"Charles, my boy," were his words, "to-day we must either beat them or
burst."

Old Peter Ernest felt that the long-expected, long-deferred assault was
to be made that morning in full force, and that it was necessary for the
royalists, on both bridge and dyke, to hold their own. Piccolomini now
drew up three hundred of his Italians, picked veterans all, and led them
in marching order to Mansfeld. That general at the same moment, received
another small but unexpected reinforcement. A portion of the Spanish
Legion, which had long been that of Pedro Pacchi, lay at the extreme
verge of the Stabroek encampment, several miles away. Aroused by the
distant cannonading, and suspecting what had occurred, Don Juan d'Aquila,
the colonel in command, marched without a moment's delay to Mansfeld's
head-quarters, at the head of all the force he could muster--about two
hundred strong. With him came Cardona, Gonzales de Castro, Toralva, and
other distinguished officers. As they arrived, Capizucca was just
setting forth for the field. There arose a dispute for precedence
between the Italians and the Spaniards. Capizucca had first demanded the
privilege of leading what seemed a forlorn hope, and was unwilling to
yield his claim to the new comer. On the other hand, the Spaniards were
not disposed to follow where they felt entitled to lead. The quarrel was
growing warm, when Aquila, seizing his Italian rival by the hand,
protested that it was not a moment for friends to wrangle for precedence.

"Shoulder to shoulder," said he, "let us go into this business, and let
our blows rather fall on our enemies' heads than upon each other's."
This terminated the altercation. The Italians and Spaniards--in battle
array as they were--all dropped on their knees, offered a brief prayer to
the Holy Virgin, and then, in the best possible spirits, set forth along