CHAPTER III.
IN THE LOW COUNTRY.
Master Lirriper had stood apart while the boys were conversing withFrancis Vere.
"What do you think, Master Lirriper?" Geoffrey exclaimed as they joinedhim. "We have asked Mr. Vere to take us with him as pages to the war inthe Low Country, and though he said we were not to be hopeful about hisreply, I do think he will take us. We are to go round to Westminster atone o'clock to see him again. What do you think of that?"
"I don't know what to think, Master Geoffrey. It takes me all bysurprise, and I don't know how I stand in the matter. You see, yourfather gave you into my charge, and what could I say to him if I wentback empty-handed?"
"But, you see, it is with Francis Vere," Geoffrey said. "If it had beenwith anyone else it would be different. But the Veres are his patrons,and he looks upon the earl, and Mr. Francis and his brothers, almost ashe does on us; and, you know, he has already consented to our enteringthe army some day. Besides, he can't blame you; because, of course, Mr.Vere will write to him himself and say that he has taken us, and so youcan't be blamed in the matter. My father would know well enough thatyou could not withstand the wishes of one of the Veres, who are lordsof Hedingham and all the country round."
"I should withstand them if I thought they were wrong," the boatmansaid sturdily, "and if I were sure that your father would object toyour going; but that is what I am not sure. He may think it the bestthing for you to begin early under the protection of Master Francis,and again he may think you a great deal too young for such wild work.He has certainly always let you have pretty much your own way, and hasallowed you to come and go as you like, but this is a differentbusiness altogether. I am sorely bested as to what I ought to do."
"Well, nothing is settled yet, Master Lirriper; and, besides, I don'tsee that you can help yourself in the matter, and if Mr. Vere says hewill take us I suppose you can't carry us off by force."
"It is Mistress Vickars that I am thinking of more than your father.The vicar is an easy-going gentleman, but Mistress Vickars speaks hermind, and I expect she will be in a terrible taking over it, and willrate me soundly; though, as you say, I do not see how I can help myselfin the matter. Well now, let us look at the shops and at the Guildhall,and then we will make our way down to Westminster as we had proposed todo and see the abbey; by that time it will be near the hour at whichyou are to call upon Mr. Vere."
But the sights that the boys had been so longing to see had for thetime lost their interest in their eyes. The idea that it was possiblethat Mr. Vere would take them with him to fight against the crueloppressors of the Low Country was so absorbing that they could think ofnothing else. Even the wonders of the Guildhall and St. Paul's receivedbut scant attention, and the armourers' shops, in which they had a newand lively interest, alone sufficed to detain them. Even the gibes ofthe apprentices fell dead upon their ears. These varlets might laugh,but what would they say if they knew that they were going to fight theSpaniards. The thought so altered them that they felt almost a feelingof pity for these lads, condemned to stay at home and mind theirmasters' shops.
As to John Lirriper, he was sorely troubled in his mind, and dividedbetween what he considered his duty to the vicar and his life-longrespect and reverence towards the lords of Hedingham. The feudal systemwas extinct, but feudal ideas still lingered among the people. Theirlords could no longer summon them to take the field, had no longerpower almost of life and death over them, but they were still theirlords, and regarded with the highest respect and reverence. The earlsof Oxford were, in the eyes of the people of those parts of Essex wheretheir estates lay, personages of greater importance than the queenherself, of whose power and attributes they had but a very dim notion.It was not so very long since people had risen in rebellion against thequeen, but such an idea as that of rising against their lords had neverentered the mind of a single inhabitant of Hedingham.
