by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XI
SAVING A VICTIM
Ned slept for some hours. When he woke he heard the landlord talkingin loud tones in the passage outside. "I tell you, wife it is aburning shame. Mynheer Von Bost has never done a soul harm in hislife. He has always been ready to open his purse strings in caseof distress; he is a man that does not meddle in any way withpolitics. It is true that he does not go to mass, but that hurtsno one; and there is many a ne'er-do-well in the village who neverdarkens the church door. If he prefers to pray in his own houseand in his own way, what matter is it to any one? His cloth millgives employment to half the village. What we shall do if it is shutup I am sure I don't know. But what do they care for the village?Mynheer Von Bost is a Protestant and a rich man--that is quiteenough for the Blood Council; so he and his pretty young wife areto be dragged off and executed."
"What is that?" Ned asked, opening the door. "Can't the BloodCouncil even leave your quiet village alone?"
"They can leave nothing alone," the landlord said bitterly. "Anhour ago four of their officials rode up, under one of the agentsof the Council--a squint eyed villain. They stopped at the doorand asked for the house of Mynheer Von Bost, and then rode off,and half an hour afterwards one of the servants ran down into thevillage with the news that her master and mistress had been arrested,and that they were to be taken to Antwerp to be executed; for that,as it seems, they had already been tried without their knowinganything about it."
Ned started when he heard the landlord describe the leader of theparty. This, then, accounted for Genet's presence at Antwerp; he hadbeen sent from Brussels to arrest this cloth manufacturer. He hadevidently succeeded in establishing his identity late in the eveningor at early morning, and guessing that Ned would have ridden onwithout loss of time after setting the soldiers on to assault him,had proceeded to carry out the mission with which he was charged.
"The villagers would tear the villain limb from limb if they dared,"the landlord went on.
"Why don't they dare?" Ned asked.
"Why? Why, because we should be having a troop of soldiers downhere in twenty-four hours, and the village would be burnt, and everyman in it, and woman too, put to death. No, no, sir; the peoplehere would do a good deal for Mynheer Von Bost and his wife, butthey won't risk everything."
"Would they risk anything, do you think?" Ned asked. "Are therehalf a dozen men in the village, do you think, who would strike ablow for their master, if they could do it without running the riskyou speak of?"
The landlord looked at him sharply. "This is not the time, youngsir, for men to speak before strangers about matters which may puttheir neck in danger."
"You are right," Ned said; "and I do not blame you for beingdiscreet. I know this cross eyed man you speak of, and know thathe is the secretary of one of the most cruel and bloody of theCouncil; and it was but yesterday that I escaped from his handsalmost by a miracle. And I would now, if I could, baffle the villainagain. I suppose they are still at his house?"
"They are. They have ordered breakfast to be prepared for them,and it may be another hour before they set out."
"My plan is this, then," Ned said. "If I could get half a dozendetermined men to join me, we would go back along the road towardsAntwerp three miles or so, and lie in wait until they came along,and then rescue their prisoners from them. If we could get a horsefor the man to ride with his wife behind him, all the better. Wecould pretend to be robbers; there are plenty of starving peasantsthat have been driven to that, and if we attack them three milesaway they would have no suspicion that the people of the villagehad any hand in it."
"I will see about it," the landlord said warmly. "When my son-in-law'slittle house was burnt down last winter, Mynheer Von Bost advancedhim money to rebuild it, and charged no interest. He lives but aquarter of a mile out of the village, and I think he will be yourman, and would be able to lay his hands on the others. I will runover to him and be back in a quarter of an hour."
In the meantime Ned ordered his horse to be saddled, and when thelandlord returned he was ready to start.
"My son-in-law will join you," he said. "He has two brothers whomhe will bring with him. They both work in Von Bost's factory.He bids me tell you to go on for two miles, and to stop where thefirst road comes in on the right hand side. They will join youthere, and will then go on with you as far as you may think fit.They have got guns, so you can lie in ambush. He will bring a horsewith him with a pillion. He could have got more men, but he thinksthe fewer to know the secret the better, as there may be inquirieshere; and in these days none can trust his own neighbour. And nowfarewell, young sir. I know not who you are, but you must havea good heart to venture your life in a quarrel for people of whomyou know nothing."
