when the Grand Monarque, as his flatterers called him, proceeded
further to garrison the strongholds of the Netherlands, then a Spanish
province, with his own troops, it was clear that Louis considered
himself King both of France and Spain. As for the Protestants of
Europe, their very existence seemed to be threatened by the designs of
the French sovereign.

Who was there, then, to withstand the ambitious and arrogant Louis?
There was but one great and effective opponent, William of Orange,
King of England. He had spent his life in thwarting the ambitious
policy of the French monarch, and so long as William lived Louis was
sure of a vigorous and powerful antagonist. And William was preparing,
in both his English and his Dutch dominions, for yet another conflict.
War was indeed imminent; the sole question being when it would
actually break out, and who would be ruler over England when it did.
For William III was in feeble health; his death might occur any day,
and his crown pass to his sister-in-law Anne. Such was the condition
of affairs at the time George Fairburn left St. Peter's School at
York.

January brought many new orders for the Fairburn pit, and the owner
had work for more men. So greatly was his business increasing, that
the proprietor of the little colliery came to a decision that seemed
likely to affect his son's whole future life.

"What would you like to be, my lad?" he one day inquired abruptly.

"A soldier, dad," was the prompt reply, the boy regarding his father
in some wonderment, nevertheless.