Jacqueline of the Carrier Pigeons | Page 6

was ended the

crowds cheered themselves hoarse, and when the burgomaster inquired
what word they desired him to send the Prince, they shouted as with
one voice:
"Tell him that while there is a living man left in the city we will
contend for our liberty and our religion!"
"And now," continued Adrian Van der Werf, "hear the proclamation of
the King of Spain. He invites all his erring and repentant subjects in the
Netherlands, and especially Leyden, to return to his service and he will
extend to them full forgiveness for all their crimes. He declares that if
any will lay down their arms, surrender themselves, and become his
loyal subjects once more, that they shall receive his pardon and all shall
be forgotten. He has authorized General Valdez to say that if the city
will surrender at once, that the citizens shall be shown every mercy."
No sooner had the burgomaster ceased to speak, than old Jan Van
Buskirk raised his voice:
"It is a trap! Believe not in it!"
"Yes, yes! It is a trap!" stormed the multitude. "We will have none of it!
We will die to the last man, before we will surrender!"
"What right has that wretch of a Spanish King to offer us pardon!"
growled Gysbert to his sister and Jan. "He forgive us, indeed! And it is
he that has been doing all the wrong and committing all the crimes.
Many thanks to him, truly!"
"But what message is it your pleasure that I shall send in answer to
this?" asked the burgomaster.
"Tell him," roared Jan, who seemed to have constituted himself
spokesman for the people, "that the fowler plays sweet notes on his
pipe, while he spreads his net for the birds!"
"Aye, aye!" assented the crowd approvingly. "Tell him that!" "'Tis a
good answer," commented Van der Werf, "and I will send it as it stands.
Now who will take advantage of this pardon for himself? Let any who

may feel so inclined come forward at once, and they shall be sent out of
the gates to go their chosen ways in peace."
Another tense silence ensued. Each person stood his own ground
stanchly, and watched for any sign of wavering in his neighbor.
Presently from out the crowd there pushed a stout old man who finally
gained the open space before the burgomaster.
"I am a brewer of Utrecht," he announced. "I do not live in this city and
have no desire to maintain the siege. I wish to take advantage of the
King's pardon!"
"Be it as you wish, neighbor," answered Van der Werf. "Here are the
necessary papers. You shall pass out unmolested, at the opening of the
gate." The man received the papers, while the crowd looked on,
muttering in contemptuous undertones.
"And I," declared another who had shoved his way to the front, "will
also receive the pardon, if you please." Jacqueline grasped her brother's
arm convulsively.
"Dirk Willumhoog!" he whistled softly. "The city will be well rid of
him, to be sure, but what a coward!"
When the two men had been furnished with the proper credentials, the
burgomaster commanded them to proceed at once to the principal city
gate, where they would be dismissed to the Spanish army outside. But
as they made their way down the wide Breede Straat, the fury of the
crowd broke loose.
"Shame! Shame!" hissed the following throng. "Shame on the cowards
who desert their countrymen to join the despicable ranks of Spain!
Thrice shame on their accursed heads!" Straight to the walls of the city
the multitude pursued the fleeing men, now actually trembling for their
lives. The two children and old Jan, caught in the swirling throngs,
found themselves almost on the heels of the fugitives. Jan grunted and
spluttered his disapproval, but Gysbert seemed fairly boiling over in his
wrath, especially against Dirk Willumhoog.

The gate having been reached, it was opened but the smallest crack
available by the guarding soldiers. The brewer from Utrecht squeezed
his bulky form with difficulty through the narrow aperture, followed by
the howls of the crowd. But Gysbert could contain himself no longer.
Breaking away from his sister's grasp, he rushed up to the remaining
fugitive and shouted in his face:
"Shame on thee, Dirk Willumhoog, for a dog of a coward! Shame!
shame!" The man turned on him with so savage a countenance that
Jacqueline could not repress a frightened scream. The cry attracted the
man's attention to her also.
"You shall rue this, you two!" he vociferated. "You shall rue this day
forever, - and for more reasons than you now think! You shall rue it!"
And the closing gate shut his wicked features and his impotent rage
from their sight.
Ê
GYSBERT BECOMES A JUMPER

CHAPTER III