A Gentleman-at-Arms: Being Passages in the Life of Sir Christopher Rudd, Knight

  *V*

  For some while I have said nothing of Mynheer Volmar, not because heholds any lesser place in this history, but because he had no part inthe enterprise that I have just recounted, the which neverthelessconcerned him dearly, as you shall see.

  Mynheer Volmar had spoken of our enterprise as a hair-brained adventure,the device of a very madman, and a mere courting of disaster. Aprophet, whether of good or ill, likes not that his predictions shouldbelie and mock him; and Volmar, when his prophecies fell out so wide ofthe mark, looked upon me, the begetter of the design, ever more sourlythan he was wont. And when the Burgomaster at our next council leantrather upon my opinion than upon the opinion of his familiar, Iperceived by some sixth sense, as it were, that Volmar entertained aviolent ill-will against me, albeit he was at great pains to cloak hishatred under a guise of careless indifferency.

  For this reason I deemed it fitting to improve my knowledge of thatcouncillor. I learnt from my friend, the Captain of the Guard, thatVolmar was well-reputed in the city, having much goods laid up, and yetbeing open-handed. He was charged with keeping the stores of munitionand with the defence of a certain portion of the walls, and was verydiligent in these offices. It was his custom, every Sunday forenoonabout nine of the clock, that day and hour having been commended to himby one well skilled in astrology, to fire off a culverin upon theSpaniards from the parapet of his own ward. The Captain of the Guard,upon my asking what purpose might be served by this quaint device,assured me with great gravity that, a shot being fired at a moment shownas propitious by the conjunction of the planets, the Spaniards wouldnever stir that day, and the burghers might pay their devotions inchurch without fear of disturbance. I marvelled at so strange amingling of heathenish superstition with Christian piety, but I forboreto speak my mind upon it, deeming every man entitled to believe as helisteth.

  On the night but one following our sally I was returning at a late hour,and alone, from making a round of the defences. When I came near thehouse of Mistress Verhoeff, where I still made my lodging, I heard thescuffling of a hurried footstep, and espied, though dimly, a manslinking into a narrow alley upon the further side of the street. I sawthis, without considering it; and I might have thought of it no more butthat I heard my hostess' son stealthily quit the house maybe an hourafter. Then putting the one thing with the other, I began to wonder,and cogitate, and question whether there were not something in the wind.It came into my mind that the man I had seen afore had been disturbed atmy coming, and slunk away to escape me; and I began to suspect that JanVerhoeff and he were partners in some secret night work, I knew notwhat.

  I was in my own room, but not yet abed; and, smelling a matter forinquiry, I crept down the stairs, carrying my boots, and these I donnedat the door, and then followed the young man up the street. I had takenbut a few steps when I was aware that two figures were in front of me,the one dogging the other close like a shadow. They were proceedingtowards the walls, to that place where a breach had been made and wasnow repaired in part. The sky being clear and bright with stars, I heldthe two men in sight until they came near the breach aforesaid, wherethe foremost vanished away, and the latter stood fast, at some littledistance, as he were keeping watch. So did I likewise. There I stayedsome while, until the man, as though weary of waiting, turned about andwalked back by the way he had come, and then, with the intent that Imight see him more closely, I hid myself behind a jutting mass ofmasonry which the man must needs pass by.

  I was now able to perceive, as he came towards me, that he was lofty ofstature, and, passing me within a yard or two, his gait seemed to me tobe that of the lanky councillor Mynheer Volmar. This was a whet upon mycuriosity, for I weened it strange that this man should be spying uponhis vanquished rival, whom in the fallen state of his fortunes he had nocause to fear as pretender to the hand of Mistress Jacqueline.

  When he had gone beyond earshot, I took my way to the wall, and there Iwas immediately challenged by the sentinel. On my giving the word theman recognized me, and made me a decent salutation. I inquired of himwhether he had taken note of any strange movement or stirring among theSpaniards, or of any roaming person on our side of the wall; and hedeclared that neither on the one side nor the other had he seen aught,nor any person save only the sentinel next to him on the defences.Whereupon I returned to my lodging, not a little perplexed.

  On my descending next morning to break my fast with Mistress Verhoeff asmy custom was, I found the good dame in sore affliction and distress.It had just been told her that her son was at that time lying a prisonerin the bailey, having been seized in the middle of the night by a posseof halberdiers. It was charged against him, so 'twas reported, that hewas a spy for the enemy; for he had been discovered making his way overthe wall, and being searched, papers were found upon him that gavecolour to this accusation.

  This news, following so sudden on what I had seen overnight, set my witsa-jogging, and I began to smell a rat, as we say. But my considerationof the matter was broken in upon by the piteous outcry of my hostess,who with many tears and lamentable entreaties besought me to save herson. She declared that the young man's honesty was beyond impeachment;that it was some monstrous error; that he was a true man, like hisfather before him; and when I asked what had taken him abroad at sounseasonable an hour, on a night when his duty did not call him to theramparts, she protested that some enemy must have lured and enticed himforth, of set purpose to undo him. I gave her my honest opinion thatthe young man was innocent, and engaged to do what I could on hisbehalf, yet owning that I was at a loss what means I might convenientlytake.

