X

XUlenspiegel, in the garb of a pilgrim, and with no provision of food or money, departed incontinently for Bois-le-Duc, with the intention of warning the citizens. He reckonedto find a horse at the house of Jeroen Praet, the brother of Simon Simonsen, for whom he carried letters from the Prince. From thence he would go by side roads to Bois-le-Duc as fast as his horse would carry him.As he was crossing the road he spied a company of soldiers coming towards him. This gave him a great fright because of the letters which he carried; but being resolved to put the best face on the misadventure, he awaited the arrival of the soldiers with all the courage at his command, standing still by the roadside telling his beads. When the soldiers came up with him he joined them, and soon discovered that they also were going to Bois-le-Duc.At the head of the troop marched a company of Walloons led by a captain, Lamotte by name, with his bodyguard of six halberdiers. Then followed the other officers each according to rank, and with a smaller bodyguard: the provost with his halberdiers and two bailiffs, the chief watchman with the baggage-carriers, the executioner with his assistants, and a band of drums and fifes making a great row. Thereafter came a company of Flemish soldiers, two hundred strong, with their captain and his ensign-bearers. They were divided into two divisions, each of one hundred men, under the command of two sergeants, and in squads of ten under the command of corporals. The provost and his lieutenants were likewise preceded by a band of drums and fifes, beating and screaming.Behind these, again, came two open wagons wherein rode the loving companions of the soldiers, pealing with laughter, twittering like birds, singing like nightingales, eating, drinking, dancing, standing, lying down, or sitting astride—all gay and pretty girls.Many of them were dressed like foot-soldiers, but in fine white cloth which was cut away at the arms and legs and at the neck so as to show their sweet white flesh. And on their heads they wore bonnets of fine linen trimmed withgold and surmounted with magnificent ostrich plumes that fluttered in the wind. Their belts were of cloth of gold crimped with red satin, from which hung the scabbards of their daggers, made of cloth of gold. And their shoes, their stockings, their hose, their doublets, shoulder-knots and fitments were all of gold and white silk. Others there were, dressed also in the uniform of infantrymen but with uniforms of divers colours, blue, green, scarlet, sky-blue, and crimson, cut away and embroidered or emblazoned according to their fancy. But on the arm of each and all was to be seen the coloured band that indicated her calling.The girls were in charge of a sergeant who did his best to keep them in order, but they made no pretence of obeying him, but bombarded him with japes and sweet grimaces so that he found it hard to keep his countenance.Ulenspiegel meanwhile, in his dress of a pilgrim and telling his beads, went marching along by the side of the two ensign-bearers and their guard, for all the world like a little boat by the side of a big ship. Suddenly Lamotte inquired of him whither he was going.“Sir Captain,” answered Ulenspiegel, who was growing hungry, “you must know that I am one that has committed a grievous sin, for which I have been condemned by the Chapter of Notre Dame to journey to Rome on foot and to ask pardon there from the Holy Father. This he has granted, and now I am shriven and suffered to return to my own country on the one condition that I am to preach the Holy Mysteries to whatsoever soldiers I may encounter on the way; and they for their part are enjoined to give me bread and wine in return for my preaching. And thus by my sermons do I sustain my wretched life. Would you now give me permission to fulfil my vow at the next halt?”“I will,” said Monsieur de Lamotte.After this, Ulenspiegel began to mingle with the Walloons and Flemings in right brotherly fashion, but all the time hekept fingering those letters which he kept concealed under his doublet. And the girls began to cry out to him:“Come hither, handsome pilgrim, come hither and show us the strength of your pilgrim’s oyster-shells!”And Ulenspiegel drew nigh to them with modest mien, and said:“O my sisters in God, pray you do not make mock of the poor pilgrim that wendeth up hill and down dale preaching ever the Holy Faith to the soldiers.”But with his eyes he feasted himself upon the sight of their sweet charms. And the wanton girls, thrusting their lively faces betwixt the canvas curtains of the wagons, cried out to him yet the more:“Surely you are too young a man to go preaching to soldiers? Climb up into our wagon and we will teach thee more gentle subjects of conversation!”And right willingly would Ulenspiegel have done as they bade him, but he dared not, by reason of the letters which he carried. And already two of the girls were leaning out of the wagon trying to hoist him up with their white, round arms. But the sergeant was jealous.“Be off with you, or else I’ll off with your head!” he threatened.So Ulenspiegel removed himself away, but not without a sly look behind him at the fresh young beauty of those joysome girls, all golden in the sun which now shone brightly.They came at last to Berchem, where Philip de Lannoy, Lord of Beauvoir, ordered a halt. For he it was that was in command of the Flemings.Now in that place was an oak-tree, of medium height, but despoiled of all its branches save one only, a big branch that was broken off short in the middle; for only a month before an Anabaptist had been hanged there by the neck.Here then the soldiers came to a halt, and the keepers of the canteen came up and began to sell to them bread, wine,beer, with meats of every kind. And to the gay girls they sold all manner of sugared sweets, and castrelins, and almonds, and tartlets, the which when Ulenspiegel saw, he felt hungrier than ever.All at once Ulenspiegel climbed up like a monkey into the tree, and seated himself astride on the big branch, seven feet above the ground at the least. And then, when he had given himself a few strokes from his pilgrim’s scourge, he began his sermon, while the soldiers and their gay girls sat round him in a circle.“It is written,” he began, “that whosoever giveth to the poor, the same lendeth to God. Very well then, O soldiers present here to-day, and you, fair ladies, sweet comrades in love of all these valiant warriors, do you lend now to God. That is to say, give me, I beg you, some of your bread, meat, wine, beer, if you please, and eke your tartlets, and I promise you that God, who is very rich, shall give you back in exchange many pieces of ortolan, rivers of malmsey wine, mountains of sugar-candy, and great pieces of that lovelyrystpapwhich they eat in Paradise from silver spoons.”Then, changing to a more sorrowful tone, he continued:“Behold now, with what cruel tortures do I strive to merit pardon for my sins! Will you do nothing to assuage the smarting pain of this scourge by which my back is lacerated till the blood flows?”“Who is this madman?” cried the soldiers.“My friends,” answered Ulenspiegel, “I am no madman but one that is repentant even to the point of starvation. For while my soul weeps for its sins, my stomach weeps for want of food. Good soldiers, and you, fair damosels, I see you well provided with ham and goose, with fat sausages and wine and beer and all manner of tartlets. Will you not give so much as a morsel to the wandering pilgrim?”“Yes, yes, we will,” cried the Flemish soldiers, “for the preacher hath a merry countenance.”And now they all began to throw him chunks of bread as though they had been balls, and Ulenspiegel did not cease from talking and from eating, astride as he was on the branch.“Hunger,” he said, “makes a man hard of heart and little apt for prayer, yet a piece of ham removes that evil disposition in no time.”“Look out for your head,” shouted a sergeant as he threw him a bottle half full of wine. Ulenspiegel caught the bottle in mid-air, and began to drink in little gulps, talking all the while.“If hunger, sharp and raging, is bane to the poor body of a pilgrim, there is something else that is equally harmful to his soul; nothing less than his fear that the generosity of his soldier friends may lead him on to drunkenness. For as a general rule the pilgrim is a right sober fellow, but when, as now, one soldier gives him a slice of ham, and another a bottle of beer, he is mightily afraid lest by drinking thus upon an empty, or nearly empty, stomach he may lose his head.”And even as he spoke, he caught hold of the leg of a goose that came whizzing to him through the air.“This truly is a miracle,” he cried, “that one should go fishing in the air for a bird of the field! And see! Hey, presto! it has disappeared, bone and all! Verily, what is it that is greedier than dry sand? I will tell you. A barren woman and a hungry man.”Scarcely had he spoken than he clapped his hand to his face, for two tartlets had flattened themselves, one on his eye, the other on his cheek. The gay girls who had thrown them laughed aloud, but Ulenspiegel made answer:“Many thanks, my pretties, many thanks for thus embracing me with this jammy accolade.”Nevertheless the tartlets had fallen to the ground.And then suddenly the drums began to beat, the fifes screamed, and the soldiers fell in again.Monsieur de Beauvoir ordered Ulenspiegel to come downfrom his tree and to march by the side of the soldiers. Ulenspiegel would willingly have been parted from them by a hundred leagues, for he had gathered from the remarks let fall by certain thin-faced foot-soldiers that he was already under suspicion, and that he ran danger of being arrested for a spy; and if this was so, he knew that they would most certainly search his pockets, and have him hanged when they found the letters which he carried. So in a little while he purposely let himself stumble into the ditch which ran by the wayside, and as he fell he cried out loudly:“Mercy, soldiers, mercy! My leg is broken, and now I cannot walk any more. You must let me get up into the cart with the girls!”But to this he knew that the jealous sergeant would never consent.The girls, meanwhile, cried out from the carts:“Come, come, jolly pilgrim, and we will succour you, and caress and make much of you, and cure you all in a day.”“I know it,” said Ulenspiegel, “for a woman’s hand is balm celestial for all and every wound.”But the jealous sergeant consulted with Monsieur de Lamotte, saying:“Sir, I suspect that this pilgrim is playing some trick upon us with his tale of a broken leg. All he wants is to have the chance of getting up into the cart with the girls. Order him rather to be left behind on the road.”“Very well,” answered Monsieur de Lamotte.So Ulenspiegel was left where he was in the ditch.Some soldiers, who really believed that his leg was broken, were sorry for him because of his gaiety, and they left with him a two days’ ration of food and wine. And the girls would have got down and run to his assistance, but as this was forbidden they threw him all that was left of their castrelins.As soon as the soldiers had disappeared in the distance Ulenspiegel, still in his pilgrim’s dress, recovered his liberty,purchased a horse, and rode like the wind by roads and by-paths to Bois-le-Duc.When he told them the news of the approach of Monsieur de Lamotte, the townspeople flew to arms to the number of eight hundred men, and they chose out their leaders, and sent off Ulenspiegel, disguised as a charcoal-burner, to Antwerp to summon help from Hercule Brederode, surnamed the Toper.And the soldiers of de Lamotte and de Beauvoir were able to gain no entry into Bois-le-Duc, most vigilant of cities, most valiant in defence.XIOne day Simon Simonsen said to Ulenspiegel:“Hearken, brother mine, and tell me, are you a brave man think you?”“Brave enough,” answered Ulenspiegel, “to whip a Spaniard to death, to kill an assassin, or to murder a murderer.”“Do you think you could hide yourself in a chimney and wait there patiently so as to overhear what was being said in the room below?”“God has given me strong legs,” answered Ulenspiegel, “and a supple back, and in virtue of these gifts I could stand a long time in whatever position I would, like a cat.”“Have you patience and a good memory?” asked Simon.“The ashes of Claes beat upon my breast,” answered Ulenspiegel.“Very well then,” said Simon, “you will take this playing card, folded as you see it, and you will go to Dendermonde to a house, a drawing of which I will give you, and you will knock at the door twice loudly and once softly. Some one will open to you and will ask if you are the chimney-sweep; you will answer that you are he and that you have not lost the card. Then you will show the card to him who opened the door. After that, Tyl, you must do as best you can. For great are the evils that are a-planning against theland of Flanders. And you will be conducted to a chimney that has been swept and cleaned against your arrival, and in it you will find a series of strong cramp-irons made ready for you to climb by, and a little wooden shelf securely fastened to the side of the chimney for a seat; and when he that has opened the door shall direct you, you will climb up into your hiding-place, and there remain. In the chamber below, and in front of the chimney where you will be hidden, a conference is to be held between certain noble Lords: William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and the Counts d’Egmont, de Hoorn, de Hoogstraeten, and Ludwig of Nassau, the brother of William. And we Reformers desire to find out whether these noble Lords are able and willing to undertake the saving of our country.”Well, on the first day of April, Ulenspiegel did as he had been bidden and took up his place in the chimney. Luckily for him there was no fire in the grate, and it seemed that the absence of smoke would not make it any the less easy for him to hear properly. After a little while the door of the room was opened, and Ulenspiegel was pierced through and through by a draught of cold wind blowing up the chimney. But he endured the wind with patience, telling himself that it would serve to keep him alert and attentive.After a while he could hear my Lords of Orange, Egmont and the rest making their entrance into the room. They began by speaking of the fears they felt, of the wrath of the King and of the maladministration of the revenue and finances of the country. One of them spoke in a sharp, clear, and haughty tone of voice, which Ulenspiegel recognized as that of my Lord of Egmont; just as he recognized de Hoogstraeten by his husky tones, and de Hoorn by his loud voice, the Count Ludwig of Nassau by his firm and soldierly manner of speech, and William the Silent by that slow, deliberate way of enunciating his words as if they had all been thought out beforehand and weighed in a balance.The Count d’Egmont asked why they had been summoned to this second conference when they had had plenty of time at Hellegat to come to a decision on what they meant to do. De Hoorn replied that the days passed quickly, that the King was growing angry, and that they must be careful to lose no time.Then spake William the Silent.“The country is in danger. It must be defended against the attack of a foreign army.”At this d’Egmont grew excited, and said that he was indeed astonished to hear that the King his master had thought it necessary to send an army when all was so peaceful by reason of the watchful care of their noble Lordships, and of himself especially.But William the Silent made answer:“King Philip already has an army in the Low Countries consisting of not less than fourteen regiments of artillery, and they are under the control of him who commanded them at Gravelines, a general to whom all the soldiers are devoted.”D’Egmont said that he could scarcely believe it.“I will say no more,” said William, “but there are certain letters which shall be read to you and to the assembled Lords, and to begin with, letters from the poor prisoner, Monsieur de Montigny.”And in these letters it was told how that the King was extremely vexed with what was happening in the Low Countries, and that when the hour was come he had determined to punish the fomenters of disturbance.It was at this juncture that the Count d’Egmont complained of the cold, and desired to have the fire lit; the which was done while the two Lords continued their discussion of those letters. Now it was a big fire of wood, but it did not burn well on account of that big obstruction which was hidden in the chimney, and the room became quickly full of smoke.Then the Count de Hoogstraeten began to read (for all that he was coughing continually because of the smoke) certain letters which had been intercepted on their way from Alava, the Spanish ambassador, to the Governess of the Netherlands.“The ambassador,” he said, “writes that all the evil that has happened in the Low Countries was the work of three men: the Lords of Orange, Egmont, and Hoorn. But it were desirable, he adds, to appear well disposed to these three, and to tell them that the King recognizes that it is thanks to them that their lands have been kept loyal to him. As for the two others, Montigny and de Berghes, let them alone where they are.”“Ah!” said Ulenspiegel, “I had rather a smoky chimney in the land of Flanders than a damp prison in the land of Spain; for garrotters grow between damp walls.”But the Count de Hoogstraeten continued:“The said ambassador adds that on one occasion the King, being in the city of Madrid, spoke these words: ‘By all accounts that come from the Low Countries it is evident that our royal reputation is diminished, and we are ready therefore to abandon all our other possessions rather than leave such a rebellion unpunished. We are decided to proceed to the Netherlands in person, and to claim the assistance of the Pope and of the Emperor. For beneath the present evil is concealed a future good. We shall reclaim the Low Countries to absolute obedience, and according to our own will we shall modify the constitution of that State, its religion and its government.’”“Ah, King Philip,” said Ulenspiegel, “if only I could modify yours to mine! Verily you would suffer, under the blows of my trusty Flemish stick, a wondrous modification of your thighs and arms and legs! I would fix your head in the middle of your back with a couple of nails, and as you viewed from this position the charnel-house you have created,you should sing at your good ease a pretty song of tyrannous modification!”Now wine was brought, and de Hoogstraeten rose upon his feet and said:“I drink to our country!” and every one followed his example, and when he had finished the toast he threw his empty tankard down on the table, and said: “Now sounds an evil hour for the nobility of Belgium. Let us take counsel as to how we may best defend ourselves.”He awaited some response, and looked at d’Egmont, but he uttered not a word, and it was left to William of Orange to break the silence.“We can offer resistance,” he said, “provided that the Count d’Egmont—who at Saint-Quentin and at Gravelines has twice made France to tremble and who holds complete sway over the Flemish soldiery—provided that he, I repeat, is willing to come to our assistance in our endeavour to prevent the Spaniard from entering the fatherland.”To this my Lord of Egmont made answer:“I have too much respect for the King to think that it is right that we should take up arms against him like rebels. Let those who fear his wrath retire before it. I shall remain where I am, for I have no means of living if I am deprived of his help.”“Philip knows how to avenge himself most cruelly,” said William the Silent.“I trust him,” answered d’Egmont.“You would trust him with your heads?” asked Ludwig of Nassau.“Head, body, and soul,” replied d’Egmont.“Friend, faithful and true, I will do likewise,” said de Hoorn.But William said:“It behoves us to be far-sighted, and not to wait for things to happen.”And then my Lord of Egmont spoke again, very excitedly.“I have arrested twenty-two Reformers at Grammont,” he said, “and if their preachings come to an end, and if punishment is meted out to the iconoclasts, the anger of the King will be appeased.”But William said:“These are mere hopes.”“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” said d’Egmont.“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” echoed de Hoorn.“It is cold steel rather than trust that should be our weapons,” replied de Hoogstraeten.Whereupon William the Silent made a sign to the effect that he wished to depart.“Adieu, Prince without a country,” said the Count d’Egmont.“Adieu, Prince without a head,” answered William.“The sheep are for the butcher,” said Ludwig of Nassau, “but glory waits the soldier that saves the land of his fathers.”“That I cannot,” said d’Egmont, “neither do I desire to.”“May the blood of the victims fall once again upon the head of the flatterer,” said Ulenspiegel.And then those Lords retired.Whereupon did Ulenspiegel come down from his chimney, and go straightway to carry the news to Praet. And the latter said: “D’Egmont is nothing better than a traitor. But God is with the Prince.”The Duke! The Duke at Brussels! Where are the safes and coffers that have wings?XIIWilliam the Silent went in the way by God appointed. As for the two Counts, they had already given themselves up to the Duke of Alba, who offered pardon to William as well if only he would appear before him.At this news Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“My good friend, what do you think now? The Duke has sent out a summons through Dubois, the Attorney-General, by which the Prince of Orange, Ludwig his brother, de Hoogstraeten, Van den Bergh, Culembourg, de Brederode, and other friends of the Prince are cited to appear before him within forty days; and if they do this they are assured of justice and mercy. But listen, Lamme, and I will tell you a story. One day there was a Jew of Amsterdam who summoned one of his enemies to come down and join him in the street, for the Jew was standing on the pavement, but his enemy was looking out of a window just above. ‘Come down at once,’ said the Jew, ‘and I will give you such a blow on the head as will squash it down into your chest, so that your two eyes will look out from your sides like the eyes of a thief from betwixt prison-bars.’ But the other answered: ‘Even if you promised me a hundred times as much, still I would not come down.’ Even so may the Prince of Orange and his friends make reply to him that summons them!”And so they did, refusing point-blank to appear before the Duke. But the Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn were not of this mind. And their failure to do their duty brought them nearer to their doom.XIIIOne day in June, a fine warm day it was, a scaffold was set up in the market square at Brussels, in front of the Town Hall. The scaffold was draped in black, and close to it were two tall posts tipped with steel. On the scaffold were a couple of black cushions and a little table with a silver cross thereon.And on this scaffold were beheaded the noble Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And the King entered into their inheritance. And it was of the Count d’Egmont that the ambassador of Francis spake, saying:“This day have I seen a man beheaded who twice made the Kingdom of France to tremble.”And the heads of the two Counts were placed upon the posts with the iron tips. And Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“With a black cloth have they covered both their flesh and their blood. Verily, blessed now are they who keep heart high and sword drawn in the dark days that are coming!”XIVIn those days William the Silent gathered together an army and invaded the country of the Netherlands from three sides.And Ulenspiegel was at a meeting of his countrymen at Marenhout. And they were wild with anger and he addressed them in this wise:“Know you, my friends, that King Philip has taken counsel with the Holy Inquisition, and by their advice he has declared all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to be guilty of high treason. And the charge against them is one of heresy, namely, that either they are heretics themselves, or else that they have put no obstacles in the way of the spread of heretical doctrine. And for this execrable crime the King has condemned them all, without regard to age or sex, to suffer the appropriate penalties—all except a few here and there that are exempted by name. And there is no hope of grace or pardon. And the King will enter into their inheritance. For the scythes of Death are busy through all the wide land that borders the North Sea: the Duchy of Emden, the river-land of Amise, and the countries of Westphalia and of Cleves, of Juliers and Liége, together with the Bishoprics of Cologne and Treves and the lands of France and Lorraine. The scythes of Death are busy over more than three hundred leagues of our soil, and in two hundred of our walled towns, in a hundred and fifty boroughs, in the countrysides and villages and level lands of the whole country. And theKing is taking all for his own. And I tell you,” Ulenspiegel continued, “that eleven thousand executioners will not be too many for this business. But the Duke of Alba calls them soldiers. And all the land of our fathers is become a charnel-house. Fugitive are all the arts of peace, and all the crafts and industries abandon us now to enrich those foreign lands which still permit a man to worship at home the God of conscience. But here the scythes of Death are busy, and the King takes all for his own.“Our country, as you know, had gained various privileges by gifts of money to princes when they were in need. But now these privileges have all been annulled. And as the result of many an agreement made between ourselves and our overlords we had hoped to enjoy the wealth that came to us as the fruit of our labours.Yet were we deceived. The stone-mason builded for the incendiary, the labourer laboured for the thief. And the King takes all for his own.“Blood and tears! Everywhere naught but blood and tears! For the scythes of Death are busy—busy at the places of execution and at the trees that serve for gallows by the roadsides; and at many an open grave wherein are thrown the living bodies of our maids. And they are busy in the prison dungeons and within those circles of faggots that flame around the victims, scorching them little by little to death; or in the huts of straw where they fall suffocated in the fire and the smoke. And the King takes all for his own. And this, forsooth, by the will of the Pope of Rome. The very cities teem with spies that await their share of the plunder. The richer one is the more likely one is to be found guilty. And the King takes all for his own.“But never shall the valiant men of Flanders suffer themselves to be butchered thus like lambs. For among those who fly away for refuge there are some who carry arms, and these are hiding in the woods....“The monks verily have denounced them and hold themselves free to kill them and take possession of their goods. But by night and day these refugees, banded together like wild beasts, rush down upon the monasteries and seize the money that has been stolen from the poor, and take it away under the form of candlesticks and reliquaries of gold and silver, ciboria and patens, and other precious vessels of the kind.... Do I not speak truth, my friends? And they drink therefrom that wine which the monks had been keeping for themselves. And when melted down or mortgaged, these vessels will serve to provide money for the Holy War. Long live the Beggarmen!“And even now they begin to harass the soldiers of the King, killing and plundering, then back into their lairs. And in the woods by day and night are to be seen the fires which have been lit during the hours of darkness, flaring up or dying down and ever breaking out in some fresh place. These are the fires of our banquetings. All for us the game of the woods, both furred and feathered. We are the masters here. And the peasants load us with bread and bacon whenever we are in need. Look at them Lamme; fierce and talkative, resolute and proud of bearing, they wander through the woods. And they are armed with hatchets and halberds, and with long swords andbragmarts, with arquebuses, pikes, lances, and crossbows. For any kind of weapon is good enough for such brave men, and they need no officers to lead them. Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel sang this song:Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!Slit the carcass of the Duke,Flog him on his hangman’s face!To the death with the murderer!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!With the victims of his wrathFoul corruption let him share!But long live the Beggarmen!Christ from Heaven look Thou down,Look upon thy soldiers true,That risk hanging, fire, and swordFor thy Word!And for their dear Fatherland!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!And all drank the toast and cried aloud:“Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel drank in his turn from a golden goblet that had once belonged to some monk or other, and proudly he gazed on the wild faces of the brave Beggarmen that stood before him.“Men,” he cried, “wild beasts rather that are my comrades, be you wolves lions, or tigers in very deed, and eat up all the cursed dogs of this King of Blood!”“Long live the Beggarmen!” they shouted, and yet again they sang the song ofBeat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!XVWilliam the Silent, with his army, was at the gates of Liége. But before crossing the Meuse he made sundry marches and counter-marches, leading the Duke astray, for all his vigilance.Ulenspiegel applied himself most diligently to his duties as a soldier, worked his arquebus most skilfully, and kept his eyes and ears wide open.Now at that time there arrived in the camp certain gentlemen of Flanders and Brabant, and these lived in friendly fashion with the colonels and captains of the Prince’s following.But soon there came into being two parties in the camp, who began to dispute one with the other continually, some saying that William was a traitor, others that such accusation was a gross libel on the Prince, and that they who had made it should be forced to eat their words. Suspicion grew and grew like a spot of oil, and at length they came to blows—small companies of six, eight, or a dozen men fighting together in single combat, with all kinds of weapons and sometimes with arquebuses even.One day the Prince, hearing the noise, came to see what was going on, and walked straight in between the combatants. It chanced that a piece of shot hit his sword and struck it from his side. He stopped the combat, and visited the whole camp, intending to put an end once for all to these combats and to these cries of “Death to William!” “Death to the war!”Now the day after this adventure, Ulenspiegel had been to the house of a Walloon maiden to sing to her some Flemish love-songs of his. And it was near midnight, and very misty, and Ulenspiegel, being just about to leave the house, thought he heard the cawing of a crow, three times repeated. And the sound came from the door of a cottage close by. And from far off came other cawings, three times repeated, as if in answer. Presently a peasant made his appearance at the doorway of the cottage, and at the same time Ulenspiegel heard steps on the road. Two men came up to the peasant and began to talk to him in the Spanish tongue. The peasant spoke to them, also in Spanish:“Well? And how goes it?” asked the cottager.“Well, indeed,” the two men answered. “We have been spreading rumours on behalf of the King, and it is thanks to usthat the captains and their soldiers are everywhere suspicious and talking among themselves in this wise:“‘The Prince, so the gossip goes—is resisting the King for vile ambition and for nothing else. For by this means he thinks to make himself feared so that he may acquire cities and overlordships as the price of peace. For five hundred thousand florins he would leave in the lurch all the brave nobles who have come out to fight for their country. And it is a fact that the Duke has offered him a complete amnesty, and has promised to restore both him and his chief officers in their possessions, if only the Prince will return to the obedience of the King, and will negotiate with him alone.’“But they that remain faithful to the Prince make answer to us in this wise:“‘By no means will William have aught to do with the proposals of the Duke. For these are but snares and treachery. For the Prince must surely call to mind what happened to d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And it is well known that the Cardinal de Granville said at Rome, when the two Counts had been taken: “The two gudgeon, verily, have been caught, but the pike has been allowed to escape.” For nothing has been taken while William still remains at large.’”“Is the camp divided in twain then?” asked the peasant.“It is,” replied the two men, “and the division grows greater every day. But whom are those letters for?”Whereupon they all entered into the cottage. A lantern was lit inside, and looking through a crack in the door Ulenspiegel could see them unsealing two letters. These they read with every appearance of enjoyment, and then they all fell to drinking honey-wine. After which the two men came out of the cottage and said to the peasant, still speaking in Spanish:“The camp split in two, and the Prince captured—that will be worth a dozen glasses, eh?”“Those men,” said Ulenspiegel to himself, “cannot longer be allowed to live.”But even now they were disappearing in the thick mist, with the lantern which the peasant had brought for them. The light of the lantern shone out intermittently, as if continually intercepted by some dark body. From this Ulenspiegel concluded that the two men must be walking one behind the other.He raised his arquebus to his shoulder and fired. Then he saw the lantern raised and lowered several times, as if the man who carried it was looking at his fallen comrade, trying to discover where he had been hit and the nature of the wound.Yet again did Ulenspiegel raise his arquebus, and then when the lantern began to steady itself and to retreat speedily towards the camp, he fired again. Now the lantern swayed, fell to the ground and went out, leaving all in darkness.Ulenspiegel ran on to the camp, and there he soon encountered the provost with a number of soldiers who had been awakened by the noise of the firing. Ulenspiegel accosted them, saying: “I am the huntsman. Go you now and find the game.”“Brave Fleming,” said the provost, “methinks you are a man that knows other ways of talking besides with your tongue.”“Words of the tongue they are but so much wind,” answered Ulenspiegel. “But words of lead—they know how to find for themselves a lasting habitation in the carcass of a traitor! Come then, follow me.”And so saying he led them to the place where the two men had fallen. And in very deed the soldiers saw by the light of their lanterns two bodies stretched out on the ground. One was dead, and the other at the last gasp, holding his hand to his heart, and in his hand a letter all crumpled in the agony of death. The soldiers lifted the two bodies, whoseclothes clearly showed them to be the bodies of gentlemen, and straightway carried them, still by the light of their lanterns, to the Prince.Now William was about to hold a council with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, and other nobles. But the soldiers, who had now been joined by a company of other troopers in green and yellow jackets, stood before the tent, demanding with shouts and cries that the Prince should give them audience.At length William of Orange came out to them, and the provost began to clear his throat and make other preliminaries for the accusation of Ulenspiegel. But the latter cut in before him, saying:“My Lord, I had thought to kill two crows, but I have killed two traitors in their stead—two noblemen—belonging to your suite.”Then he told the story of all that he had seen and heard and done. William did not utter a word, but the two bodies were carefully examined in the presence of Ulenspiegel himself and William the Silent, together with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, Dietrich of Schoonenbergh, Count Albert of Nassau, the Count de Hoogstraeten, and Antoine de Lailang, Governor of Malines. And the soldiers stood by, with Lamme Goedzak, his great belly all of a tremble. Sealed letters were found on the persons of the deceased gentlemen, which had been sent by Granvelles and Noircames, and engaged the recipients to sow division in the Prince’s entourage, and by that means to diminish his power and to compel him to yield, so that he might ultimately be delivered up to the Duke and beheaded according to his deserts. “The right procedure is,” continued the letter, “to act at first with caution and to use allusive phrases only, so that the army may be led to think that the Prince has already come to a secret understanding with the Duke, for his own advantage. This will arouse the anger of hiscaptains and soldiers, and they will assuredly take him prisoner.” Now as a reward for this service it appeared that notes to the value of some five hundred ducats were being sent them on the Fugger Bank at Antwerp, and they were promised a thousand more as soon as the four hundred thousand ducats which were already on their way from Spain had arrived in Zeeland.The whole plot having been now unmasked, the Prince turned in silence towards the gentlemen, Lords, and soldiers who stood round him. Many of these men he knew to be suspicious of him already, nevertheless, he pointed at the two bodies without speaking a word, intending by this gesture to reproach them for their mistrust. And at this every one present there exclaimed and shouted aloud:“Long live the Prince of Orange! The Prince is faithful and true!” And such was their anger that they were desirous to throw the two dead bodies to the dogs; but William forbade them, saying:“It is not these two poor corpses that deserve to be thrown to the dogs so much as that littleness of mind which must needs be suspicious of the purest intentions.”And the Lords and soldiers cried out again:“Long live the Prince! Long live the Prince of Orange, the friend of our country!”And the sound of their voices was like the noise of thunder threatening injustice. And the Prince pointed to the two corpses and ordered that they should be given Christian burial.“And I,” demanded Ulenspiegel, “what shall be done to me, faithful and true? If I have done evil let me be beaten, but if good—why then let me be suitably rewarded!”Then the Prince addressed him, saying:“This soldier is to receive fifty strokes from the green wood in my presence for having killed two gentlemen without orders, to the contempt of all discipline. At the same timelet him receive a reward of thirty florins for having used his eyes and ears to some purpose.”“My Lord,” answered Ulenspiegel, “give me the thirty florins first, and I shall then be able to support my beating with equanimity.”“Yes, yes,” murmured Lamme Goedzak, “give him the thirty florins first, and then he will bear the rest with equanimity.”“One thing more,” said Ulenspiegel, “since my soul is admittedly free from fault, is there any real reason why I must be cleansed with the wood of the oak or washed with the branch of the cherry-tree?”“No,” murmured Lamme again, “Ulenspiegel surely has no need to be washed or cleansed. For his soul is without stain. Do not wash it, my masters, do not wash it.”But when Ulenspiegel had received the thirty florins the provost ordered him to give himself up to theStock-meester.“Behold, my Lords,” said Lamme, “behold how piteous he looks. There’s no love lost between the hard wood and him—my beloved Ulenspiegel.”But Ulenspiegel answered:“Of a truth I love a fine ash-tree in full leaf, growing up towards the sun in all its native verdure, but I agree I loathe like poison these heavy cudgels of wood with their sap still oozing out of them, stripped of their branches and without any leaves or twigs growing thereon, for they are rough to look upon and hard to feel.”“Are you ready?” demanded the provost.“Ready?” Ulenspiegel repeated. “Ready for what? Ready to be flogged do you mean? No, I cannot, nor will I, be flogged by you, Mr.Stock-meester. You have a red beard certainly, and your appearance is formidable. Nevertheless, I am sure that you have a kind heart and would have no desire to thrash a poor fellow like me. And now to tell you the truth I should be loath to do such a thing myself, muchless to see any one else do it. For the back of a Christian is a sacred thing, as sacred as his breast which holds the lungs, those trusty organs whereby we breathe the goodly air of God. And think how bitter would be your remorse if a too brutal blow from your cudgel should chance to break me in pieces!”“Make haste,” said theStock-meester.“My Lord,” said Ulenspiegel, addressing himself to the Prince, “believe me, there is no need for all this hurry. First of all the wood of the cudgel ought to be allowed to dry. For I have heard that wood while still green is like to communicate a mortal poison to any flesh with which it comes in contact. Would your Highness desire to see me die such an ugly death? My Lord, my back I hold most pitifully at your service. Have it flogged, if you must, with rods and lashed with whips. But unless you wish to see me dead, spare me, I pray you, from the wood while it is still green.”“Have mercy on him, Prince,” cried my Lords of Hoogstraeten and of Schoonenbergh both together; while the others all began to smile compassionately. Lamme also put in a word of his own, “Have mercy, my Lord. Green wood is poison, neither more nor less than rank poison!”The Prince said:“Very well.”Thereupon Ulenspiegel leapt in the air again and again, and smote Lamme on his belly and compelled him to dance too, saying: “Join me now in praising the good Duke who has delivered me from the green wood.”And Lamme did his best to dance, but could not very well because of his belly. And Ulenspiegel gave him to eat and to drink as much as he was able.

