September 2, 2025 • 30 mins
Set in the tumultuous 1570s, By Pike and Dyke plunges listeners into the harrowing world of the Netherlands, where the shadow of Spanish tyranny looms large. Amidst the chaos, Edward Ned‚ Martin‚a young man caught between two worlds as the son of an English captain and a Dutch lady‚takes a stand to help his mothers people and seek vengeance for his slain relatives. Joining the ranks of the revolutionary leader William the Silent, Prince of Orange, Ned embarks on perilous secret missions across occupied territories. Through narrow escapes, fierce naval battles, and heart-stopping sieges, he witnesses the stirring yet tragic birth of the Dutch republic. (Summary by D. Leeson)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter thirteen of by Pike and Dike, A Tale of
the Rise of the Dutch Republic. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain by Pike and Dike by G. A. Henty,
Chapter thirteen, the Siege of Haarlem. There was much shouting
in the little fleet as the news spread that the
sea was freezing. Boats were lowered and rowed from the
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ship to ship, for the ice was as yet no
thicker than window glass. Ned went from the good venture
to the craft, round which most of the boats were assembling,
to hear what was decided. He returned in a few minutes.
They are all of opinion that it is hopeless for
us to get out of this. We could tow the
vessels a short distance, but every hour the ice will thicken.
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They concluded that anchors shall be got up, and that
the ships all lie together as close as they can pack.
What will be the use of that? Peters asked, if
we ought to be frozen up, it makes no difference
that I can see whether we are together or scattered
as at present. The idea is ned said. If we
are packed together we can defend ourselves better than if
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scattered about. And what is more important still we can
cut through the ice and keep a channel of open
water round us, so we could, Peters agreed. Let us
to work. Then which ship are we to gather round
the one I have just left, Peters, she is lying
nearly at the center. For the next two hours there
was much bustle and hard work then, as the ice
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was it yet greatly hindered the operation of moving the ships.
At last they were all packed closely together, much more closely, indeed,
than would be possible in these days, for the bow sprits,
instead of running out nearly parallel with the water line,
stood up at a sharp angle, and the vessels could
therefore be laid with the bow of one touching the
stern of that in advance. As there was now no
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motive for concealment, lamps were shown and torches burned. There
were thirty craft in all, and they were arranged in
five lines, closely touching each other. When all was done,
the crews retired to rest. There was no occasion to
keep watch, for the ice had thickened so fast that
boats could not now force their way through it. While
it would not before morning be strong enough to bear
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the weight of armed men walking across it. This is
a curious position, Ned said, as he went on deck
next morning. How long do you think we are likely
to be kept here? Peters? Maybe twenty four hours, maybe
three weeks. Lad these frosts, when they set in like this,
seldom lasts less than a fortnight or three weeks. What
do you think of our chances of being attacked? I
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should say they are sure to attack us. The whole
Spanish army is lying over there in Amsterdam, and as
soon as the ice is strong enough to bear them,
you will see them coming out. How strong a force
can we muster? There are thirty craft, Peters replied, and
I shall think they average fully fifteen men each, perhaps twenty.
They carry strong crews at all times, and stronger than usual.
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Now that would give from five to six hundred men.
I suppose all carry arms. Oh yes, I do not
suppose that there is a man here who has not
weapons of some kind, and most of them have arquebuses.
It will take a strong force to carry this wooden fort.
It was still freezing intensely, and the ice was strong
enough to bear men scattered here and there, although it
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would not have sustained them gathered together Towards the afternoon,
the captain judged that it had thickened sufficiently to begin work,
and fifty or sixty men, provided with hatchets, got upon
the ice and proceeded to break it away round the vessels.
After a couple of hours, a fresh party took their places,
and by nightfall the ships were surrounded by a belt
of open water some fifteen yards wide. A meeting of
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the captains had been held during the day, and the
most experienced had been chosen as leader, with five lieutenants
under him. Each lieutenant was to command the crews of
six ships. When it became dark, five boats were lowered.
These were to row round and round the ships all
night so as to keep the water from freezing again.
The crews were to be relieved once an hour, so
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that each ship would furnish a set of rowers once
in six hours. Numerous anchors had been lowered while the
ships were first packed together so as to prevent the
mass from drifting when the tide flowed or ebbed, as
this would have brought them in contact with one side
or the other of the ice around them. The next morning,
the ice was found to be five inches thick, and
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the captains were of opinion that the Spaniards might now
attempt an attack upon them. Their first attack will certainly fail,
Ned said, as they sat at breakfast, they will be
baffled by this water belt round us. However, they will
come next time with rafts ready to push across it,
and then we shall have fighting in earnest. The lieutenant
under whom the crew of the Good Venture were placed,
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came down while they were at breakfast to inquire how
many arquebuses there were on board. We have ten, The
captain said, as I suppose you have no men who
skate on board, I should be glad if you will
hand them over to me. What does he say? The
first mate asked, in surprise upon this being translated to him,
what does he mean by asking if we have any
men who skate? And why should we give up our
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guns if we can use them ourselves? Ned put the
question to the lieutenant. We are going to attack them
on the ice as they come out, he replied. Of course,
all our vessels have skates on board in winter. We
always carry them, as we may be frozen up at
any time, and we shall send out as many men
as can be armed with arquebuses. Those who remain on
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board will fight the guns. That is a capital plan
ned said, and the Spanish, who are unaccustomed to ice,
will be completely puzzled. It is lucky there was not
a breath of wind when it froze, and the surfaces
as smooth as glass. Well, there will be nine arquebuses
for you, sir, For I have been out here two
winters and have learnt to skate, so I will accompany
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the party. The other nine arquebuses with ammunition. We will
hand over to you a look out at One of
the mastheads now shouted that he could make out a
black mass on the ice near Amsterdam, and believed that
it was a large body of troops. Every preparation had
already been made on board the ships for the fight.
The Good Venture lay on the outside tier facing Amsterdam,
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having been placed there because she carried more guns than
any of the other vessels, which were for the most
part small and few carried more than four guns. While
the armament of the Good Venture had after her fight
with the Don Pedro, been increased to ten guns, the
guns from the vessels in the inner tiers had all
been shifted on to those lying outside, and the wooden
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fort literally bristled with cannon. A quarter of an hour
after the news that the Spaniards were on their way
had been given, three hundred men with arquebuses were ferried
across the channel and were disembarked on to the ice.
