the good
cause.

There was obstacle after obstacle to conquer. The scaffolds and barns,
frames and all other wood-work that could serve to conceal a man, were to
be levelled to the earth, as all the country-houses and other buildings
near the city had formerly been. Much newly-erected woodwork was already
removed, but the rich longest resisted having the axe put to theirs. New
earthworks had been commenced at the important fort of Valkenburg; but
part of the land, where the workmen were obliged to dig, belonged to a
brewer, who demanded a large sum in compensation for his damaged meadow.
When the siege was raised in March, paper-money was restored, round
pieces of pasteboard, one side of which bore the Netherland lion, with
the inscription, "Haec libertatis ergo," while the other had the
coat-of-arms of the city and the motto "God guard Leyden." These were
intended to be exchanged for coin or provisions, but rich speculators had
obtained possession of many pieces, and were trying to raise their value.
Demands of every kind pressed upon him, and amid all these claims the
burgomaster was also compelled to think of his own affairs, for all
intercourse with the outside world would soon be cut off, and it was
necessary to settle many things with the representative of his business
in Hamburg. Great losses were threatening, but he left no means untried
to secure for his family what might yet be saved.

He rarely saw wife or children; yet thought he was fulfilling the promise
Maria had obtained from him the evening after his return, when he briefly
answered her questions or voluntarily gave her such sentences as "There
was warm work at the town-hall to-day!" or, "It is more difficult to
circulate the paper-money than we expected!" He did not feel the kindly
necessity of having a confidante and expressing his feelings, and his
first wife had been perfectly contented and happy, if he sat silently
beside her during quiet hours, called her his treasure, petted the
children, or even praised her cracknels and Sunday roast. Business and
public affairs had been his concern, the kitchen and nursery hers. What
they had shared, was the consciousness of the love one felt for the
other, their children, the distinction, honors and possessions of the
household.

Maria asked more and he was ready to grant it, but when in the evening
she pressed the wearied man with questions he was accustomed to hear only
from the lips of men, he put her of