XUlenspiegel, in the garb of a pilgrim, and with no provision of food or money, departed incontinently for Bois-le-Duc, with the intention of warning the citizens. He reckonedto find a horse at the house of Jeroen Praet, the brother of Simon Simonsen, for whom he carried letters from the Prince. From thence he would go by side roads to Bois-le-Duc as fast as his horse would carry him.As he was crossing the road he spied a company of soldiers coming towards him. This gave him a great fright because of the letters which he carried; but being resolved to put the best face on the misadventure, he awaited the arrival of the soldiers with all the courage at his command, standing still by the roadside telling his beads. When the soldiers came up with him he joined them, and soon discovered that they also were going to Bois-le-Duc.At the head of the troop marched a company of Walloons led by a captain, Lamotte by name, with his bodyguard of six halberdiers. Then followed the other officers each according to rank, and with a smaller bodyguard: the provost with his halberdiers and two bailiffs, the chief watchman with the baggage-carriers, the executioner with his assistants, and a band of drums and fifes making a great row. Thereafter came a company of Flemish soldiers, two hundred strong, with their captain and his ensign-bearers. They were divided into two divisions, each of one hundred men, under the command of two sergeants, and in squads of ten under the command of corporals. The provost and his lieutenants were likewise preceded by a band of drums and fifes, beating and screaming.Behind these, again, came two open wagons wherein rode the loving companions of the soldiers, pealing with laughter, twittering like birds, singing like nightingales, eating, drinking, dancing, standing, lying down, or sitting astride—all gay and pretty girls.Many of them were dressed like foot-soldiers, but in fine white cloth which was cut away at the arms and legs and at the neck so as to show their sweet white flesh. And on their heads they wore bonnets of fine linen trimmed withgold and surmounted with magnificent ostrich plumes that fluttered in the wind. Their belts were of cloth of gold crimped with red satin, from which hung the scabbards of their daggers, made of cloth of gold. And their shoes, their stockings, their hose, their doublets, shoulder-knots and fitments were all of gold and white silk. Others there were, dressed also in the uniform of infantrymen but with uniforms of divers colours, blue, green, scarlet, sky-blue, and crimson, cut away and embroidered or emblazoned according to their fancy. But on the arm of each and all was to be seen the coloured band that indicated her calling.The girls were in charge of a sergeant who did his best to keep them in order, but they made no pretence of obeying him, but bombarded him with japes and sweet grimaces so that he found it hard to keep his countenance.Ulenspiegel meanwhile, in his dress of a pilgrim and telling his beads, went marching along by the side of the two ensign-bearers and their guard, for all the world like a little boat by the side of a big ship. Suddenly Lamotte inquired of him whither he was going.“Sir Captain,” answered Ulenspiegel, who was growing hungry, “you must know that I am one that has committed a grievous sin, for which I have been condemned by the Chapter of Notre Dame to journey to Rome on foot and to ask pardon there from the Holy Father. This he has granted, and now I am shriven and suffered to return to my own country on the one condition that I am to preach the Holy Mysteries to whatsoever soldiers I may encounter on the way; and they for their part are enjoined to give me bread and wine in return for my preaching. And thus by my sermons do I sustain my wretched life. Would you now give me permission to fulfil my vow at the next halt?”“I will,” said Monsieur de Lamotte.After this, Ulenspiegel began to mingle with the Walloons and Flemings in right brotherly fashion, but all the time hekept fingering those letters which he kept concealed under his doublet. And the girls began to cry out to him:“Come hither, handsome pilgrim, come hither and show us the strength of your pilgrim’s oyster-shells!”And Ulenspiegel drew nigh to them with modest mien, and said:“O my sisters in God, pray you do not make mock of the poor pilgrim that wendeth up hill and down dale preaching ever the Holy Faith to the soldiers.”But with his eyes he feasted himself upon the sight of their sweet charms. And the wanton girls, thrusting their lively faces betwixt the canvas curtains of the wagons, cried out to him yet the more:“Surely you are too young a man to go preaching to soldiers? Climb up into our wagon and we will teach thee more gentle subjects of conversation!”And right willingly would Ulenspiegel have done as they bade him, but he dared not, by reason of the letters which he carried. And already two of the girls were leaning out of the wagon trying to hoist him up with their white, round arms. But the sergeant was jealous.“Be off with you, or else I’ll off with your head!” he threatened.So Ulenspiegel removed himself away, but not without a sly look behind him at the fresh young beauty of those joysome girls, all golden in the sun which now shone brightly.They came at last to Berchem, where Philip de Lannoy, Lord of Beauvoir, ordered a halt. For he it was that was in command of the Flemings.Now in that place was an oak-tree, of medium height, but despoiled of all its branches save one only, a big branch that was broken off short in the middle; for only a month before an Anabaptist had been hanged there by the neck.Here then the soldiers came to a halt, and the keepers of the canteen came up and began to sell to them bread, wine,beer, with meats of every kind. And to the gay girls they sold all manner of sugared sweets, and castrelins, and almonds, and tartlets, the which when Ulenspiegel saw, he felt hungrier than ever.All at once Ulenspiegel climbed up like a monkey into the tree, and seated himself astride on the big branch, seven feet above the ground at the least. And then, when he had given himself a few strokes from his pilgrim’s scourge, he began his sermon, while the soldiers and their gay girls sat round him in a circle.“It is written,” he began, “that whosoever giveth to the poor, the same lendeth to God. Very well then, O soldiers present here to-day, and you, fair ladies, sweet comrades in love of all these valiant warriors, do you lend now to God. That is to say, give me, I beg you, some of your bread, meat, wine, beer, if you please, and eke your tartlets, and I promise you that God, who is very rich, shall give you back in exchange many pieces of ortolan, rivers of malmsey wine, mountains of sugar-candy, and great pieces of that lovelyrystpapwhich they eat in Paradise from silver spoons.”Then, changing to a more sorrowful tone, he continued:“Behold now, with what cruel tortures do I strive to merit pardon for my sins! Will you do nothing to assuage the smarting pain of this scourge by which my back is lacerated till the blood flows?”“Who is this madman?” cried the soldiers.“My friends,” answered Ulenspiegel, “I am no madman but one that is repentant even to the point of starvation. For while my soul weeps for its sins, my stomach weeps for want of food. Good soldiers, and you, fair damosels, I see you well provided with ham and goose, with fat sausages and wine and beer and all manner of tartlets. Will you not give so much as a morsel to the wandering pilgrim?”“Yes, yes, we will,” cried the Flemish soldiers, “for the preacher hath a merry countenance.”And now they all began to throw him chunks of bread as though they had been balls, and Ulenspiegel did not cease from talking and from eating, astride as he was on the branch.“Hunger,” he said, “makes a man hard of heart and little apt for prayer, yet a piece of ham removes that evil disposition in no time.”“Look out for your head,” shouted a sergeant as he threw him a bottle half full of wine. Ulenspiegel caught the bottle in mid-air, and began to drink in little gulps, talking all the while.“If hunger, sharp and raging, is bane to the poor body of a pilgrim, there is something else that is equally harmful to his soul; nothing less than his fear that the generosity of his soldier friends may lead him on to drunkenness. For as a general rule the pilgrim is a right sober fellow, but when, as now, one soldier gives him a slice of ham, and another a bottle of beer, he is mightily afraid lest by drinking thus upon an empty, or nearly empty, stomach he may lose his head.”And even as he spoke, he caught hold of the leg of a goose that came whizzing to him through the air.“This truly is a miracle,” he cried, “that one should go fishing in the air for a bird of the field! And see! Hey, presto! it has disappeared, bone and all! Verily, what is it that is greedier than dry sand? I will tell you. A barren woman and a hungry man.”Scarcely had he spoken than he clapped his hand to his face, for two tartlets had flattened themselves, one on his eye, the other on his cheek. The gay girls who had thrown them laughed aloud, but Ulenspiegel made answer:“Many thanks, my pretties, many thanks for thus embracing me with this jammy accolade.”Nevertheless the tartlets had fallen to the ground.And then suddenly the drums began to beat, the fifes screamed, and the soldiers fell in again.Monsieur de Beauvoir ordered Ulenspiegel to come downfrom his tree and to march by the side of the soldiers. Ulenspiegel would willingly have been parted from them by a hundred leagues, for he had gathered from the remarks let fall by certain thin-faced foot-soldiers that he was already under suspicion, and that he ran danger of being arrested for a spy; and if this was so, he knew that they would most certainly search his pockets, and have him hanged when they found the letters which he carried. So in a little while he purposely let himself stumble into the ditch which ran by the wayside, and as he fell he cried out loudly:“Mercy, soldiers, mercy! My leg is broken, and now I cannot walk any more. You must let me get up into the cart with the girls!”But to this he knew that the jealous sergeant would never consent.The girls, meanwhile, cried out from the carts:“Come, come, jolly pilgrim, and we will succour you, and caress and make much of you, and cure you all in a day.”“I know it,” said Ulenspiegel, “for a woman’s hand is balm celestial for all and every wound.”But the jealous sergeant consulted with Monsieur de Lamotte, saying:“Sir, I suspect that this pilgrim is playing some trick upon us with his tale of a broken leg. All he wants is to have the chance of getting up into the cart with the girls. Order him rather to be left behind on the road.”“Very well,” answered Monsieur de Lamotte.So Ulenspiegel was left where he was in the ditch.Some soldiers, who really believed that his leg was broken, were sorry for him because of his gaiety, and they left with him a two days’ ration of food and wine. And the girls would have got down and run to his assistance, but as this was forbidden they threw him all that was left of their castrelins.As soon as the soldiers had disappeared in the distance Ulenspiegel, still in his pilgrim’s dress, recovered his liberty,purchased a horse, and rode like the wind by roads and by-paths to Bois-le-Duc.When he told them the news of the approach of Monsieur de Lamotte, the townspeople flew to arms to the number of eight hundred men, and they chose out their leaders, and sent off Ulenspiegel, disguised as a charcoal-burner, to Antwerp to summon help from Hercule Brederode, surnamed the Toper.And the soldiers of de Lamotte and de Beauvoir were able to gain no entry into Bois-le-Duc, most vigilant of cities, most valiant in defence.XIOne day Simon Simonsen said to Ulenspiegel:“Hearken, brother mine, and tell me, are you a brave man think you?”“Brave enough,” answered Ulenspiegel, “to whip a Spaniard to death, to kill an assassin, or to murder a murderer.”“Do you think you could hide yourself in a chimney and wait there patiently so as to overhear what was being said in the room below?”“God has given me strong legs,” answered Ulenspiegel, “and a supple back, and in virtue of these gifts I could stand a long time in whatever position I would, like a cat.”“Have you patience and a good memory?” asked Simon.“The ashes of Claes beat upon my breast,” answered Ulenspiegel.“Very well then,” said Simon, “you will take this playing card, folded as you see it, and you will go to Dendermonde to a house, a drawing of which I will give you, and you will knock at the door twice loudly and once softly. Some one will open to you and will ask if you are the chimney-sweep; you will answer that you are he and that you have not lost the card. Then you will show the card to him who opened the door. After that, Tyl, you must do as best you can. For great are the evils that are a-planning against theland of Flanders. And you will be conducted to a chimney that has been swept and cleaned against your arrival, and in it you will find a series of strong cramp-irons made ready for you to climb by, and a little wooden shelf securely fastened to the side of the chimney for a seat; and when he that has opened the door shall direct you, you will climb up into your hiding-place, and there remain. In the chamber below, and in front of the chimney where you will be hidden, a conference is to be held between certain noble Lords: William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and the Counts d’Egmont, de Hoorn, de Hoogstraeten, and Ludwig of Nassau, the brother of William. And we Reformers desire to find out whether these noble Lords are able and willing to undertake the saving of our country.”Well, on the first day of April, Ulenspiegel did as he had been bidden and took up his place in the chimney. Luckily for him there was no fire in the grate, and it seemed that the absence of smoke would not make it any the less easy for him to hear properly. After a little while the door of the room was opened, and Ulenspiegel was pierced through and through by a draught of cold wind blowing up the chimney. But he endured the wind with patience, telling himself that it would serve to keep him alert and attentive.After a while he could hear my Lords of Orange, Egmont and the rest making their entrance into the room. They began by speaking of the fears they felt, of the wrath of the King and of the maladministration of the revenue and finances of the country. One of them spoke in a sharp, clear, and haughty tone of voice, which Ulenspiegel recognized as that of my Lord of Egmont; just as he recognized de Hoogstraeten by his husky tones, and de Hoorn by his loud voice, the Count Ludwig of Nassau by his firm and soldierly manner of speech, and William the Silent by that slow, deliberate way of enunciating his words as if they had all been thought out beforehand and weighed in a balance.The Count d’Egmont asked why they had been summoned to this second conference when they had had plenty of time at Hellegat to come to a decision on what they meant to do. De Hoorn replied that the days passed quickly, that the King was growing angry, and that they must be careful to lose no time.Then spake William the Silent.“The country is in danger. It must be defended against the attack of a foreign army.”At this d’Egmont grew excited, and said that he was indeed astonished to hear that the King his master had thought it necessary to send an army when all was so peaceful by reason of the watchful care of their noble Lordships, and of himself especially.But William the Silent made answer:“King Philip already has an army in the Low Countries consisting of not less than fourteen regiments of artillery, and they are under the control of him who commanded them at Gravelines, a general to whom all the soldiers are devoted.”D’Egmont said that he could scarcely believe it.“I will say no more,” said William, “but there are certain letters which shall be read to you and to the assembled Lords, and to begin with, letters from the poor prisoner, Monsieur de Montigny.”And in these letters it was told how that the King was extremely vexed with what was happening in the Low Countries, and that when the hour was come he had determined to punish the fomenters of disturbance.It was at this juncture that the Count d’Egmont complained of the cold, and desired to have the fire lit; the which was done while the two Lords continued their discussion of those letters. Now it was a big fire of wood, but it did not burn well on account of that big obstruction which was hidden in the chimney, and the room became quickly full of smoke.Then the Count de Hoogstraeten began to read (for all that he was coughing continually because of the smoke) certain letters which had been intercepted on their way from Alava, the Spanish ambassador, to the Governess of the Netherlands.“The ambassador,” he said, “writes that all the evil that has happened in the Low Countries was the work of three men: the Lords of Orange, Egmont, and Hoorn. But it were desirable, he adds, to appear well disposed to these three, and to tell them that the King recognizes that it is thanks to them that their lands have been kept loyal to him. As for the two others, Montigny and de Berghes, let them alone where they are.”“Ah!” said Ulenspiegel, “I had rather a smoky chimney in the land of Flanders than a damp prison in the land of Spain; for garrotters grow between damp walls.”But the Count de Hoogstraeten continued:“The said ambassador adds that on one occasion the King, being in the city of Madrid, spoke these words: ‘By all accounts that come from the Low Countries it is evident that our royal reputation is diminished, and we are ready therefore to abandon all our other possessions rather than leave such a rebellion unpunished. We are decided to proceed to the Netherlands in person, and to claim the assistance of the Pope and of the Emperor. For beneath the present evil is concealed a future good. We shall reclaim the Low Countries to absolute obedience, and according to our own will we shall modify the constitution of that State, its religion and its government.’”“Ah, King Philip,” said Ulenspiegel, “if only I could modify yours to mine! Verily you would suffer, under the blows of my trusty Flemish stick, a wondrous modification of your thighs and arms and legs! I would fix your head in the middle of your back with a couple of nails, and as you viewed from this position the charnel-house you have created,you should sing at your good ease a pretty song of tyrannous modification!”Now wine was brought, and de Hoogstraeten rose upon his feet and said:“I drink to our country!” and every one followed his example, and when he had finished the toast he threw his empty tankard down on the table, and said: “Now sounds an evil hour for the nobility of Belgium. Let us take counsel as to how we may best defend ourselves.”He awaited some response, and looked at d’Egmont, but he uttered not a word, and it was left to William of Orange to break the silence.“We can offer resistance,” he said, “provided that the Count d’Egmont—who at Saint-Quentin and at Gravelines has twice made France to tremble and who holds complete sway over the Flemish soldiery—provided that he, I repeat, is willing to come to our assistance in our endeavour to prevent the Spaniard from entering the fatherland.”To this my Lord of Egmont made answer:“I have too much respect for the King to think that it is right that we should take up arms against him like rebels. Let those who fear his wrath retire before it. I shall remain where I am, for I have no means of living if I am deprived of his help.”“Philip knows how to avenge himself most cruelly,” said William the Silent.“I trust him,” answered d’Egmont.“You would trust him with your heads?” asked Ludwig of Nassau.“Head, body, and soul,” replied d’Egmont.“Friend, faithful and true, I will do likewise,” said de Hoorn.But William said:“It behoves us to be far-sighted, and not to wait for things to happen.”And then my Lord of Egmont spoke again, very excitedly.“I have arrested twenty-two Reformers at Grammont,” he said, “and if their preachings come to an end, and if punishment is meted out to the iconoclasts, the anger of the King will be appeased.”But William said:“These are mere hopes.”“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” said d’Egmont.“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” echoed de Hoorn.“It is cold steel rather than trust that should be our weapons,” replied de Hoogstraeten.Whereupon William the Silent made a sign to the effect that he wished to depart.“Adieu, Prince without a country,” said the Count d’Egmont.“Adieu, Prince without a head,” answered William.“The sheep are for the butcher,” said Ludwig of Nassau, “but glory waits the soldier that saves the land of his fathers.”“That I cannot,” said d’Egmont, “neither do I desire to.”“May the blood of the victims fall once again upon the head of the flatterer,” said Ulenspiegel.And then those Lords retired.Whereupon did Ulenspiegel come down from his chimney, and go straightway to carry the news to Praet. And the latter said: “D’Egmont is nothing better than a traitor. But God is with the Prince.”The Duke! The Duke at Brussels! Where are the safes and coffers that have wings?XIIWilliam the Silent went in the way by God appointed. As for the two Counts, they had already given themselves up to the Duke of Alba, who offered pardon to William as well if only he would appear before him.At this news Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“My good friend, what do you think now? The Duke has sent out a summons through Dubois, the Attorney-General, by which the Prince of Orange, Ludwig his brother, de Hoogstraeten, Van den Bergh, Culembourg, de Brederode, and other friends of the Prince are cited to appear before him within forty days; and if they do this they are assured of justice and mercy. But listen, Lamme, and I will tell you a story. One day there was a Jew of Amsterdam who summoned one of his enemies to come down and join him in the street, for the Jew was standing on the pavement, but his enemy was looking out of a window just above. ‘Come down at once,’ said the Jew, ‘and I will give you such a blow on the head as will squash it down into your chest, so that your two eyes will look out from your sides like the eyes of a thief from betwixt prison-bars.’ But the other answered: ‘Even if you promised me a hundred times as much, still I would not come down.’ Even so may the Prince of Orange and his friends make reply to him that summons them!”And so they did, refusing point-blank to appear before the Duke. But the Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn were not of this mind. And their failure to do their duty brought them nearer to their doom.XIIIOne day in June, a fine warm day it was, a scaffold was set up in the market square at Brussels, in front of the Town Hall. The scaffold was draped in black, and close to it were two tall posts tipped with steel. On the scaffold were a couple of black cushions and a little table with a silver cross thereon.And on this scaffold were beheaded the noble Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And the King entered into their inheritance. And it was of the Count d’Egmont that the ambassador of Francis spake, saying:“This day have I seen a man beheaded who twice made the Kingdom of France to tremble.”And the heads of the two Counts were placed upon the posts with the iron tips. And Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“With a black cloth have they covered both their flesh and their blood. Verily, blessed now are they who keep heart high and sword drawn in the dark days that are coming!”XIVIn those days William the Silent gathered together an army and invaded the country of the Netherlands from three sides.And Ulenspiegel was at a meeting of his countrymen at Marenhout. And they were wild with anger and he addressed them in this wise:“Know you, my friends, that King Philip has taken counsel with the Holy Inquisition, and by their advice he has declared all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to be guilty of high treason. And the charge against them is one of heresy, namely, that either they are heretics themselves, or else that they have put no obstacles in the way of the spread of heretical doctrine. And for this execrable crime the King has condemned them all, without regard to age or sex, to suffer the appropriate penalties—all except a few here and there that are exempted by name. And there is no hope of grace or pardon. And the King will enter into their inheritance. For the scythes of Death are busy through all the wide land that borders the North Sea: the Duchy of Emden, the river-land of Amise, and the countries of Westphalia and of Cleves, of Juliers and Liége, together with the Bishoprics of Cologne and Treves and the lands of France and Lorraine. The scythes of Death are busy over more than three hundred leagues of our soil, and in two hundred of our walled towns, in a hundred and fifty boroughs, in the countrysides and villages and level lands of the whole country. And theKing is taking all for his own. And I tell you,” Ulenspiegel continued, “that eleven thousand executioners will not be too many for this business. But the Duke of Alba calls them soldiers. And all the land of our fathers is become a charnel-house. Fugitive are all the arts of peace, and all the crafts and industries abandon us now to enrich those foreign lands which still permit a man to worship at home the God of conscience. But here the scythes of Death are busy, and the King takes all for his own.“Our country, as you know, had gained various privileges by gifts of money to princes when they were in need. But now these privileges have all been annulled. And as the result of many an agreement made between ourselves and our overlords we had hoped to enjoy the wealth that came to us as the fruit of our labours.Yet were we deceived. The stone-mason builded for the incendiary, the labourer laboured for the thief. And the King takes all for his own.“Blood and tears! Everywhere naught but blood and tears! For the scythes of Death are busy—busy at the places of execution and at the trees that serve for gallows by the roadsides; and at many an open grave wherein are thrown the living bodies of our maids. And they are busy in the prison dungeons and within those circles of faggots that flame around the victims, scorching them little by little to death; or in the huts of straw where they fall suffocated in the fire and the smoke. And the King takes all for his own. And this, forsooth, by the will of the Pope of Rome. The very cities teem with spies that await their share of the plunder. The richer one is the more likely one is to be found guilty. And the King takes all for his own.“But never shall the valiant men of Flanders suffer themselves to be butchered thus like lambs. For among those who fly away for refuge there are some who carry arms, and these are hiding in the woods....“The monks verily have denounced them and hold themselves free to kill them and take possession of their goods. But by night and day these refugees, banded together like wild beasts, rush down upon the monasteries and seize the money that has been stolen from the poor, and take it away under the form of candlesticks and reliquaries of gold and silver, ciboria and patens, and other precious vessels of the kind.... Do I not speak truth, my friends? And they drink therefrom that wine which the monks had been keeping for themselves. And when melted down or mortgaged, these vessels will serve to provide money for the Holy War. Long live the Beggarmen!“And even now they begin to harass the soldiers of the King, killing and plundering, then back into their lairs. And in the woods by day and night are to be seen the fires which have been lit during the hours of darkness, flaring up or dying down and ever breaking out in some fresh place. These are the fires of our banquetings. All for us the game of the woods, both furred and feathered. We are the masters here. And the peasants load us with bread and bacon whenever we are in need. Look at them Lamme; fierce and talkative, resolute and proud of bearing, they wander through the woods. And they are armed with hatchets and halberds, and with long swords andbragmarts, with arquebuses, pikes, lances, and crossbows. For any kind of weapon is good enough for such brave men, and they need no officers to lead them. Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel sang this song:Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!Slit the carcass of the Duke,Flog him on his hangman’s face!To the death with the murderer!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!With the victims of his wrathFoul corruption let him share!But long live the Beggarmen!Christ from Heaven look Thou down,Look upon thy soldiers true,That risk hanging, fire, and swordFor thy Word!And for their dear Fatherland!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!And all drank the toast and cried aloud:“Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel drank in his turn from a golden goblet that had once belonged to some monk or other, and proudly he gazed on the wild faces of the brave Beggarmen that stood before him.“Men,” he cried, “wild beasts rather that are my comrades, be you wolves lions, or tigers in very deed, and eat up all the cursed dogs of this King of Blood!”“Long live the Beggarmen!” they shouted, and yet again they sang the song ofBeat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!XVWilliam the Silent, with his army, was at the gates of Liége. But before crossing the Meuse he made sundry marches and counter-marches, leading the Duke astray, for all his vigilance.Ulenspiegel applied himself most diligently to his duties as a soldier, worked his arquebus most skilfully, and kept his eyes and ears wide open.Now at that time there arrived in the camp certain gentlemen of Flanders and Brabant, and these lived in friendly fashion with the colonels and captains of the Prince’s following.But soon there came into being two parties in the camp, who began to dispute one with the other continually, some saying that William was a traitor, others that such accusation was a gross libel on the Prince, and that they who had made it should be forced to eat their words. Suspicion grew and grew like a spot of oil, and at length they came to blows—small companies of six, eight, or a dozen men fighting together in single combat, with all kinds of weapons and sometimes with arquebuses even.One day the Prince, hearing the noise, came to see what was going on, and walked straight in between the combatants. It chanced that a piece of shot hit his sword and struck it from his side. He stopped the combat, and visited the whole camp, intending to put an end once for all to these combats and to these cries of “Death to William!” “Death to the war!”Now the day after this adventure, Ulenspiegel had been to the house of a Walloon maiden to sing to her some Flemish love-songs of his. And it was near midnight, and very misty, and Ulenspiegel, being just about to leave the house, thought he heard the cawing of a crow, three times repeated. And the sound came from the door of a cottage close by. And from far off came other cawings, three times repeated, as if in answer. Presently a peasant made his appearance at the doorway of the cottage, and at the same time Ulenspiegel heard steps on the road. Two men came up to the peasant and began to talk to him in the Spanish tongue. The peasant spoke to them, also in Spanish:“Well? And how goes it?” asked the cottager.“Well, indeed,” the two men answered. “We have been spreading rumours on behalf of the King, and it is thanks to usthat the captains and their soldiers are everywhere suspicious and talking among themselves in this wise:“‘The Prince, so the gossip goes—is resisting the King for vile ambition and for nothing else. For by this means he thinks to make himself feared so that he may acquire cities and overlordships as the price of peace. For five hundred thousand florins he would leave in the lurch all the brave nobles who have come out to fight for their country. And it is a fact that the Duke has offered him a complete amnesty, and has promised to restore both him and his chief officers in their possessions, if only the Prince will return to the obedience of the King, and will negotiate with him alone.’“But they that remain faithful to the Prince make answer to us in this wise:“‘By no means will William have aught to do with the proposals of the Duke. For these are but snares and treachery. For the Prince must surely call to mind what happened to d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And it is well known that the Cardinal de Granville said at Rome, when the two Counts had been taken: “The two gudgeon, verily, have been caught, but the pike has been allowed to escape.” For nothing has been taken while William still remains at large.’”“Is the camp divided in twain then?” asked the peasant.“It is,” replied the two men, “and the division grows greater every day. But whom are those letters for?”Whereupon they all entered into the cottage. A lantern was lit inside, and looking through a crack in the door Ulenspiegel could see them unsealing two letters. These they read with every appearance of enjoyment, and then they all fell to drinking honey-wine. After which the two men came out of the cottage and said to the peasant, still speaking in Spanish:“The camp split in two, and the Prince captured—that will be worth a dozen glasses, eh?”“Those men,” said Ulenspiegel to himself, “cannot longer be allowed to live.”But even now they were disappearing in the thick mist, with the lantern which the peasant had brought for them. The light of the lantern shone out intermittently, as if continually intercepted by some dark body. From this Ulenspiegel concluded that the two men must be walking one behind the other.He raised his arquebus to his shoulder and fired. Then he saw the lantern raised and lowered several times, as if the man who carried it was looking at his fallen comrade, trying to discover where he had been hit and the nature of the wound.Yet again did Ulenspiegel raise his arquebus, and then when the lantern began to steady itself and to retreat speedily towards the camp, he fired again. Now the lantern swayed, fell to the ground and went out, leaving all in darkness.Ulenspiegel ran on to the camp, and there he soon encountered the provost with a number of soldiers who had been awakened by the noise of the firing. Ulenspiegel accosted them, saying: “I am the huntsman. Go you now and find the game.”“Brave Fleming,” said the provost, “methinks you are a man that knows other ways of talking besides with your tongue.”“Words of the tongue they are but so much wind,” answered Ulenspiegel. “But words of lead—they know how to find for themselves a lasting habitation in the carcass of a traitor! Come then, follow me.”And so saying he led them to the place where the two men had fallen. And in very deed the soldiers saw by the light of their lanterns two bodies stretched out on the ground. One was dead, and the other at the last gasp, holding his hand to his heart, and in his hand a letter all crumpled in the agony of death. The soldiers lifted the two bodies, whoseclothes clearly showed them to be the bodies of gentlemen, and straightway carried them, still by the light of their lanterns, to the Prince.Now William was about to hold a council with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, and other nobles. But the soldiers, who had now been joined by a company of other troopers in green and yellow jackets, stood before the tent, demanding with shouts and cries that the Prince should give them audience.At length William of Orange came out to them, and the provost began to clear his throat and make other preliminaries for the accusation of Ulenspiegel. But the latter cut in before him, saying:“My Lord, I had thought to kill two crows, but I have killed two traitors in their stead—two noblemen—belonging to your suite.”Then he told the story of all that he had seen and heard and done. William did not utter a word, but the two bodies were carefully examined in the presence of Ulenspiegel himself and William the Silent, together with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, Dietrich of Schoonenbergh, Count Albert of Nassau, the Count de Hoogstraeten, and Antoine de Lailang, Governor of Malines. And the soldiers stood by, with Lamme Goedzak, his great belly all of a tremble. Sealed letters were found on the persons of the deceased gentlemen, which had been sent by Granvelles and Noircames, and engaged the recipients to sow division in the Prince’s entourage, and by that means to diminish his power and to compel him to yield, so that he might ultimately be delivered up to the Duke and beheaded according to his deserts. “The right procedure is,” continued the letter, “to act at first with caution and to use allusive phrases only, so that the army may be led to think that the Prince has already come to a secret understanding with the Duke, for his own advantage. This will arouse the anger of hiscaptains and soldiers, and they will assuredly take him prisoner.” Now as a reward for this service it appeared that notes to the value of some five hundred ducats were being sent them on the Fugger Bank at Antwerp, and they were promised a thousand more as soon as the four hundred thousand ducats which were already on their way from Spain had arrived in Zeeland.The whole plot having been now unmasked, the Prince turned in silence towards the gentlemen, Lords, and soldiers who stood round him. Many of these men he knew to be suspicious of him already, nevertheless, he pointed at the two bodies without speaking a word, intending by this gesture to reproach them for their mistrust. And at this every one present there exclaimed and shouted aloud:“Long live the Prince of Orange! The Prince is faithful and true!” And such was their anger that they were desirous to throw the two dead bodies to the dogs; but William forbade them, saying:“It is not these two poor corpses that deserve to be thrown to the dogs so much as that littleness of mind which must needs be suspicious of the purest intentions.”And the Lords and soldiers cried out again:“Long live the Prince! Long live the Prince of Orange, the friend of our country!”And the sound of their voices was like the noise of thunder threatening injustice. And the Prince pointed to the two corpses and ordered that they should be given Christian burial.“And I,” demanded Ulenspiegel, “what shall be done to me, faithful and true? If I have done evil let me be beaten, but if good—why then let me be suitably rewarded!”Then the Prince addressed him, saying:“This soldier is to receive fifty strokes from the green wood in my presence for having killed two gentlemen without orders, to the contempt of all discipline. At the same timelet him receive a reward of thirty florins for having used his eyes and ears to some purpose.”“My Lord,” answered Ulenspiegel, “give me the thirty florins first, and I shall then be able to support my beating with equanimity.”“Yes, yes,” murmured Lamme Goedzak, “give him the thirty florins first, and then he will bear the rest with equanimity.”“One thing more,” said Ulenspiegel, “since my soul is admittedly free from fault, is there any real reason why I must be cleansed with the wood of the oak or washed with the branch of the cherry-tree?”“No,” murmured Lamme again, “Ulenspiegel surely has no need to be washed or cleansed. For his soul is without stain. Do not wash it, my masters, do not wash it.”But when Ulenspiegel had received the thirty florins the provost ordered him to give himself up to theStock-meester.“Behold, my Lords,” said Lamme, “behold how piteous he looks. There’s no love lost between the hard wood and him—my beloved Ulenspiegel.”But Ulenspiegel answered:“Of a truth I love a fine ash-tree in full leaf, growing up towards the sun in all its native verdure, but I agree I loathe like poison these heavy cudgels of wood with their sap still oozing out of them, stripped of their branches and without any leaves or twigs growing thereon, for they are rough to look upon and hard to feel.”“Are you ready?” demanded the provost.“Ready?” Ulenspiegel repeated. “Ready for what? Ready to be flogged do you mean? No, I cannot, nor will I, be flogged by you, Mr.Stock-meester. You have a red beard certainly, and your appearance is formidable. Nevertheless, I am sure that you have a kind heart and would have no desire to thrash a poor fellow like me. And now to tell you the truth I should be loath to do such a thing myself, muchless to see any one else do it. For the back of a Christian is a sacred thing, as sacred as his breast which holds the lungs, those trusty organs whereby we breathe the goodly air of God. And think how bitter would be your remorse if a too brutal blow from your cudgel should chance to break me in pieces!”“Make haste,” said theStock-meester.“My Lord,” said Ulenspiegel, addressing himself to the Prince, “believe me, there is no need for all this hurry. First of all the wood of the cudgel ought to be allowed to dry. For I have heard that wood while still green is like to communicate a mortal poison to any flesh with which it comes in contact. Would your Highness desire to see me die such an ugly death? My Lord, my back I hold most pitifully at your service. Have it flogged, if you must, with rods and lashed with whips. But unless you wish to see me dead, spare me, I pray you, from the wood while it is still green.”“Have mercy on him, Prince,” cried my Lords of Hoogstraeten and of Schoonenbergh both together; while the others all began to smile compassionately. Lamme also put in a word of his own, “Have mercy, my Lord. Green wood is poison, neither more nor less than rank poison!”The Prince said:“Very well.”Thereupon Ulenspiegel leapt in the air again and again, and smote Lamme on his belly and compelled him to dance too, saying: “Join me now in praising the good Duke who has delivered me from the green wood.”And Lamme did his best to dance, but could not very well because of his belly. And Ulenspiegel gave him to eat and to drink as much as he was able.

