Project Gutenberg's The Ferryman of Brill, by William H. G. Kingston

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Title: The Ferryman of Brill
and other stories

Author: William H. G. Kingston

Release Date: May 15, 2007 [EBook #21460]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FERRYMAN OF BRILL ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

The Ferryman of Brill, and other stories, by William H G Kingston.

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Chapters 1 to 4 constitute "The Ferryman of Brill", while the other
seven chapters are short stories on their own. All these stories had
previously appeared in early volumes of "The Quiver". They were
collected and published by Cassell's, who were not Kingston's usual
publishers, and the book came out in the year of Kingston's death.

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THE FERRYMAN OF BRILL, AND OTHER STORIES, BY WILLIAM H G KINGSTON.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE PROTESTANT LOVERS--A RIVAL--DIEDRICH FINDS HIS FOOTSTEPS DOGGED--
FINDS A FRIEND IN THE FERRYMAN--THREATENED WITH THE INQUISITION--FLIES
TO SEA.

Not far from the broad and slow-flowing river Meuse stands the town of
Brill. Flanders, in which it is found, formed at the period to which we
refer a province of the dominions belonging to Philip of Spain. It was
ruled with no very paternal hand by the Duke of Alva, who resided
chiefly at Brussels. He had been employed for several years in burning,
hanging, drowning, and cutting off the heads of his loving subjects, and
torturing them in a variety of ways, in order to make them dutiful
children of the Church of Rome, and of his master, Philip. Not with
great success, for they still hated, with an unalterable deadly hatred,
both one and the other. Brill at that time was not a populous city, nor
did it possess much commercial importance; but it was well walled and
fortified, however, and had a most commodious port. The inhabitants
were peaceable, well-disposed people, who thought as much of themselves
as the citizens of other cities of similar importance are apt to do.
Among them was a young merchant--Died