At these words young Baersdorp threw his books on the ground, and was
rushing with upraised fist upon his enemy--but Adrian Van der Werff
hastily interposed, crying:

"For shame, Cornelius.--I'll stop the mouth of anybody who utters such an
insult again. Catholics are Christians, as well as we. You heard it
from Van Hout, and my father says so too. Will you be a Spaniard, Adam,
yes or no?"

"No!" cried the latter firmly. "And if anybody else--"

"You can quarrel afterward," said Adrian Van der Werff, interrupting his
excited companions, then good-naturedly picking up the books Baersdorp
had flung down, and handing them to him, continued resolutely, "I'll be a
Spaniard to-day. Who else?"

"I, I, I too, for aught I care," shouted several of the scholars, and the
forming of the two parties would have been carried on in the best order
to the end, if the boys' attention had not been diverted by a fresh
incident.

A young gentleman, followed by a black servant, came up the street
directly towards them. He too was a Netherlander, but had little in
common with the school-boys except his age, a red and white complexion,
fair hair, and clear blue eyes, eyes that looked arrogantly out upon the
world. Every step showed that he considered himself an important
personage, and the gaily-costumed negro, who carried a few recently
purchased articles behind him, imitated this bearing in a most comical
way. The negro's head was held still farther back than the young
noble's, whose stiff Spanish ruff prevented him from moving his handsome