A moonless night upon the sandy waste⁠—the sky a canopy of stars, twinkling with super-radiance through the frosty atmosphere; the gently undulating ground like a billowy sea of silence and desolation...

A moonless night upon the sandy waste⁠—the sky a canopy of stars, twinkling with super-radiance through the frosty atmosphere; the gently undulating ground like a billowy sea of silence and desolation...

But to an eye trained to the dreary monotony of winter upon the Veluwe, there were a few faint indications of the tracks, which here and there intersect the arid waste and link up the hamlets and citi...

In truth, no more lonely spot could be imagined in a civilized land than that wherein the stranded traveler now found himself. Even by day the horizon seems limitless, with neither tower nor city nor ...

If a stranger travelling through Gelderland these days had thought it fit to inquire from a native whether that particular molen upon the Veluwe was doing work or was inhabited, he would of a certaint...

A grey, dull light suffused the sky in the East when Jan once more knocked at the door of the old molen. Stoutenburg’s voice bade him enter. “All well?” my lord queried, at sight of his faithful serva...

It was one of those days when earth and heaven alike appear to smile. A day almost warm, certainly genial; for the wind had dropped, the sky was of a vivid blue, and the sun had a genuine feeling of w...

It was one of those days when earth and heaven alike appear to smile. A day almost warm, certainly genial; for the wind had dropped, the sky was of a vivid blue, and the sun had a genuine feeling of w...

Two brides, and both comely! Jongejuffrouw Katharina van den Poele, the only child of the wealthy shipowner, member of the Dutch East India Company, a solid burgher both physically and financially, an...

Indeed, Mynheer Beresteyn had not done things by halves. He had chosen that the happy double event should take place at the old house at Amersfoort, where his children had been born, and where he had ...

Indeed, there was quite a commotion now in the window recess, where Prince Maurice had remained all this while by the open casement, inhaling the fresh, keen air. The English physician stood beside hi...

But after this manifestation of joy and enthusiasm, comparative silence fell upon the wedding assembly. None but those who had partaken over freely of Mynheer Beresteyn’s good cheer could fail to see ...

More than one chronicler of the time hath averred that Maurice of Nassau had in truth a soft corner in his heart for the man who had saved him from the bomb prepared by the Lord of Stoutenburg, and wo...

Then it was that suddenly a curious spectacle presented itself to view. It was, in truth, so curious an one that those of the crowd who were in the rear withdrew their consideration from the romantic ...

The next moment Diogenes was down on the quay, in time to help Socrates to lift his brother philosopher off the pillion. Gilda, a little scared at first, not understanding, looked wonderingly around h...

The next moment Diogenes was down on the quay, in time to help Socrates to lift his brother philosopher off the pillion. Gilda, a little scared at first, not understanding, looked wonderingly around h...

Up in the guest-chamber, Diogenes was watching over his sick friend. The first moment that he was alone with his two old compeers, he had turned to Socrates and queried anxiously: “What is it? What ha...

When Diogenes resumed his pacing up and down, he suddenly became aware of the soft and distant sound of a woman’s voice, singing to the accompaniment of a quaint-toned virginal. He paused and listened...

One of the equerries had awhile ago found his way to the guest-chamber where the sick man was lying, and had informed Diogenes that the Stadtholder was now ready to start on his way, but desired his p...

A quarter of an hour later the Stadtholder was in possession of all the facts as they had been revealed to Diogenes by his comrade in arms. “I seem fated,” he said to Diogenes kindly, yet not without ...

She was, in truth, waiting for him, submissive and composed. What she had done, when she with her own act had mutely bidden him to go, that she did not regret. She had done it not so much perhaps from...

Nicolaes Beresteyn accompanied his brother-in-law during the first part of the journey. He had insisted on this, despite Diogenes’ preference for solitude. There was not much comradeship lost between ...

Nicolaes Beresteyn accompanied his brother-in-law during the first part of the journey. He had insisted on this, despite Diogenes’ preference for solitude. There was not much comradeship lost between ...

At first the two men spoke little. The air was still cold and very humid, and the thaw was persisting. The horses stepped out briskly on the soft, sandy earth. The distance between Amersfoort and Barn...

It was close on midnight when, weary, saddle-sore, his boots covered in half-melted snow, Mynheer Nicolaes Beresteyn demanded admittance into his native city. At first the guard at the Koppel-poort, r...

As for Diogenes, he reached Zutphen in the small hours of the morning, and after a few hours’ rest pushed on to Vorden at dawn. He himself would have deprecated any suggestion of making of this journe...

