IN HIDING
After five minutes' walking Ned arrived at the market square and
passed steadily down towards the south corner. The market was long
since over, and the market folk had returned to their farms and
villages, but there were a large number of people walking about. It
was already growing dusk, and in another half hour would be dark.
Ned turned when he got near the corner, strolled a short distance
back and then turned again. He carefully abstained from seeming
to stare about. The councillor and his clerk kept within a short
distance of him, the former wrapped up in a cloak with a high collar
that almost concealed his face.
As to the others watching him, Ned could only guess at them. Four
men he noticed, who turned whenever he did; the others he guessed
were keeping somewhat further off, or were perhaps stationed at
the streets leading out of the square so as to cut him off should
he escape from those close to him. A few oil lamps were suspended
from posts at various points in the square, and at the ends of the
streets leading from it. These were lighted soon after he arrived
in the square. He decided that it would not do to make for the
street leading out of the south corner, as this was the one that he
would be suspected of aiming for; and, moreover, men would surely
be placed there to cut off Blue Cap on his entry. He, therefore,
determined to make for a somewhat narrow street, about halfway
between the south and west corners.
He had followed this on the day he entered Brussels, as one of the
persons to whom the letters were addressed lived in it. He knew
that there were many lanes running into it, and that at the lower
end several streets, branching off in various directions, met in
the small square in which it terminated. Half an hour passed. It
was now quite dark, and he felt that he had better delay no longer.
He walked half along his beat towards the south corner, then with
a sudden spring darted off. The two men walking on that side of him
were some ten paces distant, and he ran straight at them. Taken by
surprise, before they had time to throw back their cloaks and draw
their rapiers, he was upon them.
With a blow from his leaded stick, delivered with all his strength,
he struck one man to the ground, and then turning to the other
struck him on the wrist as he was in the act of drawing his sword.
The man uttered a loud cry of pain and rage, and Ned ran at the
top of his speed towards the street. He knew that he need fear
no pursuit from the two men he had encountered, that those on the
other side of him were some distance behind, and that as so many
people intervened his pursuers would probably soon lose sight of
him. Threading his way between the groups of people, who had arrested
their walk at the sound of loud and sudden shouting, he approached
the end of the street.
By the light of the lamp there he saw two men standing with drawn
swords. Breaking suddenly into a walk he made for the house next to
the street, and then turned so that he came upon the men sideways
instead of from the front, at which they were expecting him. There
was a sudden exclamation from the man nearest to him; but Ned was
within two yards of him before he perceived him, and before he was
on guard the loaded stick fell with the full sweep of Ned's arm
upon his ankle, and in an instant he was prostrate, and Ned darted
at full speed down the street with the other man in pursuit a few
paces behind him.
Before he had run far Ned found that he could gain but little upon
his pursuer, and that he must rid himself of him if he were to have
a chance of escaping. He slackened his speed a little, and allowed
the man to gain slightly upon him. Thinking that the fugitive was
within his grasp the warder exerted himself to his utmost. Suddenly
Ned sprang into a doorway; the man, unable to check himself, rushed
past. In a moment Ned was out again, and before the fellow could
arrest his steps and turn, gave him a violent shove behind, which
hurled him on his face with a tremendous crash, and Ned continued
his way. There was a great shouting, but it was full fifty yards
away, and he felt his hopes rise. His pursuers were now all behind
him, and he felt sure that in the darkness and the narrow streets
he should be able to evade them.
He took the first turning he came to, turned again and again, and
presently slackened his pace to a walk, convinced that for a time
his pursuers must be at fault. He was now among narrow streets
inhabited by the poorer classes. There were no lamps burning here,
and he began to wonder which way he had better take, and where he
should pass the night. It was absolutely necessary to obtain some
other disguise, for he was sure that the gates would be so carefully
watched in the morning there would be no chance whatever of his
getting safely out in his present attire. Presently, through a
casement on the ground floor, he heard the sound of low singing in
a woman's voice. He stopped at once and listened. It was the air
of a Lutheran hymn he had frequently heard in Holland. Without
hesitation he knocked at the door, and lifting the latch entered.
A woman and girl were sitting at work inside; they looked up in
surprise at seeing a stranger.