"I am a Protestant myself, landlord, and I have had uncles andother relations murdered by the Blood Council. Moreover I have aspecial feud with the chief of these villains."
So saying Ned shook the landlord's hand and rode off. He haltedwhen he came to the point indicated. In less than half an hour hesaw three men coming from the other direction. As one of them wasleading a horse he at once rode on to meet them.
"We have made a detour through the fields," the young man leadingthe horse said. "It would not have done for anyone in the villageto have seen us journeying this way."
"Quite right," Ned agreed. "There are babblers everywhere, and thefewer who know aught of a matter like this the better. Now, wherehad we best ambuscade?"
"There is a little wood by the roadside half a mile on, and we hadbest move there at once, for they may be along at any time now."
Two of the men were armed with muskets, and all three carriedflails. They moved briskly forward until they got to the woods.
"You had best fasten up the horse among the trees," Ned said, "andthen take your station close to the road. I will ride out from thetrees as I come up and engage them in talk, so that you and yourbrother can take a steady aim. Don't fire until you are sure ofeach bringing down a man, then rush out and engage them with yourflails. I will answer for their leader myself."
"We won't miss them, never fear, young sir. We have too much practiceat the ducks in the winter to miss such a mark as that."
After seeing the horse tied up, and the men take their stationsbehind trees, Ned went a few yards further and then waited thecoming of the party with the prisoners. He had not a shadow ofcompunction at the fate that was about to befall these officials.They had hauled away hundreds to the gallows, and the animositythat prevailed between the two parties was so intense that neitherthought of sparing the other if they fell into their hands. Asfor Genet, Ned felt that his own life would not be safe as long asthis man lived. He might for aught he knew have other missions ofthe same nature as that he had just fulfilled, and he felt surethat whatever disguise he might adopt this man would detect himdid they meet, and in that case not only his own life but that ofmany others might be sacrificed.
In about ten minutes the sound of horses' hoofs was heard. Nedwaited till they came within a few paces, and then suddenly rodeout from the wood. Genet, who was riding ahead of the others, reinedin his horse suddenly.
"What are you doing, fellow?" he began angrily, "riding out thussuddenly upon us?" Then his voice changed as he recognized Ned."What, is it you again?" he exclaimed. "This time at least youshall not escape me."
He drew a pistol and fired. Ned was equally quick, and the twoshots rang out together. Ned's cap flew from his head, the bulletjust grazing his skin, while Genet fell forward on his saddleand rolled to the ground, shot through the heart. Almost at thesame instant two guns were discharged from the wood, and two ofthe officials fell. The other two, behind whom the prisoners werestrapped, set spurs to their horses; but Ned rode in front of them,and the men dashing from the trees seized the reins.
"Surrender!" Ned shouted, "or you are dead men."
The two officers shouted lustily that they surrendered, but Nedhad the greatest difficulty from preventing their assailants fromknocking o
ut their brains with their flails.
"There is no plunder to be obtained from them, comrades," he saidloudly. "They are only poor knaves riding behind the master. Getthem off their horses, and strap their hands with their own belts,and toss them in among the trees; but you can search their pocketsbefore you do so. I will see what their leader has got upon him."
As soon as the two prisoners were dragged away Ned addressed MynheerVon Bost, who with his wife was standing almost bewildered by thesudden event that had freed them.
"This is no robbery, Mynheer, but a rescue. We have a horse andpillion here in the wood in readiness for you, and I should adviseyou to ride at once with your wife for Sluys or some other seaport,and thence take ship either into Holland or to England. Your liveswill assuredly be forfeited if you remain here."
"But who are you, sir, who has done us this great service?"
"I am serving under the Prince of Orange," Ned replied; "and havebeen doing business for him at Brussels. I have twice narrowlyescaped with my life from the hands of the leader of that party,and was in the village when they arrived and seized you. Findinghow deep was the regret that so kind a master should be thus ledaway to execution, I determined if possible to save you, and withthe aid of these three men, two of whom are workmen of yours, andthe other a farmer you befriended last year when his house wasburnt down, we have succeeded in doing so."