As for Diogenes, he reached Zutphen in the small hours of the morning, and after a few hours’ rest pushed on to Vorden at dawn. He himself would have deprecated any suggestion of making of this journe...

The next moment he had spied the narrow track and set his horse to follow it; when suddenly, out of the mist, there came a loud report, and Diogenes heard the whistle of a bullet close to his ear. It ...

The Ijssel at this point is close on a quarter of a mile wide, her current is no longer sluggish, whilst the drifting ice-blocks constitute a peril which had to be boldly faced. But the mist, which hu...

Of the extraordinary events which threatened to make March 21, 1624, one of the most momentous dates in the history of the Netherlands we have not much in the way of detail. The broad facts we know ch...

Of the extraordinary events which threatened to make March 21, 1624, one of the most momentous dates in the history of the Netherlands we have not much in the way of detail. The broad facts we know ch...

The Stadtholder arrived in the course of the morning. Mynheer Beresteyn did not receive him on the doorstep, as he would have done had the visit been an open one. As it was, the passersby on the busy ...

Only those who had ever had the sorry task of abandoning a home in the face of an advancing enemy can have any conception of what this peremptory order meant to these burghers⁠—fathers of families for...

What prompted her to run up to the very top of the house, like some stricken bird seeking an eyrie, she could not herself have told you. There is such a thing as instinct, and instinct takes innumerab...

At what precise moment Gilda became aware of the solitary rider galloping tête baissée toward the city, it were impossible to say. He came out of the mist from the direction of Utrecht, and Gilda saw ...

Then suddenly the doors of the banqueting-hall were thrown open, and the burgomaster appeared. Had Gilda doubted for a moment that something catastrophic had actually happened, she would have felt her...

Great was her disappointment, therefore, when she reached the guest-chamber, which they still occupied, to find that it was empty. The whole house was by this time in a hopeless state of turmoil and c...

Down below, in the banqueting-hall, Gilda’s departure had at first been followed by a general feeling of obsession, which caused the grave men here assembled to remain silent for awhile and pondering....

Down below, in the banqueting-hall, Gilda’s departure had at first been followed by a general feeling of obsession, which caused the grave men here assembled to remain silent for awhile and pondering....

Nicolaes hurried out of the room, his Highness remaining behind for a moment or two, in order to give his final instructions, a last admonition or two to the burghers. “Do not resist,” he said earnest...

A minute later the Stadtholder was in the hall. The doors were open and the horses down below in the charge of an equerry. Nicolaes, halfway down the outside stone steps, looked the picture of fretful...

Amongst all those here present, Gilda was the only one who scented some unseen danger for them all in Nicolaes’ strangely feverish haste. What the others took for zeal, she knew by instinct was naught...

The Stadtholder looked dazed. It had all happened so quickly that he had not the time to visualize it all. De Voocht, who was in the hall of the burgomaster’s house from the moment when the Stadtholde...

When Diogenes, taken wholly unawares by Nicolaes’ treacherous blow, had momentarily lost his balance, he would have been in a precarious position indeed had not his faithful friends been close at hand...

When Diogenes, taken wholly unawares by Nicolaes’ treacherous blow, had momentarily lost his balance, he would have been in a precarious position indeed had not his faithful friends been close at hand...

Thus it was that Socrates happened to be on the spot, or very near it, when Diogenes was struck by the hand of a traitor, and, wearied, sick, and faint, lost his footing and fell for a moment helpless...

Nose to heels, the three riders thundered through the city. It was deserted at this end of it, remember. Thank God for that! And now for a host of guardian angels to the rescue! Down the Oude Straat t...

Then a very curious thing happened. At first it seemed nothing. But to the watchers outside Nieuwpoort it had the same effect as a flash of lightning would have in an apparently cloudless sky. It bega...

In truth, the low-lying land veiled in sea-fog must at that moment have presented a very curious spectacle. Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, the hope and pride of the Netherlands, helpless upon a ...

Then, and then only, did Nicolaes Beresteyn recognize the man who for the second time had frustrated his nefarious plans⁠—the man whom, because of his easy triumphs, the humiliation which he had infli...

A sudden jerk brought the Stadtholder’s horse to a halt. He swung himself out of the saddle, ran quickly to his companion. “You are hit, man!” he reiterated; this time with an unexplainable feeling of...

The afternoon lay heavy and silent upon the plain. There was as yet no sign of the approach of the enemy from the south, and the low-lying land appeared momentarily hushed under its veil of mist, as i...