However, Master Lirriper came to the conclusion that he was, asGeoffrey had said, powerless to interfere. If Mr. Francis Vere decidedto take the boys with him, what could he do to prevent it? He couldhardly take them forcibly down to the boat against their will, and evencould he do so their father might not approve, and doubtless the earl,when he came to hear of it, would be seriously angry at this act ofdefiance of his kinsman. Still, he was sure that he should have a veryunpleasant time with Mistress Vickars. But, as he reassured himself, itwas, after all, better to put up with a woman's scolding than to bearthe displeasure of the Earl of Oxford, who could turn him out of hishouse, ruin his business, and drive him from Hedingham. After all, itwas natural that these lads should like to embark on this adventurewith Mr. Francis Vere, and it would doubtless be to their interest tobe thus closely connected with him. At any rate, if it was to be itwas, and he, John Lirriper, could do nothing to prevent it. Havingarrived at this conclusion he decided to make the best of it, and beganto chat cheerfully with the boys.
Precisely at the appointed hour John Lirriper arrived with the two ladsat the entrance to the house facing the abbey. Two or three servitors,whose doublets were embroidered with the cognizance of the Veres, werestanding in front of the door.
"Why, it is Master Lirriper!" one of them said. "Why, what has broughtyou here? I did not know that your trips often extended to London."
"Nor do they," John Lirriper said. "It was the wind and my nephew'scraft the _Susan_ that brought me to London, and it is the will of Mr.Francis that these two young gentlemen should meet him here at oneo'clock that has brought me to this door."
"Captain Francis is in; for, you know, he is a captain now, having beenlately appointed to a company in the Earl of Leicester's army. Hereturned an hour since, and has but now finished his meal. Do you wishto go up with these young masters, or shall I conduct them to him?"
"You had best do that," John Lirriper answered. "I will remain herebelow if Captain Francis desires to see me or has any missive tointrust to me."
The boys followed the servant upstairs, and were shown into a roomwhere Francis Vere, his cousin the Earl of Oxford, and Captain Allenwere seated at table.
"Well, lads," the earl said, "so you want to follow my cousin Francisto the wars?"
"That is our wish, my lord, if Captain Francis will be so good as totake us with him."
"And what will my good tutor your father say to it?" the earl askedsmiling.
"I think, my lord," Geoffrey said boldly, "that if you yourself willtell my father you think it is for our good, he will say naught againstit."
"Oh, you want to throw the responsibility upon me, and to embroil mewith your father and Mistress Vickars as an abettor of my cousinFrancis in the kidnapping of children? Well, Francis, you had betterexplain to them what their duties will be if they go with you."
"You will be my pages," Francis Vere said, "and will perform the usualduties of pages in good families when in the field. It is the duty ofpages to aid in collecting firewood and forage, and in all other waysto make themselves useful. You will bear the same sort of relation tothe gentlemen volunteers as they do towards the officers. They areaspirants for commissions as officers as you will be to becomegentlemen volunteers. You must not think that your duties will belight, for they will not, and you will have to bear many discomfortsand hardships. But you will be in an altogether different position fromthat of the boys who are the pages of the company. You will, apart fromyour duties, and bearing in mind the difference of your age, associatewith the officers and the gentlemen volunteers on terms of equalitywhen not engaged upon duty. On duty you will have to render the samestrict and unquestionable obedience that all soldiers pay to those ofsuperior rank. What say you? Are you still anxious to go? Because, ifso, I have decided to take you."
Geoffrey and Lionel both expressed their thanks in proper terms, andtheir earnest desire to accompany Captain Vere, and to behave in allways conformably to his orders and instructions.
"Very well, that is settled," Francis Vere said. "The earl isjourneying down to Hedingham to-morro
w, and has kindly promised to takecharge of a letter from me to your father, and personally to assure himthat this early embarkation upon military life would prove greatly toyour advantage."
"Supposing that you are not killed by the Spaniards or carried off byfever," the earl put in; "for although possibly that might be anadvantage to humanity in general, it could scarcely be considered oneto you personally."
"We are ready to take our risk of that, my lord," Geoffrey said; "andare indeed greatly beholden both to Captain Francis for his goodness intaking us with him, and to yourself in kindly undertaking the missionof reconciling our father to our departure."
"You have not told me yet how it is that I find you in London?" FrancisVere said.
"We only came up for a week, sir, to see the town. We are in charge ofMaster Lirriper, who owns a barge on the river, and plies betweenHedingham and Bricklesey, but who was coming up to London in a craftbelonging to his nephew, and who took charge of us. We are staying atthe house of Master Swindon, a citizen and ship-chandler."