XUlenspiegel, in the garb of a pilgrim, and with no provision of food or money, departed incontinently for Bois-le-Duc, with the intention of warning the citizens. He reckonedto find a horse at the house of Jeroen Praet, the brother of Simon Simonsen, for whom he carried letters from the Prince. From thence he would go by side roads to Bois-le-Duc as fast as his horse would carry him.As he was crossing the road he spied a company of soldiers coming towards him. This gave him a great fright because of the letters which he carried; but being resolved to put the best face on the misadventure, he awaited the arrival of the soldiers with all the courage at his command, standing still by the roadside telling his beads. When the soldiers came up with him he joined them, and soon discovered that they also were going to Bois-le-Duc.At the head of the troop marched a company of Walloons led by a captain, Lamotte by name, with his bodyguard of six halberdiers. Then followed the other officers each according to rank, and with a smaller bodyguard: the provost with his halberdiers and two bailiffs, the chief watchman with the baggage-carriers, the executioner with his assistants, and a band of drums and fifes making a great row. Thereafter came a company of Flemish soldiers, two hundred strong, with their captain and his ensign-bearers. They were divided into two divisions, each of one hundred men, under the command of two sergeants, and in squads of ten under the command of corporals. The provost and his lieutenants were likewise preceded by a band of drums and fifes, beating and screaming.Behind these, again, came two open wagons wherein rode the loving companions of the soldiers, pealing with laughter, twittering like birds, singing like nightingales, eating, drinking, dancing, standing, lying down, or sitting astride—all gay and pretty girls.Many of them were dressed like foot-soldiers, but in fine white cloth which was cut away at the arms and legs and at the neck so as to show their sweet white flesh. And on their heads they wore bonnets of fine linen trimmed withgold and surmounted with magnificent ostrich plumes that fluttered in the wind. Their belts were of cloth of gold crimped with red satin, from which hung the scabbards of their daggers, made of cloth of gold. And their shoes, their stockings, their hose, their doublets, shoulder-knots and fitments were all of gold and white silk. Others there were, dressed also in the uniform of infantrymen but with uniforms of divers colours, blue, green, scarlet, sky-blue, and crimson, cut away and embroidered or emblazoned according to their fancy. But on the arm of each and all was to be seen the coloured band that indicated her calling.The girls were in charge of a sergeant who did his best to keep them in order, but they made no pretence of obeying him, but bombarded him with japes and sweet grimaces so that he found it hard to keep his countenance.Ulenspiegel meanwhile, in his dress of a pilgrim and telling his beads, went marching along by the side of the two ensign-bearers and their guard, for all the world like a little boat by the side of a big ship. Suddenly Lamotte inquired of him whither he was going.“Sir Captain,” answered Ulenspiegel, who was growing hungry, “you must know that I am one that has committed a grievous sin, for which I have been condemned by the Chapter of Notre Dame to journey to Rome on foot and to ask pardon there from the Holy Father. This he has granted, and now I am shriven and suffered to return to my own country on the one condition that I am to preach the Holy Mysteries to whatsoever soldiers I may encounter on the way; and they for their part are enjoined to give me bread and wine in return for my preaching. And thus by my sermons do I sustain my wretched life. Would you now give me permission to fulfil my vow at the next halt?”“I will,” said Monsieur de Lamotte.After this, Ulenspiegel began to mingle with the Walloons and Flemings in right brotherly fashion, but all the time hekept fingering those letters which he kept concealed under his doublet. And the girls began to cry out to him:“Come hither, handsome pilgrim, come hither and show us the strength of your pilgrim’s oyster-shells!”And Ulenspiegel drew nigh to them with modest mien, and said:“O my sisters in God, pray you do not make mock of the poor pilgrim that wendeth up hill and down dale preaching ever the Holy Faith to the soldiers.”But with his eyes he feasted himself upon the sight of their sweet charms. And the wanton girls, thrusting their lively faces betwixt the canvas curtains of the wagons, cried out to him yet the more:“Surely you are too young a man to go preaching to soldiers? Climb up into our wagon and we will teach thee more gentle subjects of conversation!”And right willingly would Ulenspiegel have done as they bade him, but he dared not, by reason of the letters which he carried. And already two of the girls were leaning out of the wagon trying to hoist him up with their white, round arms. But the sergeant was jealous.“Be off with you, or else I’ll off with your head!” he threatened.So Ulenspiegel removed himself away, but not without a sly look behind him at the fresh young beauty of those joysome girls, all golden in the sun which now shone brightly.They came at last to Berchem, where Philip de Lannoy, Lord of Beauvoir, ordered a halt. For he it was that was in command of the Flemings.Now in that place was an oak-tree, of medium height, but despoiled of all its branches save one only, a big branch that was broken off short in the middle; for only a month before an Anabaptist had been hanged there by the neck.Here then the soldiers came to a halt, and the keepers of the canteen came up and began to sell to them bread, wine,beer, with meats of every kind. And to the gay girls they sold all manner of sugared sweets, and castrelins, and almonds, and tartlets, the which when Ulenspiegel saw, he felt hungrier than ever.All at once Ulenspiegel climbed up like a monkey into the tree, and seated himself astride on the big branch, seven feet above the ground at the least. And then, when he had given himself a few strokes from his pilgrim’s scourge, he began his sermon, while the soldiers and their gay girls sat round him in a circle.“It is written,” he began, “that whosoever giveth to the poor, the same lendeth to God. Very well then, O soldiers present here to-day, and you, fair ladies, sweet comrades in love of all these valiant warriors, do you lend now to God. That is to say, give me, I beg you, some of your bread, meat, wine, beer, if you please, and eke your tartlets, and I promise you that God, who is very rich, shall give you back in exchange many pieces of ortolan, rivers of malmsey wine, mountains of sugar-candy, and great pieces of that lovelyrystpapwhich they eat in Paradise from silver spoons.”Then, changing to a more sorrowful tone, he continued:“Behold now, with what cruel tortures do I strive to merit pardon for my sins! Will you do nothing to assuage the smarting pain of this scourge by which my back is lacerated till the blood flows?”“Who is this madman?” cried the soldiers.“My friends,” answered Ulenspiegel, “I am no madman but one that is repentant even to the point of starvation. For while my soul weeps for its sins, my stomach weeps for want of food. Good soldiers, and you, fair damosels, I see you well provided with ham and goose, with fat sausages and wine and beer and all manner of tartlets. Will you not give so much as a morsel to the wandering pilgrim?”“Yes, yes, we will,” cried the Flemish soldiers, “for the preacher hath a merry countenance.”And now they all began to throw him chunks of bread as though they had been balls, and Ulenspiegel did not cease from talking and from eating, astride as he was on the branch.“Hunger,” he said, “makes a man hard of heart and little apt for prayer, yet a piece of ham removes that evil disposition in no time.”“Look out for your head,” shouted a sergeant as he threw him a bottle half full of wine. Ulenspiegel caught the bottle in mid-air, and began to drink in little gulps, talking all the while.“If hunger, sharp and raging, is bane to the poor body of a pilgrim, there is something else that is equally harmful to his soul; nothing less than his fear that the generosity of his soldier friends may lead him on to drunkenness. For as a general rule the pilgrim is a right sober fellow, but when, as now, one soldier gives him a slice of ham, and another a bottle of beer, he is mightily afraid lest by drinking thus upon an empty, or nearly empty, stomach he may lose his head.”And even as he spoke, he caught hold of the leg of a goose that came whizzing to him through the air.“This truly is a miracle,” he cried, “that one should go fishing in the air for a bird of the field! And see! Hey, presto! it has disappeared, bone and all! Verily, what is it that is greedier than dry sand? I will tell you. A barren woman and a hungry man.”Scarcely had he spoken than he clapped his hand to his face, for two tartlets had flattened themselves, one on his eye, the other on his cheek. The gay girls who had thrown them laughed aloud, but Ulenspiegel made answer:“Many thanks, my pretties, many thanks for thus embracing me with this jammy accolade.”Nevertheless the tartlets had fallen to the ground.And then suddenly the drums began to beat, the fifes screamed, and the soldiers fell in again.Monsieur de Beauvoir ordered Ulenspiegel to come downfrom his tree and to march by the side of the soldiers. Ulenspiegel would willingly have been parted from them by a hundred leagues, for he had gathered from the remarks let fall by certain thin-faced foot-soldiers that he was already under suspicion, and that he ran danger of being arrested for a spy; and if this was so, he knew that they would most certainly search his pockets, and have him hanged when they found the letters which he carried. So in a little while he purposely let himself stumble into the ditch which ran by the wayside, and as he fell he cried out loudly:“Mercy, soldiers, mercy! My leg is broken, and now I cannot walk any more. You must let me get up into the cart with the girls!”But to this he knew that the jealous sergeant would never consent.The girls, meanwhile, cried out from the carts:“Come, come, jolly pilgrim, and we will succour you, and caress and make much of you, and cure you all in a day.”“I know it,” said Ulenspiegel, “for a woman’s hand is balm celestial for all and every wound.”But the jealous sergeant consulted with Monsieur de Lamotte, saying:“Sir, I suspect that this pilgrim is playing some trick upon us with his tale of a broken leg. All he wants is to have the chance of getting up into the cart with the girls. Order him rather to be left behind on the road.”“Very well,” answered Monsieur de Lamotte.So Ulenspiegel was left where he was in the ditch.Some soldiers, who really believed that his leg was broken, were sorry for him because of his gaiety, and they left with him a two days’ ration of food and wine. And the girls would have got down and run to his assistance, but as this was forbidden they threw him all that was left of their castrelins.As soon as the soldiers had disappeared in the distance Ulenspiegel, still in his pilgrim’s dress, recovered his liberty,purchased a horse, and rode like the wind by roads and by-paths to Bois-le-Duc.When he told them the news of the approach of Monsieur de Lamotte, the townspeople flew to arms to the number of eight hundred men, and they chose out their leaders, and sent off Ulenspiegel, disguised as a charcoal-burner, to Antwerp to summon help from Hercule Brederode, surnamed the Toper.And the soldiers of de Lamotte and de Beauvoir were able to gain no entry into Bois-le-Duc, most vigilant of cities, most valiant in defence.XIOne day Simon Simonsen said to Ulenspiegel:“Hearken, brother mine, and tell me, are you a brave man think you?”“Brave enough,” answered Ulenspiegel, “to whip a Spaniard to death, to kill an assassin, or to murder a murderer.”“Do you think you could hide yourself in a chimney and wait there patiently so as to overhear what was being said in the room below?”“God has given me strong legs,” answered Ulenspiegel, “and a supple back, and in virtue of these gifts I could stand a long time in whatever position I would, like a cat.”“Have you patience and a good memory?” asked Simon.“The ashes of Claes beat upon my breast,” answered Ulenspiegel.“Very well then,” said Simon, “you will take this playing card, folded as you see it, and you will go to Dendermonde to a house, a drawing of which I will give you, and you will knock at the door twice loudly and once softly. Some one will open to you and will ask if you are the chimney-sweep; you will answer that you are he and that you have not lost the card. Then you will show the card to him who opened the door. After that, Tyl, you must do as best you can. For great are the evils that are a-planning against theland of Flanders. And you will be conducted to a chimney that has been swept and cleaned against your arrival, and in it you will find a series of strong cramp-irons made ready for you to climb by, and a little wooden shelf securely fastened to the side of the chimney for a seat; and when he that has opened the door shall direct you, you will climb up into your hiding-place, and there remain. In the chamber below, and in front of the chimney where you will be hidden, a conference is to be held between certain noble Lords: William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and the Counts d’Egmont, de Hoorn, de Hoogstraeten, and Ludwig of Nassau, the brother of William. And we Reformers desire to find out whether these noble Lords are able and willing to undertake the saving of our country.”Well, on the first day of April, Ulenspiegel did as he had been bidden and took up his place in the chimney. Luckily for him there was no fire in the grate, and it seemed that the absence of smoke would not make it any the less easy for him to hear properly. After a little while the door of the room was opened, and Ulenspiegel was pierced through and through by a draught of cold wind blowing up the chimney. But he endured the wind with patience, telling himself that it would serve to keep him alert and attentive.After a while he could hear my Lords of Orange, Egmont and the rest making their entrance into the room. They began by speaking of the fears they felt, of the wrath of the King and of the maladministration of the revenue and finances of the country. One of them spoke in a sharp, clear, and haughty tone of voice, which Ulenspiegel recognized as that of my Lord of Egmont; just as he recognized de Hoogstraeten by his husky tones, and de Hoorn by his loud voice, the Count Ludwig of Nassau by his firm and soldierly manner of speech, and William the Silent by that slow, deliberate way of enunciating his words as if they had all been thought out beforehand and weighed in a balance.The Count d’Egmont asked why they had been summoned to this second conference when they had had plenty of time at Hellegat to come to a decision on what they meant to do. De Hoorn replied that the days passed quickly, that the King was growing angry, and that they must be careful to lose no time.Then spake William the Silent.“The country is in danger. It must be defended against the attack of a foreign army.”At this d’Egmont grew excited, and said that he was indeed astonished to hear that the King his master had thought it necessary to send an army when all was so peaceful by reason of the watchful care of their noble Lordships, and of himself especially.But William the Silent made answer:“King Philip already has an army in the Low Countries consisting of not less than fourteen regiments of artillery, and they are under the control of him who commanded them at Gravelines, a general to whom all the soldiers are devoted.”D’Egmont said that he could scarcely believe it.“I will say no more,” said William, “but there are certain letters which shall be read to you and to the assembled Lords, and to begin with, letters from the poor prisoner, Monsieur de Montigny.”And in these letters it was told how that the King was extremely vexed with what was happening in the Low Countries, and that when the hour was come he had determined to punish the fomenters of disturbance.It was at this juncture that the Count d’Egmont complained of the cold, and desired to have the fire lit; the which was done while the two Lords continued their discussion of those letters. Now it was a big fire of wood, but it did not burn well on account of that big obstruction which was hidden in the chimney, and the room became quickly full of smoke.Then the Count de Hoogstraeten began to read (for all that he was coughing continually because of the smoke) certain letters which had been intercepted on their way from Alava, the Spanish ambassador, to the Governess of the Netherlands.“The ambassador,” he said, “writes that all the evil that has happened in the Low Countries was the work of three men: the Lords of Orange, Egmont, and Hoorn. But it were desirable, he adds, to appear well disposed to these three, and to tell them that the King recognizes that it is thanks to them that their lands have been kept loyal to him. As for the two others, Montigny and de Berghes, let them alone where they are.”“Ah!” said Ulenspiegel, “I had rather a smoky chimney in the land of Flanders than a damp prison in the land of Spain; for garrotters grow between damp walls.”But the Count de Hoogstraeten continued:“The said ambassador adds that on one occasion the King, being in the city of Madrid, spoke these words: ‘By all accounts that come from the Low Countries it is evident that our royal reputation is diminished, and we are ready therefore to abandon all our other possessions rather than leave such a rebellion unpunished. We are decided to proceed to the Netherlands in person, and to claim the assistance of the Pope and of the Emperor. For beneath the present evil is concealed a future good. We shall reclaim the Low Countries to absolute obedience, and according to our own will we shall modify the constitution of that State, its religion and its government.’”“Ah, King Philip,” said Ulenspiegel, “if only I could modify yours to mine! Verily you would suffer, under the blows of my trusty Flemish stick, a wondrous modification of your thighs and arms and legs! I would fix your head in the middle of your back with a couple of nails, and as you viewed from this position the charnel-house you have created,you should sing at your good ease a pretty song of tyrannous modification!”Now wine was brought, and de Hoogstraeten rose upon his feet and said:“I drink to our country!” and every one followed his example, and when he had finished the toast he threw his empty tankard down on the table, and said: “Now sounds an evil hour for the nobility of Belgium. Let us take counsel as to how we may best defend ourselves.”He awaited some response, and looked at d’Egmont, but he uttered not a word, and it was left to William of Orange to break the silence.“We can offer resistance,” he said, “provided that the Count d’Egmont—who at Saint-Quentin and at Gravelines has twice made France to tremble and who holds complete sway over the Flemish soldiery—provided that he, I repeat, is willing to come to our assistance in our endeavour to prevent the Spaniard from entering the fatherland.”To this my Lord of Egmont made answer:“I have too much respect for the King to think that it is right that we should take up arms against him like rebels. Let those who fear his wrath retire before it. I shall remain where I am, for I have no means of living if I am deprived of his help.”“Philip knows how to avenge himself most cruelly,” said William the Silent.“I trust him,” answered d’Egmont.“You would trust him with your heads?” asked Ludwig of Nassau.“Head, body, and soul,” replied d’Egmont.“Friend, faithful and true, I will do likewise,” said de Hoorn.But William said:“It behoves us to be far-sighted, and not to wait for things to happen.”And then my Lord of Egmont spoke again, very excitedly.“I have arrested twenty-two Reformers at Grammont,” he said, “and if their preachings come to an end, and if punishment is meted out to the iconoclasts, the anger of the King will be appeased.”But William said:“These are mere hopes.”“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” said d’Egmont.“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” echoed de Hoorn.“It is cold steel rather than trust that should be our weapons,” replied de Hoogstraeten.Whereupon William the Silent made a sign to the effect that he wished to depart.“Adieu, Prince without a country,” said the Count d’Egmont.“Adieu, Prince without a head,” answered William.“The sheep are for the butcher,” said Ludwig of Nassau, “but glory waits the soldier that saves the land of his fathers.”“That I cannot,” said d’Egmont, “neither do I desire to.”“May the blood of the victims fall once again upon the head of the flatterer,” said Ulenspiegel.And then those Lords retired.Whereupon did Ulenspiegel come down from his chimney, and go straightway to carry the news to Praet. And the latter said: “D’Egmont is nothing better than a traitor. But God is with the Prince.”The Duke! The Duke at Brussels! Where are the safes and coffers that have wings?XIIWilliam the Silent went in the way by God appointed. As for the two Counts, they had already given themselves up to the Duke of Alba, who offered pardon to William as well if only he would appear before him.At this news Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“My good friend, what do you think now? The Duke has sent out a summons through Dubois, the Attorney-General, by which the Prince of Orange, Ludwig his brother, de Hoogstraeten, Van den Bergh, Culembourg, de Brederode, and other friends of the Prince are cited to appear before him within forty days; and if they do this they are assured of justice and mercy. But listen, Lamme, and I will tell you a story. One day there was a Jew of Amsterdam who summoned one of his enemies to come down and join him in the street, for the Jew was standing on the pavement, but his enemy was looking out of a window just above. ‘Come down at once,’ said the Jew, ‘and I will give you such a blow on the head as will squash it down into your chest, so that your two eyes will look out from your sides like the eyes of a thief from betwixt prison-bars.’ But the other answered: ‘Even if you promised me a hundred times as much, still I would not come down.’ Even so may the Prince of Orange and his friends make reply to him that summons them!”And so they did, refusing point-blank to appear before the Duke. But the Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn were not of this mind. And their failure to do their duty brought them nearer to their doom.XIIIOne day in June, a fine warm day it was, a scaffold was set up in the market square at Brussels, in front of the Town Hall. The scaffold was draped in black, and close to it were two tall posts tipped with steel. On the scaffold were a couple of black cushions and a little table with a silver cross thereon.And on this scaffold were beheaded the noble Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And the King entered into their inheritance. And it was of the Count d’Egmont that the ambassador of Francis spake, saying:“This day have I seen a man beheaded who twice made the Kingdom of France to tremble.”And the heads of the two Counts were placed upon the posts with the iron tips. And Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“With a black cloth have they covered both their flesh and their blood. Verily, blessed now are they who keep heart high and sword drawn in the dark days that are coming!”XIVIn those days William the Silent gathered together an army and invaded the country of the Netherlands from three sides.And Ulenspiegel was at a meeting of his countrymen at Marenhout. And they were wild with anger and he addressed them in this wise:“Know you, my friends, that King Philip has taken counsel with the Holy Inquisition, and by their advice he has declared all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to be guilty of high treason. And the charge against them is one of heresy, namely, that either they are heretics themselves, or else that they have put no obstacles in the way of the spread of heretical doctrine. And for this execrable crime the King has condemned them all, without regard to age or sex, to suffer the appropriate penalties—all except a few here and there that are exempted by name. And there is no hope of grace or pardon. And the King will enter into their inheritance. For the scythes of Death are busy through all the wide land that borders the North Sea: the Duchy of Emden, the river-land of Amise, and the countries of Westphalia and of Cleves, of Juliers and Liége, together with the Bishoprics of Cologne and Treves and the lands of France and Lorraine. The scythes of Death are busy over more than three hundred leagues of our soil, and in two hundred of our walled towns, in a hundred and fifty boroughs, in the countrysides and villages and level lands of the whole country. And theKing is taking all for his own. And I tell you,” Ulenspiegel continued, “that eleven thousand executioners will not be too many for this business. But the Duke of Alba calls them soldiers. And all the land of our fathers is become a charnel-house. Fugitive are all the arts of peace, and all the crafts and industries abandon us now to enrich those foreign lands which still permit a man to worship at home the God of conscience. But here the scythes of Death are busy, and the King takes all for his own.“Our country, as you know, had gained various privileges by gifts of money to princes when they were in need. But now these privileges have all been annulled. And as the result of many an agreement made between ourselves and our overlords we had hoped to enjoy the wealth that came to us as the fruit of our labours.Yet were we deceived. The stone-mason builded for the incendiary, the labourer laboured for the thief. And the King takes all for his own.“Blood and tears! Everywhere naught but blood and tears! For the scythes of Death are busy—busy at the places of execution and at the trees that serve for gallows by the roadsides; and at many an open grave wherein are thrown the living bodies of our maids. And they are busy in the prison dungeons and within those circles of faggots that flame around the victims, scorching them little by little to death; or in the huts of straw where they fall suffocated in the fire and the smoke. And the King takes all for his own. And this, forsooth, by the will of the Pope of Rome. The very cities teem with spies that await their share of the plunder. The richer one is the more likely one is to be found guilty. And the King takes all for his own.“But never shall the valiant men of Flanders suffer themselves to be butchered thus like lambs. For among those who fly away for refuge there are some who carry arms, and these are hiding in the woods....“The monks verily have denounced them and hold themselves free to kill them and take possession of their goods. But by night and day these refugees, banded together like wild beasts, rush down upon the monasteries and seize the money that has been stolen from the poor, and take it away under the form of candlesticks and reliquaries of gold and silver, ciboria and patens, and other precious vessels of the kind.... Do I not speak truth, my friends? And they drink therefrom that wine which the monks had been keeping for themselves. And when melted down or mortgaged, these vessels will serve to provide money for the Holy War. Long live the Beggarmen!“And even now they begin to harass the soldiers of the King, killing and plundering, then back into their lairs. And in the woods by day and night are to be seen the fires which have been lit during the hours of darkness, flaring up or dying down and ever breaking out in some fresh place. These are the fires of our banquetings. All for us the game of the woods, both furred and feathered. We are the masters here. And the peasants load us with bread and bacon whenever we are in need. Look at them Lamme; fierce and talkative, resolute and proud of bearing, they wander through the woods. And they are armed with hatchets and halberds, and with long swords andbragmarts, with arquebuses, pikes, lances, and crossbows. For any kind of weapon is good enough for such brave men, and they need no officers to lead them. Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel sang this song:Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!Slit the carcass of the Duke,Flog him on his hangman’s face!To the death with the murderer!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!With the victims of his wrathFoul corruption let him share!But long live the Beggarmen!Christ from Heaven look Thou down,Look upon thy soldiers true,That risk hanging, fire, and swordFor thy Word!And for their dear Fatherland!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!And all drank the toast and cried aloud:“Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel drank in his turn from a golden goblet that had once belonged to some monk or other, and proudly he gazed on the wild faces of the brave Beggarmen that stood before him.“Men,” he cried, “wild beasts rather that are my comrades, be you wolves lions, or tigers in very deed, and eat up all the cursed dogs of this King of Blood!”“Long live the Beggarmen!” they shouted, and yet again they sang the song ofBeat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!XVWilliam the Silent, with his army, was at the gates of Liége. But before crossing the Meuse he made sundry marches and counter-marches, leading the Duke astray, for all his vigilance.Ulenspiegel applied himself most diligently to his duties as a soldier, worked his arquebus most skilfully, and kept his eyes and ears wide open.Now at that time there arrived in the camp certain gentlemen of Flanders and Brabant, and these lived in friendly fashion with the colonels and captains of the Prince’s following.But soon there came into being two parties in the camp, who began to dispute one with the other continually, some saying that William was a traitor, others that such accusation was a gross libel on the Prince, and that they who had made it should be forced to eat their words. Suspicion grew and grew like a spot of oil, and at length they came to blows—small companies of six, eight, or a dozen men fighting together in single combat, with all kinds of weapons and sometimes with arquebuses even.One day the Prince, hearing the noise, came to see what was going on, and walked straight in between the combatants. It chanced that a piece of shot hit his sword and struck it from his side. He stopped the combat, and visited the whole camp, intending to put an end once for all to these combats and to these cries of “Death to William!” “Death to the war!”Now the day after this adventure, Ulenspiegel had been to the house of a Walloon maiden to sing to her some Flemish love-songs of his. And it was near midnight, and very misty, and Ulenspiegel, being just about to leave the house, thought he heard the cawing of a crow, three times repeated. And the sound came from the door of a cottage close by. And from far off came other cawings, three times repeated, as if in answer. Presently a peasant made his appearance at the doorway of the cottage, and at the same time Ulenspiegel heard steps on the road. Two men came up to the peasant and began to talk to him in the Spanish tongue. The peasant spoke to them, also in Spanish:“Well? And how goes it?” asked the cottager.“Well, indeed,” the two men answered. “We have been spreading rumours on behalf of the King, and it is thanks to usthat the captains and their soldiers are everywhere suspicious and talking among themselves in this wise:“‘The Prince, so the gossip goes—is resisting the King for vile ambition and for nothing else. For by this means he thinks to make himself feared so that he may acquire cities and overlordships as the price of peace. For five hundred thousand florins he would leave in the lurch all the brave nobles who have come out to fight for their country. And it is a fact that the Duke has offered him a complete amnesty, and has promised to restore both him and his chief officers in their possessions, if only the Prince will return to the obedience of the King, and will negotiate with him alone.’“But they that remain faithful to the Prince make answer to us in this wise:“‘By no means will William have aught to do with the proposals of the Duke. For these are but snares and treachery. For the Prince must surely call to mind what happened to d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And it is well known that the Cardinal de Granville said at Rome, when the two Counts had been taken: “The two gudgeon, verily, have been caught, but the pike has been allowed to escape.” For nothing has been taken while William still remains at large.’”“Is the camp divided in twain then?” asked the peasant.“It is,” replied the two men, “and the division grows greater every day. But whom are those letters for?”Whereupon they all entered into the cottage. A lantern was lit inside, and looking through a crack in the door Ulenspiegel could see them unsealing two letters. These they read with every appearance of enjoyment, and then they all fell to drinking honey-wine. After which the two men came out of the cottage and said to the peasant, still speaking in Spanish:“The camp split in two, and the Prince captured—that will be worth a dozen glasses, eh?”“Those men,” said Ulenspiegel to himself, “cannot longer be allowed to live.”But even now they were disappearing in the thick mist, with the lantern which the peasant had brought for them. The light of the lantern shone out intermittently, as if continually intercepted by some dark body. From this Ulenspiegel concluded that the two men must be walking one behind the other.He raised his arquebus to his shoulder and fired. Then he saw the lantern raised and lowered several times, as if the man who carried it was looking at his fallen comrade, trying to discover where he had been hit and the nature of the wound.Yet again did Ulenspiegel raise his arquebus, and then when the lantern began to steady itself and to retreat speedily towards the camp, he fired again. Now the lantern swayed, fell to the ground and went out, leaving all in darkness.Ulenspiegel ran on to the camp, and there he soon encountered the provost with a number of soldiers who had been awakened by the noise of the firing. Ulenspiegel accosted them, saying: “I am the huntsman. Go you now and find the game.”“Brave Fleming,” said the provost, “methinks you are a man that knows other ways of talking besides with your tongue.”“Words of the tongue they are but so much wind,” answered Ulenspiegel. “But words of lead—they know how to find for themselves a lasting habitation in the carcass of a traitor! Come then, follow me.”And so saying he led them to the place where the two men had fallen. And in very deed the soldiers saw by the light of their lanterns two bodies stretched out on the ground. One was dead, and the other at the last gasp, holding his hand to his heart, and in his hand a letter all crumpled in the agony of death. The soldiers lifted the two bodies, whoseclothes clearly showed them to be the bodies of gentlemen, and straightway carried them, still by the light of their lanterns, to the Prince.Now William was about to hold a council with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, and other nobles. But the soldiers, who had now been joined by a company of other troopers in green and yellow jackets, stood before the tent, demanding with shouts and cries that the Prince should give them audience.At length William of Orange came out to them, and the provost began to clear his throat and make other preliminaries for the accusation of Ulenspiegel. But the latter cut in before him, saying:“My Lord, I had thought to kill two crows, but I have killed two traitors in their stead—two noblemen—belonging to your suite.”Then he told the story of all that he had seen and heard and done. William did not utter a word, but the two bodies were carefully examined in the presence of Ulenspiegel himself and William the Silent, together with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, Dietrich of Schoonenbergh, Count Albert of Nassau, the Count de Hoogstraeten, and Antoine de Lailang, Governor of Malines. And the soldiers stood by, with Lamme Goedzak, his great belly all of a tremble. Sealed letters were found on the persons of the deceased gentlemen, which had been sent by Granvelles and Noircames, and engaged the recipients to sow division in the Prince’s entourage, and by that means to diminish his power and to compel him to yield, so that he might ultimately be delivered up to the Duke and beheaded according to his deserts. “The right procedure is,” continued the letter, “to act at first with caution and to use allusive phrases only, so that the army may be led to think that the Prince has already come to a secret understanding with the Duke, for his own advantage. This will arouse the anger of hiscaptains and soldiers, and they will assuredly take him prisoner.” Now as a reward for this service it appeared that notes to the value of some five hundred ducats were being sent them on the Fugger Bank at Antwerp, and they were promised a thousand more as soon as the four hundred thousand ducats which were already on their way from Spain had arrived in Zeeland.The whole plot having been now unmasked, the Prince turned in silence towards the gentlemen, Lords, and soldiers who stood round him. Many of these men he knew to be suspicious of him already, nevertheless, he pointed at the two bodies without speaking a word, intending by this gesture to reproach them for their mistrust. And at this every one present there exclaimed and shouted aloud:“Long live the Prince of Orange! The Prince is faithful and true!” And such was their anger that they were desirous to throw the two dead bodies to the dogs; but William forbade them, saying:“It is not these two poor corpses that deserve to be thrown to the dogs so much as that littleness of mind which must needs be suspicious of the purest intentions.”And the Lords and soldiers cried out again:“Long live the Prince! Long live the Prince of Orange, the friend of our country!”And the sound of their voices was like the noise of thunder threatening injustice. And the Prince pointed to the two corpses and ordered that they should be given Christian burial.“And I,” demanded Ulenspiegel, “what shall be done to me, faithful and true? If I have done evil let me be beaten, but if good—why then let me be suitably rewarded!”Then the Prince addressed him, saying:“This soldier is to receive fifty strokes from the green wood in my presence for having killed two gentlemen without orders, to the contempt of all discipline. At the same timelet him receive a reward of thirty florins for having used his eyes and ears to some purpose.”“My Lord,” answered Ulenspiegel, “give me the thirty florins first, and I shall then be able to support my beating with equanimity.”“Yes, yes,” murmured Lamme Goedzak, “give him the thirty florins first, and then he will bear the rest with equanimity.”“One thing more,” said Ulenspiegel, “since my soul is admittedly free from fault, is there any real reason why I must be cleansed with the wood of the oak or washed with the branch of the cherry-tree?”“No,” murmured Lamme again, “Ulenspiegel surely has no need to be washed or cleansed. For his soul is without stain. Do not wash it, my masters, do not wash it.”But when Ulenspiegel had received the thirty florins the provost ordered him to give himself up to theStock-meester.“Behold, my Lords,” said Lamme, “behold how piteous he looks. There’s no love lost between the hard wood and him—my beloved Ulenspiegel.”But Ulenspiegel answered:“Of a truth I love a fine ash-tree in full leaf, growing up towards the sun in all its native verdure, but I agree I loathe like poison these heavy cudgels of wood with their sap still oozing out of them, stripped of their branches and without any leaves or twigs growing thereon, for they are rough to look upon and hard to feel.”“Are you ready?” demanded the provost.“Ready?” Ulenspiegel repeated. “Ready for what? Ready to be flogged do you mean? No, I cannot, nor will I, be flogged by you, Mr.Stock-meester. You have a red beard certainly, and your appearance is formidable. Nevertheless, I am sure that you have a kind heart and would have no desire to thrash a poor fellow like me. And now to tell you the truth I should be loath to do such a thing myself, muchless to see any one else do it. For the back of a Christian is a sacred thing, as sacred as his breast which holds the lungs, those trusty organs whereby we breathe the goodly air of God. And think how bitter would be your remorse if a too brutal blow from your cudgel should chance to break me in pieces!”“Make haste,” said theStock-meester.“My Lord,” said Ulenspiegel, addressing himself to the Prince, “believe me, there is no need for all this hurry. First of all the wood of the cudgel ought to be allowed to dry. For I have heard that wood while still green is like to communicate a mortal poison to any flesh with which it comes in contact. Would your Highness desire to see me die such an ugly death? My Lord, my back I hold most pitifully at your service. Have it flogged, if you must, with rods and lashed with whips. But unless you wish to see me dead, spare me, I pray you, from the wood while it is still green.”“Have mercy on him, Prince,” cried my Lords of Hoogstraeten and of Schoonenbergh both together; while the others all began to smile compassionately. Lamme also put in a word of his own, “Have mercy, my Lord. Green wood is poison, neither more nor less than rank poison!”The Prince said:“Very well.”Thereupon Ulenspiegel leapt in the air again and again, and smote Lamme on his belly and compelled him to dance too, saying: “Join me now in praising the good Duke who has delivered me from the green wood.”And Lamme did his best to dance, but could not very well because of his belly. And Ulenspiegel gave him to eat and to drink as much as he was able.

