I propose that they shall take their meals with you, but of course
they will lodge here with me and my officers; but as you are in the
next house this will cause no inconvenience. I trust that we shall
not remain here long, but shall soon be on the move. We have now
been here seven months, and it is high time we were doing something.
We didn't bargain to come over here and settle down for life in a
dull Dutch town."

In a few hours the boys found themselves quite at home in their
new quarters. The gentlemen volunteers received them cordially,
and they found that for the present their duties would be extremely
light, consisting chiefly in carrying messages and orders; for as
the officers had all servants of their own, Captain Vere dispensed
with their attendance at meals. There was much to amuse and interest
them in Bergen op Zoom. It reminded them to some extent of Harwich,
with its narrow streets and quaint houses; but the fortifications were
far stronger, and the number of churches struck them as prodigious.
The population differed in no very large degree in dress from that
of England, but the people struck them as being slower and more
deliberate in their motion. The women's costumes differed much more
widely from those to which they were accustomed, and their strange
and varied headdresses, their bright coloured handkerchiefs, and
the amount of gold necklaces and bracelets that they wore, struck
them with surprise.

Their stay in Bergen op Zoom was even shorter than they had
anticipated, for three days after their arrival a boat came with a
letter from Sir William Russell, the governor at Flushing. He said
that he had just received an urgent letter from the Dutch governor
of Sluys, saying that Patina's army was advancing from Bruges towards