"Is Master Lirriper below?"
"He is, sir."
"Then in that case he had better go back to the house and bring yourmails here. I shall sail from Deptford the day after to-morrow with theturn of tide. You had best remain here now. There will be many thingsnecessary for you to get before you start. I will give instructions toone of my men-at-arms to go with you to purchase them."
"I will take their outfit upon myself, Francis," the earl said. "Mysteward shall go out with them and see to it. It is the least I can dowhen I am abetting you in depriving my old tutor of his sons." Hetouched a bell and a servitor entered. "See that these young gentlemenare fed and attended to. They will remain here for the night. TellMaster Dotterell to come hither to me."
The boys bowed deeply and retired.
"It is all settled, Master Lirriper," they said when they reached thehall below. "We are to sail with Captain Francis the day afterto-morrow, and you will be pleased to hear that the earl himself hastaken charge of the matter, and will see our father and communicate thenews to him."
"That is a comfort indeed," John Lirriper said fervently; "for I wouldmost as soon have had to tell him that the _Susan_ had gone down andthat you were both drowned, as that I had let you both slip away to thewars when he had given you into my charge. But if the earl takes thematter in hand I do not think that even your lady mother can bear veryheavily on me. And now, what is going to be done?"
"We are to remain here in order that suitable clothes may be obtainedfor us by the time we sail. Will you bring down to-morrow morning ourwallets from Master Swindon's, and thank him and his good dame fortheir hospitality, and say that we are sorry to leave them thussuddenly without having an opportunity of thanking them ourselves? Wewill write letters to-night to our father and mother, and give them toyou to take with you when you return."
John Lirriper at once took his departure, greatly relieved in mind tofind that the earl himself had taken the responsibility upon hisshoulders, and would break the news long before he himself reachedHedingham. A few minutes later a servitor conducted the boys to anapartment where a meal was laid for them; and as soon as this was overthey were joined by the steward, who requested them to set out with himat once, as there were many things to be done and but short time fordoing them. No difficulty in the way of time was, however, thrown inthe way by the various tradesmen they visited, these being allperfectly ready to put themselves to inconvenience to do pleasure to sovaluable a patron as the powerful Earl of Oxford.
Three suits of clothes were ordered for each of them: the one such asthat worn by pages in noble families upon ordinary occasions, anotherof a much richer kind for special ceremonies and gaieties, the third astrong, serviceable suit for use when actually in the field. Then theywere taken to an armourer's where each was provided with a light morionor headpiece, breast-plate and backpiece, sword and dagger. Asufficient supply of under garments, boots, and other necessaries werealso purchased; and when all was complete they returned highlydelighted to the house. It was still scarce five o'clock, and they wentacross to the abbey and wandered for some time through its aisles,greatly impressed with its dignity and beauty now that their ownaffairs were off their mind.
They returned to the house again, and after supper wrote their lettersto their father and mother, saying that they hoped they would not bedispleased at the step they had taken, and which they would not haveventured upon had they not already obtained their father's consent totheir entering the army. They knew, of course, that he had notcontemplated their doing so for some little time; but as so excellentan opportunity had offered, and above all, as they were going out tofight against the Spaniards for the oppressed people of the LowCountries, they hoped their parents would approve of the steps they hadtaken, not having had time or opportunity to consult them.
At noon two days later Francis Vere with Captain Allen and the two boystook their seats in the stern of a skiff manned by six rowers. In thebow were the servitors of the two officers, and the luggage was stowedin the extreme stern.
"The tide is getting slack, is it not?" Captain Vere asked the boatmen.
"Yes, sir; it will not run up much longer. It will be pretty wellslack-water by the time we get to the bridge."
Keeping close to the bank the boat proceeded at a rapid pace. Severaltimes the two young officers stood up and exchanged salutations withladies or gentlemen of their acquaintance. As the boatman hadanticipated, tide was slack by the time they arrived at London Bridge,and they now steered out into the middle of the river.
