Leatherface: A Tale of Old Flanders

  Terror and misery had rapidly spread throughout the city. There weremany who had not heard the proclamation of the Lieutenant-Governor, andwhen the rumour reached them that numbers of soldiers were billeted inthe town they made preparations for immediate flight. Some even went sofar as to load all their furniture and effects upon wagons, ready to goout of the city this very night--for they remembered how five years agowhen first the Duke of Alva's troops were quartered in Ghent, howabominably they had behaved toward all the citizens--robbing, looting,and pillaging, for all the world as if they were bands of brigands,rather than disciplined soldiers.

  Great was the terror and consternation of those who wanted to flee nowwhen they understood that all the city gates were closed and that no onewould be allowed to go through them until the Prince of Orange, who wassaid to be in Ghent, was delivered over to the Lieutenant-Governor.

  This was indeed a terrible state of things and one destined to strikehopeless terror in the hearts of most, seeing that hardly any one insidethe city knew aught of the Prince of Orange or of his comings andgoings, and yet they were liable to be punished for treason in whichthey had had no share.

  And in the meanwhile the soldiers ran riot throughout the city--eventhough, with much ostentation, a great deal of to-do and much beating ofdrums, their provosts read out at the four corners of the city aproclamation forbidding all looting and marauding, and enjoining the menunder pain of hanging to take anything from the citizens without payingfor it.

  This proclamation was of course a mere farce, for the soldiers, despitethe lateness of the hour, had at once raided the butchers', bakers', andother provision shops, and though they professed to pay for everythingthey took, they refused to give more than one sou for a pound of meat,and then they cut out all the bone, and threw it back in the face of thewretched butcher who tried to argue with them.

  And all the while remember that these men were not Spaniards; they wereWalloons of the provinces immediately adjacent to the two Flanders, andtheir kith and kin had also grievously suffered from Spanish arroganceand oppression. But what will men not do for money or undercompulsion--or mayhap under that abject fear which the very name of Alvahad brought forth into the heart of people who had once been so proudand so independent? The Seigneur de Vaernewyck puts it on record thatin his opinion the employing of Walloon troops to check the so-calledrevolt of Ghent was an act of refined cruelty on the part of the Duke.He liked to pit brother against brother, kinsman against his own kind.He had cowed the Flemings and the Walloons to such an extent that now atlast he could use one against the other, and could rely on each sidebeing more cruel and relentless through that extraordinary perversion ofhuman nature which makes civil strife so much more brutal and horriblethan any war between the nations.

  CHAPTER XIII

  MY FAITHFUL WATCH-DOG

  I

  Some two hours later--in a long, low, vaulted room which was therefectory of the convent of the Sisters of St. Agneten--some twothousand men were assembled. They sat on wooden benches all round thetwo huge, horseshoe-shaped tables at which the Sisters were wont to taketheir meals. The room was situate on the ground floor of the conventbuilding, and a row of low, groined windows ran the whole length of oneof the walls; heavy curtains hung before all the windows, and portiereswere drawn over the doors at either end, both in order to deaden allsound and to prevent all light from showing without. Tallow candlesburned in tall pewter candelabra at intervals upon the tables.

  The bulk of the men who were there were young--or at any rate still inthe prime of life, strong and well-knit in figure--the sort of men whomany leader would be glad to enrol as soldiers under his banner; butthere were others among them who were grave and elderly--like MessireDeynoot, the Procurator-General, and the Baron van Grobbendock, chieffinancial adviser on the Town Council. Messire Pierre van Overbeque,Vice-Bailiff of Ghent, was also there, as well as Messires Lievin vanDeynse, the wealthy brewer at the sign of the "Star of the North" in theNieuwpoort, Laurence van Rycke, son of the High-Bailiff, and Fredericvan Beveren, wardmaster of the Guild of Armourers; and there were a goodmany others--gentlemen of substance and consideration in the town.