They were divided into five companies of sixty men each
under the lieutenants. The captain remained to superintend the defense
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of the ships. The Dutch sailors were as much at
home on their skates as upon dry land, and in
high spirits started to meet the enemy. It was a
singular sight to see the five bodies of men gliding
away across the ice. There was no attempt at formation
or order. All understood their business, for in winter it
was one of their favorite sports to fire at a
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mark while skating at a rapid pace. It was two
miles from the spot where the ships lay frozen up
to Amsterdam. The Spaniards, a thousand strong, had traversed about
a third of the distance when the skaters approached them,
keeping their feet with the utmost difficulty upon the slippery ice.
They were astonished at the rapid approach of the Dutchmen,
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breaking up as they approached, their assailants came dashing along
at a rapid pace, discharged their arquebuses into the close
mass of the Spaniards, and then wheeled away at the
top of their speed, reloaded, and again swept down to fire.
Against these tactics, the Spaniards could do little. Unsteady as
they were on their feet, the recoil of their heavy
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arquebusses frequently threw them over, and it was impossible to
take anything like an accurate aim at the flying figures
that passed them at the speed of a galloping horse. Nevertheless,
they doggedly kept on their way, leaving the ice behind
them dotted with killed and wounded. Not a gun was
discharged from on board the ships until the head of
the Spanish column reached the edge of the water and
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discovered the impassable obstacle that lay between them and the vessels.
Then the order was given to fire, and the head
of the column was literally swept away by the discharge.
The commander of the Spaniards now gave the order for
a retreat. As they fell back, the guns of the
ships swept their ranks. The musketeers harassed them on each flank.
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The ice, cracked and broken by the artillery fire, gave
way under their feet, and many fell through and were drowned,
and of the thousand men who left Amsterdam, less than
half regained the city. The Spaniards were astonished at this
novel mode of fighting, and the despatches of their officers
gave elaborate descriptions of the strange appendages that had enabled
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the Hollanders to glide so rapidly over the ice. The
Spaniards were, however, always ready to learn from foe. Alva
immediately ordered eight thousand pairs of skates, and the soldiers
were kept hard at work practicing until they were able
to make their way with fair rapidity over the ice.
The evening after the fight, a strong wind suddenly sprang
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up from the southwest, and the rain descended in torrents.
By morning, the ice was already broken up. The guns
were hastily shifted to the vessels to which they belonged.
The ships on the outside tiers cast off from the others,
and before noon the hull were on their way back
toward Zenkhausen, which they reached without pursuit by the Spanish vessels.
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For at nine in the morning, the wind changed suddenly again,
the frost set in as severely as before, and the
Spaniards in the port of Amsterdam were unable to get out.
This event caused great rejoicing in Holland and was regarded
as a happy omen for the coming contest. After remaining
another day with his family, Ned mounted his horse and
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rode to Harlem. The city lay at the narrowest point
of the new arrow strip of land, facing the German Ocean,
and upon the shore of the shallow lake of the
same name. Upon the opposite side of this lake, ten
miles distant, stood the town of Amsterdam. The Lake of
Harlem was separated from the long inlet of the zider
Zee called the Wye by a narrow strip of land,
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along which ran the causeway connecting the two cities. Half
Way along this neck of land there was a cut
with sluice works by which the surrounding country could be inundated.
The port of Harlem on the Wye was at the
village of Sparrendam, where there was a fort for the
protection of the shipping. Harlem was one of the largest
cities of the Netherlands, but it was also one of
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the weakest. The walls were old and had never been formidable.
The extent of the defenses made a large garrison necessary,
but the force available for the defense was small. Indeed,
upon his way towards Harlem, Ned learnt that on the
night before the tenth of December, Sparrendam had been captured
by the Spaniards. A secret passage across the flooded and
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frozen meadows had been shown to them by a peasant,
and they had stormed the fort, killed three hundred men,
and taken possession of the works and village. Thus Harlem
was at once cut off from all aid coming from
the zider Ze. Much disquieted by the news, Ned rode
on rapidly and entered the town by the gate upon
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the southern side. For as he approached he learned that
the Spaniards had already appeared in great force before the city.
He rode at once to his aunt's house, hoping to
find that she had already left the town with the girls.
Leaping from his horse, he entered the door hurriedly and
was dismayed to find his aunt seated before the fire, knitting.
My dear aunt, he exclaimed, do you know that the
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Spaniards are in front of the town. Surely to remain
here with the two girls is madness. Everyone else is remaining.
Why should not i, Ned, his aunt asked calmly. Other
people have their houses and their businesses, Aunt, but you
have nothing to keep you here. You know what had
happened at Zutfin and Narden. How can you expose the
girls even if you are so obstinate yourself to such horrors.
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The Burghers are determined to hold out until relief comes. Nephew, Ay,
if they can, Ned replied, But who knows whether they can.
This is madness. Aunt. I beseech you to come with
me to your father and let us talk over the
matter with him. And in the morning, if you will
not go, I will get two horses and mount the
girls on them and ride with them to Leiden. That is,
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if by the morning it is not already too late,
it would be best to proceed at once. Dame Plomart
reluctantly yielded to the energy of her nephew and accompanied
him to the house of her father, But the weaver
was absent on the walls and did not return until
late in the evening. Upon Ned's putting the case to him,
he at once agreed that it would be best both
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for her and the girls to leave. I have told
her so twenty times already, he said, But Elizabeth was
always as obstinate as a mule. Over and over again
she has said she would go, and having said that,
has done nothing. She can do no good by stopping here,
and there are only three more mouths to feed. By
all means, lad get them away the first thing in
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the morning. If it be possible, I would say, start
to night, dark as it is, But the Spanish horse
may be all round the city, and you might ride
into their arms without seeing them. Ned at once sallied out,
and without much difficulty, succeeded in bargaining for three horses,
for few of the inhabitants had left, and horses would
not only be of no use during the siege, but
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it would be impossible to feed them. Therefore, their owners
were glad to part with them for far less than
their real value. When he reached the house, he found
that his aunt had made up three bundles with clothes
and what jewelry she had, and that she was ready
to start with the girls in the morning. Before daybreak,
Ned went out to the walls on the south side,
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but as the light broadened out, discovered that it was
too late. During the night, heavy reinforcements had arrived to
Don Frederick from Amsterdam, and a large force was already
facing the west side of the city. With a heavy heart,
he returned to his aunt's with the news that it
was too late for that all means of exit was closed.
Dame Plomart took the news philosophically. She was a woman
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of phlegmatic disposition and objected to sudden movement and changes,
and to her it seemed far less terrible to await
quietly the fortunes of the siege than to undergo the
fatigues of a journey on horseback and the uncertainty of
an unknown future. Well, nephew, she said placidly, if we
cannot get away, we cannot, and it really saves a
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world of trouble. But what are you going to do yourself?
For I suppose if we cannot get away, you cannot.
