CHAPTER XXIII
A SPY FROM THE CAMP
"Come to my lodgings, Nicolaes. I have good news for you, and you do nogood by cooling your temper here in the open."
Stoutenburg, coming out of his lodgings half an hour later to look forhis friend, had found Beresteyn in the Hout Straat walking up and downlike a caged beast in a fury.
"The vervloekte Keerl! the plepshurk! the smeerlap!" he ejaculatedbetween his clenched teeth. "I'll not rest till I have struck him in theface first and killed him after!"
But he allowed Stoutenburg to lead him down the street to the narrowgabled house where he lodged. Neither of them spoke, however; furyapparently beset them both equally, the kind of fury which is dumb, andall the more fierce because it finds no outlet in words.
Stoutenburg led the way up the wooden stairs to a small room at the backof the house. There was no light visible anywhere inside the building,and Nicolaes, not knowing his way about, stumbled upwards in the darkkeeping close to the heels of his friend. The latter had pushed open thedoor of his room. Here a tallow candle placed in a pewter sconce upon atable shed a feeble, flickering light around. The room by this scantyglimmer looked to be poorly but cleanly furnished; there was a curtainedbed in the panelling of the wall, and a table in the middle of the roomwith a few chairs placed in a circle round it.
On one of these sat a man who appeared to be in the last stages ofweariness. His elbows rested on the table and his head was buried in hisfolded arms. His clothes looked damp and travel-stained; an empty mug ofale and a couple of empty plates stood in front of him, beside a capmade of fur and a pair of skates.
At the sound made by the opening of the door and the entrance of the twomen, he raised his head and seeing the Lord of Stoutenburg he quicklyjumped to his feet.
"Sit down, Jan," said Stoutenburg curtly, "you must be dog-tired. Haveyou had enough to eat and drink?"
"I thank you, my lord, I have eaten my fill," replied Jan, "and I am notso tired now that I have had some rest."
"Sit down," reiterated Stoutenburg peremptorily, "and you too, my goodNicolaes," he added as he offered a chair to his friend. "Let me justtell you the news which Jan has brought, and which should make youforget 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 fromit took a bottle and three pewter mugs. These he placed on the table andfilled the mugs with wine. Then he drew another chair close to the tableand sat down.
"Jan," he resumed, turning to Beresteyn, "left the Stadtholder's camp atSprang four days ago. He has travelled the whole way along the frozenrivers and waterways only halting for the nights. The news which hebrings carries for the bearer of such splendid tidings its own gloriousreward; Jan, I must tell you, is with us heart and soul and hates theStadtholder as much as I do. Is that not so, Jan?"
"My father was hanged two years ago," replied Jan simply, "because hespoke disparaging words of the Stadtholder. Those words were calledtreason, and my father was condemned to the gallows merely for speakingthem."
Stoutenburg laughed, his usual harsh, mirthless laugh.
"Yes! that is the way justice is now administered in the free andindependent United Provinces," he said roughly; "down on your knees, yelumbering Dutchmen! lick the dust off the boots of His MagnificenceMaurice of Nassau Prince of Orange! kiss his hand, do his bidding! giveforth fulsome praise of his deeds!... How long, O God? how long?" heconcluded with a bitter sigh.
"Only for a few more days, my lord," said Jan firmly. "The Stadtholderleft his camp the same day as I did. But he travels slowly, in hissledge, surrounded by a bodyguard of an hundred picked men. He is sickand 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 thePrinsenhof."
"At Delft!" exclaimed Stoutenburg as he brought his clenched fist downupon the table. "Thank God! I have got him at last."
He leaned across nearer still to Nicolaes and in his excitement clutchedhis friend's wrists with nervy trembling fingers, digging his nails intothe other man's flesh till Beresteyn could have screamed with pain.