XUlenspiegel, in the garb of a pilgrim, and with no provision of food or money, departed incontinently for Bois-le-Duc, with the intention of warning the citizens. He reckonedto find a horse at the house of Jeroen Praet, the brother of Simon Simonsen, for whom he carried letters from the Prince. From thence he would go by side roads to Bois-le-Duc as fast as his horse would carry him.As he was crossing the road he spied a company of soldiers coming towards him. This gave him a great fright because of the letters which he carried; but being resolved to put the best face on the misadventure, he awaited the arrival of the soldiers with all the courage at his command, standing still by the roadside telling his beads. When the soldiers came up with him he joined them, and soon discovered that they also were going to Bois-le-Duc.At the head of the troop marched a company of Walloons led by a captain, Lamotte by name, with his bodyguard of six halberdiers. Then followed the other officers each according to rank, and with a smaller bodyguard: the provost with his halberdiers and two bailiffs, the chief watchman with the baggage-carriers, the executioner with his assistants, and a band of drums and fifes making a great row. Thereafter came a company of Flemish soldiers, two hundred strong, with their captain and his ensign-bearers. They were divided into two divisions, each of one hundred men, under the command of two sergeants, and in squads of ten under the command of corporals. The provost and his lieutenants were likewise preceded by a band of drums and fifes, beating and screaming.Behind these, again, came two open wagons wherein rode the loving companions of the soldiers, pealing with laughter, twittering like birds, singing like nightingales, eating, drinking, dancing, standing, lying down, or sitting astride—all gay and pretty girls.Many of them were dressed like foot-soldiers, but in fine white cloth which was cut away at the arms and legs and at the neck so as to show their sweet white flesh. And on their heads they wore bonnets of fine linen trimmed withgold and surmounted with magnificent ostrich plumes that fluttered in the wind. Their belts were of cloth of gold crimped with red satin, from which hung the scabbards of their daggers, made of cloth of gold. And their shoes, their stockings, their hose, their doublets, shoulder-knots and fitments were all of gold and white silk. Others there were, dressed also in the uniform of infantrymen but with uniforms of divers colours, blue, green, scarlet, sky-blue, and crimson, cut away and embroidered or emblazoned according to their fancy. But on the arm of each and all was to be seen the coloured band that indicated her calling.The girls were in charge of a sergeant who did his best to keep them in order, but they made no pretence of obeying him, but bombarded him with japes and sweet grimaces so that he found it hard to keep his countenance.Ulenspiegel meanwhile, in his dress of a pilgrim and telling his beads, went marching along by the side of the two ensign-bearers and their guard, for all the world like a little boat by the side of a big ship. Suddenly Lamotte inquired of him whither he was going.“Sir Captain,” answered Ulenspiegel, who was growing hungry, “you must know that I am one that has committed a grievous sin, for which I have been condemned by the Chapter of Notre Dame to journey to Rome on foot and to ask pardon there from the Holy Father. This he has granted, and now I am shriven and suffered to return to my own country on the one condition that I am to preach the Holy Mysteries to whatsoever soldiers I may encounter on the way; and they for their part are enjoined to give me bread and wine in return for my preaching. And thus by my sermons do I sustain my wretched life. Would you now give me permission to fulfil my vow at the next halt?”“I will,” said Monsieur de Lamotte.After this, Ulenspiegel began to mingle with the Walloons and Flemings in right brotherly fashion, but all the time hekept fingering those letters which he kept concealed under his doublet. And the girls began to cry out to him:“Come hither, handsome pilgrim, come hither and show us the strength of your pilgrim’s oyster-shells!”And Ulenspiegel drew nigh to them with modest mien, and said:“O my sisters in God, pray you do not make mock of the poor pilgrim that wendeth up hill and down dale preaching ever the Holy Faith to the soldiers.”But with his eyes he feasted himself upon the sight of their sweet charms. And the wanton girls, thrusting their lively faces betwixt the canvas curtains of the wagons, cried out to him yet the more:“Surely you are too young a man to go preaching to soldiers? Climb up into our wagon and we will teach thee more gentle subjects of conversation!”And right willingly would Ulenspiegel have done as they bade him, but he dared not, by reason of the letters which he carried. And already two of the girls were leaning out of the wagon trying to hoist him up with their white, round arms. But the sergeant was jealous.“Be off with you, or else I’ll off with your head!” he threatened.So Ulenspiegel removed himself away, but not without a sly look behind him at the fresh young beauty of those joysome girls, all golden in the sun which now shone brightly.They came at last to Berchem, where Philip de Lannoy, Lord of Beauvoir, ordered a halt. For he it was that was in command of the Flemings.Now in that place was an oak-tree, of medium height, but despoiled of all its branches save one only, a big branch that was broken off short in the middle; for only a month before an Anabaptist had been hanged there by the neck.Here then the soldiers came to a halt, and the keepers of the canteen came up and began to sell to them bread, wine,beer, with meats of every kind. And to the gay girls they sold all manner of sugared sweets, and castrelins, and almonds, and tartlets, the which when Ulenspiegel saw, he felt hungrier than ever.All at once Ulenspiegel climbed up like a monkey into the tree, and seated himself astride on the big branch, seven feet above the ground at the least. And then, when he had given himself a few strokes from his pilgrim’s scourge, he began his sermon, while the soldiers and their gay girls sat round him in a circle.“It is written,” he began, “that whosoever giveth to the poor, the same lendeth to God. Very well then, O soldiers present here to-day, and you, fair ladies, sweet comrades in love of all these valiant warriors, do you lend now to God. That is to say, give me, I beg you, some of your bread, meat, wine, beer, if you please, and eke your tartlets, and I promise you that God, who is very rich, shall give you back in exchange many pieces of ortolan, rivers of malmsey wine, mountains of sugar-candy, and great pieces of that lovelyrystpapwhich they eat in Paradise from silver spoons.”Then, changing to a more sorrowful tone, he continued:“Behold now, with what cruel tortures do I strive to merit pardon for my sins! Will you do nothing to assuage the smarting pain of this scourge by which my back is lacerated till the blood flows?”“Who is this madman?” cried the soldiers.“My friends,” answered Ulenspiegel, “I am no madman but one that is repentant even to the point of starvation. For while my soul weeps for its sins, my stomach weeps for want of food. Good soldiers, and you, fair damosels, I see you well provided with ham and goose, with fat sausages and wine and beer and all manner of tartlets. Will you not give so much as a morsel to the wandering pilgrim?”“Yes, yes, we will,” cried the Flemish soldiers, “for the preacher hath a merry countenance.”And now they all began to throw him chunks of bread as though they had been balls, and Ulenspiegel did not cease from talking and from eating, astride as he was on the branch.“Hunger,” he said, “makes a man hard of heart and little apt for prayer, yet a piece of ham removes that evil disposition in no time.”“Look out for your head,” shouted a sergeant as he threw him a bottle half full of wine. Ulenspiegel caught the bottle in mid-air, and began to drink in little gulps, talking all the while.“If hunger, sharp and raging, is bane to the poor body of a pilgrim, there is something else that is equally harmful to his soul; nothing less than his fear that the generosity of his soldier friends may lead him on to drunkenness. For as a general rule the pilgrim is a right sober fellow, but when, as now, one soldier gives him a slice of ham, and another a bottle of beer, he is mightily afraid lest by drinking thus upon an empty, or nearly empty, stomach he may lose his head.”And even as he spoke, he caught hold of the leg of a goose that came whizzing to him through the air.“This truly is a miracle,” he cried, “that one should go fishing in the air for a bird of the field! And see! Hey, presto! it has disappeared, bone and all! Verily, what is it that is greedier than dry sand? I will tell you. A barren woman and a hungry man.”Scarcely had he spoken than he clapped his hand to his face, for two tartlets had flattened themselves, one on his eye, the other on his cheek. The gay girls who had thrown them laughed aloud, but Ulenspiegel made answer:“Many thanks, my pretties, many thanks for thus embracing me with this jammy accolade.”Nevertheless the tartlets had fallen to the ground.And then suddenly the drums began to beat, the fifes screamed, and the soldiers fell in again.Monsieur de Beauvoir ordered Ulenspiegel to come downfrom his tree and to march by the side of the soldiers. Ulenspiegel would willingly have been parted from them by a hundred leagues, for he had gathered from the remarks let fall by certain thin-faced foot-soldiers that he was already under suspicion, and that he ran danger of being arrested for a spy; and if this was so, he knew that they would most certainly search his pockets, and have him hanged when they found the letters which he carried. So in a little while he purposely let himself stumble into the ditch which ran by the wayside, and as he fell he cried out loudly:“Mercy, soldiers, mercy! My leg is broken, and now I cannot walk any more. You must let me get up into the cart with the girls!”But to this he knew that the jealous sergeant would never consent.The girls, meanwhile, cried out from the carts:“Come, come, jolly pilgrim, and we will succour you, and caress and make much of you, and cure you all in a day.”“I know it,” said Ulenspiegel, “for a woman’s hand is balm celestial for all and every wound.”But the jealous sergeant consulted with Monsieur de Lamotte, saying:“Sir, I suspect that this pilgrim is playing some trick upon us with his tale of a broken leg. All he wants is to have the chance of getting up into the cart with the girls. Order him rather to be left behind on the road.”“Very well,” answered Monsieur de Lamotte.So Ulenspiegel was left where he was in the ditch.Some soldiers, who really believed that his leg was broken, were sorry for him because of his gaiety, and they left with him a two days’ ration of food and wine. And the girls would have got down and run to his assistance, but as this was forbidden they threw him all that was left of their castrelins.As soon as the soldiers had disappeared in the distance Ulenspiegel, still in his pilgrim’s dress, recovered his liberty,purchased a horse, and rode like the wind by roads and by-paths to Bois-le-Duc.When he told them the news of the approach of Monsieur de Lamotte, the townspeople flew to arms to the number of eight hundred men, and they chose out their leaders, and sent off Ulenspiegel, disguised as a charcoal-burner, to Antwerp to summon help from Hercule Brederode, surnamed the Toper.And the soldiers of de Lamotte and de Beauvoir were able to gain no entry into Bois-le-Duc, most vigilant of cities, most valiant in defence.