The way is open across the lake, ned replied, and
I shall travel along the ice to the upper end
and then over to Leiden and obtain permission from the
Prince to return here by the same way, or if
not to accompany the force he is raising there. For
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this will doubtless march at once to the relief of
the town. Even now, Aunt, you might make your escape
across the ice. I have not skated since I was
fifteen years old, the good woman said, placidly, and at
my age. And wait, I am certainly not going to
try now, Ned, just imagine me upon skates. Ned could
not help smiling, vexed as he was. His aunt was
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stout and portly, and he certainly could not imagine her
exerting herself sufficiently to undertake a journey on skates. But
the girls can skate, he urged. The girls are girls,
she said, decidedly, and I am not going to let
them run about the world by themselves. You say yourself
that reinforcements will soon start. You do not know our people, nephew.
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They will beat off the Spaniards. Whatever they do, the
city will never be taken. My father says so, and
every one says so. Surely they must know better than
a lad like you. Ned shrugged his shoulders in despair
and went out to see what were the preparations for defense.
The garrison consisted only of some fifteen hundred German mercenaries
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and the Burger force. Riperda, the commandant of the garrison,
was an able and energetic officer. The townspeople were animated
by a determination to resist to the end. A portion
of the magistracy had in the first place been anxious
to treat, and had entered into secret negotiations with Alva,
sending three of their number to treat with the Duke
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at Amsterdam. One had remained there, the other two, on
their return were seized, tried and executed, and Sante Aldegonde,
one of the Prince's ministers, had been dispatched by him,
to make a complete change in the magistracy. The total
force available for the defense of the town was not
at the commencement of the siege more than three thousand men,
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while over thirty thousand Spaniards were gathering round its walls,
a number equal to the entire population of the city.
The Germans under Count Overstein finally took up their encampments
in the extensive grove of trees that spread between the
southern walls and the shore of the lake. The Spaniards
under Don Frederick faced the north walls, while the Walloons
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and other regiments closed it in on the east and west.
But these arrangements occupied some days, and the mists which
favored their movements, were not without advantage to the besieged.
Under cover of the fog, supplies of provisions and ammunition
were brought by men and women, and even children on
their heads or in sledges down the frozen lake, and
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in spite of the efforts of the besiegers introduced into
the city, Ned was away only two days. The Prince
approved of his desire to take part in the siege,
and furnished him with letters to the magistrates promising reinforcements
and to Riperda recommending Ned as a young gentleman volunteer
of great courage and quickness, who had already performed valuable
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service for the cause. His cousins were delighted to see
him back. Naturally, they did not share in their mother's
confidence as to the result of the siege, and felt
in Ned's presence a certain sense of security and comfort.
The garrison increased by arrivals from without, and by the
enrollment of every man capable of bearing arms, now numbered
a thousand pioneers, three thousand fighting men, and three hundred
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fighting women. The last were not the least efficient portion
of the garrison. All were armed with sword, musket and dagger,
and were led by Canal Hasselar, a widow of distinguished family, who,
at the head of her female band, took part in
many of the fiercest fights of the siege, both upon
and without the walls. The siege commenced badly in the
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middle of December. The force of some thirty five hundred
men assembled that Leiden set out under the command of
dela Mark, the former admiral of the Sea Beggars. The
troops were attacked on their march by the Spaniards, and
a thousand were killed, a number taken prisoners, and the
rest routed. Among the captains was a brave officer named
van Trier, for whom Delamark offered two thousand crowns and
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nineteen Spanish prisoners. The offer was refused. Van Trier was
hanged by one leg until he was dead upon one
of the numerous gibbets erected in sight of the town,
in return for which De la Mark at once executed
the nineteen Spaniards. On the eighteenth of December, Don Frederick's
batteries opened fire upon the northern side, and the fire
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was kept up without intermission for three days. As soon
as the first shot was fired, a crier going round
the town summoned all to assist in repairing the damages
as fast as they were made. The whole population responded
to the summons. Men, women and children brought baskets of
stones and earth, bags of sand, and beams of wood,
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and these they threw into the gaps as fast as
they were made. The churches were stripped of all their
stone statues, and these too were piled in the breeches.
The besiegers were greatly horrified at what they declared to
be profanation, a complaint that came well from men who
had been occupied in the wholesale murder of men, women
and children, and in the sacking of the churches of
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their own religion. Don Frederick anticipated a quick and easy success.
He deemed that this weakly fortified town might well be
captured in a week by an army of thirty thousand men,
and that after spending a few days slaughtering its inhabitants
and pillaging and burning the houses, the army would march
on against the next town. Until ere long the rebellion
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would be stamped out and Holland transformed into a desert.
At the end of three days cannonade, the breach, in
spite of the efforts of the besieged, was practicable, and
a strong storming party led by General Romero, advanced against it.
As the column was seen approaching, the church bells rang
out the alarm. The citizens caught up their arms, and
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men and women hurried to the threatened point. As they approached,
the Spaniards were received with a heavy fire of musketry,
but with their usual gallantry, the veterans of Spain pressed
forward and began to mount the breach. Now they were
exposed not only to the fire of the garrison, but
to the missiles thrown by the burghers and women. Heavy stones,
boiling oil and live coals were hurled down upon them.
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Small hoops smeared with pitch and set on fire, were
dexterously thrown over their heads, and after a vain struggle
in which many officers were killed and wounded, Romero, who
had himself lost an eye in the fight, called off
his troops and fell back from the breach, leaving from
three to four hundred dead behind him, while but a
half dozen of the townsmen lost their lives. Upon the
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retreat of the Spaniards, the delight in the city was immense.
They had met the pikemen of Spain and hurled them
back discomfited, and they felt that they could now trust
themselves to meet further assaults without flinching. To Ned's surprise,
his aunt, when the alarm bells rung, had sallied out
from her house, accompanied by the two girls. She carried
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with her half a dozen balls of flax, each the
size of her head. These had been soaked in oil
and turpentine, and to each a stout cord about two
feet long was attached. The girls had taken part in
the work of the preceding day, but when she reached
the breach, she told them to remain in shelter while
she herself joined the crowd on the walls flanking the breach,
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while Ned took part in the front row of its defenders.
For how Plomart was slow, but she was strong when
she chose to exert herself, and when the conflict was
at its thickest, she lighted the balls at the fires
over which cauldrons of oil were seething, and whirling them
round her head, sent them one by one into the
midst of the Spanish column. Three of them hit men
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fairly in the face. She said to one of her neighbors,
so I think I have done my share of to
day's work. She then calmly descended the wall, joined her daughters,
and returned home, paying no attention to the den of
the conflict at the breach, and contended that she had
done all that could be expected of her. On reaching home,
she bade the girls take to their knitting as usual,
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while she set herself to work to prepare the midday meal.
