"How shall I get to the Beggars?"

"You?" asked the captain in astonishment.

"Yes, I!" replied the Junker eagerly. "I shall soon be seventeen, and
when I am--Wait, just wait--you'll hear of me yet."

"Right, Nicolas, right," replied the other. "Let us be Holland nobles
and noble Hollanders."

Three hours later, Junker Matanesse Van Wibisma rode into the Hague with
Belotti, whom he had loved from childhood. He brought his father nothing
but a carefully-folded and sealed letter, which Janus Dousa, with a
mischievous smile, had given him on behalf of the citizens of Leyden for
General Valdez, and which contained, daintily inscribed on a large sheet,
the following lines from Dionysius Cato:

"Fistula dulce canit volucrem dum decipit auceps."

["Sweet are the notes of the flute, when the fowler lures the bird
to his nest."]




CHAPTER XXVII.

The first week in June and half the second had passed, the beautiful
sunny days had drawn to a close, and numerous guests sought the "Angulus"
in Aquarius's tavern during the evening hours. It was so cosy there when