X

Ulenspiegel, in the garb of a pilgrim, and with no provision of food or money, departed incontinently for Bois-le-Duc, with the intention of warning the citizens. He reckonedto find a horse at the house of Jeroen Praet, the brother of Simon Simonsen, for whom he carried letters from the Prince. From thence he would go by side roads to Bois-le-Duc as fast as his horse would carry him.As he was crossing the road he spied a company of soldiers coming towards him. This gave him a great fright because of the letters which he carried; but being resolved to put the best face on the misadventure, he awaited the arrival of the soldiers with all the courage at his command, standing still by the roadside telling his beads. When the soldiers came up with him he joined them, and soon discovered that they also were going to Bois-le-Duc.At the head of the troop marched a company of Walloons led by a captain, Lamotte by name, with his bodyguard of six halberdiers. Then followed the other officers each according to rank, and with a smaller bodyguard: the provost with his halberdiers and two bailiffs, the chief watchman with the baggage-carriers, the executioner with his assistants, and a band of drums and fifes making a great row. Thereafter came a company of Flemish soldiers, two hundred strong, with their captain and his ensign-bearers. They were divided into two divisions, each of one hundred men, under the command of two sergeants, and in squads of ten under the command of corporals. The provost and his lieutenants were likewise preceded by a band of drums and fifes, beating and screaming.Behind these, again, came two open wagons wherein rode the loving companions of the soldiers, pealing with laughter, twittering like birds, singing like nightingales, eating, drinking, dancing, standing, lying down, or sitting astride—all gay and pretty girls.Many of them were dressed like foot-soldiers, but in fine white cloth which was cut away at the arms and legs and at the neck so as to show their sweet white flesh. And on their heads they wore bonnets of fine linen trimmed withgold and surmounted with magnificent ostrich plumes that fluttered in the wind. Their belts were of cloth of gold crimped with red satin, from which hung the scabbards of their daggers, made of cloth of gold. And their shoes, their stockings, their hose, their doublets, shoulder-knots and fitments were all of gold and white silk. Others there were, dressed also in the uniform of infantrymen but with uniforms of divers colours, blue, green, scarlet, sky-blue, and crimson, cut away and embroidered or emblazoned according to their fancy. But on the arm of each and all was to be seen the coloured band that indicated her calling.The girls were in charge of a sergeant who did his best to keep them in order, but they made no pretence of obeying him, but bombarded him with japes and sweet grimaces so that he found it hard to keep his countenance.Ulenspiegel meanwhile, in his dress of a pilgrim and telling his beads, went marching along by the side of the two ensign-bearers and their guard, for all the world like a little boat by the side of a big ship. Suddenly Lamotte inquired of him whither he was going.“Sir Captain,” answered Ulenspiegel, who was growing hungry, “you must know that I am one that has committed a grievous sin, for which I have been condemned by the Chapter of Notre Dame to journey to Rome on foot and to ask pardon there from the Holy Father. This he has granted, and now I am shriven and suffered to return to my own country on the one condition that I am to preach the Holy Mysteries to whatsoever soldiers I may encounter on the way; and they for their part are enjoined to give me bread and wine in return for my preaching. And thus by my sermons do I sustain my wretched life. Would you now give me permission to fulfil my vow at the next halt?”“I will,” said Monsieur de Lamotte.After this, Ulenspiegel began to mingle with the Walloons and Flemings in right brotherly fashion, but all the time hekept fingering those letters which he kept concealed under his doublet. And the girls began to cry out to him:“Come hither, handsome pilgrim, come hither and show us the strength of your pilgrim’s oyster-shells!”And Ulenspiegel drew nigh to them with modest mien, and said:“O my sisters in God, pray you do not make mock of the poor pilgrim that wendeth up hill and down dale preaching ever the Holy Faith to the soldiers.”But with his eyes he feasted himself upon the sight of their sweet charms. And the wanton girls, thrusting their lively faces betwixt the canvas curtains of the wagons, cried out to him yet the more:“Surely you are too young a man to go preaching to soldiers? Climb up into our wagon and we will teach thee more gentle subjects of conversation!”And right willingly would Ulenspiegel have done as they bade him, but he dared not, by reason of the letters which he carried. And already two of the girls were leaning out of the wagon trying to hoist him up with their white, round arms. But the sergeant was jealous.“Be off with you, or else I’ll off with your head!” he threatened.So Ulenspiegel removed himself away, but not without a sly look behind him at the fresh young beauty of those joysome girls, all golden in the sun which now shone brightly.They came at last to Berchem, where Philip de Lannoy, Lord of Beauvoir, ordered a halt. For he it was that was in command of the Flemings.Now in that place was an oak-tree, of medium height, but despoiled of all its branches save one only, a big branch that was broken off short in the middle; for only a month before an Anabaptist had been hanged there by the neck.Here then the soldiers came to a halt, and the keepers of the canteen came up and began to sell to them bread, wine,beer, with meats of every kind. And to the gay girls they sold all manner of sugared sweets, and castrelins, and almonds, and tartlets, the which when Ulenspiegel saw, he felt hungrier than ever.All at once Ulenspiegel climbed up like a monkey into the tree, and seated himself astride on the big branch, seven feet above the ground at the least. And then, when he had given himself a few strokes from his pilgrim’s scourge, he began his sermon, while the soldiers and their gay girls sat round him in a circle.“It is written,” he began, “that whosoever giveth to the poor, the same lendeth to God. Very well then, O soldiers present here to-day, and you, fair ladies, sweet comrades in love of all these valiant warriors, do you lend now to God. That is to say, give me, I beg you, some of your bread, meat, wine, beer, if you please, and eke your tartlets, and I promise you that God, who is very rich, shall give you back in exchange many pieces of ortolan, rivers of malmsey wine, mountains of sugar-candy, and great pieces of that lovelyrystpapwhich they eat in Paradise from silver spoons.”Then, changing to a more sorrowful tone, he continued:“Behold now, with what cruel tortures do I strive to merit pardon for my sins! Will you do nothing to assuage the smarting pain of this scourge by which my back is lacerated till the blood flows?”“Who is this madman?” cried the soldiers.“My friends,” answered Ulenspiegel, “I am no madman but one that is repentant even to the point of starvation. For while my soul weeps for its sins, my stomach weeps for want of food. Good soldiers, and you, fair damosels, I see you well provided with ham and goose, with fat sausages and wine and beer and all manner of tartlets. Will you not give so much as a morsel to the wandering pilgrim?”“Yes, yes, we will,” cried the Flemish soldiers, “for the preacher hath a merry countenance.”And now they all began to throw him chunks of bread as though they had been balls, and Ulenspiegel did not cease from talking and from eating, astride as he was on the branch.“Hunger,” he said, “makes a man hard of heart and little apt for prayer, yet a piece of ham removes that evil disposition in no time.”“Look out for your head,” shouted a sergeant as he threw him a bottle half full of wine. Ulenspiegel caught the bottle in mid-air, and began to drink in little gulps, talking all the while.“If hunger, sharp and raging, is bane to the poor body of a pilgrim, there is something else that is equally harmful to his soul; nothing less than his fear that the generosity of his soldier friends may lead him on to drunkenness. For as a general rule the pilgrim is a right sober fellow, but when, as now, one soldier gives him a slice of ham, and another a bottle of beer, he is mightily afraid lest by drinking thus upon an empty, or nearly empty, stomach he may lose his head.”And even as he spoke, he caught hold of the leg of a goose that came whizzing to him through the air.“This truly is a miracle,” he cried, “that one should go fishing in the air for a bird of the field! And see! Hey, presto! it has disappeared, bone and all! Verily, what is it that is greedier than dry sand? I will tell you. A barren woman and a hungry man.”Scarcely had he spoken than he clapped his hand to his face, for two tartlets had flattened themselves, one on his eye, the other on his cheek. The gay girls who had thrown them laughed aloud, but Ulenspiegel made answer:“Many thanks, my pretties, many thanks for thus embracing me with this jammy accolade.”Nevertheless the tartlets had fallen to the ground.And then suddenly the drums began to beat, the fifes screamed, and the soldiers fell in again.Monsieur de Beauvoir ordered Ulenspiegel to come downfrom his tree and to march by the side of the soldiers. Ulenspiegel would willingly have been parted from them by a hundred leagues, for he had gathered from the remarks let fall by certain thin-faced foot-soldiers that he was already under suspicion, and that he ran danger of being arrested for a spy; and if this was so, he knew that they would most certainly search his pockets, and have him hanged when they found the letters which he carried. So in a little while he purposely let himself stumble into the ditch which ran by the wayside, and as he fell he cried out loudly:“Mercy, soldiers, mercy! My leg is broken, and now I cannot walk any more. You must let me get up into the cart with the girls!”But to this he knew that the jealous sergeant would never consent.The girls, meanwhile, cried out from the carts:“Come, come, jolly pilgrim, and we will succour you, and caress and make much of you, and cure you all in a day.”“I know it,” said Ulenspiegel, “for a woman’s hand is balm celestial for all and every wound.”But the jealous sergeant consulted with Monsieur de Lamotte, saying:“Sir, I suspect that this pilgrim is playing some trick upon us with his tale of a broken leg. All he wants is to have the chance of getting up into the cart with the girls. Order him rather to be left behind on the road.”“Very well,” answered Monsieur de Lamotte.So Ulenspiegel was left where he was in the ditch.Some soldiers, who really believed that his leg was broken, were sorry for him because of his gaiety, and they left with him a two days’ ration of food and wine. And the girls would have got down and run to his assistance, but as this was forbidden they threw him all that was left of their castrelins.As soon as the soldiers had disappeared in the distance Ulenspiegel, still in his pilgrim’s dress, recovered his liberty,purchased a horse, and rode like the wind by roads and by-paths to Bois-le-Duc.When he told them the news of the approach of Monsieur de Lamotte, the townspeople flew to arms to the number of eight hundred men, and they chose out their leaders, and sent off Ulenspiegel, disguised as a charcoal-burner, to Antwerp to summon help from Hercule Brederode, surnamed the Toper.And the soldiers of de Lamotte and de Beauvoir were able to gain no entry into Bois-le-Duc, most vigilant of cities, most valiant in defence.

Ulenspiegel, in the garb of a pilgrim, and with no provision of food or money, departed incontinently for Bois-le-Duc, with the intention of warning the citizens. He reckonedto find a horse at the house of Jeroen Praet, the brother of Simon Simonsen, for whom he carried letters from the Prince. From thence he would go by side roads to Bois-le-Duc as fast as his horse would carry him.

As he was crossing the road he spied a company of soldiers coming towards him. This gave him a great fright because of the letters which he carried; but being resolved to put the best face on the misadventure, he awaited the arrival of the soldiers with all the courage at his command, standing still by the roadside telling his beads. When the soldiers came up with him he joined them, and soon discovered that they also were going to Bois-le-Duc.

At the head of the troop marched a company of Walloons led by a captain, Lamotte by name, with his bodyguard of six halberdiers. Then followed the other officers each according to rank, and with a smaller bodyguard: the provost with his halberdiers and two bailiffs, the chief watchman with the baggage-carriers, the executioner with his assistants, and a band of drums and fifes making a great row. Thereafter came a company of Flemish soldiers, two hundred strong, with their captain and his ensign-bearers. They were divided into two divisions, each of one hundred men, under the command of two sergeants, and in squads of ten under the command of corporals. The provost and his lieutenants were likewise preceded by a band of drums and fifes, beating and screaming.

Behind these, again, came two open wagons wherein rode the loving companions of the soldiers, pealing with laughter, twittering like birds, singing like nightingales, eating, drinking, dancing, standing, lying down, or sitting astride—all gay and pretty girls.

Many of them were dressed like foot-soldiers, but in fine white cloth which was cut away at the arms and legs and at the neck so as to show their sweet white flesh. And on their heads they wore bonnets of fine linen trimmed withgold and surmounted with magnificent ostrich plumes that fluttered in the wind. Their belts were of cloth of gold crimped with red satin, from which hung the scabbards of their daggers, made of cloth of gold. And their shoes, their stockings, their hose, their doublets, shoulder-knots and fitments were all of gold and white silk. Others there were, dressed also in the uniform of infantrymen but with uniforms of divers colours, blue, green, scarlet, sky-blue, and crimson, cut away and embroidered or emblazoned according to their fancy. But on the arm of each and all was to be seen the coloured band that indicated her calling.

The girls were in charge of a sergeant who did his best to keep them in order, but they made no pretence of obeying him, but bombarded him with japes and sweet grimaces so that he found it hard to keep his countenance.

Ulenspiegel meanwhile, in his dress of a pilgrim and telling his beads, went marching along by the side of the two ensign-bearers and their guard, for all the world like a little boat by the side of a big ship. Suddenly Lamotte inquired of him whither he was going.

“Sir Captain,” answered Ulenspiegel, who was growing hungry, “you must know that I am one that has committed a grievous sin, for which I have been condemned by the Chapter of Notre Dame to journey to Rome on foot and to ask pardon there from the Holy Father. This he has granted, and now I am shriven and suffered to return to my own country on the one condition that I am to preach the Holy Mysteries to whatsoever soldiers I may encounter on the way; and they for their part are enjoined to give me bread and wine in return for my preaching. And thus by my sermons do I sustain my wretched life. Would you now give me permission to fulfil my vow at the next halt?”

“I will,” said Monsieur de Lamotte.

After this, Ulenspiegel began to mingle with the Walloons and Flemings in right brotherly fashion, but all the time hekept fingering those letters which he kept concealed under his doublet. And the girls began to cry out to him:

“Come hither, handsome pilgrim, come hither and show us the strength of your pilgrim’s oyster-shells!”

And Ulenspiegel drew nigh to them with modest mien, and said:

“O my sisters in God, pray you do not make mock of the poor pilgrim that wendeth up hill and down dale preaching ever the Holy Faith to the soldiers.”

But with his eyes he feasted himself upon the sight of their sweet charms. And the wanton girls, thrusting their lively faces betwixt the canvas curtains of the wagons, cried out to him yet the more:

“Surely you are too young a man to go preaching to soldiers? Climb up into our wagon and we will teach thee more gentle subjects of conversation!”

And right willingly would Ulenspiegel have done as they bade him, but he dared not, by reason of the letters which he carried. And already two of the girls were leaning out of the wagon trying to hoist him up with their white, round arms. But the sergeant was jealous.

“Be off with you, or else I’ll off with your head!” he threatened.

So Ulenspiegel removed himself away, but not without a sly look behind him at the fresh young beauty of those joysome girls, all golden in the sun which now shone brightly.

They came at last to Berchem, where Philip de Lannoy, Lord of Beauvoir, ordered a halt. For he it was that was in command of the Flemings.

Now in that place was an oak-tree, of medium height, but despoiled of all its branches save one only, a big branch that was broken off short in the middle; for only a month before an Anabaptist had been hanged there by the neck.

Here then the soldiers came to a halt, and the keepers of the canteen came up and began to sell to them bread, wine,beer, with meats of every kind. And to the gay girls they sold all manner of sugared sweets, and castrelins, and almonds, and tartlets, the which when Ulenspiegel saw, he felt hungrier than ever.

All at once Ulenspiegel climbed up like a monkey into the tree, and seated himself astride on the big branch, seven feet above the ground at the least. And then, when he had given himself a few strokes from his pilgrim’s scourge, he began his sermon, while the soldiers and their gay girls sat round him in a circle.

“It is written,” he began, “that whosoever giveth to the poor, the same lendeth to God. Very well then, O soldiers present here to-day, and you, fair ladies, sweet comrades in love of all these valiant warriors, do you lend now to God. That is to say, give me, I beg you, some of your bread, meat, wine, beer, if you please, and eke your tartlets, and I promise you that God, who is very rich, shall give you back in exchange many pieces of ortolan, rivers of malmsey wine, mountains of sugar-candy, and great pieces of that lovelyrystpapwhich they eat in Paradise from silver spoons.”

Then, changing to a more sorrowful tone, he continued:

“Behold now, with what cruel tortures do I strive to merit pardon for my sins! Will you do nothing to assuage the smarting pain of this scourge by which my back is lacerated till the blood flows?”

“Who is this madman?” cried the soldiers.

“My friends,” answered Ulenspiegel, “I am no madman but one that is repentant even to the point of starvation. For while my soul weeps for its sins, my stomach weeps for want of food. Good soldiers, and you, fair damosels, I see you well provided with ham and goose, with fat sausages and wine and beer and all manner of tartlets. Will you not give so much as a morsel to the wandering pilgrim?”

“Yes, yes, we will,” cried the Flemish soldiers, “for the preacher hath a merry countenance.”

And now they all began to throw him chunks of bread as though they had been balls, and Ulenspiegel did not cease from talking and from eating, astride as he was on the branch.

“Hunger,” he said, “makes a man hard of heart and little apt for prayer, yet a piece of ham removes that evil disposition in no time.”