A few days later, the Prince of Orange sent from Sassenheim,
a place on the southern extremity of the lake, where
he had now taken up his headquarters, a force of
two thousand men with seven guns and a convoy of
wagons with ammunition and food, towards the town under General Battenberg.
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This officer had replaced Dela Mark, whose brutal and ferocious
conduct had long disgraced the Dutch cause, and whom the Prince,
finding that he was deaf alike to his orders and
to the dictates of humanity, had now deprived of his commission.
Battenberg's expedition was no more fortunate than that of Dela
Mark had been. On his approach to the city. By night,
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a thick mist set in and the column completely lost
its way. The citizens had received news of its coming,
and the church bells were rung and cannon fired to
guide it as to its direction. But the column was
so helplessly lost that it at last wandered in among
the Spaniards, who fell upon them, slew many and scattered
the rest a very few, only succeeding in entering the town.
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Battenberg brought off, under cover of the mist, a remnant
of his troops, but all the provisions and ammunition were lost.
The second in command, de Cooning, was among those captured.
The Spaniards cut off his head and threw it over
the wall into the city, with a paper fastened on
it bearing the words this is the head of Captain
de Cooning, who is on his way with reinforcements for
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the good city of Harlem. But the people of Harlem
were now strung up both by their own peril and
the knowledge of the atrocities committed by the Spaniards in
other cities, to a point of hatred and fury equal
to that of the foes, and they retorted by chopping
off the heads of eleven prisoners and throwing them into
the Spanish camp. There was a label on the barrel
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with these words, delivered these heads to Duke Alva in
payment of his tenpenny tax, with one additional head for interest.
The besieged were not content to remain shut up in
the walls, but frequently sallied out and engaged in skirmishes
with the enemy. Prisoner were therefore often captured by one
side or the other, and the gibbets on the walls
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and in the camp were constantly occupied. Ned as a volunteer,
was not attached to any special body of troops, repaired
at telling him to act for himself and join in
whatever was going on as he chose. Consequently, he took
part in many of the skirmishes outside the walls, and
was surprised to find how fearlessly the Burghers met the
tried soldiers of Spain, and especially at the valor with
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which the corps of women battled with the enemy. In
strength and stature, most of the women were fully a
match for the Walloon troops, and indeed for the majority
of the Spaniards, and they never feared to engage any
body of troops of equal numerical strength. Look here, Aunt,
ned said to Frauplomart, upon the day after the failure
of Battenberg's force to relieve the town. You must see
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for yourself now that the chances are that, sooner or
later the town will be captured. We may beat off
all the assaults of the Spaniards, but we shall ere
long have to fight with an even more formidable foe
within the town. You know that our stock of provisions
is small, and that in the end, unless help comes,
we must yield to famine. The Prince may possibly throw
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five thousand armed men into the town, but it is
absolutely impossible that he can throw in any great store
of provision unless he entirely defeats the Spaniards. And nowhere
in Holland can he raise an army sufficient for that.
I think, Aunt, that while there is time, we ought
to set to work to construct a hiding place where
you and the girls can remain while the sack and
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atrocities that will assuredly follow the surrender of the town
are taking place. I shall certainly not hide myself from
the Spaniards. Frau Plomart said stoutly, very well, Aunt, if
you choose to be killed on your own hearthstone, of
course I cannot prevent it. But I do say that
you ought to save the girls from these horrors. If
you can that, I am ready to do. She said,
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But how is it to be managed? Well, Aunt, there
is your wood cellar below. We can surely construct some
place of concealment there. Of course I will do the work,
though the girls might help by bringing up baskets of
earth and scattering them in the streets. Having received a
tacit permission from his aunt, Ned went down into the
wood cellar, which was some five feet wide by eight
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feet long. Like every place about a Dutch house, it
was whitewashed and was half full of wood. Ned climbed
over the wood to the further end. This is where
it must be, he said to the girls who had
followed him. Now the first thing to do is to
pile the wood so as to leave a passage by
which we can pass along. I will get a pick
and get out the bricks at this corner. We need
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only make a hole of foot wide, and it need
not be more than a foot high. Lusett, the elder said,
that will be sufficient for us to squeeze through it would, Lusett.
But we shall want more space for working. So to
begin with we will take away the bricks up to
the top. We can close it up as much as
we like Afterwards. There is plenty of time, for it
will be weeks before the city is starved out. If
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we work for an hour a day, we can get
it done in a week. Accordingly, the work began. The
bricks were removed, and with a pick and shovel ned
dug into the ground beyond, while the girls carried away
the earth and scattered it in the road. In a
fortnight a chamber five feet high, three feet wide and
six feet long had been excavated. Slats of wood, supported
(28:19):
by props along the sides, held up the roof. A
quantity of straw was thrown in for the girls to
lie on for our Plomart came down from time to
time to inspect the progress of the work, and expressed
herself well pleased with it. How are you going to
close the entrance, ned, she asked, I propose to brick
it up again three feet high. Aunt. Then when the
(28:41):
girls and you have gone in for I hope that
you will change your mind. At the last I will
brick up the rest of it, but using mud instead
of mortar, so that the bricks can be easily removed
when the time comes, or one or two can be
taken out to pass in food, and then replaced as before.
After you are in, I will whitewash the whole cellar,
and no one would then guess the wall had ever
(29:02):
been disturbed. I shall leave two bricks out in the
bottom row of all to give air. They will be
covered over by the wood. However hard up we get
for fuel, we can leave enough to cover the floor
at that end a few inches deep. If I can,
I will pierce a hole up under the board in
the room above this, so as to give a free
passage of air. If the Spaniards take away the wood,
(29:23):
as they may well do, they will notice that the
two bricks are gone. Missus Plomart objected. We can provide
for that aunt by leaving two bricks inside whitewashed like
the rest, to push into the holes. If you hear
anyone removing the wood, there is only the light that
comes in at the door, and it would never be
noticed that the two bricks were loose. That will do
(29:44):
very well, missus Plomart said, I thought at first that
your idea was foolish, but I see that it will
save the girls. If the place is taken, I suppose
there will be plenty of time to brick them up
after they have taken refuge in it. Plenty of time, Aunt,
we shall no days before. If the city surrenders to hunger,
I shall certainly fight much more comfortably now that I
(30:06):
know that whatever comes, Lucette and Annie are safe from
the horrors of the sack. End of Chapter thirteen.