  At this moment every one of those two thousand men were keeping theireyes fixed upon one who alone was standing under the dais at the end ofthe refectory where the abbess of the convent usually had her place.This portion of the room was raised two steps above the rest, andstanding there, the man who thus held the attention of all the otherslooked abnormally tall, for he was dressed in doublet and hose of somedark stuff which clung to him like a skin. His high boots reached wellover his thighs, his head was closely shrouded in a hood, and his facewas hidden by a mask, made of untanned leather--which left the mouthonly quite free.

  "His Highness the Prince of Orange, whom may God protect," he was sayingin a loud, clear voice which rang out from end to end of the room, "wasfortunately able to furnish me with all your names and places of abode.With the help of Messire van Deynse, who lent us his horses, and MessireLaurence van Rycke and Frederic van Beveren, who gave me theirassistance, we were able to communicate with you all during the nightand warn you of the imminent danger which hung over your heads."

  "It was well done, friend Leatherface," said Messire Deynoot, "so well,indeed, that we are all ready and willing to place ourselves under yourguidance and to accept you as our leader, for of a truth we know notwhat we must do."

  "Would to God," said the man whom they called Leatherface, "that I coulddo more for you than the little which I have done. To each of you lastnight I gave the same warning: 'Danger is nigh! terrible! imminent! forour plans are discovered and the presence of the Prince of Orange inGhent known to the Duke of Alva! Let all those who wish to do so leavethe city at once with their wives and children, for death and torturethreatens those who remain!'"

  "As you see, my dear friend," said Lievin van Deynse, the wealthybrewer, quietly, "not one of us hath followed this portion of youradvice."

  "You are all brave men and noble sons of Flanders," quoth Leatherfaceearnestly. "His Highness is proud of you, he believes in you, he trustsyou. A cause which has such men as you for its champions and defendersis assured of victory."

  A murmur of satisfaction went round the room, and Leatherface resumedafter a little while:

  "In the meanwhile, with the help of God, the precious person of thePrince of Orange is safe."

  A hearty cheer--quickly suppressed--greeted this announcement from everyside. "Unfortunately," continued Leatherface, "I could not persuade HisHighness to leave the city early this morning. He would not believe inthe danger which was threatening him.... He would not believe that hisplans and his presence here had been betrayed."

  "Yes! betrayed!" now said one of the younger men vehemently, "and bywhom? Dost know by whom, friend Leatherface?"

  And all around the tables, grimly set lips murmured:

  "By whom? My God! by whom were we betrayed?"

  And Laurence van Rycke's glowing eyes were fixed upon the man under thecanopy as if he would have torn the mask from off his face and read inthose mysterious eyes the confirmation of his own horrible fears.

  And Leatherface, looking straight into Laurence's pale and haggard face,said slowly:

  "By one who hath already paid the full price for all the misery whichthat betrayal will bring in its wake."

  "Dead?" came in awed yet eager query from most of them there.

  Leatherface bent his head, but gave no direct reply, and all of themthere were satisfied, for they believed that the faithful and warywatch-dog--justiciary as well as guardian angel--had discovered thebetrayer, and had killed him, making him pay the "full price" for allthe misery which he had brought about. Only Laurence hung his head anddared not ask any more.

  II

  "And now tell us about the Prince," urged Messire van Overbeque, theVice-Bailiff.
"Where is he now?"

  "Well on his way to Bruegge, please God," replied the man with theleather mask. "All day I had entreated him to go, but he refused tolisten. 'You dream of treachery,' he said to me, 'and see it where noneexists!' I spent the day scouting as far as Melle and Wetteren, for Ifelt that nothing would convince him but actual facts. At four o'clockin the afternoon the advance courier arrived from Alost. Luckily, hishorse was less swift than mine. I managed to gain on him and brought inthe news of the Duke of Alva's arrival to His Highness half an hourbefore the commandant of the garrison knew of it."

  "Even then it might have been too late," quoth one of the listeners.

  "It very nearly was," retorted Leatherface light-heartedly. "Had theLieutenant-Governor sent advance orders that his arrival be kept asecret until his troops passed through the city gates, the Prince ofOrange would still be in Ghent at this hour."