“Look out for your head,” shouted a sergeant as he threw him a bottle half full of wine. Ulenspiegel caught the bottle in mid-air, and began to drink in little gulps, talking all the while.

“If hunger, sharp and raging, is bane to the poor body of a pilgrim, there is something else that is equally harmful to his soul; nothing less than his fear that the generosity of his soldier friends may lead him on to drunkenness. For as a general rule the pilgrim is a right sober fellow, but when, as now, one soldier gives him a slice of ham, and another a bottle of beer, he is mightily afraid lest by drinking thus upon an empty, or nearly empty, stomach he may lose his head.”

And even as he spoke, he caught hold of the leg of a goose that came whizzing to him through the air.

“This truly is a miracle,” he cried, “that one should go fishing in the air for a bird of the field! And see! Hey, presto! it has disappeared, bone and all! Verily, what is it that is greedier than dry sand? I will tell you. A barren woman and a hungry man.”

Scarcely had he spoken than he clapped his hand to his face, for two tartlets had flattened themselves, one on his eye, the other on his cheek. The gay girls who had thrown them laughed aloud, but Ulenspiegel made answer:

“Many thanks, my pretties, many thanks for thus embracing me with this jammy accolade.”

Nevertheless the tartlets had fallen to the ground.

And then suddenly the drums began to beat, the fifes screamed, and the soldiers fell in again.

Monsieur de Beauvoir ordered Ulenspiegel to come downfrom his tree and to march by the side of the soldiers. Ulenspiegel would willingly have been parted from them by a hundred leagues, for he had gathered from the remarks let fall by certain thin-faced foot-soldiers that he was already under suspicion, and that he ran danger of being arrested for a spy; and if this was so, he knew that they would most certainly search his pockets, and have him hanged when they found the letters which he carried. So in a little while he purposely let himself stumble into the ditch which ran by the wayside, and as he fell he cried out loudly:

“Mercy, soldiers, mercy! My leg is broken, and now I cannot walk any more. You must let me get up into the cart with the girls!”

But to this he knew that the jealous sergeant would never consent.

The girls, meanwhile, cried out from the carts:

“Come, come, jolly pilgrim, and we will succour you, and caress and make much of you, and cure you all in a day.”

“I know it,” said Ulenspiegel, “for a woman’s hand is balm celestial for all and every wound.”

But the jealous sergeant consulted with Monsieur de Lamotte, saying:

“Sir, I suspect that this pilgrim is playing some trick upon us with his tale of a broken leg. All he wants is to have the chance of getting up into the cart with the girls. Order him rather to be left behind on the road.”

“Very well,” answered Monsieur de Lamotte.

So Ulenspiegel was left where he was in the ditch.

Some soldiers, who really believed that his leg was broken, were sorry for him because of his gaiety, and they left with him a two days’ ration of food and wine. And the girls would have got down and run to his assistance, but as this was forbidden they threw him all that was left of their castrelins.

As soon as the soldiers had disappeared in the distance Ulenspiegel, still in his pilgrim’s dress, recovered his liberty,purchased a horse, and rode like the wind by roads and by-paths to Bois-le-Duc.

When he told them the news of the approach of Monsieur de Lamotte, the townspeople flew to arms to the number of eight hundred men, and they chose out their leaders, and sent off Ulenspiegel, disguised as a charcoal-burner, to Antwerp to summon help from Hercule Brederode, surnamed the Toper.

And the soldiers of de Lamotte and de Beauvoir were able to gain no entry into Bois-le-Duc, most vigilant of cities, most valiant in defence.

XIOne day Simon Simonsen said to Ulenspiegel:“Hearken, brother mine, and tell me, are you a brave man think you?”“Brave enough,” answered Ulenspiegel, “to whip a Spaniard to death, to kill an assassin, or to murder a murderer.”“Do you think you could hide yourself in a chimney and wait there patiently so as to overhear what was being said in the room below?”“God has given me strong legs,” answered Ulenspiegel, “and a supple back, and in virtue of these gifts I could stand a long time in whatever position I would, like a cat.”“Have you patience and a good memory?” asked Simon.“The ashes of Claes beat upon my breast,” answered Ulenspiegel.“Very well then,” said Simon, “you will take this playing card, folded as you see it, and you will go to Dendermonde to a house, a drawing of which I will give you, and you will knock at the door twice loudly and once softly. Some one will open to you and will ask if you are the chimney-sweep; you will answer that you are he and that you have not lost the card. Then you will show the card to him who opened the door. After that, Tyl, you must do as best you can. For great are the evils that are a-planning against theland of Flanders. And you will be conducted to a chimney that has been swept and cleaned against your arrival, and in it you will find a series of strong cramp-irons made ready for you to climb by, and a little wooden shelf securely fastened to the side of the chimney for a seat; and when he that has opened the door shall direct you, you will climb up into your hiding-place, and there remain. In the chamber below, and in front of the chimney where you will be hidden, a conference is to be held between certain noble Lords: William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and the Counts d’Egmont, de Hoorn, de Hoogstraeten, and Ludwig of Nassau, the brother of William. And we Reformers desire to find out whether these noble Lords are able and willing to undertake the saving of our country.”Well, on the first day of April, Ulenspiegel did as he had been bidden and took up his place in the chimney. Luckily for him there was no fire in the grate, and it seemed that the absence of smoke would not make it any the less easy for him to hear properly. After a little while the door of the room was opened, and Ulenspiegel was pierced through and through by a draught of cold wind blowing up the chimney. But he endured the wind with patience, telling himself that it would serve to keep him alert and attentive.After a while he could hear my Lords of Orange, Egmont and the rest making their entrance into the room. They began by speaking of the fears they felt, of the wrath of the King and of the maladministration of the revenue and finances of the country. One of them spoke in a sharp, clear, and haughty tone of voice, which Ulenspiegel recognized as that of my Lord of Egmont; just as he recognized de Hoogstraeten by his husky tones, and de Hoorn by his loud voice, the Count Ludwig of Nassau by his firm and soldierly manner of speech, and William the Silent by that slow, deliberate way of enunciating his words as if they had all been thought out beforehand and weighed in a balance.The Count d’Egmont asked why they had been summoned to this second conference when they had had plenty of time at Hellegat to come to a decision on what they meant to do. De Hoorn replied that the days passed quickly, that the King was growing angry, and that they must be careful to lose no time.Then spake William the Silent.“The country is in danger. It must be defended against the attack of a foreign army.”At this d’Egmont grew excited, and said that he was indeed astonished to hear that the King his master had thought it necessary to send an army when all was so peaceful by reason of the watchful care of their noble Lordships, and of himself especially.But William the Silent made answer:“King Philip already has an army in the Low Countries consisting of not less than fourteen regiments of artillery, and they are under the control of him who commanded them at Gravelines, a general to whom all the soldiers are devoted.”D’Egmont said that he could scarcely believe it.“I will say no more,” said William, “but there are certain letters which shall be read to you and to the assembled Lords, and to begin with, letters from the poor prisoner, Monsieur de Montigny.”And in these letters it was told how that the King was extremely vexed with what was happening in the Low Countries, and that when the hour was come he had determined to punish the fomenters of disturbance.It was at this juncture that the Count d’Egmont complained of the cold, and desired to have the fire lit; the which was done while the two Lords continued their discussion of those letters. Now it was a big fire of wood, but it did not burn well on account of that big obstruction which was hidden in the chimney, and the room became quickly full of smoke.Then the Count de Hoogstraeten began to read (for all that he was coughing continually because of the smoke) certain letters which had been intercepted on their way from Alava, the Spanish ambassador, to the Governess of the Netherlands.“The ambassador,” he said, “writes that all the evil that has happened in the Low Countries was the work of three men: the Lords of Orange, Egmont, and Hoorn. But it were desirable, he adds, to appear well disposed to these three, and to tell them that the King recognizes that it is thanks to them that their lands have been kept loyal to him. As for the two others, Montigny and de Berghes, let them alone where they are.”“Ah!” said Ulenspiegel, “I had rather a smoky chimney in the land of Flanders than a damp prison in the land of Spain; for garrotters grow between damp walls.”But the Count de Hoogstraeten continued:“The said ambassador adds that on one occasion the King, being in the city of Madrid, spoke these words: ‘By all accounts that come from the Low Countries it is evident that our royal reputation is diminished, and we are ready therefore to abandon all our other possessions rather than leave such a rebellion unpunished. We are decided to proceed to the Netherlands in person, and to claim the assistance of the Pope and of the Emperor. For beneath the present evil is concealed a future good. We shall reclaim the Low Countries to absolute obedience, and according to our own will we shall modify the constitution of that State, its religion and its government.’”“Ah, King Philip,” said Ulenspiegel, “if only I could modify yours to mine! Verily you would suffer, under the blows of my trusty Flemish stick, a wondrous modification of your thighs and arms and legs! I would fix your head in the middle of your back with a couple of nails, and as you viewed from this position the charnel-house you have created,you should sing at your good ease a pretty song of tyrannous modification!”Now wine was brought, and de Hoogstraeten rose upon his feet and said:“I drink to our country!” and every one followed his example, and when he had finished the toast he threw his empty tankard down on the table, and said: “Now sounds an evil hour for the nobility of Belgium. Let us take counsel as to how we may best defend ourselves.”He awaited some response, and looked at d’Egmont, but he uttered not a word, and it was left to William of Orange to break the silence.“We can offer resistance,” he said, “provided that the Count d’Egmont—who at Saint-Quentin and at Gravelines has twice made France to tremble and who holds complete sway over the Flemish soldiery—provided that he, I repeat, is willing to come to our assistance in our endeavour to prevent the Spaniard from entering the fatherland.”To this my Lord of Egmont made answer:“I have too much respect for the King to think that it is right that we should take up arms against him like rebels. Let those who fear his wrath retire before it. I shall remain where I am, for I have no means of living if I am deprived of his help.”“Philip knows how to avenge himself most cruelly,” said William the Silent.“I trust him,” answered d’Egmont.“You would trust him with your heads?” asked Ludwig of Nassau.“Head, body, and soul,” replied d’Egmont.“Friend, faithful and true, I will do likewise,” said de Hoorn.But William said:“It behoves us to be far-sighted, and not to wait for things to happen.”And then my Lord of Egmont spoke again, very excitedly.“I have arrested twenty-two Reformers at Grammont,” he said, “and if their preachings come to an end, and if punishment is meted out to the iconoclasts, the anger of the King will be appeased.”But William said:“These are mere hopes.”“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” said d’Egmont.“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” echoed de Hoorn.“It is cold steel rather than trust that should be our weapons,” replied de Hoogstraeten.Whereupon William the Silent made a sign to the effect that he wished to depart.“Adieu, Prince without a country,” said the Count d’Egmont.“Adieu, Prince without a head,” answered William.“The sheep are for the butcher,” said Ludwig of Nassau, “but glory waits the soldier that saves the land of his fathers.”“That I cannot,” said d’Egmont, “neither do I desire to.”“May the blood of the victims fall once again upon the head of the flatterer,” said Ulenspiegel.And then those Lords retired.Whereupon did Ulenspiegel come down from his chimney, and go straightway to carry the news to Praet. And the latter said: “D’Egmont is nothing better than a traitor. But God is with the Prince.”The Duke! The Duke at Brussels! Where are the safes and coffers that have wings?

XI

One day Simon Simonsen said to Ulenspiegel:“Hearken, brother mine, and tell me, are you a brave man think you?”“Brave enough,” answered Ulenspiegel, “to whip a Spaniard to death, to kill an assassin, or to murder a murderer.”“Do you think you could hide yourself in a chimney and wait there patiently so as to overhear what was being said in the room below?”“God has given me strong legs,” answered Ulenspiegel, “and a supple back, and in virtue of these gifts I could stand a long time in whatever position I would, like a cat.”“Have you patience and a good memory?” asked Simon.“The ashes of Claes beat upon my breast,” answered Ulenspiegel.“Very well then,” said Simon, “you will take this playing card, folded as you see it, and you will go to Dendermonde to a house, a drawing of which I will give you, and you will knock at the door twice loudly and once softly. Some one will open to you and will ask if you are the chimney-sweep; you will answer that you are he and that you have not lost the card. Then you will show the card to him who opened the door. After that, Tyl, you must do as best you can. For great are the evils that are a-planning against theland of Flanders. And you will be conducted to a chimney that has been swept and cleaned against your arrival, and in it you will find a series of strong cramp-irons made ready for you to climb by, and a little wooden shelf securely fastened to the side of the chimney for a seat; and when he that has opened the door shall direct you, you will climb up into your hiding-place, and there remain. In the chamber below, and in front of the chimney where you will be hidden, a conference is to be held between certain noble Lords: William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and the Counts d’Egmont, de Hoorn, de Hoogstraeten, and Ludwig of Nassau, the brother of William. And we Reformers desire to find out whether these noble Lords are able and willing to undertake the saving of our country.”Well, on the first day of April, Ulenspiegel did as he had been bidden and took up his place in the chimney. Luckily for him there was no fire in the grate, and it seemed that the absence of smoke would not make it any the less easy for him to hear properly. After a little while the door of the room was opened, and Ulenspiegel was pierced through and through by a draught of cold wind blowing up the chimney. But he endured the wind with patience, telling himself that it would serve to keep him alert and attentive.After a while he could hear my Lords of Orange, Egmont and the rest making their entrance into the room. They began by speaking of the fears they felt, of the wrath of the King and of the maladministration of the revenue and finances of the country. One of them spoke in a sharp, clear, and haughty tone of voice, which Ulenspiegel recognized as that of my Lord of Egmont; just as he recognized de Hoogstraeten by his husky tones, and de Hoorn by his loud voice, the Count Ludwig of Nassau by his firm and soldierly manner of speech, and William the Silent by that slow, deliberate way of enunciating his words as if they had all been thought out beforehand and weighed in a balance.The Count d’Egmont asked why they had been summoned to this second conference when they had had plenty of time at Hellegat to come to a decision on what they meant to do. De Hoorn replied that the days passed quickly, that the King was growing angry, and that they must be careful to lose no time.Then spake William the Silent.“The country is in danger. It must be defended against the attack of a foreign army.”At this d’Egmont grew excited, and said that he was indeed astonished to hear that the King his master had thought it necessary to send an army when all was so peaceful by reason of the watchful care of their noble Lordships, and of himself especially.But William the Silent made answer:“King Philip already has an army in the Low Countries consisting of not less than fourteen regiments of artillery, and they are under the control of him who commanded them at Gravelines, a general to whom all the soldiers are devoted.”D’Egmont said that he could scarcely believe it.“I will say no more,” said William, “but there are certain letters which shall be read to you and to the assembled Lords, and to begin with, letters from the poor prisoner, Monsieur de Montigny.”And in these letters it was told how that the King was extremely vexed with what was happening in the Low Countries, and that when the hour was come he had determined to punish the fomenters of disturbance.It was at this juncture that the Count d’Egmont complained of the cold, and desired to have the fire lit; the which was done while the two Lords continued their discussion of those letters. Now it was a big fire of wood, but it did not burn well on account of that big obstruction which was hidden in the chimney, and the room became quickly full of smoke.Then the Count de Hoogstraeten began to read (for all that he was coughing continually because of the smoke) certain letters which had been intercepted on their way from Alava, the Spanish ambassador, to the Governess of the Netherlands.“The ambassador,” he said, “writes that all the evil that has happened in the Low Countries was the work of three men: the Lords of Orange, Egmont, and Hoorn. But it were desirable, he adds, to appear well disposed to these three, and to tell them that the King recognizes that it is thanks to them that their lands have been kept loyal to him. As for the two others, Montigny and de Berghes, let them alone where they are.”“Ah!” said Ulenspiegel, “I had rather a smoky chimney in the land of Flanders than a damp prison in the land of Spain; for garrotters grow between damp walls.”But the Count de Hoogstraeten continued:“The said ambassador adds that on one occasion the King, being in the city of Madrid, spoke these words: ‘By all accounts that come from the Low Countries it is evident that our royal reputation is diminished, and we are ready therefore to abandon all our other possessions rather than leave such a rebellion unpunished. We are decided to proceed to the Netherlands in person, and to claim the assistance of the Pope and of the Emperor. For beneath the present evil is concealed a future good. We shall reclaim the Low Countries to absolute obedience, and according to our own will we shall modify the constitution of that State, its religion and its government.’”“Ah, King Philip,” said Ulenspiegel, “if only I could modify yours to mine! Verily you would suffer, under the blows of my trusty Flemish stick, a wondrous modification of your thighs and arms and legs! I would fix your head in the middle of your back with a couple of nails, and as you viewed from this position the charnel-house you have created,you should sing at your good ease a pretty song of tyrannous modification!”Now wine was brought, and de Hoogstraeten rose upon his feet and said:“I drink to our country!” and every one followed his example, and when he had finished the toast he threw his empty tankard down on the table, and said: “Now sounds an evil hour for the nobility of Belgium. Let us take counsel as to how we may best defend ourselves.”He awaited some response, and looked at d’Egmont, but he uttered not a word, and it was left to William of Orange to break the silence.“We can offer resistance,” he said, “provided that the Count d’Egmont—who at Saint-Quentin and at Gravelines has twice made France to tremble and who holds complete sway over the Flemish soldiery—provided that he, I repeat, is willing to come to our assistance in our endeavour to prevent the Spaniard from entering the fatherland.”To this my Lord of Egmont made answer:“I have too much respect for the King to think that it is right that we should take up arms against him like rebels. Let those who fear his wrath retire before it. I shall remain where I am, for I have no means of living if I am deprived of his help.”“Philip knows how to avenge himself most cruelly,” said William the Silent.“I trust him,” answered d’Egmont.“You would trust him with your heads?” asked Ludwig of Nassau.“Head, body, and soul,” replied d’Egmont.“Friend, faithful and true, I will do likewise,” said de Hoorn.But William said:“It behoves us to be far-sighted, and not to wait for things to happen.”And then my Lord of Egmont spoke again, very excitedly.“I have arrested twenty-two Reformers at Grammont,” he said, “and if their preachings come to an end, and if punishment is meted out to the iconoclasts, the anger of the King will be appeased.”But William said:“These are mere hopes.”“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” said d’Egmont.“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” echoed de Hoorn.“It is cold steel rather than trust that should be our weapons,” replied de Hoogstraeten.Whereupon William the Silent made a sign to the effect that he wished to depart.“Adieu, Prince without a country,” said the Count d’Egmont.“Adieu, Prince without a head,” answered William.“The sheep are for the butcher,” said Ludwig of Nassau, “but glory waits the soldier that saves the land of his fathers.”“That I cannot,” said d’Egmont, “neither do I desire to.”“May the blood of the victims fall once again upon the head of the flatterer,” said Ulenspiegel.And then those Lords retired.Whereupon did Ulenspiegel come down from his chimney, and go straightway to carry the news to Praet. And the latter said: “D’Egmont is nothing better than a traitor. But God is with the Prince.”The Duke! The Duke at Brussels! Where are the safes and coffers that have wings?

One day Simon Simonsen said to Ulenspiegel:

“Hearken, brother mine, and tell me, are you a brave man think you?”

“Brave enough,” answered Ulenspiegel, “to whip a Spaniard to death, to kill an assassin, or to murder a murderer.”

“Do you think you could hide yourself in a chimney and wait there patiently so as to overhear what was being said in the room below?”

“God has given me strong legs,” answered Ulenspiegel, “and a supple back, and in virtue of these gifts I could stand a long time in whatever position I would, like a cat.”

“Have you patience and a good memory?” asked Simon.

“The ashes of Claes beat upon my breast,” answered Ulenspiegel.

“Very well then,” said Simon, “you will take this playing card, folded as you see it, and you will go to Dendermonde to a house, a drawing of which I will give you, and you will knock at the door twice loudly and once softly. Some one will open to you and will ask if you are the chimney-sweep; you will answer that you are he and that you have not lost the card. Then you will show the card to him who opened the door. After that, Tyl, you must do as best you can. For great are the evils that are a-planning against theland of Flanders. And you will be conducted to a chimney that has been swept and cleaned against your arrival, and in it you will find a series of strong cramp-irons made ready for you to climb by, and a little wooden shelf securely fastened to the side of the chimney for a seat; and when he that has opened the door shall direct you, you will climb up into your hiding-place, and there remain. In the chamber below, and in front of the chimney where you will be hidden, a conference is to be held between certain noble Lords: William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and the Counts d’Egmont, de Hoorn, de Hoogstraeten, and Ludwig of Nassau, the brother of William. And we Reformers desire to find out whether these noble Lords are able and willing to undertake the saving of our country.”

Well, on the first day of April, Ulenspiegel did as he had been bidden and took up his place in the chimney. Luckily for him there was no fire in the grate, and it seemed that the absence of smoke would not make it any the less easy for him to hear properly. After a little while the door of the room was opened, and Ulenspiegel was pierced through and through by a draught of cold wind blowing up the chimney. But he endured the wind with patience, telling himself that it would serve to keep him alert and attentive.

After a while he could hear my Lords of Orange, Egmont and the rest making their entrance into the room. They began by speaking of the fears they felt, of the wrath of the King and of the maladministration of the revenue and finances of the country. One of them spoke in a sharp, clear, and haughty tone of voice, which Ulenspiegel recognized as that of my Lord of Egmont; just as he recognized de Hoogstraeten by his husky tones, and de Hoorn by his loud voice, the Count Ludwig of Nassau by his firm and soldierly manner of speech, and William the Silent by that slow, deliberate way of enunciating his words as if they had all been thought out beforehand and weighed in a balance.

The Count d’Egmont asked why they had been summoned to this second conference when they had had plenty of time at Hellegat to come to a decision on what they meant to do. De Hoorn replied that the days passed quickly, that the King was growing angry, and that they must be careful to lose no time.

Then spake William the Silent.

“The country is in danger. It must be defended against the attack of a foreign army.”

At this d’Egmont grew excited, and said that he was indeed astonished to hear that the King his master had thought it necessary to send an army when all was so peaceful by reason of the watchful care of their noble Lordships, and of himself especially.

But William the Silent made answer:

“King Philip already has an army in the Low Countries consisting of not less than fourteen regiments of artillery, and they are under the control of him who commanded them at Gravelines, a general to whom all the soldiers are devoted.”

D’Egmont said that he could scarcely believe it.

“I will say no more,” said William, “but there are certain letters which shall be read to you and to the assembled Lords, and to begin with, letters from the poor prisoner, Monsieur de Montigny.”

And in these letters it was told how that the King was extremely vexed with what was happening in the Low Countries, and that when the hour was come he had determined to punish the fomenters of disturbance.

It was at this juncture that the Count d’Egmont complained of the cold, and desired to have the fire lit; the which was done while the two Lords continued their discussion of those letters. Now it was a big fire of wood, but it did not burn well on account of that big obstruction which was hidden in the chimney, and the room became quickly full of smoke.

Then the Count de Hoogstraeten began to read (for all that he was coughing continually because of the smoke) certain letters which had been intercepted on their way from Alava, the Spanish ambassador, to the Governess of the Netherlands.

“The ambassador,” he said, “writes that all the evil that has happened in the Low Countries was the work of three men: the Lords of Orange, Egmont, and Hoorn. But it were desirable, he adds, to appear well disposed to these three, and to tell them that the King recognizes that it is thanks to them that their lands have been kept loyal to him. As for the two others, Montigny and de Berghes, let them alone where they are.”

“Ah!” said Ulenspiegel, “I had rather a smoky chimney in the land of Flanders than a damp prison in the land of Spain; for garrotters grow between damp walls.”

But the Count de Hoogstraeten continued:

“The said ambassador adds that on one occasion the King, being in the city of Madrid, spoke these words: ‘By all accounts that come from the Low Countries it is evident that our royal reputation is diminished, and we are ready therefore to abandon all our other possessions rather than leave such a rebellion unpunished. We are decided to proceed to the Netherlands in person, and to claim the assistance of the Pope and of the Emperor. For beneath the present evil is concealed a future good. We shall reclaim the Low Countries to absolute obedience, and according to our own will we shall modify the constitution of that State, its religion and its government.’”

“Ah, King Philip,” said Ulenspiegel, “if only I could modify yours to mine! Verily you would suffer, under the blows of my trusty Flemish stick, a wondrous modification of your thighs and arms and legs! I would fix your head in the middle of your back with a couple of nails, and as you viewed from this position the charnel-house you have created,you should sing at your good ease a pretty song of tyrannous modification!”

Now wine was brought, and de Hoogstraeten rose upon his feet and said:

“I drink to our country!” and every one followed his example, and when he had finished the toast he threw his empty tankard down on the table, and said: “Now sounds an evil hour for the nobility of Belgium. Let us take counsel as to how we may best defend ourselves.”

He awaited some response, and looked at d’Egmont, but he uttered not a word, and it was left to William of Orange to break the silence.

“We can offer resistance,” he said, “provided that the Count d’Egmont—who at Saint-Quentin and at Gravelines has twice made France to tremble and who holds complete sway over the Flemish soldiery—provided that he, I repeat, is willing to come to our assistance in our endeavour to prevent the Spaniard from entering the fatherland.”

To this my Lord of Egmont made answer:

“I have too much respect for the King to think that it is right that we should take up arms against him like rebels. Let those who fear his wrath retire before it. I shall remain where I am, for I have no means of living if I am deprived of his help.”

“Philip knows how to avenge himself most cruelly,” said William the Silent.

“I trust him,” answered d’Egmont.

“You would trust him with your heads?” asked Ludwig of Nassau.

“Head, body, and soul,” replied d’Egmont.

“Friend, faithful and true, I will do likewise,” said de Hoorn.

But William said:

“It behoves us to be far-sighted, and not to wait for things to happen.”

And then my Lord of Egmont spoke again, very excitedly.

“I have arrested twenty-two Reformers at Grammont,” he said, “and if their preachings come to an end, and if punishment is meted out to the iconoclasts, the anger of the King will be appeased.”