The three men now came out of the wood.
"My brave fellows," the manufacturer said, "I and my wife owe ourlives to you and to this gentleman."
"You are heartily welcome, sir," the young farmer said. "You havesaved me from ruin, and one good turn deserves another. I and mybrothers were only too glad to join when we heard that this gentlemanwas determined to try to release you. If it had not been for himit would never have entered our heads till it was too late."
"May I ask your name, sir?" Von Bost said to Ned. "My wife andI would like to know to whom we owe a lifelong debt of gratitude.I will take your advice and ride at once for Sluys. I have manyfriends there who will conceal us and get us on board a ship.My arrangements have long been made for departure, and my capitaltransferred to England; but I thought I should have had sufficientnotice of danger to take flight. Where can I hear of you, sir?"
"My name is Edward Martin. My father is an English captain,who lives at Rotherhithe, close by London. At present, as I said,I am in the service of the Prince of Orange; but my home is stillin England. And now, sir, I think you had best be riding at once.I presume that there are byroads by which you can avoid passingthrough any towns on your way to Sluys. It is better not to delaya minute, for at any moment some party or other of soldiers maycome along."
The men had by this time brought out the horse. Von Bost mounted,and his wife was assisted on to the pillion behind him.
"Goodbye, good friends," he said. "God grant that no harm come toyou for this kind deed."
The moment he had ridden off Ned and his companions lifted thebodies of the three men who had fallen and carried them into thewood.
"We had best turn their pockets inside out," Ned said, "and takeaway everything of value upon them."
"This fellow has a well lined purse," the young farmer said as heexamined the pocket of Genet; "and here are a bundle of papers inhis doublet."
"Give me the papers," Ned said, "they may be useful to me, anddoubtless they contain lists of other victims whom I may be ableto send warning to in time for them to escape."
"What shall we do about the horses?"
"I would take off the saddles, bridles, and accouterments, throwthem into a ditch together with the men's arms and pile a few bushesover them, then drive the horses across the fields till they reachsome grazing ground near the river; the farmers there will doubtlessappropriate them in time. Now, as to these two prisoners, they arethe only trouble."
"You need not trouble about them," the farmer said, "we have madethem safe. We are not going to risk our lives and those of our wivesand families, as we should have done if we had left those fellowsalive to identify us. There is sure to be a search sooner or later,and those two men would have led the party to every house withinmiles round, and would have been sure to recognize one or other ofus. We are ready to risk our lives to save Mynheer Von Bost, butwe are not willing to throw them away needlessly."
Ned could hardly blame the men, who had indeed stabbed their captivesthe instant they dragged them among the trees, for doubtless therisk they would have run of detection would have been great had theypermitted them to live. They had now only to regain their villagewithout observation and to keep their own secret, to be free fromall risk whatever. Putting Genet's papers in his doublet Ned againmounted his horse and rode off.
Two hours later he reached St. Nicholas. He could now have riddenstraight on to Bergen op Zoom, the port at which he hoped to be ableto find a boat, but he thought that Genet's papers might containmatters upon which it might be necessary for him to act at once.He had now no fear of detection, for with the death of Genet allsearch for himself would be at an end. Putting up his horse at aninn he ordered a meal to be prepared at once, and calling for aflask of wine in the meantime, sat down at a table in the cornerof the great parlour and examined the papers.
First there was a list of twelve names, among whom was that of VonBost. One of these, as well as that of the manufacturer, had beencrossed out. With them were official documents ordering the arrestof the persons named, together in most cases with that of theirwives and one or more members of their family. Besides these wasa document with the seal of the Council, ordering all magistratesand others to render every assistance required by the bearer incarrying out the duties with which he was charged.
Then there was a long list of persons resident in St. Nicholas,Sluys, and Axel, against whom denunciations of heresy or of suspecteddisloyalty to Philip had been laid. There was a note at the bottomof this list: "Inquire into the condition of life and probablemeans of each of these suspected persons."
