n his excitement, "where I have arms and ammunition,
Ryswyk, which is the rallying point for all my friends ... the molens!
you remember?... close to the wooden bridge which spans the Schie.... I
have enough gunpowder stored at that molens to blow up twenty wooden
bridges ... and the Stadtholder with his escort must cross the wooden
bridge which spans the Schie not far from the molens where I have my
headquarters.... I have it all in my mind already.... I only wait to
hear news of the actual day when the Stadtholder leaves his camp.... I
can tell you more to-morrow, but in the meanwhile I want to know if
there are a few men about here on whom I can rely at a moment's
notice ... whom I can use as spies or messengers ... or even to lend me
a hand at Ryswyk in case of need ... thirty or forty would be
sufficient ... if they are good fighting men.... I said something about
this in my message to you all."

"And I for one acted on your suggestion at once," said one of the
others. "I have recruited ten stout fellows: Germans and Swiss, who
know not a word of our language. I pay them well and they ask no
questions. They will fight for you, spy for you, run for you, do
anything you choose, and can betray nothing, since they know nothing.
They are at your disposal at any moment."

"That is good, and I thank you, my dear Heemskerk."

"I have half a dozen peasants on my own estate on whom I can rely," said
another of Stoutenburg's friends. "They are good fighters, hard-headed
and ready to go through fire and water for me. They are as safe as
foreign mercenaries, for they will do anything I tell them and will do
it without asking the reason why."

"I have another eight or ten foreigners to offer you," said a third,
"they come from a part of Britain called Scotland so I understand. I
picked them up a week ago when they landed at Scheveningen and engaged
them in my service then and there."

"And I can lay my hand at any moment on a dozen or so young apprentices
in my father's factory," added a fourth, "they are always ready for a
frolic or a fight and ready to follow me to hell if need be."

"You see that you can easily count on three dozen men," concluded
Beresteyn.

"Three dozen men ready to hand," said Stoutenburg, "for our present
needs they should indeed suffice. Knowing that I can reckon on them I
can strike the decisive blow when and how I think it best. It is the
blow that counts," he continued between set teeth, "afte