Chapter thirteen of by Pike and Dike, A Tale of
the Rise of the Dutch Republic. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain by Pike and Dike by G. A. Henty,
Chapter thirteen, the Siege of Haarlem. There was much shouting
in the little fleet as the news spread that the
sea was freezing. Boats were lowered and rowed from the
(00:22):
ship to ship, for the ice was as yet no
thicker than window glass. Ned went from the good venture
to the craft, round which most of the boats were assembling,
to hear what was decided. He returned in a few minutes.
They are all of opinion that it is hopeless for
us to get out of this. We could tow the
vessels a short distance, but every hour the ice will thicken.
(00:43):
They concluded that anchors shall be got up, and that
the ships all lie together as close as they can pack.
What will be the use of that? Peters asked, if
we ought to be frozen up, it makes no difference
that I can see whether we are together or scattered
as at present. The idea is ned said. If we
are packed together we can defend ourselves better than if
(01:03):
scattered about. And what is more important still we can
cut through the ice and keep a channel of open
water round us, so we could, Peters agreed. Let us
to work. Then which ship are we to gather round
the one I have just left, Peters, she is lying
nearly at the center. For the next two hours there
was much bustle and hard work then, as the ice
(01:24):
was it yet greatly hindered the operation of moving the ships.
At last they were all packed closely together, much more closely, indeed,
than would be possible in these days, for the bow sprits,
instead of running out nearly parallel with the water line,
stood up at a sharp angle, and the vessels could
therefore be laid with the bow of one touching the
stern of that in advance. As there was now no
(01:47):
motive for concealment, lamps were shown and torches burned. There
were thirty craft in all, and they were arranged in
five lines, closely touching each other. When all was done,
the crews retired to rest. There was no occasion to
keep watch, for the ice had thickened so fast that
boats could not now force their way through it. While
it would not before morning be strong enough to bear
(02:09):
the weight of armed men walking across it. This is
a curious position, Ned said, as he went on deck
next morning. How long do you think we are likely
to be kept here? Peters? Maybe twenty four hours, maybe
three weeks. Lad these frosts, when they set in like this,
seldom lasts less than a fortnight or three weeks. What
do you think of our chances of being attacked? I
(02:31):
should say they are sure to attack us. The whole
Spanish army is lying over there in Amsterdam, and as
soon as the ice is strong enough to bear them,
you will see them coming out. How strong a force
can we muster? There are thirty craft, Peters replied, and
I shall think they average fully fifteen men each, perhaps twenty.
They carry strong crews at all times, and stronger than usual.
(02:52):
Now that would give from five to six hundred men.
I suppose all carry arms. Oh yes, I do not
suppose that there is a man here who has not
weapons of some kind, and most of them have arquebuses.
It will take a strong force to carry this wooden fort.
It was still freezing intensely, and the ice was strong
enough to bear men scattered here and there, although it
(03:13):
would not have sustained them gathered together Towards the afternoon,
the captain judged that it had thickened sufficiently to begin work,
and fifty or sixty men, provided with hatchets, got upon
the ice and proceeded to break it away round the vessels.
After a couple of hours, a fresh party took their places,
and by nightfall the ships were surrounded by a belt
of open water some fifteen yards wide. A meeting of
(03:37):
the captains had been held during the day, and the
most experienced had been chosen as leader, with five lieutenants
under him. Each lieutenant was to command the crews of
six ships. When it became dark, five boats were lowered.
These were to row round and round the ships all
night so as to keep the water from freezing again.
The crews were to be relieved once an hour, so
(03:59):
that each ship would furnish a set of rowers once
in six hours. Numerous anchors had been lowered while the
ships were first packed together so as to prevent the
mass from drifting when the tide flowed or ebbed, as
this would have brought them in contact with one side
or the other of the ice around them. The next morning,
the ice was found to be five inches thick, and
(04:20):
the captains were of opinion that the Spaniards might now
attempt an attack upon them. Their first attack will certainly fail,
Ned said, as they sat at breakfast, they will be
baffled by this water belt round us. However, they will
come next time with rafts ready to push across it,
and then we shall have fighting in earnest. The lieutenant
under whom the crew of the Good Venture were placed,
(04:42):
came down while they were at breakfast to inquire how
many arquebuses there were on board. We have ten, The
captain said, as I suppose you have no men who
skate on board, I should be glad if you will
hand them over to me. What does he say? The
first mate asked, in surprise upon this being translated to him,
what does he mean by asking if we have any
men who skate? And why should we give up our
(05:04):
guns if we can use them ourselves? Ned put the
question to the lieutenant. We are going to attack them
on the ice as they come out, he replied. Of course,
all our vessels have skates on board in winter. We
always carry them, as we may be frozen up at
any time, and we shall send out as many men
as can be armed with arquebuses. Those who remain on
(05:25):
board will fight the guns. That is a capital plan
ned said, and the Spanish, who are unaccustomed to ice,
will be completely puzzled. It is lucky there was not
a breath of wind when it froze, and the surfaces
as smooth as glass. Well, there will be nine arquebuses
for you, sir, For I have been out here two
winters and have learnt to skate, so I will accompany
(05:46):
the party. The other nine arquebuses with ammunition. We will
hand over to you a look out at One of
the mastheads now shouted that he could make out a
black mass on the ice near Amsterdam, and believed that
it was a large body of troops. Every preparation had
already been made on board the ships for the fight.
The Good Venture lay on the outside tier facing Amsterdam,
(06:07):
having been placed there because she carried more guns than
any of the other vessels, which were for the most
part small and few carried more than four guns. While
the armament of the Good Venture had after her fight
with the Don Pedro, been increased to ten guns, the
guns from the vessels in the inner tiers had all
been shifted on to those lying outside, and the wooden
(06:28):
fort literally bristled with cannon. A quarter of an hour
after the news that the Spaniards were on their way
had been given, three hundred men with arquebuses were ferried
across the channel and were disembarked on to the ice.
They were divided into five companies of sixty men each
under the lieutenants. The captain remained to superintend the defense
(06:49):
of the ships. The Dutch sailors were as much at
home on their skates as upon dry land, and in
high spirits started to meet the enemy. It was a
singular sight to see the five bodies of men gliding
away across the ice. There was no attempt at formation
or order. All understood their business, for in winter it
was one of their favorite sports to fire at a
(07:10):
mark while skating at a rapid pace. It was two
miles from the spot where the ships lay frozen up
to Amsterdam. The Spaniards, a thousand strong, had traversed about
a third of the distance when the skaters approached them,
keeping their feet with the utmost difficulty upon the slippery ice.
They were astonished at the rapid approach of the Dutchmen,
(07:30):
breaking up as they approached, their assailants came dashing along
at a rapid pace, discharged their arquebuses into the close
mass of the Spaniards, and then wheeled away at the
top of their speed, reloaded, and again swept down to fire.