"Pardon me," he said, "but I am a Protestant, and am hunted by Alva's
bloodhounds. I have evaded them and I am safe for the present; but
I know not where to go, or where to obtain a disguise. As I passed
the window I heard the air of a Lutheran hymn, and knew that there
were within those who would, if they could, aid me."
The woman looked reprovingly at the girl.
"How imprudent of you, Gertrude!" she said. "Not that it is your
fault more than mine. I ought to have stopped you, but I did not
think your voice would be heard through that thick curtain. Who are
you, sir, and where do you come from?" she asked, turning to Ned.
"I come from Holland," he said, "and was the bearer of important
letters from the Prince of Orange."
The woman hesitated. "I would not doubt you," she said; "but in
these days one has to be suspicious of one's shadow. However, as
after what you have heard our lives are in your hands, I would fain
trust you; though it seems to me strange that an important mission
should be intrusted to one of your age and station."
"My age was all in my favour," Ned replied. "As to my station, it
is not quite what it seems; for I am a gentleman volunteer in the
household of the prince, and he accepted my services thinking that
I might succeed when a man would be suspected."
"I will give you shelter," the woman said quietly; "though I know
that I risk my life and my daughter's in doing so. But the Lord holds
us in His hands, and unless it be His will we shall not perish."
So saying, she got up and barred the door.
"Now, tell me more as to how you came to fall into this peril,"
she said.
Ned related his adventure, and the manner in which he had effected
his escape from the hands of his captors.
"You have, indeed, had an escape," the woman said. "There are few
upon whom Councillor Von Aert lays his hand who ever escape from
it. You have indeed shown both skill and courage in thus freeing
yourself."
"There is no great courage in running away when you know that if
you stay torture and death are before you," Ned replied.
"And now, what are your plans?" the woman asked.
"My only plan is to obtain a disguise in which to escape from the
city. My mission is unfortunately ended by the loss of my papers,
and I shall have but a sorry story to tell to the prince if I
succeed in making my way back to Holland, of the utter failure I
have made of the mission with which he was good enough to intrust
me."
He took from his belt the packet that Von Aert had given him, and
was about to throw it in the fire when his eye fell upon it. He
opened it hastily, and exclaimed with delight, "Why, here are the
letters! That scoundrel must have had them in his doublet, as well
as the packet made up for me to carry, and he has inadvertently given
me the wrong parcel. See, madam, these are the letters I told you
of, and these are the marks in the corners whose meaning Von Aert
was so anxious to discover. Now, if I can but obtain a good disguise
I will deliver these letters before I start on my way back."
The girl, who was about fourteen years of age, spoke a few words
in a low voice to her mother. The latter glanced at Ned.
"My daughter suggests that you should disguise yourself as a woman,"
she said. "And indeed in point of height you might pass well, seeing
that you are but little taller than myself. But I fear that you
are far too widely built across the shoulders to wear my clothes."
"Yes, indeed," Ned agreed, smiling; "but you are tall and slight.
I could pass well enough for one of these Flemish peasant girls,
for they are sometimes near as broad as they are long. Yes, indeed,
if I could get a dress such as these girls wear I could pass easily
enough. I am well provided with money, but unfortunately it is
hidden in the ground a mile outside the gates. I only carry with
me a small sum for daily use, and that of course was taken from me
by my jailers."
"Be not uneasy about money," the woman said. "Like yourself, we
are not exactly what we look. I am the Countess Von Harp."
Ned made a movement of surprise. The name was perfectly known to
him, being that of a noble in Friesland who had been executed at
Brussels a few months before by the orders of the Council of Blood.
"When my husband was murdered," the Countess Von Harp went on,
"I received a warning from a friend that I and my daughter, being
known to be members of the Reformed Church, would be seized. For
myself I cared little; but for my daughter's sake I resolved to
endeavour to escape. I knew that I should be nowhere safe in the
Netherlands, and that there was little chance of a woman and girl
being able to escape from the country, when upon every road we
should meet with disorderly soldiery, and every town we should pass
through swarmed with Alva's agents. I resolved, therefore, to stay
here. An old servant took this house for me, and here I have lived
ever since in the disguise you see. My servant still lives with
us, and goes abroad and makes our purchases. Our neighbours are all
artisans and attend to their own business. It is supposed among
them that I am one who has been ruined in the troubles, and now
support myself by embroidery; but in fact I am well supplied with
money. When I came here I brought all my jewels with me; besides,
I have several good friends who know my secret, and through whom,
from time to time, money has been transmitted to me from my steward
in Friesland. Our estates in Brabant have of course been confiscated,
and for a time those in Friesland were also seized. But when the
people rose four months ago they turned out the man who had seized
them, and as he was a member of the Council of Blood he was lucky
in escaping with his life. So that, you see, the cost of a peasant
woman's dress is a matter that need give you no concern."