"It is somewhat lucky for all these people," Ned said to himself,"that I happened to fall in with Mynheer Genet. The question nowis how to warn them. I see there are three orders of arrest againstpeople here, and ten names on the suspected list. At any rate Ican warn them myself."
As soon as he had finished his meal Ned inquired the addresses ofthe three persons ordered to be arrested. They were all, as he hadexpected, leading men in the place; for it was the confiscation ofthe goods of the victims, quite as much as any question of religionor loyalty, that was at the bottom of a large proportion of thearrests and executions. The first Ned called upon was, like VonBost, a cloth manufacturer. He was rather a pompous man, and whenNed was shown in said:
"Now, young man, my time is valuable, so let us have no uselesstalking. What is it you want?"
"Your time perhaps is more valuable than you think," Ned saidquietly, "seeing that you have not got much of it left."
"What do you mean, sir?" the manufacturer said angrily.
"I mean simply this," Ned replied. "That I am the bearer of anorder of the Council for your arrest, and that of your wife, yourson Ernest, and your daughter Mary, upon the charge of having beenpresent and taken part in a meeting of the people of this town atwhich words of treasonable character were uttered. Moreover, thereis a note at the bottom of this order saying that these chargeshave been proved to the satisfaction of the Council, and that youare accordingly to be executed upon your arrival at Antwerp, thenecessary orders having been transmitted to the governor of theprison there."
The manufacturer sank down in a chair the picture of terror.
"I have done no harm," he stammered. "I knew not when I went tothe meeting what was going to be said there."
"What matters that?" Ned asked. "You have been tried and condemned,and one or other of the Council has doubtless obtained the grantof your property. Well, sir, I will not frighten you longer. Thisis the document in question, but fortunately I am not the personcharged with this execution. I met him on the way and ther
e wasa disagreement between us, and the result is that he will executeno more orders, and his papers fell into my hands. It may be somedays before he is missed, and then doubtless someone else will becharged to carry out the orders of which he was the bearer. Thiswill give you time to make preparations for flight, and I shouldadvise you before eight-and-forty hours are over to be on your waytowards the frontier of Germany, or on board a ship at one of theports. I will hand you this document in order that you may convinceyour wife and family of the danger that you are all running, andof the urgent need of haste."
Ned left at once, before the man, who was almost stupefied by themisfortune that had befallen him, had time to utter his thanks.He then called on the other two men against whom he bore orders ofarrest. As both received him with greater courtesy than that shownby the first he had visited, he broke the news more gently to them,and discussed with them the manner in which they had best maketheir escape. One he found had friends and business connectionsin Sluys, and doubted not that he could obtain a passage thereto Holland or England, while the other had similar connections inAxel.
Ned handed over to them the orders for the arrest of burghers ofthose towns, and these they gave him their promise to deliver, andalso either to see or to send letters warning all the persons whowere mentioned in the list of suspected. As he was anxious to geton as soon as possible he also gave them the list of the suspectedat St. Nicholas, and these they promised also to warn; both wereprofuse in their gratitude to him for having saved them from certaindeath. Having thus concluded his business, Ned again mounted hishorse and rode for Bergen op Zoom, the port at which he intended,if possible, to embark for Zeeland.
Bergen op Zoom, an important town, lay half a mile distant from theScheldt, and was connected with the river by a channel guarded bytwo forts. There had been a strong Spanish garrison here, but ithad lately been weakened by the withdrawal of a large detachment totake part in the successful enterprise undertaken for the relief ofTergoes in the Island of Beveland, which was besieged by a forcefrom Flushing. Ned had frequently been at Bergen op Zoom in theGood Venture, and knew that while the magistrates and wealthiercitizens were devoted to the Spanish cause the greater portion ofthe inhabitants, especially the seafaring class, were patriots toa man.
He therefore went to a small inn by the waterside, where he hadseveral times taken meals with his father when the ship was lyingoff from the river. Seeing his horse put up in the stable he enteredthe tap room. The sailors drinking there looked somewhat surprisedat the entrance of one differing much in appearance from the ordinarycustomers of the place. The landlord, who was leaning against hiscounter, did not advance to meet him; for strangers were by nomeans popular, and a suspicion that the newcomer was a spy wouldspeedily empty his house. As Ned approached him he suddenly started,and was about to speak when the lad quickly placed his finger onhis lip. He feared that the landlord was about to utter his name,and there might, for aught he knew, be someone there who wouldreport it.