Against these tactics, the Spaniards could do little. Unsteady as
they were on their feet, the recoil of their heavy
(07:50):
arquebusses frequently threw them over, and it was impossible to
take anything like an accurate aim at the flying figures
that passed them at the speed of a galloping horse. Nevertheless,
they doggedly kept on their way, leaving the ice behind
them dotted with killed and wounded. Not a gun was
discharged from on board the ships until the head of
the Spanish column reached the edge of the water and
(08:12):
discovered the impassable obstacle that lay between them and the vessels.
Then the order was given to fire, and the head
of the column was literally swept away by the discharge.
The commander of the Spaniards now gave the order for
a retreat. As they fell back, the guns of the
ships swept their ranks. The musketeers harassed them on each flank.
(08:33):
The ice, cracked and broken by the artillery fire, gave
way under their feet, and many fell through and were drowned,
and of the thousand men who left Amsterdam, less than
half regained the city. The Spaniards were astonished at this
novel mode of fighting, and the despatches of their officers
gave elaborate descriptions of the strange appendages that had enabled
(08:54):
the Hollanders to glide so rapidly over the ice. The
Spaniards were, however, always ready to learn from foe. Alva
immediately ordered eight thousand pairs of skates, and the soldiers
were kept hard at work practicing until they were able
to make their way with fair rapidity over the ice.
The evening after the fight, a strong wind suddenly sprang
(09:14):
up from the southwest, and the rain descended in torrents.
By morning, the ice was already broken up. The guns
were hastily shifted to the vessels to which they belonged.
The ships on the outside tiers cast off from the others,
and before noon the hull were on their way back
toward Zenkhausen, which they reached without pursuit by the Spanish vessels.
(09:35):
For at nine in the morning, the wind changed suddenly again,
the frost set in as severely as before, and the
Spaniards in the port of Amsterdam were unable to get out.
This event caused great rejoicing in Holland and was regarded
as a happy omen for the coming contest. After remaining
another day with his family, Ned mounted his horse and
(09:56):
rode to Harlem. The city lay at the narrowest point
of the new arrow strip of land, facing the German Ocean,
and upon the shore of the shallow lake of the
same name. Upon the opposite side of this lake, ten
miles distant, stood the town of Amsterdam. The Lake of
Harlem was separated from the long inlet of the zider
Zee called the Wye by a narrow strip of land,
(10:17):
along which ran the causeway connecting the two cities. Half
Way along this neck of land there was a cut
with sluice works by which the surrounding country could be inundated.
The port of Harlem on the Wye was at the
village of Sparrendam, where there was a fort for the
protection of the shipping. Harlem was one of the largest
cities of the Netherlands, but it was also one of
(10:39):
the weakest. The walls were old and had never been formidable.
The extent of the defenses made a large garrison necessary,
but the force available for the defense was small. Indeed,
upon his way towards Harlem, Ned learnt that on the
night before the tenth of December, Sparrendam had been captured
by the Spaniards. A secret passage across the flooded and
(11:01):
frozen meadows had been shown to them by a peasant,
and they had stormed the fort, killed three hundred men,
and taken possession of the works and village. Thus Harlem
was at once cut off from all aid coming from
the zider Ze. Much disquieted by the news, Ned rode
on rapidly and entered the town by the gate upon
(11:21):
the southern side. For as he approached he learned that
the Spaniards had already appeared in great force before the city.
He rode at once to his aunt's house, hoping to
find that she had already left the town with the girls.
Leaping from his horse, he entered the door hurriedly and
was dismayed to find his aunt seated before the fire, knitting.
My dear aunt, he exclaimed, do you know that the
(11:43):
Spaniards are in front of the town. Surely to remain
here with the two girls is madness. Everyone else is remaining.
Why should not i, Ned, his aunt asked calmly. Other
people have their houses and their businesses, Aunt, but you
have nothing to keep you here. You know what had
happened at Zutfin and Narden. How can you expose the
girls even if you are so obstinate yourself to such horrors.
(12:07):
The Burghers are determined to hold out until relief comes. Nephew, Ay,
if they can, Ned replied, But who knows whether they can.
This is madness. Aunt. I beseech you to come with
me to your father and let us talk over the
matter with him. And in the morning, if you will
not go, I will get two horses and mount the
girls on them and ride with them to Leiden. That is,
(12:29):
if by the morning it is not already too late,
it would be best to proceed at once. Dame Plomart
reluctantly yielded to the energy of her nephew and accompanied
him to the house of her father, But the weaver
was absent on the walls and did not return until
late in the evening. Upon Ned's putting the case to him,
he at once agreed that it would be best both
(12:51):
for her and the girls to leave. I have told
her so twenty times already, he said, But Elizabeth was
always as obstinate as a mule. Over and over again
she has said she would go, and having said that,
has done nothing. She can do no good by stopping here,
and there are only three more mouths to feed. By
all means, lad get them away the first thing in
(13:13):
the morning. If it be possible, I would say, start
to night, dark as it is, But the Spanish horse
may be all round the city, and you might ride
into their arms without seeing them. Ned at once sallied out,
and without much difficulty, succeeded in bargaining for three horses,
for few of the inhabitants had left, and horses would
not only be of no use during the siege, but
(13:35):
it would be impossible to feed them. Therefore, their owners
were glad to part with them for far less than
their real value. When he reached the house, he found
that his aunt had made up three bundles with clothes
and what jewelry she had, and that she was ready
to start with the girls in the morning. Before daybreak,
Ned went out to the walls on the south side,
(13:55):
but as the light broadened out, discovered that it was
too late. During the night, heavy reinforcements had arrived to
Don Frederick from Amsterdam, and a large force was already
facing the west side of the city. With a heavy heart,
he returned to his aunt's with the news that it
was too late for that all means of exit was closed.
Dame Plomart took the news philosophically. She was a woman
(14:19):
of phlegmatic disposition and objected to sudden movement and changes,
and to her it seemed far less terrible to await
quietly the fortunes of the siege than to undergo the
fatigues of a journey on horseback and the uncertainty of
an unknown future. Well, nephew, she said placidly, if we
cannot get away, we cannot, and it really saves a
(14:41):
world of trouble. But what are you going to do yourself?
For I suppose if we cannot get away, you cannot.