There was now a knock at the door. It was repeated.
"It is my servant," the countess said. Ned at once unbarred and
opened the door. The old woman gave an exclamation of astonishment
at seeing a stranger.
"Come in, Magdalene," the countess said; "it is a friend. You are
later than I expected."
"It is not my fault, madam," the old servant said. "I have been
stopped four or five times, and questioned and made game of, by
German soldiers posted at the ends of the streets; the quarter is
full of them. I was going through the market place when a sudden
tumult arose, and they say a prisoner of great importance has made
his escape. Councillor Von Aert was there, shouting like a madman.
But he had better have held his tongue; for as soon as he was
recognized the crowd hustled and beat him, and went nigh killing
him, when some men with drawn swords rescued him from their hands,
and with great difficulty escorted him to the town hall. He is hated
in Brussels, and it was rash of him to venture out after dark."
"This is the escaped prisoner, Magdalene." The old woman looked
with surprise at Ned.
"You are pleased to joke with me, madam. This is but a boy."
"That is true, Magdalene; but he is, nevertheless, the prisoner
whose escaped angered the councillor so terribly, and for whom the
guard you speak of are now in search."
The old servant shook her head. "Ah, madam, are you not running risks
enough of detection here without adding to them that of concealing
a fugitive?"
"You are right," Ned said; "and it was selfish and wrong of me to
intrude myself here."
"God willed it so," the countess said. "My daughter's voice was
the instrument that directed your steps here. It is strange that
she should have sung that hymn just as you were passing, and that
I should have heard her without checking her. The hand of God
is in all these things; therefore, do not make yourself uneasy on
our account. Magdalene, we have settled that he shall assume the
disguise of a young peasant girl, and tomorrow you shall purchase
the necessary garments."
"Yes, he might pass as a girl," the old servant agreed. "But, I pray
you, let him not stay an instant in this garb. I do not think they
will search the houses, for the artisans of Brussels are tenacious
of their rights, and an attempt would bring them out like a swarm
of bees. Still it is better that he should not remain as he is for
an hour. Come with me, young sir; I will furnish you with clothes
at once. I am not so tall as I was, but there were few taller women
in Friesland than I was when I was the countess' nurse."
Ned could well imagine that; for Magdalene, although now some sixty
years old, was a tall, large framed woman. He followed her to a
chamber upstairs, and was furnished by her with all the necessary
articles of dress; and in these, as soon as, having placed an oil
lamp on the table, she retired, he proceeded to array himself, and
presently descended the stairs, feeling very strange and awkward
in this new attire. Gertrude Von Harp burst into a fit of merry
laughter, and even the countess smiled.
"That will do very well, indeed," she said, "when you have got on
the Flemish headdress, which conceals the hair."
"I have it here, madam," Magdalene said; "but it was useless to
leave it up there for him, for he would have no idea how to fold
it rightly. Now sit down on that stool, sir, and I will put it on
for you."
When this was done the metamorphosis was complete, and Ned could
have passed anywhere without exciting suspicion that he was other
than he seemed.
"That will do all very well for the present," Magdalene said; "but
the first thing tomorrow I will go out and get him a gown at the
clothes mart. His face is far too young for that dress. Moreover
the headgear is not suited to the attire; he needs, too, a long
plait of hair to hang down behind. That I can also buy for him,
and a necklace or two of bright coloured beads. However, he could
pass now as my niece should any one chance to come in. Now I will
go upstairs and fetch down his clothes and burn them. If a search
should be made they will assuredly excite suspicion if found in a
house occupied only by women."
