere. As 
 soon as Lionel V::kars was well enough to take any share 
 in gayeties he received many invitations to stay at the great 
 houses of the country, where most of the gentry were more 
 or less closely connected with the Veres ; and before he 
 had been home many months he married Dorothy Wind- 
 hurst, one of the richest heiresses in the country, and a 
 cousin of the Veres. Thus Geoffrey had, after Juan 
 Mendez retired from taking any active part in the business, 
 to work alone until his sons were old enough to join him 
 in the business. As soon as they were able to undertake 
 its active management, Geoffery bought an estate near 
 Hedingham, and there settled down, journeying occasion- 
 ally to London to see how the affairs of the house went on, 
 and to give advice to his sons. Dolores had, two or three 
 years after her arrival in England, embraced the faith of 
 her husband ; and although she complained a little at times 
 of the English climate, she never once regretted the step 
 she had taken in leaving her native Spain. 
 
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