Nicolaes Beresteyn, riding like one possessed had reached Stoutenburg’s encampment one hour before nightfall. He brought the news of the failure of his plan for the capture of the Stadtholder, spoke w...

Nicolaes Beresteyn, riding like one possessed had reached Stoutenburg’s encampment one hour before nightfall. He brought the news of the failure of his plan for the capture of the Stadtholder, spoke w...

Amersfoort had, in the meanwhile, so De Voocht avers, become wonderfully calm. Those whose nerves would not stand the strain of seeing the hated tyrants once more within the gates of their peace-lovin...

Nicolaes Beresteyn was among the last to enter his native city. He did so as a shameless traitor, a dishonoured gambler who had staked his all upon a hellish die. Indeed now he seemed like a man posse...

A certain commotion outside on the quay proclaimed the fact that the commander of the troops, the Lord of Stoutenburg, had entered the town at the head of his bodyguard, and followed by his master of ...

Now the two friends⁠—brothers in crime⁠—were alone in the vast, panelled hall. Nicolaes had said nothing, made no movement of indignation or protest, when the other delivered his monstrous and treache...

The next moment a slight noise behind him caused the Lord of Stoutenburg to turn on his heel. The door had been thrown open, and the burgomaster, having his daughter on his arm, stood upon the thresho...

Mynheer Beresteyn was still a comparatively young and vigorous man. In his day, he had been counted one of the finest soldiers in the armies of the Prince of Orange, and had accomplished prodigies of ...

Gilda had seen her father dragged away from her side without a tear. Whatever tremor of apprehension made her heart quiver after she had seen the last of him, she would not allow these two men to see....

Gilda had seen her father dragged away from her side without a tear. Whatever tremor of apprehension made her heart quiver after she had seen the last of him, she would not allow these two men to see....

“Sit down, sister; you are overwrought.” Nicolaes’ cool, casual words brought her straightway back to reality. Quietly, mechanically she took the seat which he was offering⁠—a high-backed, velvet-cove...

“Allow me, mejuffrouw,” Stoutenburg began coolly after awhile, “to tender you my sincere regrets for the violence to which necessity alone compelled me to subject the burgomaster; a worthy man, for wh...

“You will, I hope, mejuffrouw, give me the credit of having tried to break this sad news to you as gently as I could.” The words, spoken in smooth, silky tones were the first sounds that reached Gilda...

Instinctively she paused, realizing that the warning had come just in time⁠—that the next moment, in very truth, she would be in the hands of those vile traitors who were there ready to obey their mas...

Stoutenburg had made no effort to come to her assistance, neither had Nicolaes. Probably both of them knew that she would never allow either of them to touch her. But Stoutenburg’s mocking glance had ...

Gilda had refused her brother’s escort, preferring to follow Jan; and Nicolaes, half indifferent, half ashamed, watched her progress up the stairs, and when she had disappeared in the gloom of the cor...

Gilda had refused her brother’s escort, preferring to follow Jan; and Nicolaes, half indifferent, half ashamed, watched her progress up the stairs, and when she had disappeared in the gloom of the cor...

Nicolaes’ voice, close to his elbow, roused him from his gloomy meditations. “You must be indulgent, my friend,” he was saying in a smooth conciliatory voice. “Gilda had always a wilful temper.” “And ...

The feeling of sheer horror which had caused Nicolaes to utter a sudden cry was, in truth, fully justified. “It can’t be!” he murmured, appalled at what he saw. Stoutenburg answered with a hoarse laug...

Gilda caught sight of her beloved the moment she entered. To say that their eyes met would indeed be folly. Certain it is, however, that the blind man turned his sightless gaze in her direction. She o...

Gilda caught sight of her beloved the moment she entered. To say that their eyes met would indeed be folly. Certain it is, however, that the blind man turned his sightless gaze in her direction. She o...

Then something happened. A magnetic current seemed to pass through the air. Diogenes freed himself with a sudden jerk from Gilda’s clinging arms, staggered back against the table, swaying on his feet ...

At the noise, too, the men had come running in from the hall. The sound had been akin to the detonation of a dozen pistols, and they had rushed along, prepared for a fight. With the fall of the candel...

The Lord of Stoutenburg was conscious of a great feeling of relief when the blind man was finally removed from his presence. While the latter stood there, even in the abjectness of his plight, Stouten...

The Lord of Stoutenburg was conscious of a great feeling of relief when the blind man was finally removed from his presence. While the latter stood there, even in the abjectness of his plight, Stouten...