"Give way, lads," Captain Allen said. "We told the captain we would notkeep him waiting long after high-water, and he will be gettingimpatient if he does not see us before long."
As they shot past the _Susan_ the boys waved their hands to MasterLirriper, who, after coming down in the morning and receiving theirletters for their parents, had returned at once to the city and hadtaken his place on board the _Susan_, so as to be able to tell theirfather that he had seen the last of them. The distance between LondonBridge and Deptford was traversed in a very short time. A vessel withher flags flying and her canvas already loosened was hanging to a buoysome distance out in the stream, and as the boat came near enough forthe captain to distinguish those on board, the mooring-rope wasslipped, the head sails flattened in, and the vessel began to swinground. Before her head was down stream the boat was alongside. The twoofficers followed by the boys ascended the ladder by the side. Theluggage was quickly handed up, and the servitors followed. The sailswere sheeted home, and the vessel began to move rapidly through thewater.
The boys had thought the _Susan_ an imposing craft, but they weresurprised, indeed, at the space on board the _Dover Castle_. In thestern there was a lofty poop with spacious cabins. Six guns were rangedalong on each side of the deck, and when the sails were got up theyseemed so vast to the boys that they felt a sense of littleness onboard the great craft. They had been relieved to find that Captain Verehad his own servitor with him; for in talking it over they had mutuallyexpressed their doubt as to their ability to render such service asCaptain Vere would be accustomed to.
The wind was from the south-west, and the vessel was off Sheernessbefore the tide turned. There was, however, no occasion to anchor, forthe wind was strong enough to take them against the flood.
During the voyage they had no duties to perform. The ship's cookprepared the meals, and the officers' servants waited on them, the ladstaking their meals with the two officers. Their destination wasBergen-op-Zoom, a town at the mouth of the Scheldt, of the garrison ofwhich the companies of both Francis Vere and Captain Allen formed part.
As soon as the low coasts of Holland came in sight the boys watchedthem with the most lively interest.
"We are passing Sluys now," Captain Vere said. "The land almost aheadof us is Walcheren; and that spire belongs to Flushing. We could gooutside and up the channel between the island and Beveland, and then upthe Eastern Scheldt to Bergen-op-Zoom; but inste
ad of that we shallfollow the western channel, which is more direct."
"It is as flat as our Essex coast," Geoffrey remarked.
"Aye, and flatter; for the greater part of the land lies below thelevel of the sea, which is only kept out by great dams and dykes. Attimes when the rivers are high and the wind keeps back their watersthey burst the dams and spread over a vast extent of country. TheZuider-Zee was so formed in 1170 and 1395, and covers a tract as largeas the whole county of Essex. Twenty-six years later the river Maasbroke its banks and flooded a wide district. Seventy-two villages weredestroyed and 100,000 people lost their life. The lands have never beenrecovered; and where a fertile country once stood is now a mere swamp."
"I shouldn't like living there," Lionel said. "It would be terrible,every time the rivers are full and the wind blows, to think that at anymoment the banks may burst and the Hood come rushing over you."
"It is all habit," Captain Vere replied; "I don't suppose they troublethemselves about it. But they are very particular in keeping theirdykes in good repair. The water is one of the great defences of theircountry. In the first place there are innumerable streams to be crossedby an invader, and in the second, they can as a last resource cut thedykes and flood the country. These Dutchmen, as far as I have seen ofthem, are hard-working and industrious people, steady and patient, andresolved to defend their independence to the last. This they haveindeed proved by the wonderful resistance they have made against thepower of Spain. There, you see the ship's head has been turned and weshall before long be in the channel. Sluys lies up that channel on theright. It is an important place. Large vessels can go no further, butare unloaded there and the cargoes taken to Bruges and thencedistributed to many other towns. They say that in 1468 as many as ahundred and fifty ships a day arrived at Sluys. That gives you an ideaof the trade that the Netherlands carry on. The commerce of this onetown was as great as is that of London at the present time. But sincethe troubles the trade of Sluys has fallen off a good deal."