"You had best not do that, Magdalene. Hide them in a bed or up
one of the chimneys. When he leaves this and gets into the country
he will want them again. In these times a young woman unprotected
could not walk the road by herself, and dressed as a woman it would
be strange for him to be purchasing male attire."
"That is true enough, madam; as you say, it will be better to hide
them until he can leave, which I hope will be very shortly."
"I wish we could leave too," the countess sighed. "I am weary of
this long confinement here, and it is bad for Gertrude never going
out except for a short walk with you after dark."
"It would not do to attempt it," the old woman said. "The Spanish
soldiers are plundering all round Ghent; the Germans are no better
at Antwerp. You know what stories are reported of their doings."
"No, we could not go in that direction," the countess agreed; "but
I have thought often, Magdalene, that we may possibly make our way
down to Ostend. Things are much quieter on that line."
"I should be glad to give you what escort I could, madam," Ned said.
"But, indeed, the times are bad for travelling and as you are safe
here as it seems for the present, I would not say a word to induce
you to leave and to encounter such dangers as you might meet by the
way. In a short time, I believe, the greater part of the Spaniards
and Germans will march against Holland, and Brabant will then be
free from the knaves for awhile, and the journey might be undertaken
with greater safety."
"You are right," the countess said. "It was but a passing thought,
and now we have waited here so long we may well wait a little longer.
Now, tell us more about yourself. You speak Dutch perfectly, and
yet it seems to me at times that there is some slight accent in
your tones."
"I am only half Dutch," Ned replied; "my father is English." He
then related the whole history of his parentage, and of the events
which led him to take service with the Prince of Orange. When he
had concluded the countess said:
"Your story accounts for matters which surprised me somewhat in
what you first told me. The men of our Low Countries are patient
and somewhat slow of action, as is shown by the way in which they
so long submitted to the cruel tyranny of the Spaniards. Now they
have once taken up their arms, they will, I doubt not, defend
themselves, and will fight to the death, however hopeless the
chances may seem against them; but they are not prompt and quick
to action. Therefore the manner of your escape from the hands of
those who were watching you appeared to me wonderful; but now I know
that you are English, and a sailor too, I can the better understand
it, for I have heard that your countrymen are quick in their
decisions and prompt in action.
"They say that many of them are coming over to fight in Holland;
being content to serve without pay, and venturing their lives in
our cause, solely because our religion is the same and they have
hatred of oppression, having long been free from exactions on the
part of their sovereigns. Many of our people have taken refuge there,
and I have more than once thought that if the Spaniards continued
to lord it in the Netherlands I would pass across the seas with
Gertrude. My jewels would sell for enough to enable us to live
quietly there."
"If you should go to England, madam," Ned said earnestly, "I pray
you in the first place to inquire for Mistress Martin at Rotherhithe,
which is close by the city. I can warrant you she will do all in
her power to assist you, and that her house will be at your disposal
until you can find a more suitable lodgment. She will know from
me, if I should escape from these dangers, from how great a peril
you have saved me, and if it should be that I do not return home,
she will welcome you equally when she learns from your lips that
you took me in here when I was pursued by the minions of the Council
of Blood, and that you furnished me with a disguise to enable me
to escape from them."
"Should I go to England," the countess replied, "I will assuredly
visit your mother, were it only to learn whether you escaped from
all the dangers of your journey; but, indeed, I would gladly do
so on my own account, for it is no slight comfort on arriving as
strangers in an unknown country to meet with one of one's own nation
to give us advice and assistance."
For another two hours they sat and talked of England, the countess
being glad, for once, to think of another subject than the sad
condition of her country. Then when the clock sounded nine they
retired, Magdalene insisting upon Ned occupying her chamber, while
she lay down upon a settle in the room in which they were sitting.
Ned slept long and heavily; he had had but little rest during the
two previous nights, and the sun was high when he awoke. As soon
as he began to move about there was a knock at his door, and the
old servant entered.
"I need not ask if you have slept well," she remarked "for the clocks
have sounded nine, and I have been back an hour from market. Here
are all your things, and I warrant me that when you are dressed in
them you will pass anywhere as a buxom peasant girl."
