he boundary line of the waves did not move; and the sun, as if in
mockery, burst cheerily through the mists of the autumn morning, imparted
a pleasant warmth to the keen air, and in the evening sank towards the
west in the midst of radiant light, diffusing its golden rays far and
wide. The cloudless blue sky arched pitilessly over the city, and at
night glittered with thousands of twinkling stars. Early on the morning
of the twenty-ninth the mists grew denser, the grass remained dry, the
fogs lifted, the cool air changed to a sultry atmosphere, the grey clouds
piled in masses on each other, and grew black and threatening. A light
breeze rose, stirring the leafless branches of the trees, then a sudden
gust of wind swept over the heads of the throngs watching the distant
horizon. A second and third followed, then a howling tempest roared and
hissed without cessation through the city, wrenching tiles from the
roofs, twisting the fruit-trees in the gardens and the young elms and
lindens in many a street, tearing away the flags the boys had fastened on
the walls in defiance of the Spaniards, lashing the still waters of the
city moat and quiet canals, and--the Lord does not abandon His own--and
the vanes turned, the storm came from the north-west. No one saw the
result, but the sailors shouted the tidings, and each individual caught
up the words and bore them exultantly on--the hurricane drove the sea
into the mouth of the Meuse, forcing back the waves of the river by its
fierce assault, driving them over its banks through the gaps opened in
the dykes, and the gates of the sluices, and bearing forward on their
towering crests the vessels bringing deliverance.

Roar, roar, thou storm, stream, stream, rushing rain, rage, waves, and
destroy the meadows, swallow up houses and villages! Thousands and
thousands of people on the walls and towers of Leyden hail your approach,
behold in you the terrible armies of the avenging God, exult and shout a
joyous welcome!

For two successive days the burgomaster, Maria and Adrian, the Van der
Does and Van Houts stood with brief intervals of rest among the throng on
the citadel or the tower at the Cow-Gate; even Barbara, far more
strengthened by hope than by the barley-porridge or the lean
carrier-pigeon, would not stay at home, but dragged herself to the
musician's look-out, for every one wanted to see the rising water, the
earth softening, the moisture creeping between the blades of grass, t