possessed to get the task accomplished,” continued the burgomaster. “By God’s merciful providence we were before preserved, but He helps those who, trusting to Him, labour as He would have them. The Spaniards may not return, but it is our duty to be prepared for them, though I trust that we shall soon hear of a glorious victory gained over them by the noble Count Louis.”

“Heaven defend him and his brave troops,” murmured Jaqueline; and she thought of one who had accompanied the Count to the field and who had from his earliest days engaged in the desperate struggle both at sea and on shore. Again the burgomaster was silent, and Jaqueline’s thoughts wandered far away to the army of Count Louis. The chief magistrate had come up, as was his wont, to consider the measures which it might be necessary to take for the benefit of the city over which he presided. Here, under ordinary circumstances, he was not likely to be interrupted by visitors. Jaqueline’s thoughts were recalled to the present moment by hearing a light footstep ascending the stairs of the tower. A young boy appeared, whose dress showed that he belonged to the upper orders, his countenance animated and intelligent. “Why, Albert Van der Does, what has brought you here in so great a hurry?” asked Jaqueline, as she cast a glance at the boy’s handsome face glowing with the exertion he had made.

“I had gone to your house, and finding that you had come up here, I thought you would give me leave to follow you,” he answered.

“You have taken the leave, at all events,” she said, smiling; “but what object had you in coming here this morning?”

“A very important one; I want you to accept the remainder of my pigeons; those I before gave you have become so tame and look so happy that I am unwilling to deprive the others of the privilege of belonging to you.”

“Is it only affection for your feathered friends that induces you to make me the offer?” she asked, archly.

“I confess that I have another reason,” he answered. “I shall no longer have time to attend to my pets; I heard my father say that we shall soon be engaged in more stirring work than we have had since the Spaniards marched to the eastward. As soon as Count Louis forms a junction with the Prince, every person capable of bearing arms should be prepared to engage in the struggle, and I want, therefore, to practice the use of weapons and to learn to be a soldier.”

“You will make a brave one, I am sure,” said 

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