fications. I am very sure that I can make myself as
agreeable to women as can most men, and from her beauty alone,
independent of her fortune, she is well worth winning, so I must not
despair. Still it will never do to have her cooped up in this hapless
town should it be again invested by the Spaniards; I have no fancy
indeed to stay in it myself, and I must bend all my efforts towards
finding the means of carrying her away before the siege commences.
There is not a day, however, to be lost. She appears to have no fear
herself, but I may work upon the feelings of her father, and induce him,
for the sake of preserving her from the horrors of the siege, to entrust
her to my care. I must venture upon some warmer expressions of love and
devotion than I have hitherto exhibited, and by describing the horrible
fate which may be hers should she remain, and the happiness which awaits
her if she will consent to accompany me, as my wife, out of the country,
I may induce her to yield more willingly than she at present seems
inclined to do." Such were the thoughts which occupied the mind of the
baron as he proceeded with leisurely step towards the Stadhuis, where he
had no great desire to make his appearance, although having been
expressly invited by the burgomaster he could not avoid going. He found
the chief magistrates, most influential citizens, assembled. The
burgomaster had informed them of the sad intelligence he had just
received, and Captain Van der Elst, at his desire, had described the
battle and its disastrous termination. One circumstance alone afforded
satisfaction, it was that Count John, now the Prince's only surviving
brother, who had already done so much for the cause, although expecting
to participate in the battle, had, at the urgent request of the other
leaders, left the army two days before the action, in order to obtain at
Cologne money to pay the troops. The young captain had just finished
his account. The first point to be settled was the selection of a
military chief whom all would be ready to obey.

The burgomaster rose. After expressing his readiness to devote his
fortune, his life, and everything he possessed to the cause, he
acknowledged that he had no military experience or talents, and urged
upon his fellow-citizens the importance of selecting a man who possessed
the talents in which he was wanting. "There is one," he said. "John
Van der Does, Seigneur of Nordwyck, a gentleman of distingui