ssel, and now you bring this magnificent supply of good things," said
the Baron, patting his back.

"I was anxious to be rid of you," answered the skipper, frankly.
"Judging by the appetite you exhibited at breakfast this morning, you
would have very soon eaten up all the provisions intended for the
voyage; and one of two things I had to do--either to get rid of you and
your companion, or to obtain sufficient food for your nourishment. I
tried the first without success--go you would not, and I have now
therefore been compelled to adopt the other alternative; hence this
stock of provisions. Ja, ja, you understand. But here comes the
breeze, we must not lose it. Up anchor, Pieter!"

Pieter, the mate, and small ship's boy, went to the windlass, while the
skipper stood at the helm. The galiot was soon got under weigh, and off
she glided, not very fast at first, with her head towards the North Sea.

In a short time Flushing, with the masts and yards of its shipping, was
lost to sight, and the galiot began ploughing the waters of the North
Sea. Fortunately, the wind being off the land, it was tolerably smooth,
and she glided on without inconveniencing her passengers.

"What is out there?" asked the Count, pointing across the apparently
boundless waters towards the west.

"Thereabouts lies that little island I spoke of inhabited by the English
people," answered the skipper. "I hope they may keep to their island,
and not come bothering us as they used to do in days of yore. All we
want now is to be let alone, and to be allowed to carry on our
commercial affairs like peaceable and well-disposed people--to build our
dykes and to cultivate the soil. Think what we have done! We have won
half of our country from the sea, and have converted the other half,
once no better than a marsh, into dry land. Look at our magnificent
towns, our canals, our green fields, our gardens and orchards, and just
think what our industry has accomplished. A Dutchman has a right to be
proud of his country, and so we are, and intend to defend it, as we
always have done, to the last drop of our blood."

The skipper, who grew enthusiastic, was standing at the helm, and he
puffed away at his pipe till from the clouds of smoke that ascended the
galiot might have been taken at a distance for a steamer.

"Holland is but a small country, though," observed the Count.

"Yes, granted; but it has a large soul. Every inch of its soil is
cultivated