The way is open across the lake, ned replied, and
I shall travel along the ice to the upper end
and then over to Leiden and obtain permission from the
Prince to return here by the same way, or if
not to accompany the force he is raising there. For
(15:02):
this will doubtless march at once to the relief of
the town. Even now, Aunt, you might make your escape
across the ice. I have not skated since I was
fifteen years old, the good woman said, placidly, and at
my age. And wait, I am certainly not going to
try now, Ned, just imagine me upon skates. Ned could
not help smiling, vexed as he was. His aunt was
(15:24):
stout and portly, and he certainly could not imagine her
exerting herself sufficiently to undertake a journey on skates. But
the girls can skate, he urged. The girls are girls,
she said, decidedly, and I am not going to let
them run about the world by themselves. You say yourself
that reinforcements will soon start. You do not know our people, nephew.
(15:45):
They will beat off the Spaniards. Whatever they do, the
city will never be taken. My father says so, and
every one says so. Surely they must know better than
a lad like you. Ned shrugged his shoulders in despair
and went out to see what were the preparations for defense.
The garrison consisted only of some fifteen hundred German mercenaries
(16:06):
and the Burger force. Riperda, the commandant of the garrison,
was an able and energetic officer. The townspeople were animated
by a determination to resist to the end. A portion
of the magistracy had in the first place been anxious
to treat, and had entered into secret negotiations with Alva,
sending three of their number to treat with the Duke
(16:27):
at Amsterdam. One had remained there, the other two, on
their return were seized, tried and executed, and Sante Aldegonde,
one of the Prince's ministers, had been dispatched by him,
to make a complete change in the magistracy. The total
force available for the defense of the town was not
at the commencement of the siege more than three thousand men,
(16:48):
while over thirty thousand Spaniards were gathering round its walls,
a number equal to the entire population of the city.
The Germans under Count Overstein finally took up their encampments
in the extensive grove of trees that spread between the
southern walls and the shore of the lake. The Spaniards
under Don Frederick faced the north walls, while the Walloons
(17:09):
and other regiments closed it in on the east and west.
But these arrangements occupied some days, and the mists which
favored their movements, were not without advantage to the besieged.
Under cover of the fog, supplies of provisions and ammunition
were brought by men and women, and even children on
their heads or in sledges down the frozen lake, and
(17:30):
in spite of the efforts of the besiegers introduced into
the city, Ned was away only two days. The Prince
approved of his desire to take part in the siege,
and furnished him with letters to the magistrates promising reinforcements
and to Riperda recommending Ned as a young gentleman volunteer
of great courage and quickness, who had already performed valuable
(17:50):
service for the cause. His cousins were delighted to see
him back. Naturally, they did not share in their mother's
confidence as to the result of the siege, and felt
in Ned's presence a certain sense of security and comfort.
The garrison increased by arrivals from without, and by the
enrollment of every man capable of bearing arms, now numbered
a thousand pioneers, three thousand fighting men, and three hundred
(18:14):
fighting women. The last were not the least efficient portion
of the garrison. All were armed with sword, musket and dagger,
and were led by Canal Hasselar, a widow of distinguished family, who,
at the head of her female band, took part in
many of the fiercest fights of the siege, both upon
and without the walls. The siege commenced badly in the
(18:36):
middle of December. The force of some thirty five hundred
men assembled that Leiden set out under the command of
dela Mark, the former admiral of the Sea Beggars. The
troops were attacked on their march by the Spaniards, and
a thousand were killed, a number taken prisoners, and the
rest routed. Among the captains was a brave officer named
van Trier, for whom Delamark offered two thousand crowns and
(19:00):
nineteen Spanish prisoners. The offer was refused. Van Trier was
hanged by one leg until he was dead upon one
of the numerous gibbets erected in sight of the town,
in return for which De la Mark at once executed
the nineteen Spaniards. On the eighteenth of December, Don Frederick's
batteries opened fire upon the northern side, and the fire
(19:21):
was kept up without intermission for three days. As soon
as the first shot was fired, a crier going round
the town summoned all to assist in repairing the damages
as fast as they were made. The whole population responded
to the summons. Men, women and children brought baskets of
stones and earth, bags of sand, and beams of wood,
(19:42):
and these they threw into the gaps as fast as
they were made. The churches were stripped of all their
stone statues, and these too were piled in the breeches.
The besiegers were greatly horrified at what they declared to
be profanation, a complaint that came well from men who
had been occupied in the wholesale murder of men, women
and children, and in the sacking of the churches of
(20:02):
their own religion. Don Frederick anticipated a quick and easy success.
He deemed that this weakly fortified town might well be
captured in a week by an army of thirty thousand men,
and that after spending a few days slaughtering its inhabitants
and pillaging and burning the houses, the army would march
on against the next town. Until ere long the rebellion
(20:24):
would be stamped out and Holland transformed into a desert.
At the end of three days cannonade, the breach, in
spite of the efforts of the besieged, was practicable, and
a strong storming party led by General Romero, advanced against it.
As the column was seen approaching, the church bells rang
out the alarm. The citizens caught up their arms, and
(20:45):
men and women hurried to the threatened point. As they approached,
the Spaniards were received with a heavy fire of musketry,
but with their usual gallantry, the veterans of Spain pressed
forward and began to mount the breach. Now they were
exposed not only to the fire of the garrison, but
to the missiles thrown by the burghers and women. Heavy stones,
boiling oil and live coals were hurled down upon them.
(21:09):
Small hoops smeared with pitch and set on fire, were
dexterously thrown over their heads, and after a vain struggle
in which many officers were killed and wounded, Romero, who
had himself lost an eye in the fight, called off
his troops and fell back from the breach, leaving from
three to four hundred dead behind him, while but a
half dozen of the townsmen lost their lives. Upon the
(21:32):
retreat of the Spaniards, the delight in the city was immense.
They had met the pikemen of Spain and hurled them
back discomfited, and they felt that they could now trust
themselves to meet further assaults without flinching. To Ned's surprise,
his aunt, when the alarm bells rung, had sallied out
from her house, accompanied by the two girls. She carried
(21:52):
with her half a dozen balls of flax, each the
size of her head. These had been soaked in oil
and turpentine, and to each a stout cord about two
feet long was attached. The girls had taken part in
the work of the preceding day, but when she reached
the breach, she told them to remain in shelter while
she herself joined the crowd on the walls flanking the breach,
(22:13):
while Ned took part in the front row of its defenders.
For how Plomart was slow, but she was strong when
she chose to exert herself, and when the conflict was
at its thickest, she lighted the balls at the fires
over which cauldrons of oil were seething, and whirling them
round her head, sent them one by one into the
midst of the Spanish column. Three of them hit men
(22:34):
fairly in the face. She said to one of her neighbors,
so I think I have done my share of to
day's work. She then calmly descended the wall, joined her daughters,
and returned home, paying no attention to the den of
the conflict at the breach, and contended that she had
done all that could be expected of her. On reaching home,
she bade the girls take to their knitting as usual,
(22:55):
while she set herself to work to prepare the midday meal.
