uck up in public places. To the
initiated, these bills, seemingly innocent, gave warning of the Duke's
plan. Very few people in Holland (not more than thirty I believe)
were in the secret of his expedition. Most of these thirty knew other
loyalists, to whom, when the time came, they gave the word. When the
time came we were only about eighty men all told. That is not a large
force, is it, for the invasion of a populous kingdom?

They talked it out for a little while, making improvements on Mr.
Jermyn's plan. They had a map by them during some of the time. Before
they made their decision, they turned me out of the cabin, so that I
know not to this day what the Duke did during the next few days. I know
only this, that he disappeared from his enemies, so completely that the
spies were baffled. Not only James's spies, that is nothing: but the
spies of William of Orange were baffled. They knew no more of his
whereabouts than I knew. They had to write home that he had gone, they
could not guess where; but possibly to Scotland to sound the clans. All
that I know of his doings during the next week is this. After about half
an hour of debate, the captain went ashore to one of the famous inns in
the town. From this inn, he despatched, one by one, at brief intervals,
three horses, each to a different inn along the Egmont highway. He gave
instructions to the ostlers who rode them to wait outside the inns named
till the gentlemen called for them. He got the third horse off, in this
quiet way, at the end of about an hour. I believe that he then sent
a printed book (with certain words in it underlined, so as to form a
message) by the hand of a little girl, to the Duke of Argyle's lodging.
I have heard that it was a book on the training of horses to do tricks.
There was probably some cipher message in it, as well as the underlined
message. Whatever it was, it gave the Duke his instructions.

CHAPTER IX. I SEE MORE OF MY FRIEND

After waiting for about an hour in the schooner, I was sent ashore with
a bottle-basket, with very precise instructions in what I was to do. I
was to follow the road towards Haarlem, till I came to the inn near the
turning of the Egmont highway. There I was to leave my bottle-basket,
asking (or, rather, handing over a written request) for it to be filled
with bottles of the very best gin. After paying for this, I was to
direct it to be sent aboard the schooner by the ostler (who was waiting
at the door w