"How are you, landlord?" he said. "It is some time since I was herelast, and I think you had almost forgotten me." The landlord tookthe hint.
"Yes, indeed," he said. "And how is your father? I have not seenhim lately, and heard that he was not well."
"No; he has been laid up for some time, but he is mending. You seeI have taken service."
"Ah, I see," the landlord said. "Well, my good wife will be gladto see you and hear about your family." So saying he led the wayinto a private room.
"Why, what means this, Master Martin?" he asked. "We heard here ofthe brave fight your father's ship made some two months since witha Spaniard in the Zuider Zee, and that he was sorely wounded. Butwhat means this masquerading? Surely you have not given up thesea?"
"Only for the present," Ned replied. "You know I am Dutch on mymother's side. All her family have been murdered by the Spaniards,and what with that and my father being attacked and wounded, I madeup my mind to give up the sea for a time, and to help the good causeas much as I could. I have been carrying a message to Brussels andwant now to get back to Rotterdam or some other sea port town. Howhad I best do it?"
"It is not easy," the landlord replied. "Our trade is stopped herenow. The rivers swarm with craft, manned, some by the beggars ofthe sea, and others by fishermen; and the Spanish ships cannot comeup save in great force. We have two or three of their warships herewhich go out and skirmish with our men, and do not always get thebest of it.
"Our people did badly the other night when they let the Spaniardswade across to Tergoes. That was a bad business. But about yourgetting away. Let me see how it can be managed."
"I have got a horse here."
"That is bad," the landlord said. "You could put on sailor's clothes,and in the morning when I send in my guest list to the magistrate,I could put down that you had gone, but the horse would betray me.Is it a good beast?"
"Yes, it is a very good horse. It was a present to me, and I don'tlike parting with it. But of course I cannot take it away."
"I will send round word to a man I know who deals in horses. He isone who will hold his tongue, especially when he sees an advantagein it. I will tell him it belonged to a man who has been here andgone away suddenly, and ask him what he will give for it, and takeit quietly away after it gets dark to his own stables, and ask noquestions about it. He will guess it belonged to somebody who hasleft secretly. Of course he won't give more than half the value ofthe animal; but I suppose you will not be particular about terms.Anyhow, I will do the best I can for you. When he is once out ofthe stables they may come and question as much as they like, butthey will get nothing out of me beyond the fact that a young mancame here, put up his horse, stayed the night, and left in themorning. I suppose they have no special interest in you so as tolead them to make a close inquiry?"
"None at all," Ned replied.
"That is settled then," the landlord said. "Now, as to yourself.Two of my sons are at sea, you know, and I can rig you up with someof their clothes so that you can stroll about on the wharves, andno one will suspect you of being anything but a fisherman. Then Iwill try and arrange with some of the sailors to take you down ina boat at night, and either put you on board the first of our craftthey come upon, or land you at Flushing. Now I will take you in tomy wife, and she will see about getting you a meal and making youcomfortable."
Later on the landlord came in and said that he had made a bargainfor the horse.
"The beast is worth thirty crowns," he said, "but he will not givemore than fifteen, and it required a good deal of bargaining toraise him to that. Of course he suspected that there was somethingout of the way about the affair, and took advantage of it."
"That will do very well indeed," Ned said. "I did not expect toget anything for it."
"I have been having a talk too with some sailors belonging to asmall craft lying at the wharf. They are most anxious to be off,for they are idle. The order that no boats were to leave was issuedjust after they came in. They have been six days doing nothing,and may, for aught they see, be kept here for another six months.They have been afraid to try to get away; for there are sentriesall along the wall to see that none try to put out, and some guardboats from the Spanish ships rowing backwards and forwards outsidethe port, both to see that no ships leave, and that none come up toharm the shipping. Still they say they have been making up theirminds that they may as well stand the risk of being shot by theSpaniards as the certainty of being starved here; besides they arepatriots, and know that their boats may be wanted at any time forthe conveyance of troops. So when I told them that I doubted notthat you would pay them well for landing you at Flushing, theyagreed to make the attempt, and will try tonight. As soon as youhave had your breakfast you had better join them in the tap room,go out with them through the watergate, and get on board theircraft and lie snug there till night."