But William said:

“These are mere hopes.”

“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” said d’Egmont.

“Let us arm ourselves with trust,” echoed de Hoorn.

“It is cold steel rather than trust that should be our weapons,” replied de Hoogstraeten.

Whereupon William the Silent made a sign to the effect that he wished to depart.

“Adieu, Prince without a country,” said the Count d’Egmont.

“Adieu, Prince without a head,” answered William.

“The sheep are for the butcher,” said Ludwig of Nassau, “but glory waits the soldier that saves the land of his fathers.”

“That I cannot,” said d’Egmont, “neither do I desire to.”

“May the blood of the victims fall once again upon the head of the flatterer,” said Ulenspiegel.

And then those Lords retired.

Whereupon did Ulenspiegel come down from his chimney, and go straightway to carry the news to Praet. And the latter said: “D’Egmont is nothing better than a traitor. But God is with the Prince.”

The Duke! The Duke at Brussels! Where are the safes and coffers that have wings?

XIIWilliam the Silent went in the way by God appointed. As for the two Counts, they had already given themselves up to the Duke of Alba, who offered pardon to William as well if only he would appear before him.At this news Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“My good friend, what do you think now? The Duke has sent out a summons through Dubois, the Attorney-General, by which the Prince of Orange, Ludwig his brother, de Hoogstraeten, Van den Bergh, Culembourg, de Brederode, and other friends of the Prince are cited to appear before him within forty days; and if they do this they are assured of justice and mercy. But listen, Lamme, and I will tell you a story. One day there was a Jew of Amsterdam who summoned one of his enemies to come down and join him in the street, for the Jew was standing on the pavement, but his enemy was looking out of a window just above. ‘Come down at once,’ said the Jew, ‘and I will give you such a blow on the head as will squash it down into your chest, so that your two eyes will look out from your sides like the eyes of a thief from betwixt prison-bars.’ But the other answered: ‘Even if you promised me a hundred times as much, still I would not come down.’ Even so may the Prince of Orange and his friends make reply to him that summons them!”And so they did, refusing point-blank to appear before the Duke. But the Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn were not of this mind. And their failure to do their duty brought them nearer to their doom.

XII

William the Silent went in the way by God appointed. As for the two Counts, they had already given themselves up to the Duke of Alba, who offered pardon to William as well if only he would appear before him.At this news Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“My good friend, what do you think now? The Duke has sent out a summons through Dubois, the Attorney-General, by which the Prince of Orange, Ludwig his brother, de Hoogstraeten, Van den Bergh, Culembourg, de Brederode, and other friends of the Prince are cited to appear before him within forty days; and if they do this they are assured of justice and mercy. But listen, Lamme, and I will tell you a story. One day there was a Jew of Amsterdam who summoned one of his enemies to come down and join him in the street, for the Jew was standing on the pavement, but his enemy was looking out of a window just above. ‘Come down at once,’ said the Jew, ‘and I will give you such a blow on the head as will squash it down into your chest, so that your two eyes will look out from your sides like the eyes of a thief from betwixt prison-bars.’ But the other answered: ‘Even if you promised me a hundred times as much, still I would not come down.’ Even so may the Prince of Orange and his friends make reply to him that summons them!”And so they did, refusing point-blank to appear before the Duke. But the Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn were not of this mind. And their failure to do their duty brought them nearer to their doom.

William the Silent went in the way by God appointed. As for the two Counts, they had already given themselves up to the Duke of Alba, who offered pardon to William as well if only he would appear before him.

At this news Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:

“My good friend, what do you think now? The Duke has sent out a summons through Dubois, the Attorney-General, by which the Prince of Orange, Ludwig his brother, de Hoogstraeten, Van den Bergh, Culembourg, de Brederode, and other friends of the Prince are cited to appear before him within forty days; and if they do this they are assured of justice and mercy. But listen, Lamme, and I will tell you a story. One day there was a Jew of Amsterdam who summoned one of his enemies to come down and join him in the street, for the Jew was standing on the pavement, but his enemy was looking out of a window just above. ‘Come down at once,’ said the Jew, ‘and I will give you such a blow on the head as will squash it down into your chest, so that your two eyes will look out from your sides like the eyes of a thief from betwixt prison-bars.’ But the other answered: ‘Even if you promised me a hundred times as much, still I would not come down.’ Even so may the Prince of Orange and his friends make reply to him that summons them!”

And so they did, refusing point-blank to appear before the Duke. But the Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn were not of this mind. And their failure to do their duty brought them nearer to their doom.

XIIIOne day in June, a fine warm day it was, a scaffold was set up in the market square at Brussels, in front of the Town Hall. The scaffold was draped in black, and close to it were two tall posts tipped with steel. On the scaffold were a couple of black cushions and a little table with a silver cross thereon.And on this scaffold were beheaded the noble Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And the King entered into their inheritance. And it was of the Count d’Egmont that the ambassador of Francis spake, saying:“This day have I seen a man beheaded who twice made the Kingdom of France to tremble.”And the heads of the two Counts were placed upon the posts with the iron tips. And Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“With a black cloth have they covered both their flesh and their blood. Verily, blessed now are they who keep heart high and sword drawn in the dark days that are coming!”

XIII

One day in June, a fine warm day it was, a scaffold was set up in the market square at Brussels, in front of the Town Hall. The scaffold was draped in black, and close to it were two tall posts tipped with steel. On the scaffold were a couple of black cushions and a little table with a silver cross thereon.And on this scaffold were beheaded the noble Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And the King entered into their inheritance. And it was of the Count d’Egmont that the ambassador of Francis spake, saying:“This day have I seen a man beheaded who twice made the Kingdom of France to tremble.”And the heads of the two Counts were placed upon the posts with the iron tips. And Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:“With a black cloth have they covered both their flesh and their blood. Verily, blessed now are they who keep heart high and sword drawn in the dark days that are coming!”

One day in June, a fine warm day it was, a scaffold was set up in the market square at Brussels, in front of the Town Hall. The scaffold was draped in black, and close to it were two tall posts tipped with steel. On the scaffold were a couple of black cushions and a little table with a silver cross thereon.

And on this scaffold were beheaded the noble Counts d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And the King entered into their inheritance. And it was of the Count d’Egmont that the ambassador of Francis spake, saying:

“This day have I seen a man beheaded who twice made the Kingdom of France to tremble.”

And the heads of the two Counts were placed upon the posts with the iron tips. And Ulenspiegel said to Lamme:

“With a black cloth have they covered both their flesh and their blood. Verily, blessed now are they who keep heart high and sword drawn in the dark days that are coming!”

XIVIn those days William the Silent gathered together an army and invaded the country of the Netherlands from three sides.And Ulenspiegel was at a meeting of his countrymen at Marenhout. And they were wild with anger and he addressed them in this wise:“Know you, my friends, that King Philip has taken counsel with the Holy Inquisition, and by their advice he has declared all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to be guilty of high treason. And the charge against them is one of heresy, namely, that either they are heretics themselves, or else that they have put no obstacles in the way of the spread of heretical doctrine. And for this execrable crime the King has condemned them all, without regard to age or sex, to suffer the appropriate penalties—all except a few here and there that are exempted by name. And there is no hope of grace or pardon. And the King will enter into their inheritance. For the scythes of Death are busy through all the wide land that borders the North Sea: the Duchy of Emden, the river-land of Amise, and the countries of Westphalia and of Cleves, of Juliers and Liége, together with the Bishoprics of Cologne and Treves and the lands of France and Lorraine. The scythes of Death are busy over more than three hundred leagues of our soil, and in two hundred of our walled towns, in a hundred and fifty boroughs, in the countrysides and villages and level lands of the whole country. And theKing is taking all for his own. And I tell you,” Ulenspiegel continued, “that eleven thousand executioners will not be too many for this business. But the Duke of Alba calls them soldiers. And all the land of our fathers is become a charnel-house. Fugitive are all the arts of peace, and all the crafts and industries abandon us now to enrich those foreign lands which still permit a man to worship at home the God of conscience. But here the scythes of Death are busy, and the King takes all for his own.“Our country, as you know, had gained various privileges by gifts of money to princes when they were in need. But now these privileges have all been annulled. And as the result of many an agreement made between ourselves and our overlords we had hoped to enjoy the wealth that came to us as the fruit of our labours.Yet were we deceived. The stone-mason builded for the incendiary, the labourer laboured for the thief. And the King takes all for his own.“Blood and tears! Everywhere naught but blood and tears! For the scythes of Death are busy—busy at the places of execution and at the trees that serve for gallows by the roadsides; and at many an open grave wherein are thrown the living bodies of our maids. And they are busy in the prison dungeons and within those circles of faggots that flame around the victims, scorching them little by little to death; or in the huts of straw where they fall suffocated in the fire and the smoke. And the King takes all for his own. And this, forsooth, by the will of the Pope of Rome. The very cities teem with spies that await their share of the plunder. The richer one is the more likely one is to be found guilty. And the King takes all for his own.“But never shall the valiant men of Flanders suffer themselves to be butchered thus like lambs. For among those who fly away for refuge there are some who carry arms, and these are hiding in the woods....“The monks verily have denounced them and hold themselves free to kill them and take possession of their goods. But by night and day these refugees, banded together like wild beasts, rush down upon the monasteries and seize the money that has been stolen from the poor, and take it away under the form of candlesticks and reliquaries of gold and silver, ciboria and patens, and other precious vessels of the kind.... Do I not speak truth, my friends? And they drink therefrom that wine which the monks had been keeping for themselves. And when melted down or mortgaged, these vessels will serve to provide money for the Holy War. Long live the Beggarmen!“And even now they begin to harass the soldiers of the King, killing and plundering, then back into their lairs. And in the woods by day and night are to be seen the fires which have been lit during the hours of darkness, flaring up or dying down and ever breaking out in some fresh place. These are the fires of our banquetings. All for us the game of the woods, both furred and feathered. We are the masters here. And the peasants load us with bread and bacon whenever we are in need. Look at them Lamme; fierce and talkative, resolute and proud of bearing, they wander through the woods. And they are armed with hatchets and halberds, and with long swords andbragmarts, with arquebuses, pikes, lances, and crossbows. For any kind of weapon is good enough for such brave men, and they need no officers to lead them. Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel sang this song:Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!Slit the carcass of the Duke,Flog him on his hangman’s face!To the death with the murderer!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!With the victims of his wrathFoul corruption let him share!But long live the Beggarmen!Christ from Heaven look Thou down,Look upon thy soldiers true,That risk hanging, fire, and swordFor thy Word!And for their dear Fatherland!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!And all drank the toast and cried aloud:“Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel drank in his turn from a golden goblet that had once belonged to some monk or other, and proudly he gazed on the wild faces of the brave Beggarmen that stood before him.“Men,” he cried, “wild beasts rather that are my comrades, be you wolves lions, or tigers in very deed, and eat up all the cursed dogs of this King of Blood!”“Long live the Beggarmen!” they shouted, and yet again they sang the song ofBeat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!

XIV

In those days William the Silent gathered together an army and invaded the country of the Netherlands from three sides.And Ulenspiegel was at a meeting of his countrymen at Marenhout. And they were wild with anger and he addressed them in this wise:“Know you, my friends, that King Philip has taken counsel with the Holy Inquisition, and by their advice he has declared all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to be guilty of high treason. And the charge against them is one of heresy, namely, that either they are heretics themselves, or else that they have put no obstacles in the way of the spread of heretical doctrine. And for this execrable crime the King has condemned them all, without regard to age or sex, to suffer the appropriate penalties—all except a few here and there that are exempted by name. And there is no hope of grace or pardon. And the King will enter into their inheritance. For the scythes of Death are busy through all the wide land that borders the North Sea: the Duchy of Emden, the river-land of Amise, and the countries of Westphalia and of Cleves, of Juliers and Liége, together with the Bishoprics of Cologne and Treves and the lands of France and Lorraine. The scythes of Death are busy over more than three hundred leagues of our soil, and in two hundred of our walled towns, in a hundred and fifty boroughs, in the countrysides and villages and level lands of the whole country. And theKing is taking all for his own. And I tell you,” Ulenspiegel continued, “that eleven thousand executioners will not be too many for this business. But the Duke of Alba calls them soldiers. And all the land of our fathers is become a charnel-house. Fugitive are all the arts of peace, and all the crafts and industries abandon us now to enrich those foreign lands which still permit a man to worship at home the God of conscience. But here the scythes of Death are busy, and the King takes all for his own.“Our country, as you know, had gained various privileges by gifts of money to princes when they were in need. But now these privileges have all been annulled. And as the result of many an agreement made between ourselves and our overlords we had hoped to enjoy the wealth that came to us as the fruit of our labours.Yet were we deceived. The stone-mason builded for the incendiary, the labourer laboured for the thief. And the King takes all for his own.“Blood and tears! Everywhere naught but blood and tears! For the scythes of Death are busy—busy at the places of execution and at the trees that serve for gallows by the roadsides; and at many an open grave wherein are thrown the living bodies of our maids. And they are busy in the prison dungeons and within those circles of faggots that flame around the victims, scorching them little by little to death; or in the huts of straw where they fall suffocated in the fire and the smoke. And the King takes all for his own. And this, forsooth, by the will of the Pope of Rome. The very cities teem with spies that await their share of the plunder. The richer one is the more likely one is to be found guilty. And the King takes all for his own.“But never shall the valiant men of Flanders suffer themselves to be butchered thus like lambs. For among those who fly away for refuge there are some who carry arms, and these are hiding in the woods....“The monks verily have denounced them and hold themselves free to kill them and take possession of their goods. But by night and day these refugees, banded together like wild beasts, rush down upon the monasteries and seize the money that has been stolen from the poor, and take it away under the form of candlesticks and reliquaries of gold and silver, ciboria and patens, and other precious vessels of the kind.... Do I not speak truth, my friends? And they drink therefrom that wine which the monks had been keeping for themselves. And when melted down or mortgaged, these vessels will serve to provide money for the Holy War. Long live the Beggarmen!“And even now they begin to harass the soldiers of the King, killing and plundering, then back into their lairs. And in the woods by day and night are to be seen the fires which have been lit during the hours of darkness, flaring up or dying down and ever breaking out in some fresh place. These are the fires of our banquetings. All for us the game of the woods, both furred and feathered. We are the masters here. And the peasants load us with bread and bacon whenever we are in need. Look at them Lamme; fierce and talkative, resolute and proud of bearing, they wander through the woods. And they are armed with hatchets and halberds, and with long swords andbragmarts, with arquebuses, pikes, lances, and crossbows. For any kind of weapon is good enough for such brave men, and they need no officers to lead them. Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel sang this song:Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!Slit the carcass of the Duke,Flog him on his hangman’s face!To the death with the murderer!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!With the victims of his wrathFoul corruption let him share!But long live the Beggarmen!Christ from Heaven look Thou down,Look upon thy soldiers true,That risk hanging, fire, and swordFor thy Word!And for their dear Fatherland!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!And all drank the toast and cried aloud:“Long live the Beggarmen!”And Ulenspiegel drank in his turn from a golden goblet that had once belonged to some monk or other, and proudly he gazed on the wild faces of the brave Beggarmen that stood before him.“Men,” he cried, “wild beasts rather that are my comrades, be you wolves lions, or tigers in very deed, and eat up all the cursed dogs of this King of Blood!”“Long live the Beggarmen!” they shouted, and yet again they sang the song ofBeat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!

In those days William the Silent gathered together an army and invaded the country of the Netherlands from three sides.

And Ulenspiegel was at a meeting of his countrymen at Marenhout. And they were wild with anger and he addressed them in this wise:

“Know you, my friends, that King Philip has taken counsel with the Holy Inquisition, and by their advice he has declared all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to be guilty of high treason. And the charge against them is one of heresy, namely, that either they are heretics themselves, or else that they have put no obstacles in the way of the spread of heretical doctrine. And for this execrable crime the King has condemned them all, without regard to age or sex, to suffer the appropriate penalties—all except a few here and there that are exempted by name. And there is no hope of grace or pardon. And the King will enter into their inheritance. For the scythes of Death are busy through all the wide land that borders the North Sea: the Duchy of Emden, the river-land of Amise, and the countries of Westphalia and of Cleves, of Juliers and Liége, together with the Bishoprics of Cologne and Treves and the lands of France and Lorraine. The scythes of Death are busy over more than three hundred leagues of our soil, and in two hundred of our walled towns, in a hundred and fifty boroughs, in the countrysides and villages and level lands of the whole country. And theKing is taking all for his own. And I tell you,” Ulenspiegel continued, “that eleven thousand executioners will not be too many for this business. But the Duke of Alba calls them soldiers. And all the land of our fathers is become a charnel-house. Fugitive are all the arts of peace, and all the crafts and industries abandon us now to enrich those foreign lands which still permit a man to worship at home the God of conscience. But here the scythes of Death are busy, and the King takes all for his own.

“Our country, as you know, had gained various privileges by gifts of money to princes when they were in need. But now these privileges have all been annulled. And as the result of many an agreement made between ourselves and our overlords we had hoped to enjoy the wealth that came to us as the fruit of our labours.Yet were we deceived. The stone-mason builded for the incendiary, the labourer laboured for the thief. And the King takes all for his own.

“Blood and tears! Everywhere naught but blood and tears! For the scythes of Death are busy—busy at the places of execution and at the trees that serve for gallows by the roadsides; and at many an open grave wherein are thrown the living bodies of our maids. And they are busy in the prison dungeons and within those circles of faggots that flame around the victims, scorching them little by little to death; or in the huts of straw where they fall suffocated in the fire and the smoke. And the King takes all for his own. And this, forsooth, by the will of the Pope of Rome. The very cities teem with spies that await their share of the plunder. The richer one is the more likely one is to be found guilty. And the King takes all for his own.

“But never shall the valiant men of Flanders suffer themselves to be butchered thus like lambs. For among those who fly away for refuge there are some who carry arms, and these are hiding in the woods....

“The monks verily have denounced them and hold themselves free to kill them and take possession of their goods. But by night and day these refugees, banded together like wild beasts, rush down upon the monasteries and seize the money that has been stolen from the poor, and take it away under the form of candlesticks and reliquaries of gold and silver, ciboria and patens, and other precious vessels of the kind.... Do I not speak truth, my friends? And they drink therefrom that wine which the monks had been keeping for themselves. And when melted down or mortgaged, these vessels will serve to provide money for the Holy War. Long live the Beggarmen!

“And even now they begin to harass the soldiers of the King, killing and plundering, then back into their lairs. And in the woods by day and night are to be seen the fires which have been lit during the hours of darkness, flaring up or dying down and ever breaking out in some fresh place. These are the fires of our banquetings. All for us the game of the woods, both furred and feathered. We are the masters here. And the peasants load us with bread and bacon whenever we are in need. Look at them Lamme; fierce and talkative, resolute and proud of bearing, they wander through the woods. And they are armed with hatchets and halberds, and with long swords andbragmarts, with arquebuses, pikes, lances, and crossbows. For any kind of weapon is good enough for such brave men, and they need no officers to lead them. Long live the Beggarmen!”

And Ulenspiegel sang this song:

Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!Slit the carcass of the Duke,Flog him on his hangman’s face!To the death with the murderer!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!With the victims of his wrathFoul corruption let him share!But long live the Beggarmen!Christ from Heaven look Thou down,Look upon thy soldiers true,That risk hanging, fire, and swordFor thy Word!And for their dear Fatherland!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!

Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!Slit the carcass of the Duke,Flog him on his hangman’s face!To the death with the murderer!

Beat the drum! Beat the drum!

Drums of war!

Slit the carcass of the Duke,

Flog him on his hangman’s face!

To the death with the murderer!

Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!With the victims of his wrathFoul corruption let him share!But long live the Beggarmen!

Beat the drum! Beat the drum!

Drums of war!

With the victims of his wrath

Foul corruption let him share!

But long live the Beggarmen!

Christ from Heaven look Thou down,Look upon thy soldiers true,That risk hanging, fire, and swordFor thy Word!And for their dear Fatherland!Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!

Christ from Heaven look Thou down,

Look upon thy soldiers true,

That risk hanging, fire, and sword

For thy Word!

And for their dear Fatherland!

Beat the drum! Beat the drum!

Drums of war!

And all drank the toast and cried aloud:

“Long live the Beggarmen!”

And Ulenspiegel drank in his turn from a golden goblet that had once belonged to some monk or other, and proudly he gazed on the wild faces of the brave Beggarmen that stood before him.

“Men,” he cried, “wild beasts rather that are my comrades, be you wolves lions, or tigers in very deed, and eat up all the cursed dogs of this King of Blood!”

“Long live the Beggarmen!” they shouted, and yet again they sang the song of

Beat the drum! Beat the drum!Drums of war!

Beat the drum! Beat the drum!

Drums of war!

XVWilliam the Silent, with his army, was at the gates of Liége. But before crossing the Meuse he made sundry marches and counter-marches, leading the Duke astray, for all his vigilance.Ulenspiegel applied himself most diligently to his duties as a soldier, worked his arquebus most skilfully, and kept his eyes and ears wide open.Now at that time there arrived in the camp certain gentlemen of Flanders and Brabant, and these lived in friendly fashion with the colonels and captains of the Prince’s following.But soon there came into being two parties in the camp, who began to dispute one with the other continually, some saying that William was a traitor, others that such accusation was a gross libel on the Prince, and that they who had made it should be forced to eat their words. Suspicion grew and grew like a spot of oil, and at length they came to blows—small companies of six, eight, or a dozen men fighting together in single combat, with all kinds of weapons and sometimes with arquebuses even.One day the Prince, hearing the noise, came to see what was going on, and walked straight in between the combatants. It chanced that a piece of shot hit his sword and struck it from his side. He stopped the combat, and visited the whole camp, intending to put an end once for all to these combats and to these cries of “Death to William!” “Death to the war!”Now the day after this adventure, Ulenspiegel had been to the house of a Walloon maiden to sing to her some Flemish love-songs of his. And it was near midnight, and very misty, and Ulenspiegel, being just about to leave the house, thought he heard the cawing of a crow, three times repeated. And the sound came from the door of a cottage close by. And from far off came other cawings, three times repeated, as if in answer. Presently a peasant made his appearance at the doorway of the cottage, and at the same time Ulenspiegel heard steps on the road. Two men came up to the peasant and began to talk to him in the Spanish tongue. The peasant spoke to them, also in Spanish:“Well? And how goes it?” asked the cottager.“Well, indeed,” the two men answered. “We have been spreading rumours on behalf of the King, and it is thanks to usthat the captains and their soldiers are everywhere suspicious and talking among themselves in this wise:“‘The Prince, so the gossip goes—is resisting the King for vile ambition and for nothing else. For by this means he thinks to make himself feared so that he may acquire cities and overlordships as the price of peace. For five hundred thousand florins he would leave in the lurch all the brave nobles who have come out to fight for their country. And it is a fact that the Duke has offered him a complete amnesty, and has promised to restore both him and his chief officers in their possessions, if only the Prince will return to the obedience of the King, and will negotiate with him alone.’“But they that remain faithful to the Prince make answer to us in this wise:“‘By no means will William have aught to do with the proposals of the Duke. For these are but snares and treachery. For the Prince must surely call to mind what happened to d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And it is well known that the Cardinal de Granville said at Rome, when the two Counts had been taken: “The two gudgeon, verily, have been caught, but the pike has been allowed to escape.” For nothing has been taken while William still remains at large.’”“Is the camp divided in twain then?” asked the peasant.“It is,” replied the two men, “and the division grows greater every day. But whom are those letters for?”Whereupon they all entered into the cottage. A lantern was lit inside, and looking through a crack in the door Ulenspiegel could see them unsealing two letters. These they read with every appearance of enjoyment, and then they all fell to drinking honey-wine. After which the two men came out of the cottage and said to the peasant, still speaking in Spanish:“The camp split in two, and the Prince captured—that will be worth a dozen glasses, eh?”“Those men,” said Ulenspiegel to himself, “cannot longer be allowed to live.”But even now they were disappearing in the thick mist, with the lantern which the peasant had brought for them. The light of the lantern shone out intermittently, as if continually intercepted by some dark body. From this Ulenspiegel concluded that the two men must be walking one behind the other.He raised his arquebus to his shoulder and fired. Then he saw the lantern raised and lowered several times, as if the man who carried it was looking at his fallen comrade, trying to discover where he had been hit and the nature of the wound.Yet again did Ulenspiegel raise his arquebus, and then when the lantern began to steady itself and to retreat speedily towards the camp, he fired again. Now the lantern swayed, fell to the ground and went out, leaving all in darkness.Ulenspiegel ran on to the camp, and there he soon encountered the provost with a number of soldiers who had been awakened by the noise of the firing. Ulenspiegel accosted them, saying: “I am the huntsman. Go you now and find the game.”“Brave Fleming,” said the provost, “methinks you are a man that knows other ways of talking besides with your tongue.”“Words of the tongue they are but so much wind,” answered Ulenspiegel. “But words of lead—they know how to find for themselves a lasting habitation in the carcass of a traitor! Come then, follow me.”And so saying he led them to the place where the two men had fallen. And in very deed the soldiers saw by the light of their lanterns two bodies stretched out on the ground. One was dead, and the other at the last gasp, holding his hand to his heart, and in his hand a letter all crumpled in the agony of death. The soldiers lifted the two bodies, whoseclothes clearly showed them to be the bodies of gentlemen, and straightway carried them, still by the light of their lanterns, to the Prince.Now William was about to hold a council with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, and other nobles. But the soldiers, who had now been joined by a company of other troopers in green and yellow jackets, stood before the tent, demanding with shouts and cries that the Prince should give them audience.At length William of Orange came out to them, and the provost began to clear his throat and make other preliminaries for the accusation of Ulenspiegel. But the latter cut in before him, saying:“My Lord, I had thought to kill two crows, but I have killed two traitors in their stead—two noblemen—belonging to your suite.”Then he told the story of all that he had seen and heard and done. William did not utter a word, but the two bodies were carefully examined in the presence of Ulenspiegel himself and William the Silent, together with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, Dietrich of Schoonenbergh, Count Albert of Nassau, the Count de Hoogstraeten, and Antoine de Lailang, Governor of Malines. And the soldiers stood by, with Lamme Goedzak, his great belly all of a tremble. Sealed letters were found on the persons of the deceased gentlemen, which had been sent by Granvelles and Noircames, and engaged the recipients to sow division in the Prince’s entourage, and by that means to diminish his power and to compel him to yield, so that he might ultimately be delivered up to the Duke and beheaded according to his deserts. “The right procedure is,” continued the letter, “to act at first with caution and to use allusive phrases only, so that the army may be led to think that the Prince has already come to a secret understanding with the Duke, for his own advantage. This will arouse the anger of hiscaptains and soldiers, and they will assuredly take him prisoner.” Now as a reward for this service it appeared that notes to the value of some five hundred ducats were being sent them on the Fugger Bank at Antwerp, and they were promised a thousand more as soon as the four hundred thousand ducats which were already on their way from Spain had arrived in Zeeland.The whole plot having been now unmasked, the Prince turned in silence towards the gentlemen, Lords, and soldiers who stood round him. Many of these men he knew to be suspicious of him already, nevertheless, he pointed at the two bodies without speaking a word, intending by this gesture to reproach them for their mistrust. And at this every one present there exclaimed and shouted aloud:“Long live the Prince of Orange! The Prince is faithful and true!” And such was their anger that they were desirous to throw the two dead bodies to the dogs; but William forbade them, saying:“It is not these two poor corpses that deserve to be thrown to the dogs so much as that littleness of mind which must needs be suspicious of the purest intentions.”And the Lords and soldiers cried out again:“Long live the Prince! Long live the Prince of Orange, the friend of our country!”And the sound of their voices was like the noise of thunder threatening injustice. And the Prince pointed to the two corpses and ordered that they should be given Christian burial.“And I,” demanded Ulenspiegel, “what shall be done to me, faithful and true? If I have done evil let me be beaten, but if good—why then let me be suitably rewarded!”Then the Prince addressed him, saying:“This soldier is to receive fifty strokes from the green wood in my presence for having killed two gentlemen without orders, to the contempt of all discipline. At the same timelet him receive a reward of thirty florins for having used his eyes and ears to some purpose.”“My Lord,” answered Ulenspiegel, “give me the thirty florins first, and I shall then be able to support my beating with equanimity.”“Yes, yes,” murmured Lamme Goedzak, “give him the thirty florins first, and then he will bear the rest with equanimity.”“One thing more,” said Ulenspiegel, “since my soul is admittedly free from fault, is there any real reason why I must be cleansed with the wood of the oak or washed with the branch of the cherry-tree?”“No,” murmured Lamme again, “Ulenspiegel surely has no need to be washed or cleansed. For his soul is without stain. Do not wash it, my masters, do not wash it.”But when Ulenspiegel had received the thirty florins the provost ordered him to give himself up to theStock-meester.“Behold, my Lords,” said Lamme, “behold how piteous he looks. There’s no love lost between the hard wood and him—my beloved Ulenspiegel.”But Ulenspiegel answered:“Of a truth I love a fine ash-tree in full leaf, growing up towards the sun in all its native verdure, but I agree I loathe like poison these heavy cudgels of wood with their sap still oozing out of them, stripped of their branches and without any leaves or twigs growing thereon, for they are rough to look upon and hard to feel.”“Are you ready?” demanded the provost.“Ready?” Ulenspiegel repeated. “Ready for what? Ready to be flogged do you mean? No, I cannot, nor will I, be flogged by you, Mr.Stock-meester. You have a red beard certainly, and your appearance is formidable. Nevertheless, I am sure that you have a kind heart and would have no desire to thrash a poor fellow like me. And now to tell you the truth I should be loath to do such a thing myself, muchless to see any one else do it. For the back of a Christian is a sacred thing, as sacred as his breast which holds the lungs, those trusty organs whereby we breathe the goodly air of God. And think how bitter would be your remorse if a too brutal blow from your cudgel should chance to break me in pieces!”“Make haste,” said theStock-meester.“My Lord,” said Ulenspiegel, addressing himself to the Prince, “believe me, there is no need for all this hurry. First of all the wood of the cudgel ought to be allowed to dry. For I have heard that wood while still green is like to communicate a mortal poison to any flesh with which it comes in contact. Would your Highness desire to see me die such an ugly death? My Lord, my back I hold most pitifully at your service. Have it flogged, if you must, with rods and lashed with whips. But unless you wish to see me dead, spare me, I pray you, from the wood while it is still green.”“Have mercy on him, Prince,” cried my Lords of Hoogstraeten and of Schoonenbergh both together; while the others all began to smile compassionately. Lamme also put in a word of his own, “Have mercy, my Lord. Green wood is poison, neither more nor less than rank poison!”The Prince said:“Very well.”Thereupon Ulenspiegel leapt in the air again and again, and smote Lamme on his belly and compelled him to dance too, saying: “Join me now in praising the good Duke who has delivered me from the green wood.”And Lamme did his best to dance, but could not very well because of his belly. And Ulenspiegel gave him to eat and to drink as much as he was able.