  After some deliberation I determined that I must first visit theprisoner, and inquire for myself into his case. To this end I repairedto the Burgomaster, by whose allowance alone would the gates of thebailey be opened to me. I was not overmuch astonished when he denied myrequest, averring that the young man was a villainous rascal, whoseguilt was manifest, and whom he would assuredly hang as a warning to alltraitors. By this I perceived that the Burgomaster had judged theprisoner aforehand, the reason whereof was his established misliking. Inmy course through the world I have oft-times observed that a man thathas wronged his neighbour will scarce pardon him; and I held that theBurgomaster had done the lad a wrong in crossing his love for no causesave a worldly misfortune that time might cure. I made bold to informMynheer Warmond that in my country a man is held to be innocent until heis proved guilty; and then I was not a little incensed when he, shiftinghis ground, roundly declared that the less I meddled with this matterthe better for me. There were already whispers against me, he said, andthe having taken up my abode in the widow's house would incline some tosuspect that I was privy to the son's iniquity. Indeed, he counselled meto seek a new lodging without delay.

  At this I could scarce hold my patience; but reflecting that angry wordscould avail me nothing, having also a shrewd notion as to thefountain-head whence this slander and calumny sprang, I swallowed mywrath, and by dint of coaxing and wheedling got from the Burgomaster theauthority I sought. So armed, I hasted to the bailey, and beingadmitted, found the young man herded with as pretty a set of rogues asever I saw. The warder gave me leave, after the passing of a trifle ofmoney, to speak with the prisoner in a room apart, and thither we betookourselves.

  Now I did not love Mynheer Jan Verhoeff. We had had littlecommunication; in truth, he shunned me, and when we met at table heseldom opened his lips save only to engulf his food, whereby I had cometo look upon him as a morose and lubberly fellow. Furthermore, Imisliked his goings and comings secretly by night, and his denial of theservice he had done me; for I was firmly persuaded that Verhoeff and Vander Kloof were one and the same. Wherefore, when we were closeted inthat little room of the bailey, and he opposed a sullen and stubbornsilence to my proffer of help, I was ready to wash my hands of hisaffair and let him hang. But remembering the widow lady his mother, andbethinking me that his ungracious bearing perchance were nothing b
ut theausterity of an honest man wronged, I curbed my impatience and setmyself to reason with him.

  I showed him how his secret sallies by night, whatsoever their purposemight be, must needs breed suspicion in the minds of those burdened withthe defence of the city, and that if his intent were honest, to revealit could at the least work him no harm. And, hinting that I myselfharboured certain suspicions, the which he might aid me to resolve, I atlength prevailed upon him to make full confession and disclosure. Andthis is what he told me.

  Being near the Burgomaster's house one evening (for what purpose Iforbore to inquire), he had seen Mynheer Volmar issue forth, and,instead of making straight for his own house, stand a while lookingheedfully around, and then proceed towards the ramparts, in the furtivemanner of one that avoids observation. Bearing him ill-will as hissupplanter in the graces of Mistress Jacqueline, and suspecting he knewnot what, Verhoeff dogged him circumspectly to the wall, and therebeheld him sit upon a culverin and gaze intently towards the trenches ofthe enemy. A sentinel was pacing up and down, and to him Volmaraddressed a few words in a whisper, whereupon he stood fast, and Volmarhastened to the embrasure of the parapet. Immediately thereafter,Verhoeff caught the sound of a low whistle, followed eftsoon by a faintanswer, as it were an echo, from below. Then Volmar drew some whitething from his pocket, wound a cord about it, and, as it appeared toVerhoeff, let it down into the moat. In a little there came again adull and hollow sound, and Volmar withdrew himself and returned into thecity, murmuring a word to the sentinel as he passed.

  On the morrow Verhoeff took pains to inform himself of the name of thesentinel at that place, and was not astonished to find that he was ofMynheer Volmar's household. In that time of trouble every man,whatsoever his rank and condition, had his part in the city's defence.

  From that day Verhoeff kept diligent watch upon the councillor, anddiscovered that he hied him stealthily to the ramparts every Wednesday,and in like manner let down what was doubtless a paper, the which wasreceived by a man in the moat beneath, and conveyed by him, swimming, tothe further side.

  Here was treason, of a surety. Verhoeff debated with himself whether heshould broach it to the Captain of the Guard or the Burgomaster; but hebethought him that he had not as yet sufficient proof, and that,moreover, the charge might be set down to the spleen and malice of abeaten rival. Wherefore he determined to hold his peace until he hadgotten some clear and manifest proof of the treason he suspected.

