t the groups gathered below.

No one noticed her, for the men who stood there sorrowing, and the
weeping women, among whom were Maria and Barbara, were listening with
many tokens of sympathy to the eager words of a young man, and had eyes
and ears for him alone. Henrica recognized in the speaker the musician
Wilhelm, but only by his voice, for the morion on his curls and the
blood-stained coat of mail gave the unassuming artist a martial, nay
heroic air.

He had advanced a long way in his story, when Henrica unseen became a
listener.

"Yes, sir," he replied, in answer to a question from the burgomaster, "we
followed them, but they disappeared in the village and all remained
still. To risk storming the houses, would have been madness. So we kept
quiet, but towards two o'clock heard firing in the neighborhood of
Leyderdorp. 'Junker von Warmond has made a sally,' said the captain,
leading us in the direction of the firing. This was what the Spaniards
had wanted, for long before we reached the goal, a company of Castilians,
with white sheets over their armor, climbed out of a ditch in the dim
light, threw themselves on their knees, murmured a 'Pater-noster,'
shouted their San Jago and pressed forward upon us. We had seen them in
time for the halberdiers to extend their pikes, and the musketeers to be
down amid the grass. So the Spaniards had a warm reception, and four of
them fell in this attack. We were superior in numbers, and their captain
led them back to the ditch in good order. There they halted, for their
duty was probably to detain us and then have us cut down by a larger
body. We were too weak to drive them from their position, but when the
east began to brighten and they still did not come forward, the captain
advanced towards them with the drummer, bearing a white flag, and shouted
to them in Italian, which he had learned to speak a little in Italy, that
he wished the Castilian gentlemen good-morning, and if there was any
officer with a sense of honor among them, let him come forth and meet a
captain who wished to cross swords with him. He pledged his word, that
his men would look on at the duel without taking any share in it, no
matter what the result might be. Just at that moment two shots were fired
from the ditch and the bullets whizzed close by the poor captain. We
called to him to save his life, but he did not stir, and shouted that
they were cowards and assassins, like their king.

"Meantime it had gro