from duty in the towers and on the walls, sometimes a cannon barred their
way. Was it the anticipation of coming events, or the beat of drums and
blare of trumpets, which so excited her companion, that he often pressed
his hand to his forehead and she was obliged to request him to slacken
his pace. There was a strange, constrained tone in his voice as, in
accordance with her request, he told her that the Spaniards had come by
ship up the Amstel, the Drecht, and the Brasem See to the Rhine and
landed at Leyderdorp.

A mounted messenger wearing the Prince's colors, and followed not only by
children, but by grown persons, who ran after him eager to reach the
town-hall at the same time, interrupted Wilhelm, and as soon as the crowd
had passed, the burgomaster's wife asked her companion one question after
another. The noise of war, the firing audible in the distance, the gay
military costumes everywhere to be seen in place of the darker citizens'
dress, also aroused her eager interest, and what she learned from Wilhelm
was little calculated to diminish it. The main body of the Spanish
troops was on the way to the Hague. The environment of the city had
commenced, but the enemy could hardly succeed in his purpose; for the
English auxiliaries, who were to defend the new fortifications of
Valkenburg, the village of Alfen, and the Gouda sluice might be trusted.
Wilhelm had seen the British soldiers, their commander, Colonel Chester,
and Captain Gensfort, and praised their superb equipments and stately
bearing.

On reaching her own house, Maria attempted to take leave of her
companion, but the latter earnestly entreated permission to have an
interview with Henrica at once, and could scarcely be convinced that
he must have patience until the doctor had given his consent.