  One Wednesday night, therefore, he slid into the moat, and swam to theother side, intending to lie in wait for the receiver as he returnedwith the letter, and wrest it from him. But making wary approach to thespot over against the gun whereon Volmar was wont to sit, he wasnonplussed to find three or four Spanish footmen, awaiting theircomrade. Verhoeff kept himself close until the swimmer joined them, andthen, recking nothing of his peril, followed the party as they stolesilently back to their lines. While they jested with the sentinel thatchallenged them, he crept into the camp, and watched in secret whatshould befall. The footmen proceeded together a few paces; then all butone turned aside, they bidding him good-night, and he continuing on hisway towards a large tent, the which, after a brief parley with some onewithin, he entered. Verhoeff swiftly stole to the back side of thetent, designing to cut a hole in the wall and spy upon what was done;but a light shone from beneath a flap in the canvas, which raising, hebeheld a man in shirt and hose sodden with water, standing beforeanother in a long night-robe, who was reading by the light of a candle apaper which had beyond doubt been brought by the swimmer from the city.Having finished his perusal, this man said--

  "Good. Our friend within is diligent. To-morrow you will convey thisto the Lord General Verdugo. Take your accustomed party, and have acare, for this paper must not miscarry; I know what a lusty fire-eateryou are."

  The swimmer laughed and made a salutation, and so departed.

  Verhoeff itched to lay hands on that paper, yet durst not follow the manthrough the camp. But a device came into his mind whereby he mightperchance obtain it. He crept and wriggled out of the camp, which wasnot guarded so needfully as it behoved to be, and when he was beyond theoutward trenches he betook himself with all expedition, not to the city,but towards a hamlet where his father had held an estate in the days ofhis prosperity. There he gathered half a score of trusty men that wouldserve him faithfully for his father's sake, and with them took post in awood which the Spaniard must pass next day when he carried the paper tohis general. And 'twas by the happy accident of his lying in wait therethat he was able to render me service that day. In despite of thecaptain's warning, the messenger was tempted by the smallness of myparty to attack us, whereby Verhoeff's plan to seize upon the letter wasdiscomfited, for my plight made him show himself sooner than he hadintended.

  Being foiled, then, and baulked of his purpose by the Spaniards' flight,he was fain to wend his way back to the city, and entered it at dead ofnight by a secret way known to him. At my appearance on the morrowthereafter he was somewhat discommoded, being desirous that his doingsshould not be published among the burghers, and yet too high-stomachedto entreat my silence. Hence he sought to brazen it out with me, andhad since held himself aloof.

  From that time he kept a most vigilant watch upon Volmar's doings, bynight and day; and it seemed that his patience would be rewarded, for onthis last night, having swum the moat, he had found the Spaniard, thatwas go-between, unattended, and after a fierce struggle had overcome andslain him. Searching among his garments he discovered a leathern pouch,the which, on his slitting it, yielded up a paper. This he bestowed inhis pocket, and crossed the moat, but upon climbing the parapet fellclean into the hands of a party of the burgher guard, drawn thithereither by the sound of his struggle with the Spaniard, or, as seemedmore like, placed there advisedly by Volmar.

  While he stood among his captors, protesting and almost persuading themthat he was a true man and no traitor, Volmar himself appeared andfeigned great astonishment to see him. One of the guard related thecause and manner of the arrest, whereupon the councillor declaredroundly that there had been some error, and proposed that the mattershould be put to the proof by searching Verhoeff. This being done, theletter was brought to light, the which Volmar then tore open and read bythe aid of a dark lantern. He put on a grave and sorrowful look, andgave the letter into the hand of the officer of the guard, and helikewise read it, and immediately cried out that Verhoeff was proved avillainous traitor. Upon this Verhoeff in a fury declared that he hadwrested the letter from a Spaniard who had brought it from the city, andfrom Volmar himself, a saying that provoked a burst of scornful laughterfrom the officer of the guard and a look of pity from the councillor.The officer commanded that he should be instantly conveyed to the baileyand placed under a strong guard, and Volmar bestowed the letter in hisdoublet, avouching that he would lay it before the Burgomaster andcouncil on the morrow.

  VOLMAR READ THE LETTER BY THE AID OF A LANTERN]

  This was the story in brief as Verhoeff told it to me, and I made nodoubt he spoke the truth. But I saw that in youthful heat and imprudencehe had committed a grievous error in launching an accusation against thecouncillor, more especially because he was wholly ignorant of what theletter contained; he had not read it, nor had it been read aloud.Moreover, the secrecy and stealth of his own deeds, the quitting of thecity without leave asked, gave strength to the suspicion and mistrust ofthe officer of the guard. Yet I confessed that in my heart of hearts Idid not doubt Volmar was a villain and had entrapped Verhoeff for hisown ends; but how to bring his villainy home to him, when he held allthe cards, as we say, it outdid my wit to determine.

  Nevertheless I engaged myself to do all that in me lay on behalf of theyoung man, and bidding him be of good cheer I betook myself to thecouncil chamber, where the matter would without doubt be deliberatedupon.