"From Delft," he murmured hoarsely, "the only way northwards is alongthe left bank of the Schie, the river itself is choked with ice-floeswhich renders it impassable. Just before Ryswyk the road crosses to theright bank of the river over a wooden bridge which we all know well.Half a league to the south of the bridge is the molens which has been myheadquarters ever since I landed at Scheveningen three weeks ago; thereI have my stores and my ammunition. Do you see it all, friend?" hequeried whilst a feverish light glowed in his eyes. "Is it not God whohath delivered the tyrant into my hands at last? I start for Ryswykto-night with you to help me, Nicolaes, with van Does and all my friendswho will rally round me, with the thirty or forty men whom they haverecruited for placing at my disposal. The molens to the south of thewooden bridge which spans the Schie is our rallying point. In the nightbefore the Stadtholder starts on his way from Delft we make our finalpreparations. I have enough gunpowder stowed away at the mill to blow upthe bridge. We'll dispose it in its place during that night. Then youNicolaes shall fire the powder at the moment when the Stadtholder'sescort is half way across the bridge.... In the confusion and paniccaused by the explosion and the collapse of the bridge our men caneasily overpower the Prince's bodyguard--whilst I, dagger in hand, dofulfil the oath which I swore before the altar of God, to kill theStadtholder with mine own hand."
Gradually as he spoke his voice became more hoarse and more choked withpassion; his excitement gained upon his hearers until both NicolaesBeresteyn his friend and Jan the paid spy and messenger felt their bloodtingling within their veins, their throats parched, their eyes burningas if they had been seared with living fire. The tallow-candle flickeredin its socket, a thin draught from the flimsily constructed window blewits flame hither and thither, so that it lit up fitfully the faces ofthose three men drawn closely together now in a bond of ambition and ofhate.
"'Tis splendidly thought out," said Beresteyn at last with a sigh ofsatisfaction. "I do not see how the plan can fail."
"Fail?" exclaimed Stoutenburg with a triumphant laugh, "of course itcannot fail! There are practically no risks even. The place is lonely,the molens a splendid rallying point. We can all reach it by differentroutes and assemble there to-morrow eve or early the next day. Thatwould give us another day and night at least to complete ourpreparations. I have forty barrels of gunpowder stowed away at the mill,I have new pattern muskets, cullivers, swords and pistols ... gifts tome from the Archduchess Isabella ... enough for our coup.... Fail? Howcan we fail when everything has been planned, everything thought out?and when God has so clearly shown that He is on our side?"
Jan said nothing for the moment; he lowered his eyes not caring justthen to encounter those of his leader, for the remembrance had suddenlyflashed through his mind of that other day--not so far distant yet--wheneverything too had been planned, everything thought out and failure hadbrought about untold misery and a rich harvest for the scaffold.
Beresteyn too was silent now. Something of his friend's enthusiasm wasalso coursing through his veins, but with him it was only the enthusiasmof ambition, of discontent, of a passion for intrigue, for plots andconspiracies, for tearing down one form of government in order to makeroom for another--but his enthusiasm was not kept at fever-heat by thatall-powerful fire of hate which made Stoutenburg forget everything savehis desire for revenge.
The latter had pushed his chair impatiently aside and now was pacing upand down the narrow room like some caged feline creature waiting for itsmeal. Beresteyn's silence seemed to irritate him for he threw from timeto time quick, furtive glances on his friend.
"Nicolaes, why don't you speak?" he said with sudden impatience.
"I was thinking of Gilda," replied the other dully.
"Gilda? Why of her?"
"That knave has
betrayed me I am sure. He has hidden her away somewhere,not meaning to stick to his bargain with me, and then has come back toHaarlem in order to see if he can extort a large ransom for her from myfather."
"Bah! He wouldn't dare...!"
"Then why is he here?" exclaimed Beresteyn hotly. "Gilda should be inhis charge! If he is here, where is Gilda?"
"Good God, man!" ejaculated Stoutenburg, pausing in his restless walkand looking somewhat dazed on his friend, as if he were just waking fromsome feverish sleep. "Good God! you do not think that...."
"That her life is in danger from that knave?" rejoined Beresteynquietly. "Well, no! I do not think that.... I do not know what tothink ... but there is a hint of danger in that rascal's presence herein Haarlem to-day."
He rose and mechanically re-adjusted his cloak and looked round for hishat.
"What are you going to do?" asked Stoutenburg.
"Find the knave," retorted the other, "and wring his neck if he does notgive some satisfactory account of Gilda."