A few days later, the Prince of Orange sent from Sassenheim,
a place on the southern extremity of the lake, where
he had now taken up his headquarters, a force of
two thousand men with seven guns and a convoy of
wagons with ammunition and food, towards the town under General Battenberg.
(23:15):
This officer had replaced Dela Mark, whose brutal and ferocious
conduct had long disgraced the Dutch cause, and whom the Prince,
finding that he was deaf alike to his orders and
to the dictates of humanity, had now deprived of his commission.
Battenberg's expedition was no more fortunate than that of Dela
Mark had been. On his approach to the city. By night,
(23:37):
a thick mist set in and the column completely lost
its way. The citizens had received news of its coming,
and the church bells were rung and cannon fired to
guide it as to its direction. But the column was
so helplessly lost that it at last wandered in among
the Spaniards, who fell upon them, slew many and scattered
the rest a very few, only succeeding in entering the town.
(24:00):
Battenberg brought off, under cover of the mist, a remnant
of his troops, but all the provisions and ammunition were lost.
The second in command, de Cooning, was among those captured.
The Spaniards cut off his head and threw it over
the wall into the city, with a paper fastened on
it bearing the words this is the head of Captain
de Cooning, who is on his way with reinforcements for
(24:22):
the good city of Harlem. But the people of Harlem
were now strung up both by their own peril and
the knowledge of the atrocities committed by the Spaniards in
other cities, to a point of hatred and fury equal
to that of the foes, and they retorted by chopping
off the heads of eleven prisoners and throwing them into
the Spanish camp. There was a label on the barrel
(24:43):
with these words, delivered these heads to Duke Alva in
payment of his tenpenny tax, with one additional head for interest.
The besieged were not content to remain shut up in
the walls, but frequently sallied out and engaged in skirmishes
with the enemy. Prisoner were therefore often captured by one
side or the other, and the gibbets on the walls
(25:04):
and in the camp were constantly occupied. Ned as a volunteer,
was not attached to any special body of troops, repaired
at telling him to act for himself and join in
whatever was going on as he chose. Consequently, he took
part in many of the skirmishes outside the walls, and
was surprised to find how fearlessly the Burghers met the
tried soldiers of Spain, and especially at the valor with
(25:28):
which the corps of women battled with the enemy. In
strength and stature, most of the women were fully a
match for the Walloon troops, and indeed for the majority
of the Spaniards, and they never feared to engage any
body of troops of equal numerical strength. Look here, Aunt,
ned said to Frauplomart, upon the day after the failure
of Battenberg's force to relieve the town. You must see
(25:51):
for yourself now that the chances are that, sooner or
later the town will be captured. We may beat off
all the assaults of the Spaniards, but we shall ere
long have to fight with an even more formidable foe
within the town. You know that our stock of provisions
is small, and that in the end, unless help comes,
we must yield to famine. The Prince may possibly throw
(26:11):
five thousand armed men into the town, but it is
absolutely impossible that he can throw in any great store
of provision unless he entirely defeats the Spaniards. And nowhere
in Holland can he raise an army sufficient for that.
I think, Aunt, that while there is time, we ought
to set to work to construct a hiding place where
you and the girls can remain while the sack and
(26:32):
atrocities that will assuredly follow the surrender of the town
are taking place. I shall certainly not hide myself from
the Spaniards. Frau Plomart said stoutly, very well, Aunt, if
you choose to be killed on your own hearthstone, of
course I cannot prevent it. But I do say that
you ought to save the girls from these horrors. If
you can that, I am ready to do. She said,
(26:54):
But how is it to be managed? Well, Aunt, there
is your wood cellar below. We can surely construct some
place of concealment there. Of course I will do the work,
though the girls might help by bringing up baskets of
earth and scattering them in the streets. Having received a
tacit permission from his aunt, Ned went down into the
wood cellar, which was some five feet wide by eight
(27:15):
feet long. Like every place about a Dutch house, it
was whitewashed and was half full of wood. Ned climbed
over the wood to the further end. This is where
it must be, he said to the girls who had
followed him. Now the first thing to do is to
pile the wood so as to leave a passage by
which we can pass along. I will get a pick
and get out the bricks at this corner. We need
(27:36):
only make a hole of foot wide, and it need
not be more than a foot high. Lusett, the elder said,
that will be sufficient for us to squeeze through it would, Lusett.
But we shall want more space for working. So to
begin with we will take away the bricks up to
the top. We can close it up as much as
we like Afterwards. There is plenty of time, for it
will be weeks before the city is starved out. If
(27:58):
we work for an hour a day, we can get
it done in a week. Accordingly, the work began. The
bricks were removed, and with a pick and shovel ned
dug into the ground beyond, while the girls carried away
the earth and scattered it in the road. In a
fortnight a chamber five feet high, three feet wide and
six feet long had been excavated. Slats of wood, supported
(28:19):
by props along the sides, held up the roof. A
quantity of straw was thrown in for the girls to
lie on for our Plomart came down from time to
time to inspect the progress of the work, and expressed
herself well pleased with it. How are you going to
close the entrance, ned, she asked, I propose to brick
it up again three feet high. Aunt. Then when the
(28:41):
girls and you have gone in for I hope that
you will change your mind. At the last I will
brick up the rest of it, but using mud instead
of mortar, so that the bricks can be easily removed
when the time comes, or one or two can be
taken out to pass in food, and then replaced as before.
After you are in, I will whitewash the whole cellar,
and no one would then guess the wall had ever
(29:02):
been disturbed. I shall leave two bricks out in the
bottom row of all to give air. They will be
covered over by the wood. However hard up we get
for fuel, we can leave enough to cover the floor
at that end a few inches deep. If I can,
I will pierce a hole up under the board in
the room above this, so as to give a free
passage of air. If the Spaniards take away the wood,
(29:23):
as they may well do, they will notice that the
two bricks are gone. Missus Plomart objected. We can provide
for that aunt by leaving two bricks inside whitewashed like
the rest, to push into the holes. If you hear
anyone removing the wood, there is only the light that
comes in at the door, and it would never be
noticed that the two bricks were loose. That will do
(29:44):
very well, missus Plomart said, I thought at first that
your idea was foolish, but I see that it will
save the girls. If the place is taken, I suppose
there will be plenty of time to brick them up
after they have taken refuge in it. Plenty of time, Aunt,
we shall no days before. If the city surrenders to hunger,
I shall certainly fight much more comfortably now that I
(30:06):
know that whatever comes, Lucette and Annie are safe from
the horrors of the sack. End of Chapter thirteen.
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