What Gilda suffered it were a vain attempt to describe. How she contrived to remain at the table; to appear indifferent almost gay; to glance up now and again at a persuasive challenge from Stoutenbur...

But like all things, good and evil, the trial came to an end at last. The Lord of Stoutenburg gave the signal, and the burgomaster and Gilda rose from the table both, in truth, with a deep sigh of tha...

Throughout this harrowing scene the blind man had stood by, pinioned, helpless, almost lifeless in his immobility. The only sign of life in him seemed to be in those weird, sightless orbs, in which th...

Throughout this harrowing scene the blind man had stood by, pinioned, helpless, almost lifeless in his immobility. The only sign of life in him seemed to be in those weird, sightless orbs, in which th...

After Gilda and her father had disappeared on the floor above, the Lord of Stoutenburg, like a wild and caged beast awaiting satisfaction, began pacing up and down the long banqueting-hall. The doors ...

Yes, the blind man yawned, loudly and long, like one who is ready for bed. And the harmless sound completed Stoutenburg’s exasperation. He once more gave the harsh word of command: “Take the varlet ou...

The soldiers sat around the table, watching the blind man with grave attention. At a sign from Jan they soon loosened his bonds. There was something magnetic in the air just then, something that sent ...

“I must have a little time to think,” Stoutenburg muttered to himself, after a while. The blind man had apparently dropped off to sleep again. His head had once more fallen forward on his chest. Jan w...

The minutes sped by, leaden-footed for the impatience of these two men. Nicolaes and Stoutenburg, each trying to appear calm, hardly dared to speak with one another lest their speech betrayed the exac...

It was Nicolaes who first remembered the blind man. During the last momentous half-hour he had been totally forgotten. Stoutenburg during that time had been in close confabulation with Jan, discussing...

A quarter of an hour later the stately house on the quay appeared wrapped in the mantle of sleep. The soldiers, wearied and discontented, had after a good deal of murmuring, finally settled down to re...

Again it is to de Voocht’s highly interesting and reliable “Brieven” that we like to turn for an account of the Lord of Stoutenburg’s departure out of Amersfoort. It occurred at dawn of a raw, dull Ma...

Again it is to de Voocht’s highly interesting and reliable “Brieven” that we like to turn for an account of the Lord of Stoutenburg’s departure out of Amersfoort. It occurred at dawn of a raw, dull Ma...

In the meanwhile, he had strictly enjoined Jan to leave the banqueting hall undisturbed. “Let the locked door and close shutters guard the grim secret within,” he said decisively. “Apparently the Heer...

A mounted scout led the way, to clear the road of encumbrance that might retard progress. After him came the standard-bearer. Twelve Spanish halberdiers followed, the shafts of their halberts swathed ...

The spies of the Stadtholder, who had, according to Diogenes’ statement, spoken of the molen as Stoutenburg’s camp, where he had secreted great stores of arms and ammunition, had in truth been either ...

And now the midday hour had gone by, and silence, absolute, reigned in and around the molen. Stoutenburg had spend some time talking to the captain in command of his guard, had himself seen to it that...

Stoutenburg, inside the millhouse, had started on that restless pacing up and down which was so characteristic of him. He had ordered the best of the provisions to be taken up to the jongejuffrouw and...

Gilda was standing at the top of the steps with neck craned forward, her hands held tightly to her breast, her whole attitude one of nameless horror. She had been listening to the multifarious sounds ...

Pythagoras and Socrates failed to find the trail of the miscreant, who had vanished under cover of the night. We know that Stoutenburg did succeed, in fact, in reaching de Berg’s encampment, half-star...

Pythagoras and Socrates failed to find the trail of the miscreant, who had vanished under cover of the night. We know that Stoutenburg did succeed, in fact, in reaching de Berg’s encampment, half-star...

It was not until late in the night that a faint glimmer of light, coming from the fire which the two caitiffs had managed to kindle as the night was bitterly cold, reached the young soldier’s aching l...

All this and more, in the matter of detail, hath the meticulous chronicler of the time put conscientiously on record. We must assume that he was able to verify all his facts at source, chiefly through...

Out there, in the lonely molen on the Veluwe, Gilda had remained for a while, half numb with nerve strain, suffering from the reaction after the terrible excitement of the past few hours. Presently he...

Out there, in the lonely molen on the Veluwe, Gilda had remained for a while, half numb with nerve strain, suffering from the reaction after the terrible excitement of the past few hours. Presently he...

And here Diogenes found her a couple of hours later, curled up like a tired child in the arms of the old woman. He came up on tiptoe, carrying a lantern, for now it was quite dark. This he placed on t...