"No! no! you must not do that ... not in a public place at anyrate ... the rascal would betray you if you quarrelled with him ... orworse still you would betray yourself. Think what it would mean to usnow--at this moment--if it were known that you had a hand in theabduction of your sister ... if she were traced and found! think whatthat would mean--denunciation--failure--the scaffold for us all!"
"Must I leave her then at the mercy of a man who is proved to be both aliar and a cheat?"
"No! you shall not do that. Let me try and get speech with him. He doesnot know me; and I think that I could find out what double game he isplaying and where our own danger lies. Let me try and find him."
"How can you do that?"
"You remember the incident on New Year's Eve, when you and I traced thatcursed adventurer to his own doorstep?"
"Yes!"
"Then you remember the Spanish wench and the old cripple to whom our manrelinquished his lodgings on that night."
"Certainly I do."
"Well! yesterday when the hour came for the rascal to seize Gilda, Icould not rest in this room. I wanted to see, to know what was going on.Gilda means so much to me, that remorse I think played havoc with myprudence then and I went out into the Groote Markt to watch her come outof church. I followed her at a little distance and saw her walkingrapidly along the bank of the Oude Gracht. She was accosted by a womanwho spoke to her from out the depths of the narrow passage which leadsto the disused chapel of St. Pieter. Gilda was quickly captured by thebrute whom you had paid to do this monstrous deed, and I stood by likean abject coward, not raising a hand to save her from this crueloutrage."
He paused a moment and passed his hand across his brow as if to chaseaway the bitter and insistent recollection of that crime of which he hadbeen the chief instigator.
"Why do you tell me all that?" queried Beresteyn sombrely. "What I did,I did for you and for the triumph of your cause."
"I know, I know," replied Stoutenburg with a sigh, "may Heaven rewardyou for the sacrifice. But I merely acted for mine own selfish ends, formy ambition and my revenge. I love Gilda beyond all else on earth, yet Isaw her sacrificed for me and did not raise a finger to save her."
"It is too late for remorse," retorted Beresteyn roughly, "if Gilda hadbeen free to speak of what she heard in the cathedral on New Year's Eve,you and I to-day would have had to flee the country as you fled from itonce before, branded as traitors, re-captured mayhap, dragged before thetribunal of a man who has already shown that he knows no mercy. Gilda'sfreedom would have meant for you, for me, for Heemskerk, van Does andall the others, torture first and a traitor's death at the last."
"You need not remind me of that," rejoined Stoutenburg more calmly."Gilda has been sacrificed for me and by God I will requite her for allthat she has endured! My life, my love are hers and as soon as the lawsets me free to marry she will have a proud position higher than that ofany other woman in the land."
"For the moment she is at the mercy of that blackguard...."
"And I tell you that I can find out where she is."
"How?"
"The woman who accosted Gilda last night, who acted for the knave as adecoy, was the Spanish wench whom he had befriended the night before."
"You saw her?"
"Quite distinctly. She passed close to me when she ran off after havingdone her work. No doubt she is that rascal's sweetheart and will know ofhis movements and of his plans. Money or threats should help me toextract something from her."
"But where can you find her?"
"At the same lodgings where she has been these two nights, I feel sure."
"It is worth trying," mused Beresteyn.
"And in the meanwhile we must not lose sight of our knave. Jan, my goodman, that shall be your work. Mynheer Beresteyn will be good enough togo with you as far as the tapperij of the 'Lame Cow,' and there pointout to you a man whom it will be your duty to follow step by step thisevening until you find out where he intends to pitch his tent for thenight. You understand?"
"Yes, my lord," said Jan, smothering as best he could an involuntarysigh of weariness.
"It is all for the ultimate triumph of our revenge, good Jan," quothStoutenburg significantly, "the work of watching which you will do thisnight is at least as important as that which you have so bravelyaccomplished these past four days. The question is, have you strengthleft to do it?"
Indeed the question seemed unnecessary now. At the word "revenge" Janhad already straightened out his long, lean figure and though traces offatigue might still linger in his drawn face, it was obvious that thespirit within was prepared to fight all bodily weaknesses.
"There is enough strength in me, my lord," he said simply, "to do yourbidding now as always for the welfare of Holland and the triumph of ourfaith."
After which Stoutenburg put out the light, and with a final curt word toJan and an appeal to Beresteyn he led the way out of the room, down thestairs and finally into the street.