The ship had to anchor here for two or three hours until the tideturned, for the wind had fallen very light and they could not make headagainst the ebb. As soon as it turned they again proceeded on theirway, dropping quietly up with the tide. The boys climbed up into thetops, and thence could see a wide extent of country dotted withvillages stretching beyond the banks, which restricted their view fromthe decks. In five hours Bergen-op-Zoom came in sight, and theypresently dropped anchor opposite the town. The boat was lowered, andthe two officers with the lads were rowed ashore. They were met as theylanded by several young officers.
"Welcome back, Vere; welcome, Allen. You have been lucky indeed inhaving a few days in England, and getting a view of something besidesthis dreary flat country and its sluggish rivers. What is the last newsfrom London?"
"There is little news enough," Vere replied. "We were only four days inLondon, and were busy all the time. And how are things here? Now thatsummer is at hand and the country drying the Dons ought to bebestirring themselves."
"They say that they are doing so," the officer replied. "We have newsthat the Duke of Parma is assembling his army at Bruges, where he iscollecting the pick of the Spanish infantry with a number of Italianregiments which have joined him. He sent off the Marquess Del Vastowith the Sieur De Hautepenne towards Bois-le-Duc. General CountHohenlohe, who, as you know, we English always call Count Holland, wentoff with a large force to meet him, and we heard only this morning thata battle has been fought, Hautepenne killed, and the fort of Crevecoeuron the Maas captured. From what I hear, some of our leaders think thatit was a mistake so to scatter our forces, and if Parma moves forwardfrom Bruges against Sluys, which is likely enough, we shall be sorelyput to it to save the place."
As they were talking they proceeded into the town, and presentlyreached the house where Francis Vere had his quarters. The officers andgentlemen volunteers of his company soon assembled, and Captain Vereintroduced the two boys to them.
"They are young gentlemen of good family," he said, "who will act as mypages until they are old enough to be enrolled as gentlemen volunteers.I commend them to your good offices. Their father is a learned andreverend gentleman who was my tutor, and also tutor to my cousin, theEarl of Oxford, by whom he is greatly valued. They are lads of spirit,and have been instructed in the use of arms at Hedingham as if they hadbeen members of our family, I am sure, gentlemen volunteers, that youwill receive them as friends. I propose that they shall take theirmeals with you, but of course they will lodge here with me and myofficers; but as you are in the next house this will cause noinconvenience. I trust that we shall not remain here long, but shallsoon be on the move. We have now been here seven months, and it is hightime we were doing something. We didn't bargain to come over here andsettle down for life in a dull Dutch town."
In a few hours the boys found themselves quite at home in their newquarters. The gentlemen volunteers received them cordially, and theyfound that for the present their duties would be extremely light,consisting chiefly in carrying messages and orders; for as the officershad all servants of their own, Captain Vere dispensed with theirattendance at meals. There was much to amuse and interest them inBergen-op-Zoom. It reminded them to some extent of Harwich, with itsnarrow streets and quaint houses; but the fortifications were farstronger, and the number of churches struck them as prodigious. Thepopulation differed in no very large degree in dress from that ofEngland, but the people struck them as being slower and more deliberatein their motions. The women's costumes differed much more widely fromthose to which they were accustomed, and their strange and variedhead-dresses, their bright-coloured handkerchiefs, and the amount ofgold necklaces and bracelets that they wore, struck them with surprise.
Their stay in Bergen-op-Zoom was even shorter than they hadanticipated, for three days after their arrival a boat came with aletter from Sir William Russell, the governor at Flushing. He said thathe had just received an urgent letter from the Dutch governor of Sluys,saying that Parma's army was advancing from Bruges towards the city,and had seized and garrisoned the fort of Blankenburg on the sea-coastto prevent reinforcements arriving from Ostend; he therefore prayed thegovernor of Flushing to send off troops and provisions with all hasteto enable him to resist the attack. Sir William requested that thegovernor of Bergen-op-Zoom would at once embark the greater portion ofhis force on board ship and send them to Sluys. He himself was having avessel filled with grain for the use of the inhabitants, and was alsosending every man he could spare from Flushing.
