evidently
stolen property. On this work of art lay the pillows used at night, booty
obtained at Haarlem; they were covered with bright but worn-out silk,
which had long shown the need of the thrifty touch of a woman's hand.
Pictures of the saints were pasted on the walls, and a crucifix hung over
the door.

Behind the great table, between a basket and the wine cask, from which
the sibyl replenished the mugs, stood a high-backed chair. A coarse
barmaid, who had grown up in the camp, served the assembled men, but she
had no occasion to hurry, for the Spaniards were slow drinkers.

The guests sat, closely crowded together, in a circle, and seemed grave
and taciturn; but their words sounded passionate, imperious, defiant, and
the speakers often struck their coats of mail with their clenched fists,
or pounded on the floor with their swords.

If there was any difference of opinion, the disputants flew into a
furious rage, and then a chorus of fierce, blustering voices rose like a
tenfold echo. It often seemed as if the next instant swords must fly from
their sheaths and a bloody brawl begin; but Zorrillo, who had been chosen
to preside over the meeting, only needed to raise his baton and command
order, to transform the roar into a low muttering; the weather-beaten,
scarred, pitiless soldiers, even when mutineers, yielded willing
obedience to the word of command and the iron constraint of discipline.

On the sea and at Schouwen their splendid costumes had obtained a
beggarly appearance. The velvet and brocade extorted from the rich
citizens of Antwerp, now hung tattered and faded around their sinewy
limbs. They looked like foot-pads, vagabonds, pirates, yet sat, as
military custom required, exactly in the order of their rank; on the
march and in the camp, every insurgent willingly obeyed the orders of the
new leader, who by the fortune of war had thrown pairs-royal on the
drumhead.

One thing was certain: some decisive action must be taken. Every one
needed doublets and shoes, money and good lodgings. But in what way could
these be most easily procured? By parleying and submitting on acceptable
conditions, said some; by remaining free and capturing a city, roared
others; first wealthy Mechlin, which could be speedily reached. There
they could get what they wanted without money. Zorrillo counselled
prudent conduct; Navarrete impetuously advised bold action. They, the
insurgents, he cried, were stronger than any other mili