Indeed, when Ned came downstairs in the short petticoats, trimmed
bodice, and bright kerchief pinned across the bosom, and two rows
of large blue beads round his neck, his disguise was perfect, save
as to his head. This Magdalene again arranged for him. "Yes, you
will do very well now," she said, surveying him critically. "I have
bought a basket, too, full of eggs; and with that on your arm you
can go boldly out and fear no detection, and can walk straight
through the city gates."
"I hope I don't look as awkward as I feel?" Ned asked, smiling.
"No, you do not look awkward at all. You had best join a party as
you go out, and separate from them when once you are well beyond
the walls."
"He must return here this evening, Magdalene," the countess said.
"He has a mission to perform, and cannot leave until he does."
"I will set about it at once, countess, and shall get it finished
before the gates are closed. I will not on any account bring upon
you the risk of another night's stay here."
"I think there will be no risk in it," the countess said firmly;
"and for today at least there is sure to be a vigilant watch kept
at the gates. It were best, too, that you left before noon, for by
that time most of the people from the villages round are returning.
If you are not recognized in the streets there is no risk whatever
while you are in here; besides, we shall be anxious to know how
you have got through the day. And another reason why you had better
stay the night is that by starting in the morning you will have
the day before you to get well away, whereas if you go at night
you may well miss your road, especially if there is no moon, and
you do not know the country. Therefore I pray you urgently to come
back here for tonight. It is a pleasure to us to have a visitor
here, and does us good to have a fresh subject for our thoughts.
Gertrude has been doing nothing but talk about England ever since
she woke."
Although Ned saw that the old servant was very reluctant that he
should, as she considered, imperil her charges' safety by a longer
stay, he could not refuse the invitation so warmly given. Breakfast
was now placed on the table. As soon as the meal was over he prepared
to start, receiving many directions from Magdalene to be sure and
not take long strides, or to swing his arms too much, or to stare
about, but to carry himself discreetly, as was becoming a young
woman in a town full of rough foreign men.
"How do you mean to see the people to whom you have letters?" the
countess asked. "Some of them, you tell me, are nobles, and it will
not be easy for a peasant girl to come into their presence."
"I am told to send up the message that a person from the village of
Beerholt is desirous of speaking to them, countess," Ned replied.
"I believe there is no such village, but it is a sort of password;
and I have another with which to address them when they see me."
"I will start with you," the servant said, "and walk with you
until you are past the guards. There are many soldiers about in
the quarter this morning, and I hear they are questioning every
one whether they have seen aught of a country lad."
"I thank you," Ned replied, "but I would rather go alone. If I am
detected harm would only come to myself, but if you were with me
you would assuredly all be involved in my misfortune. I would far
rather go alone. I do not feel that there is any danger of my being
suspected; and if I am alone I can bandy jokes with the soldiers if
they speak to me. There is no fear that either Spanish or Germans
will notice that I speak Dutch rather than Flemish. What is the
price at which I ought to offer my eggs?"
Magdalene told him the price she generally paid to the market women.
"Of course you must ask a little more than that, and let people
beat you down to that figure."
"Now I am off, then," he said, taking up the basket.
"May God keep you in His hands!" the countess said solemnly. "It
is not only your own life that is at stake, but the interests of
our country."
"Turn round and let me take a last look at you," Magdalene said,
"and be sure that everything is right. Yes, you will pass; but
remember what I told you about your walk."
Ned walked briskly along until he came within sight of two soldiers
standing at a point where the street branched. He now walked more
slowly, stopping here and there and offering his eggs to women
standing at their doors or going in and out. As he thought it better
to effect a sale he asked rather lower prices than those Magdalene
had given him, and disposed of three or four dozen before he
reached the soldiers. They made no remark as he passed. He felt
more confident now, and began to enter into the spirit of his part;
and when one of a group of soldiers in front of a wine shop made
some laughing remark to him he answered him pertly, and turned the
laugh of the man's comrades against him.
On nearing the centre of the town he began his task of delivering
the letters, choosing first those who resided in comparatively quiet
streets, so as to get rid of as many of them as possible before he
entered the more crowded thoroughfares, where his risk of detection
would be greater. The only persons he was really afraid of meeting
were Von Aert and his clerk. The first might not detect him, but
he felt sure that if the eyes of the latter fell upon him he would
recognize him. With the various burghers he had little trouble.