  "Holy Virgin!" exclaimed Laurence van Rycke, "and what did you do?"

  "His Highness donned doublet and hose of common buffle and pulled atattered felt hat well over his eyes, as did also the Count ofHoogstraaten and young Count Mansfeld. I made myself look as like adraper's assistant as I could, and then the four of us joined the crowd.The rumour of the Duke's coming had spread all over the city; there wereplenty of gaffers about. All round by the Waalpoort they abounded, andas the twilight slowly faded into dusk the approaches to the gate weredensely packed. No one was allowed to loiter round the guard-house orupon the bridge, but there were many who, with overwhelming loyalty,desired to greet the Duke of Alva even before he reached the confines ofthe city. That was our opportunity. The commandant at the Waalpoorthappened to be in rare good humour; he thought the idea of meeting theLieutenant-Governor and his troops some way outside the city anexcellent one. He allowed those who wished, to go across the bridge.The Prince of Orange, his two friends and I were merged in that crowd,and no one took notice of us. Directly we reached Meirelbeke we struckacross the fields. In ten minutes we left the crowd a long way behindus, and had skirted the town as far as Wondelghem. We were in no dangerthen, but His Highness was greatly fatigued. There was a difficulty tooabout getting horses; young Count Mansfeld was footsore and the Count ofHoogstraaten perished with thirst. In short, it was six o'clock beforewe had the horses ready, and I had the satisfaction of seeing the Princesafely started on his way. When I returned it was close on eight, andthe city gates had all been locked."

  He gave a light, good-humoured laugh, and one of the men asked: "Thenhow did you get in?"

  "I swam and I scaled the walls," he replied simply.

  "But ... how?" asked another.

  "Oh! I swim like a fish and climb like an ape...."

  "But were you not seen?"

  "Oh, yes! and shot at ... but the Spaniards are bad shots and ... I amhere."

  Again he laughed gaily, light-heartedly like a 'prentice after anescapade, and the two men who sat nearest him--the Procurator-Generaland the Baron van Groobendock--surreptitiously took hold of his hand andpressed it warmly.

  III

  "So much for the past, seigniors," resumed Leatherface, after awhile:"my duty is done. I leave the planning of the future to wiser headsthan mine."

  "No! no!" quoth the Vice-Bailiff emphatically. "Have we not said thatwe want you to lead us?"

  "I?" retorted the other gaily. "What do I know of leadership? I amonly His Highness' watch-dog. Let me follow a leader and bear my sharein the present trouble. I am not fit to command...."

  A murmur went round the room, and the Procurator-General rejoinedearnestly: "The men will obey no one but you. Take off your mask,friend, and let us all look upon the face of a man."

  "You have all despised me too much in the past to heed my counsels now."

  "There you spoke a lie, man," said Messire van Deynse, the brewer. "Wehave all honoured the man whom we called Leatherface, as the bravestamongst us all. We do not know who you are--we only know you as agallant gentleman to whom next to William of Orange himself we owe everytriumph which our cause hath gained over our execrated tyrants.Therefore I pray you to unmask and let us know at least to whom--next toGod Himself--we owe the life of the noble Prince of Orange, and also towhom we must look in future for guidance and leadership."

  Once more the murmur went round the room: words of warm approval camefrom every side, whilst among the younger men the cry was raised andrepeated insistently: "Unmask!"

  "Unmask!" cried Laurence van Rycke. "Be you criminal or ne'er-do-wellin the eyes of others, you are a hero in our sight."

  "Unmask! unmask!" they reiterated unanimously.

  The man with the leather mask then advanced to the very edge of theplatform, and, putting up his hand, he asked for silence.