"How many men are there?" Ned asked.
"There are six altogether, but only two will be up here presently.Here are the fifteen crowns for your hor
se. That will do well topay your passage to Flushing."
As soon as he had eaten his breakfast, Ned, now dressed as a youngfisherman, went into the taproom with the landlord. Two sailorswere sitting there.
"This is the young fellow that I was speaking to you about," thelandlord said. "He is one of us, and heart and soul in the cause,and young though he looks has done good service. He is ready topay you fifteen crowns when you land him at Flushing."
"That is a bargain," one of the men said, "and will pay us for theweek we have lost here. I should take you for a sailor, young sir."
"I am a sailor," Ned said, "and can lend a hand on board if needbe."
"Can you swim? Because if we are overhauled by the Spaniards weshall all take to the water rather than fall into their hands."
"Yes, I can swim," Ned said; "and agree with you that I would ratherswim than be captured. But if it is only a boatload that overhaulsus I would try to beat them off before giving up a craft in whichI had a share."
The sailors looked rather doubtfully at the lad, and their expressionshowed that they thought he was talking boastfully.
"He means what he says," the landlord put in. "He is the son ofthe English captain who beat off the great Spanish ship Don Pedroin the Zuider Zee a few weeks ago."
The men's faces changed, and both got up and shook hands cordiallywith Ned. "That was a brave affair, young sir; and there is not atown in Holland where your father's name is not spoken of in honour.We know the ship well, and have helped load her before now; andnow we know who you are, recognize your face. No wonder you wantto get out of Bergen op Zoom. Why, if I had known it had been youwe would have been glad enough to take you to Flushing withoutcharging you a penny, and will do so now--will we not, comrades--ifit presses you in any way to pay us?"
"Not at all," Ned said. "I am well supplied with money; and sinceyou are risking your boat, as well as your lives, it is only fairthat I should pay my share. I can afford the fifteen crowns wellenough, and indeed it is but the price of a horse that was givenme."
"Well, if it will not hurt you we will not say any more aboutit," the sailor replied; "seeing that we have had a bad time of itlately, and have scarce money enough left between us to victual usuntil we get home. But had it been otherwise, we would have starvedfor a week rather than had it said that we made hard terms with theson of the brave Captain Martin when he was trying to escape fromthe hands of the Spaniards."
"Now, lads, you had better be off at once," the landlord interrupted."It is time I sent in my report to the town hall; and like enoughmen will be down here asking questions soon after, so it were bestthat Master Martin were on board your craft at once. Goodbye, youngsir. Tell your worthy father that I am glad indeed to have beenable to be of some slight service to his son, and I trust that itwill not be very long before we see the last of the Spaniards, andthat we shall then have his ship alongside the wharves again."
Ned shook hands heartily with the landlord, who had refused toaccept any payment whatever from him, and then started with thetwo sailors. They made their way down to the inner haven, and thenwent on board the boat, a craft of about ten tons burden which waslying alongside. The wharves had a strange and deserted appearance.When Ned had last been there some fifty or sixty vessels ofdifferent sizes had been lying alongside discharging or taking incargo, while many others lay more out in the stream. Now there wereonly a dozen boats of about the same size as that on which theyembarked, all, like it, arrested by the sudden order that no vesselsshould leave the port.
There were no large merchantmen among them, for trade had altogetherceased, save when a strong convoy of French, Spanish, or Germanships arrived. For with Flushing in the hands of the patriots, andthe sea swarming with the craft of the beggars, foreign vesselsbound for ports in the hands of the Spaniards did not dare singlyto approach the mouth of the Scheldt. Ned received a hearty welcomefrom the other sailors when they learned from their skipper and hiscompanion who he was, and before he had been ten minutes on boardthey asked him to give them the full details of the fight offEnkhuizen, and how it was that the Spaniards thus interfered withan English ship.