XV

William the Silent, with his army, was at the gates of Liége. But before crossing the Meuse he made sundry marches and counter-marches, leading the Duke astray, for all his vigilance.Ulenspiegel applied himself most diligently to his duties as a soldier, worked his arquebus most skilfully, and kept his eyes and ears wide open.Now at that time there arrived in the camp certain gentlemen of Flanders and Brabant, and these lived in friendly fashion with the colonels and captains of the Prince’s following.But soon there came into being two parties in the camp, who began to dispute one with the other continually, some saying that William was a traitor, others that such accusation was a gross libel on the Prince, and that they who had made it should be forced to eat their words. Suspicion grew and grew like a spot of oil, and at length they came to blows—small companies of six, eight, or a dozen men fighting together in single combat, with all kinds of weapons and sometimes with arquebuses even.One day the Prince, hearing the noise, came to see what was going on, and walked straight in between the combatants. It chanced that a piece of shot hit his sword and struck it from his side. He stopped the combat, and visited the whole camp, intending to put an end once for all to these combats and to these cries of “Death to William!” “Death to the war!”Now the day after this adventure, Ulenspiegel had been to the house of a Walloon maiden to sing to her some Flemish love-songs of his. And it was near midnight, and very misty, and Ulenspiegel, being just about to leave the house, thought he heard the cawing of a crow, three times repeated. And the sound came from the door of a cottage close by. And from far off came other cawings, three times repeated, as if in answer. Presently a peasant made his appearance at the doorway of the cottage, and at the same time Ulenspiegel heard steps on the road. Two men came up to the peasant and began to talk to him in the Spanish tongue. The peasant spoke to them, also in Spanish:“Well? And how goes it?” asked the cottager.“Well, indeed,” the two men answered. “We have been spreading rumours on behalf of the King, and it is thanks to usthat the captains and their soldiers are everywhere suspicious and talking among themselves in this wise:“‘The Prince, so the gossip goes—is resisting the King for vile ambition and for nothing else. For by this means he thinks to make himself feared so that he may acquire cities and overlordships as the price of peace. For five hundred thousand florins he would leave in the lurch all the brave nobles who have come out to fight for their country. And it is a fact that the Duke has offered him a complete amnesty, and has promised to restore both him and his chief officers in their possessions, if only the Prince will return to the obedience of the King, and will negotiate with him alone.’“But they that remain faithful to the Prince make answer to us in this wise:“‘By no means will William have aught to do with the proposals of the Duke. For these are but snares and treachery. For the Prince must surely call to mind what happened to d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And it is well known that the Cardinal de Granville said at Rome, when the two Counts had been taken: “The two gudgeon, verily, have been caught, but the pike has been allowed to escape.” For nothing has been taken while William still remains at large.’”“Is the camp divided in twain then?” asked the peasant.“It is,” replied the two men, “and the division grows greater every day. But whom are those letters for?”Whereupon they all entered into the cottage. A lantern was lit inside, and looking through a crack in the door Ulenspiegel could see them unsealing two letters. These they read with every appearance of enjoyment, and then they all fell to drinking honey-wine. After which the two men came out of the cottage and said to the peasant, still speaking in Spanish:“The camp split in two, and the Prince captured—that will be worth a dozen glasses, eh?”“Those men,” said Ulenspiegel to himself, “cannot longer be allowed to live.”But even now they were disappearing in the thick mist, with the lantern which the peasant had brought for them. The light of the lantern shone out intermittently, as if continually intercepted by some dark body. From this Ulenspiegel concluded that the two men must be walking one behind the other.He raised his arquebus to his shoulder and fired. Then he saw the lantern raised and lowered several times, as if the man who carried it was looking at his fallen comrade, trying to discover where he had been hit and the nature of the wound.Yet again did Ulenspiegel raise his arquebus, and then when the lantern began to steady itself and to retreat speedily towards the camp, he fired again. Now the lantern swayed, fell to the ground and went out, leaving all in darkness.Ulenspiegel ran on to the camp, and there he soon encountered the provost with a number of soldiers who had been awakened by the noise of the firing. Ulenspiegel accosted them, saying: “I am the huntsman. Go you now and find the game.”“Brave Fleming,” said the provost, “methinks you are a man that knows other ways of talking besides with your tongue.”“Words of the tongue they are but so much wind,” answered Ulenspiegel. “But words of lead—they know how to find for themselves a lasting habitation in the carcass of a traitor! Come then, follow me.”And so saying he led them to the place where the two men had fallen. And in very deed the soldiers saw by the light of their lanterns two bodies stretched out on the ground. One was dead, and the other at the last gasp, holding his hand to his heart, and in his hand a letter all crumpled in the agony of death. The soldiers lifted the two bodies, whoseclothes clearly showed them to be the bodies of gentlemen, and straightway carried them, still by the light of their lanterns, to the Prince.Now William was about to hold a council with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, and other nobles. But the soldiers, who had now been joined by a company of other troopers in green and yellow jackets, stood before the tent, demanding with shouts and cries that the Prince should give them audience.At length William of Orange came out to them, and the provost began to clear his throat and make other preliminaries for the accusation of Ulenspiegel. But the latter cut in before him, saying:“My Lord, I had thought to kill two crows, but I have killed two traitors in their stead—two noblemen—belonging to your suite.”Then he told the story of all that he had seen and heard and done. William did not utter a word, but the two bodies were carefully examined in the presence of Ulenspiegel himself and William the Silent, together with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, Dietrich of Schoonenbergh, Count Albert of Nassau, the Count de Hoogstraeten, and Antoine de Lailang, Governor of Malines. And the soldiers stood by, with Lamme Goedzak, his great belly all of a tremble. Sealed letters were found on the persons of the deceased gentlemen, which had been sent by Granvelles and Noircames, and engaged the recipients to sow division in the Prince’s entourage, and by that means to diminish his power and to compel him to yield, so that he might ultimately be delivered up to the Duke and beheaded according to his deserts. “The right procedure is,” continued the letter, “to act at first with caution and to use allusive phrases only, so that the army may be led to think that the Prince has already come to a secret understanding with the Duke, for his own advantage. This will arouse the anger of hiscaptains and soldiers, and they will assuredly take him prisoner.” Now as a reward for this service it appeared that notes to the value of some five hundred ducats were being sent them on the Fugger Bank at Antwerp, and they were promised a thousand more as soon as the four hundred thousand ducats which were already on their way from Spain had arrived in Zeeland.The whole plot having been now unmasked, the Prince turned in silence towards the gentlemen, Lords, and soldiers who stood round him. Many of these men he knew to be suspicious of him already, nevertheless, he pointed at the two bodies without speaking a word, intending by this gesture to reproach them for their mistrust. And at this every one present there exclaimed and shouted aloud:“Long live the Prince of Orange! The Prince is faithful and true!” And such was their anger that they were desirous to throw the two dead bodies to the dogs; but William forbade them, saying:“It is not these two poor corpses that deserve to be thrown to the dogs so much as that littleness of mind which must needs be suspicious of the purest intentions.”And the Lords and soldiers cried out again:“Long live the Prince! Long live the Prince of Orange, the friend of our country!”And the sound of their voices was like the noise of thunder threatening injustice. And the Prince pointed to the two corpses and ordered that they should be given Christian burial.“And I,” demanded Ulenspiegel, “what shall be done to me, faithful and true? If I have done evil let me be beaten, but if good—why then let me be suitably rewarded!”Then the Prince addressed him, saying:“This soldier is to receive fifty strokes from the green wood in my presence for having killed two gentlemen without orders, to the contempt of all discipline. At the same timelet him receive a reward of thirty florins for having used his eyes and ears to some purpose.”“My Lord,” answered Ulenspiegel, “give me the thirty florins first, and I shall then be able to support my beating with equanimity.”“Yes, yes,” murmured Lamme Goedzak, “give him the thirty florins first, and then he will bear the rest with equanimity.”“One thing more,” said Ulenspiegel, “since my soul is admittedly free from fault, is there any real reason why I must be cleansed with the wood of the oak or washed with the branch of the cherry-tree?”“No,” murmured Lamme again, “Ulenspiegel surely has no need to be washed or cleansed. For his soul is without stain. Do not wash it, my masters, do not wash it.”But when Ulenspiegel had received the thirty florins the provost ordered him to give himself up to theStock-meester.“Behold, my Lords,” said Lamme, “behold how piteous he looks. There’s no love lost between the hard wood and him—my beloved Ulenspiegel.”But Ulenspiegel answered:“Of a truth I love a fine ash-tree in full leaf, growing up towards the sun in all its native verdure, but I agree I loathe like poison these heavy cudgels of wood with their sap still oozing out of them, stripped of their branches and without any leaves or twigs growing thereon, for they are rough to look upon and hard to feel.”“Are you ready?” demanded the provost.“Ready?” Ulenspiegel repeated. “Ready for what? Ready to be flogged do you mean? No, I cannot, nor will I, be flogged by you, Mr.Stock-meester. You have a red beard certainly, and your appearance is formidable. Nevertheless, I am sure that you have a kind heart and would have no desire to thrash a poor fellow like me. And now to tell you the truth I should be loath to do such a thing myself, muchless to see any one else do it. For the back of a Christian is a sacred thing, as sacred as his breast which holds the lungs, those trusty organs whereby we breathe the goodly air of God. And think how bitter would be your remorse if a too brutal blow from your cudgel should chance to break me in pieces!”“Make haste,” said theStock-meester.“My Lord,” said Ulenspiegel, addressing himself to the Prince, “believe me, there is no need for all this hurry. First of all the wood of the cudgel ought to be allowed to dry. For I have heard that wood while still green is like to communicate a mortal poison to any flesh with which it comes in contact. Would your Highness desire to see me die such an ugly death? My Lord, my back I hold most pitifully at your service. Have it flogged, if you must, with rods and lashed with whips. But unless you wish to see me dead, spare me, I pray you, from the wood while it is still green.”“Have mercy on him, Prince,” cried my Lords of Hoogstraeten and of Schoonenbergh both together; while the others all began to smile compassionately. Lamme also put in a word of his own, “Have mercy, my Lord. Green wood is poison, neither more nor less than rank poison!”The Prince said:“Very well.”Thereupon Ulenspiegel leapt in the air again and again, and smote Lamme on his belly and compelled him to dance too, saying: “Join me now in praising the good Duke who has delivered me from the green wood.”And Lamme did his best to dance, but could not very well because of his belly. And Ulenspiegel gave him to eat and to drink as much as he was able.

William the Silent, with his army, was at the gates of Liége. But before crossing the Meuse he made sundry marches and counter-marches, leading the Duke astray, for all his vigilance.

Ulenspiegel applied himself most diligently to his duties as a soldier, worked his arquebus most skilfully, and kept his eyes and ears wide open.

Now at that time there arrived in the camp certain gentlemen of Flanders and Brabant, and these lived in friendly fashion with the colonels and captains of the Prince’s following.

But soon there came into being two parties in the camp, who began to dispute one with the other continually, some saying that William was a traitor, others that such accusation was a gross libel on the Prince, and that they who had made it should be forced to eat their words. Suspicion grew and grew like a spot of oil, and at length they came to blows—small companies of six, eight, or a dozen men fighting together in single combat, with all kinds of weapons and sometimes with arquebuses even.

One day the Prince, hearing the noise, came to see what was going on, and walked straight in between the combatants. It chanced that a piece of shot hit his sword and struck it from his side. He stopped the combat, and visited the whole camp, intending to put an end once for all to these combats and to these cries of “Death to William!” “Death to the war!”

Now the day after this adventure, Ulenspiegel had been to the house of a Walloon maiden to sing to her some Flemish love-songs of his. And it was near midnight, and very misty, and Ulenspiegel, being just about to leave the house, thought he heard the cawing of a crow, three times repeated. And the sound came from the door of a cottage close by. And from far off came other cawings, three times repeated, as if in answer. Presently a peasant made his appearance at the doorway of the cottage, and at the same time Ulenspiegel heard steps on the road. Two men came up to the peasant and began to talk to him in the Spanish tongue. The peasant spoke to them, also in Spanish:

“Well? And how goes it?” asked the cottager.

“Well, indeed,” the two men answered. “We have been spreading rumours on behalf of the King, and it is thanks to usthat the captains and their soldiers are everywhere suspicious and talking among themselves in this wise:

“‘The Prince, so the gossip goes—is resisting the King for vile ambition and for nothing else. For by this means he thinks to make himself feared so that he may acquire cities and overlordships as the price of peace. For five hundred thousand florins he would leave in the lurch all the brave nobles who have come out to fight for their country. And it is a fact that the Duke has offered him a complete amnesty, and has promised to restore both him and his chief officers in their possessions, if only the Prince will return to the obedience of the King, and will negotiate with him alone.’

“But they that remain faithful to the Prince make answer to us in this wise:

“‘By no means will William have aught to do with the proposals of the Duke. For these are but snares and treachery. For the Prince must surely call to mind what happened to d’Egmont and de Hoorn. And it is well known that the Cardinal de Granville said at Rome, when the two Counts had been taken: “The two gudgeon, verily, have been caught, but the pike has been allowed to escape.” For nothing has been taken while William still remains at large.’”

“Is the camp divided in twain then?” asked the peasant.

“It is,” replied the two men, “and the division grows greater every day. But whom are those letters for?”

Whereupon they all entered into the cottage. A lantern was lit inside, and looking through a crack in the door Ulenspiegel could see them unsealing two letters. These they read with every appearance of enjoyment, and then they all fell to drinking honey-wine. After which the two men came out of the cottage and said to the peasant, still speaking in Spanish:

“The camp split in two, and the Prince captured—that will be worth a dozen glasses, eh?”

“Those men,” said Ulenspiegel to himself, “cannot longer be allowed to live.”

But even now they were disappearing in the thick mist, with the lantern which the peasant had brought for them. The light of the lantern shone out intermittently, as if continually intercepted by some dark body. From this Ulenspiegel concluded that the two men must be walking one behind the other.

He raised his arquebus to his shoulder and fired. Then he saw the lantern raised and lowered several times, as if the man who carried it was looking at his fallen comrade, trying to discover where he had been hit and the nature of the wound.

Yet again did Ulenspiegel raise his arquebus, and then when the lantern began to steady itself and to retreat speedily towards the camp, he fired again. Now the lantern swayed, fell to the ground and went out, leaving all in darkness.

Ulenspiegel ran on to the camp, and there he soon encountered the provost with a number of soldiers who had been awakened by the noise of the firing. Ulenspiegel accosted them, saying: “I am the huntsman. Go you now and find the game.”

“Brave Fleming,” said the provost, “methinks you are a man that knows other ways of talking besides with your tongue.”

“Words of the tongue they are but so much wind,” answered Ulenspiegel. “But words of lead—they know how to find for themselves a lasting habitation in the carcass of a traitor! Come then, follow me.”

And so saying he led them to the place where the two men had fallen. And in very deed the soldiers saw by the light of their lanterns two bodies stretched out on the ground. One was dead, and the other at the last gasp, holding his hand to his heart, and in his hand a letter all crumpled in the agony of death. The soldiers lifted the two bodies, whoseclothes clearly showed them to be the bodies of gentlemen, and straightway carried them, still by the light of their lanterns, to the Prince.

Now William was about to hold a council with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, and other nobles. But the soldiers, who had now been joined by a company of other troopers in green and yellow jackets, stood before the tent, demanding with shouts and cries that the Prince should give them audience.

At length William of Orange came out to them, and the provost began to clear his throat and make other preliminaries for the accusation of Ulenspiegel. But the latter cut in before him, saying:

“My Lord, I had thought to kill two crows, but I have killed two traitors in their stead—two noblemen—belonging to your suite.”

Then he told the story of all that he had seen and heard and done. William did not utter a word, but the two bodies were carefully examined in the presence of Ulenspiegel himself and William the Silent, together with Frederick of Hollenhausen, the Margrave of Hesse, Dietrich of Schoonenbergh, Count Albert of Nassau, the Count de Hoogstraeten, and Antoine de Lailang, Governor of Malines. And the soldiers stood by, with Lamme Goedzak, his great belly all of a tremble. Sealed letters were found on the persons of the deceased gentlemen, which had been sent by Granvelles and Noircames, and engaged the recipients to sow division in the Prince’s entourage, and by that means to diminish his power and to compel him to yield, so that he might ultimately be delivered up to the Duke and beheaded according to his deserts. “The right procedure is,” continued the letter, “to act at first with caution and to use allusive phrases only, so that the army may be led to think that the Prince has already come to a secret understanding with the Duke, for his own advantage. This will arouse the anger of hiscaptains and soldiers, and they will assuredly take him prisoner.” Now as a reward for this service it appeared that notes to the value of some five hundred ducats were being sent them on the Fugger Bank at Antwerp, and they were promised a thousand more as soon as the four hundred thousand ducats which were already on their way from Spain had arrived in Zeeland.

The whole plot having been now unmasked, the Prince turned in silence towards the gentlemen, Lords, and soldiers who stood round him. Many of these men he knew to be suspicious of him already, nevertheless, he pointed at the two bodies without speaking a word, intending by this gesture to reproach them for their mistrust. And at this every one present there exclaimed and shouted aloud:

“Long live the Prince of Orange! The Prince is faithful and true!” And such was their anger that they were desirous to throw the two dead bodies to the dogs; but William forbade them, saying:

“It is not these two poor corpses that deserve to be thrown to the dogs so much as that littleness of mind which must needs be suspicious of the purest intentions.”

And the Lords and soldiers cried out again:

“Long live the Prince! Long live the Prince of Orange, the friend of our country!”

And the sound of their voices was like the noise of thunder threatening injustice. And the Prince pointed to the two corpses and ordered that they should be given Christian burial.

“And I,” demanded Ulenspiegel, “what shall be done to me, faithful and true? If I have done evil let me be beaten, but if good—why then let me be suitably rewarded!”

Then the Prince addressed him, saying:

“This soldier is to receive fifty strokes from the green wood in my presence for having killed two gentlemen without orders, to the contempt of all discipline. At the same timelet him receive a reward of thirty florins for having used his eyes and ears to some purpose.”

“My Lord,” answered Ulenspiegel, “give me the thirty florins first, and I shall then be able to support my beating with equanimity.”

“Yes, yes,” murmured Lamme Goedzak, “give him the thirty florins first, and then he will bear the rest with equanimity.”

“One thing more,” said Ulenspiegel, “since my soul is admittedly free from fault, is there any real reason why I must be cleansed with the wood of the oak or washed with the branch of the cherry-tree?”

“No,” murmured Lamme again, “Ulenspiegel surely has no need to be washed or cleansed. For his soul is without stain. Do not wash it, my masters, do not wash it.”

But when Ulenspiegel had received the thirty florins the provost ordered him to give himself up to theStock-meester.

“Behold, my Lords,” said Lamme, “behold how piteous he looks. There’s no love lost between the hard wood and him—my beloved Ulenspiegel.”

But Ulenspiegel answered:

“Of a truth I love a fine ash-tree in full leaf, growing up towards the sun in all its native verdure, but I agree I loathe like poison these heavy cudgels of wood with their sap still oozing out of them, stripped of their branches and without any leaves or twigs growing thereon, for they are rough to look upon and hard to feel.”

“Are you ready?” demanded the provost.

“Ready?” Ulenspiegel repeated. “Ready for what? Ready to be flogged do you mean? No, I cannot, nor will I, be flogged by you, Mr.Stock-meester. You have a red beard certainly, and your appearance is formidable. Nevertheless, I am sure that you have a kind heart and would have no desire to thrash a poor fellow like me. And now to tell you the truth I should be loath to do such a thing myself, muchless to see any one else do it. For the back of a Christian is a sacred thing, as sacred as his breast which holds the lungs, those trusty organs whereby we breathe the goodly air of God. And think how bitter would be your remorse if a too brutal blow from your cudgel should chance to break me in pieces!”

“Make haste,” said theStock-meester.

“My Lord,” said Ulenspiegel, addressing himself to the Prince, “believe me, there is no need for all this hurry. First of all the wood of the cudgel ought to be allowed to dry. For I have heard that wood while still green is like to communicate a mortal poison to any flesh with which it comes in contact. Would your Highness desire to see me die such an ugly death? My Lord, my back I hold most pitifully at your service. Have it flogged, if you must, with rods and lashed with whips. But unless you wish to see me dead, spare me, I pray you, from the wood while it is still green.”

“Have mercy on him, Prince,” cried my Lords of Hoogstraeten and of Schoonenbergh both together; while the others all began to smile compassionately. Lamme also put in a word of his own, “Have mercy, my Lord. Green wood is poison, neither more nor less than rank poison!”

The Prince said:

“Very well.”

Thereupon Ulenspiegel leapt in the air again and again, and smote Lamme on his belly and compelled him to dance too, saying: “Join me now in praising the good Duke who has delivered me from the green wood.”

And Lamme did his best to dance, but could not very well because of his belly. And Ulenspiegel gave him to eat and to drink as much as he was able.

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