side a cap
made of fur and a pair of skates.

At the sound made by the opening of the door and the entrance of the two
men, he raised his head and seeing the Lord of Stoutenburg he quickly
jumped to his feet.

"Sit down, Jan," said Stoutenburg curtly, "you must be dog-tired. Have
you had enough to eat and drink?"

"I thank you, my lord, I have eaten my fill," replied Jan, "and I am not
so tired now that I have had some rest."

"Sit down," reiterated Stoutenburg peremptorily, "and you too, my good
Nicolaes," he added as he offered a chair to his friend. "Let me just
tell you the news which Jan has brought, and which should make you
forget even your present just wrath, so glorious, so important is it."

He went up to a cabinet which stood in one corner of the room, and from
it took a bottle and three pewter mugs. These he placed on the table and
filled the mugs with wine. Then he drew another chair close to the table
and sat down.

"Jan," he resumed, turning to Beresteyn, "left the Stadtholder's camp at
Sprang four days ago. He has travelled the whole way along the frozen
rivers and waterways only halting for the nights. The news which he
brings carries for the bearer of such splendid tidings its own glorious
reward; Jan, I must tell you, is with us heart and soul and hates the
Stadtholder as much as I do. Is that not so, Jan?"

"My father was hanged two years ago," replied Jan simply, "because he
spoke disparaging words of the Stadtholder. Those words were called
treason, and my father was condemned to the gallows merely for speaking
them."

Stoutenburg laughed, his usual harsh, mirthless laugh.

"Yes! that is the way justice is now administered in the free and
independent United Provinces," he said roughly; "down on your knees, ye
lumbering Dutchmen! lick the dust off the boots of His Magnificence
Maurice of Nassau Prince of Orange! kiss his hand, do his bidding! give
forth fulsome praise of his deeds!... How long, O God? how long?" he
concluded with a bitter sigh.

"Only for a few more days, my lord," said Jan firmly. "The Stadtholder
left his camp the same day as I did. But he travels slowly, in his
sledge, surrounded by a bodyguard of an hundred picked men. He is sick
and must travel slowly. Yesterday he had only reached Dordrecht,
to-day--if my information is correct--he should sleep at Ijsselmunde.
But to-morrow he will be at Delft where he will spend two days at the
Prinsenhof."

"At Delft!" exclaim