If they were in their shops he walked boldly in, and said to them,
"I am the young woman from the village of Beerholt, whom you were
expecting to see;" and in each case the burgher said at once,
"It is my wife who has business with you," and led the way into
the interior of the house. Ned's next question: "How is the wind
blowing in Holland?" was answered by his being taken into a quiet
room. The letter was then produced, and in each case an answer more
or less satisfactory was given.
Ned found that there were a large number of men in Brussels ripe for
a revolt, but that there was no great chance of the rising taking
place until the Prince of Orange had gained some marked success,
such as would encourage hopes that the struggle might in the end
be successful. In three or four cases there were favourable answers
to the appeals for funds, one burgher saying that he and his friends
had subscribed between them a hundred thousand gulden, which they
would forward by the first opportunity to a banker at Leyden. One
said that he found that the prince's proclamations of absolute
toleration of all religions produced a bad effect upon many of his
friends, for that in Brabant they were as attached as ever to the
Catholic religion, and would be loath to see Lutheran and Calvinist
churches opened.
"I know that the prince is desirous of wounding no one's conscience,"
Ned said. "But how can it be expected the Protestants of Holland
and Zeeland will allow the Catholics to have churches, with priests
and processions, in their midst, if their fellow religionists are
not suffered to worship in their way in Brabant? The prince has
already proclaimed that every province may, as at present, make
its own rules. And doubtless in the provinces where the Catholic
religion is dominant it will still remain so. Only he claims that
no man shall be persecuted for his religion."
"It is a pity that we cannot all be of one mind," the man said
doubtfully. "Were there no religious questions between the provinces
they would be as one."
"That may be," Ned replied. "But in religion as in all other things,
men will differ just as they do about the meats they eat and the
wines they drink."
"Well, I shall do my best," the burgher said. "But I fear these
religious differences will forever stand in the way of any united
action on the part of the provinces."
"I fear that it will," Ned agreed, "so long as people think it more
important to enforce their neighbours' consciences than to obtain
freedom for themselves."
The two last letters that Ned had to deliver were to nobles, whose
mansions were situated in the Grand Square. It was not easy to
obtain access here. The lackeys would probably laugh in his face
did he ask them to take his message to their master. And indeed
the disguise he now wore, although excellent as protection from
danger, was the worst possible as regarded his chance of obtaining
an interview. By this time he had sold the greater part of his eggs,
and he sat down, as if fatigued, on a doorstep at a short distance
from one of the mansions, and waited in the hope that he might
presently see the noble with whom he had to do issue out.
In half an hour two mounted lackeys rode up to the door, one of
them leading a horse. A short time afterwards a gentleman came out
and mounted. He heard a bystander say to another, "There is the
Count of Sluys." Ned got up, took his basket, and as the count
came along crossed the road hurriedly just in front of his horse.
As he did so he stumbled and fell, and a number of his eggs rolled
out on the ground. There was a laugh among the bystanders, and the
count reigned in his horse.
"What possessed you to run like that under my horse's feet, my poor
girl?" he asked, as Ned rose and began to cry loudly. Ned looked
up in his face and rapidly said: "I am the person you expect from
Beerholt."
The count gave a low exclamation of surprise, and Ned went on, "How
does the wind blow in Holland?" The count deliberately felt in his
pouch and drew out a coin, which he handed to Ned.
"Be at my back door in an hour's time. Say to the servant who opens
it, 'I am the person expected.' He will lead you to me."
Then he rode forward, Ned pouring out voluble thanks for the coin
bestowed upon him.
"You are a clever wench," a soldier standing by said to Ned laughing.
"That was very artfully done, and I warrant me it is not the first
time you have tried it."
"I wasn't going to carry my eggs all the way back," Ned replied in
an undertone. "I suppose there are tricks in your trade as in mine."
The soldier laughed again, and Ned passing quickly on mingled in
the crowd, and soon moved away a considerable distance from the
house. An hour later he went up a side street, in which was the
door used by the servants and tradespeople of the count. A lackey
was standing there. "I am the person expected," Ned said quietly
to him. He at once led the way into the house up some back stairs
and passages, along a large corridor, then opening a door, he
motioned to Ned to enter.