  "Seigniors," he began, "I am your servant and will do as you wish. Ihave told you that I am no leader and am not fit to command ... yet youchoose to honour me, and this is no time for false humility and thediffidence which is the attribute of cowards. But--despite yourgracious choice of me as your leader in this terrible emergency--willyou ere you finally decide to follow me hear from me what plan I shouldpursue, and to what heights of self-sacrifice I would ask you to rise inthe face of the awful calamity which threatens our city. Seigniors," hecontinued, and indeed now save for the ring of that deep-toned voice, sogreat was the silence in the vast refectory that every heart-beat mighthave been heard, "you have heard the decree of our tyrant. Unless wedeliver to him the precious person of our noble Prince, the whole citywill be delivered over to the brutal soldiery, who will pillage ourhouses, desecrate our churches, murder and outrage our wives, ourmothers and our children--just as they did in Mons, in Valenciennes andin Mechlin. Seigniors, we are men--all of us here--and at thought ofwhat awaits us and our fellow-citizens our very heart blood seems tofreeze with horror. It is of our women that we must think and of ourchildren! Thank God that the Prince knows nothing of this decree--whichhath been framed by the most inhuman monster the world hath everknown--or of a certainty he would have gone straight to the Kasteel andgiven up his precious life to save our fellow-citizens. Seigniors, whatthe Prince would have done, we know; and as he would have acted, so mustwe be prepared to act. But before I parted from him, I had his adviceon the plan which I now beg leave to place before you. On my word ofhonour, seigniors, he approved of it in its entirety, and much that Iwill submit to you anon hath been framed under his guidance."

  He paused awhile and through the holes in the mask his glowing eyessearched the faces of his listeners with a masterful glance that wasboth challenging and appealing.

  "Every one of us here," he said abruptly, "is, I know, ready tosacrifice his life for faith, for freedom and country, and ere we givein to the monstrous tyranny which hath planned the destruction of ourcity we must fight, seigniors, fight to the death, fight for every inchof our ground, fight for every homestead which we would save fromoutrage. Death awaits us all anyhow, then at any rate with God's helplet us die fighting to the end."

  Once more he paused in order to draw breath, even whilst from every sidethere came emphatic words of enthusiasm and of approval. He held hishearers now in the hollow of his hand; they were unemotional, stolid menfor the most part, these Flemish burghers and patricians--men whothroughout the terrible oppression under which they had groaned for overfifty years had grimly set their teeth and endured where others hadfought--because reason and common sense had shown the futility, theirreparableness of the conflict--but they were men, too, who, onceroused to action, would never give in until they had won their fight orhad been destroyed to the last man of them; and with that inspiringprophet standing there before them, stirring their sluggish blood withhis ringing voice, some of that same determination began to creep intotheir bones which had animated valiant Orange and his brothers and hisDutch followers to carry on the struggle for freedom at all costs andwith the last drop of their blood.

  "We'll fight with you and under your standard, friend,"
said theProcurator-General who was the spokesman of the others. "We are wellarmed...."

  "Aye! ye are well armed," rejoined Leatherface triumphantly. "The guildof armourers are with us to a man; and we have been able to supplementour secret stores with all the treasure in the magnificent armoury whichMessire van Beveren has placed at our disposal in the name of his guild.Aye! we are well armed and well manned! There are two thousand of us,seigniors, and our numbers will be doubled before noon to-morrow. TheDuke hath brought ten thousand soldiers with him! well! it will be athree-to-one fight; but if we were still more completely outnumbered wewould still carry on the struggle, seeing that the lives of our childrenand the honour of our women are at stake."

  "We can fight," murmured one of the older men, "but we cannot conquer."

  "No! we cannot conquer," said Leatherface earnestly. "We must perish,because might is greater than right, unless God chooseth to perform amiracle--and I, for one, still believe that He will. But we must notweaken our determination by reckoning childishly on divine interference.If we fight, we fight because we refuse to die like cowards, because werefuse to go before our Maker shamed at having allowed our homes to bedevastated, our women outraged, our children massacred without strikinga blow--however futile--in their defence. We fight then, seigniors?" headded exultantly. "Is that your decision?"

  There was not one dissentient voice. Old and young, grave and gay,prudent and hot-headed, every man there was ready to follow the leaderof their choice.