In a few minutes all was bustle in the town. The trumpets of thevarious companies called the soldiers to arms, and in a very short timethe troops were on their way towards the river. Here several ships hadbeen requisitioned for the service; and as the companies marched downthey were conducted to the ships to which they were allotted by thequarter-masters. Geoffrey and Lionel felt no small pride as theymarched down with their troop. They had for the first time donned theirsteel-caps, breast and back pieces; but this was rather for convenienceof carriage than for any present utility. They had at Captain Vere'sorders left their ordinary clothes behind them, and were now attired inthick serviceable jerkins, with skirts coming down nearly to the knee,like those worn by the troops. They marched at the rear of the company,the other pages, similarly attired, following them.
As soon as the troops were on board ship, sail was made, and thevessels dropped down the stream. The wind was very light, and it wasnot until thirty hours after starting that the little fleet arrived offSluys. The town, which was nearly egg-shaped, lay close to the river,which was called the Zwin. At the eastern end, in the centre of adetached piece of water, stood the castle, connected with the town by abridge of boats.
The Zwin formed the defence on the north side, while the south and westwere covered by a very wide moat along the centre of which ran a dyke,dividing it into two channels. On the west side this moat extended tothe Zwin, and was crossed at the point of junction by the bridgeleading to the west gate. The walls inclosed a conside
rable space,containing fields and gardens. Seven windmills stood on the ramparts.The tower of the town-hall, and those of the churches of Our Lady, St.John, and the Grey Friars rose high above the town.
The ships from Flushing and Bergen-op-Zoom sailed up together, and the800 men who landed were received with immense enthusiasm by theinhabitants, who were Protestants, and devoted to the cause ofindependence. The English were under the command of Sir Roger Williams,who had already seen so many years of service in the Low Countries; andunder him were Morgan, Thomas Baskerville, and Huntley, who had longserved with him.
Roger Williams was an admirable man for service of this kind. He haddistinguished himself by many deeds of reckless bravery. He possessedan inexhaustible fund of confidence and high spirits, and in hiscompany it was impossible to feel despondent, however desperate thesituation.
The citizens placed their houses at the disposal of their new allies,handsome quarters were allotted to the officers, and the soldiers wereall housed in private dwellings or the warehouses of the merchants. Theinhabitants had already for some days been working hard at theirdefences, and the English at once joined them in their labours,strengthening the weak portions of the walls, mounting cannon upon thetowers, and preparing in all ways to give a warm reception to theSpaniards.
Captain Vere, his lieutenant and ensign and his two pages, werequartered in the house of a wealthy merchant, whose family did all intheir power to make them comfortable. It was a grand old house, and theboys, accustomed as they were to the splendours of Hedingham Castle,agreed that the simple merchants of the Low Countries were far inadvance of English nobles in the comforts and conveniences of theirdwellings. The walls of the rooms were all heavily panelled; richcurtains hung before the casements. The furniture was not only richlycarved, but comfortable. Heavy hangings before the doors excludeddraughts, and in the principal apartments Eastern carpets covered thefloors. The meals were served on spotless white linen. Rich plate stoodon the sideboard, and gold and silver vessels of rare carved work fromItaly glittered in the armoires.
Above all, from top to bottom, the house was scrupulously clean. Not aparticle of dust dimmed the brightness of the furniture, and even now,when the city was threatened with siege, the merchant's wife neverrelaxed her vigilance over the doings of her maids, who seemed to theboys to be perpetually engaged in scrubbing, dusting, and polishing.
"Our mother prides herself on the neatness of her house," Geoffreysaid; "but what would she say, I wonder, were she to see one of theseDutch households? I fear that the maids would have a hard time of itafterwards, and our father would be fairly driven out of his library."
"It is all very well to be clean," Lionel said; "but I think they carryit too far here. Peace and quietness count for something, and itdoesn't seem to me that Dutchmen, fond of it as they say they are, knoweven the meaning of the words as far as their homes are concerned. Why,it always seems to be cleaning day, and they must be afraid of goinginto their own houses with their boots on!"