Ned told them the story, and the sailors when he had finishedhad each some tale to tell of oppression and cruelty to friendsor relatives on the part of the Spaniards. When they had finishedtheir midday meal, which was the heartiest the sailors had enjoyedfor some days, for the landlord when making the bargain had paid themfive crowns in advance, and the empty larder had been accordinglyreplenished, the skipper said to Ned, "I think that it will be justas well you did something, in case the magistrates should take itinto their heads to send down to search the craft along the wharves.The landlord said that they might make inquiries as to what hadbecome of the man who stayed last night at his inn. You may be surehe did not put down in his guest list a description which wouldhelp them much in their search for you, should they make one, stillthey keep a pretty sharp lookout over us, and if they search atall are likely to come to try here to begin with."
"I am quite ready to do anything you may set me to," Ned said.
"Then we will get the boat out, and row off and bait our hooks andtry for fish; we have caught a few every day since we have beenhere. And, indeed, if it were not for the fish the men in most ofthe boats here would be starving."
"That will do capitally," Ned said. "Anyhow it will be an amusementto me."
The boat was pulled up alongside, Ned and four of the men got intoit and rowed down the port into the Old Haven, and out between thetwo forts guarding the entrance into the Scheldt, then droppingtheir grapnel, baited some lines and began to fish. As boats fromall the other craft lying by the shore were engaged in the samework, either with line or net, this was natural enough, and theydid not return until evening was falling, by which time they hadcaptured a considerable number of fish.
"We have had more luck than we have had all the week," one of themen said as they rowed back. "Sometimes we have only got just enoughfor ourselves, today when we don't want them we have caught enoughto sell for two or three guilders; for fish are scarce now in thetown and fetch good prices. However, they will come in handy forour voyage."
When they came alongside the skipper told them that three hoursbefore two of the city constables had come along, and had inquiredof him whether he had seen aught of a tall man of some thirty yearsof age, dressed in sober clothes, and with the appearance of aretainer in some good family. He had assured them he had seen noneat all answering that description, and, indeed, that no one besidehimself and his crew had been on the wharf that day. They hadnevertheless come on board and searched the cabin, but findingnothing suspicious, and hearing that the rest of the crew, fourmen and a boy, were engaged in fishing, they had gone off withoutfurther question.
"Where do the guard boats ply?" Ned asked presently.
"A mile or two above the forts, and as much below; for, you see,vessels can come up either passage from the sea. It is the longestround by Walcheren, but far easier and freer from sandbanks. Vesselsfrom the west generally take the Walcheren passage; but those fromthe east, and coasters who know every foot of the river, come bythe eastern Scheldt."
"Which way do you think of going?"
"That by Flushing, if we have the choice. We pass several towns inthe possession of the Spaniards, and were the beggars to come upthey would probably take the other channel. And I have noticed thatthere are always two rowboats in the river to the east, and onlyone to the west. Our greatest difficulty will be in passing thetwo warships anchored at the mouth of the port, under the guns ofthe forts. Once fairly out into the Scheldt we may think ourselvessafe, for the river is so wide that unless by grievous ill chancewe are not likely to be seen on a dark night, such as this willbe, by the rowboats. Our real danger is in getting through the twoforts, and the ships at the mouth of this port.
"There is a vigilant watch kept at the forts; but there are notlikely to be any sentries placed on the walls at the entrance ofthis inner haven, or on that running alo
ng by Old Haven down tothe forts. We will start as soon as the tide turns, and drift downwith it. We will get out a pole or two to keep our course down thecentre till we get near the forts, and must then let her drift asshe will, for a splash in the water or the slightest sound wouldcall the attention of the sentries there, and if the alarm were giventhe boats of the two ships outside would have us to a certainty.I think the night is going to be most favourable. The clouds arelow, and I have felt a speck or two of mist; it will come on fasterpresently, and it will want keen eyes to see five yards away whenthe night falls. Luckily there is not a breath of wind at present;and I hope there will not be until we are fairly out, otherwise weshould be sure to drift ashore on one side or the other as we godown the channel."