"Yes, I felt quite like a criminal to-day," Geoffrey laughed, "when Icame in muddy up to the waist, after working down there by the sluices.I believe when the Spaniards open fire these people will be moredistracted by the dust caused by falling tiles and chimneys than by anydanger of their lives."
Great difficulties beset the Duke of Parma at the commencement of thesiege. Sluys was built upon the only piece of solid ground in thedistrict, and it was surrounded by such a labyrinth of canals, ditches,and swamps, that it was said that it was almost as difficult to findSluys as it was to capture it. Consequently, it was impossible to findground solid enough for a camp to be pitched upon, and the first labourwas the erection of wooden huts for the troops upon piles driven intothe ground. These huts were protected from the fire of the defenders bybags of earth brought in boats from a long distance. The main pointselected for the attack was the western gate; but batteries were alsoplaced to play upon the castle and the bridge of boats connecting itwith the town.
"There is one advantage in their determining to attack us at thewestern extremity of the town," John Menyn, the merchant at whose houseCaptain Vere and his party were lodging, remarked when his guestinformed him there was no longer any doubt as to the point at which theSpaniards intended to attack, "for they will not be able to blow up ourwalls with mines in that quarter."
"How is that?" Francis Vere asked.
"If you can spare half an hour of your time I will show you," themerchant said.
"I can spare it now, Von Menyn," Vere replied; "for the information isimportant, whatever it may be."
"I will conduct you there at once. There is no time like the present."
"Shall we follow you, sir?" Geoffrey asked his captain.
"Yes, come along," Vere replied. "The matter is of interest, and forthe life of me I cannot make out what this obstacle can be of which ourhost speaks."
They at once set out.
John Menyn led them to a warehouse close to the western wall, and spokea few words to its owner, who at once took three lanterns from the walland lighted them, handing one to Vere, another to John Menyn, andtaking the other himself; he then unlocked a massive door. A flight ofsteps leading apparently to a cellar were visible. He led the way down,the two men following, and the boys bringing up the rear. The descentwas far deeper than they had expected, and when they reached the bottomthey found themselves in a vast arched cellar filled with barrels. Fromthis they proceeded into another, and again into a third.
"What are these great magazines?" Francis Vere asked in surprise.
"They are wine-cellars, and there are scores similar to those you see.Sluys is the centre of the wine trade of Flanders and Holland, andcellars like these extend right under the wall. All the warehousesalong here have similar cellars. This end of the town was the driest,and the soil most easily excavated. That is why the magazines for winesare all clustered here. There is not a foot of ground behind and underthe walls at this end that is not similarly occupied, and if theSpaniards try to drive mines to blow up the walls, they will simplybreak their way into these cellars, where we can meet them and drivethem back again."
"Excellent!" Francis Vere said. "This will relieve us of the work ofcountermining, which is always tiresome and dangerous, and would bespecially so here, where we should have to dive under that deep moatoutside your walls. Now we shall only have to keep a few men on watchin these cellars. They would hear the sound of the Spanish approaching,and we shall be ready to give them a warm reception by the time theybreak in. Are there communications between these cellars?"
"Yes, for the most part," the wine merchant said. "The cellars are notentirely the property of us dealers in wine. They are constructed bymen who let them, just as they would let houses. A merchant in a smallway would need but one cellar, while some of us occupy twenty or more;therefore, there are for the most part communications, with doors,between the various cellars, so that they can be let off in accordancewith the needs of the hirers."
"Well, I am much obliged to you for telling me of this," Captain Veresaid. "Williams and Morgan will be glad enough to hear that there is nofear of their being blown suddenly into the air while defending thewalls, and they will see the importance of keeping a few trusty men onwatch in the cellars nearest to the Spaniards. I shall report thematter to them at once. The difficulty," he added smiling, "will be tokeep the men wakeful, for it seems to me that the very air is heavywith the fumes of wine."