, was himself going the
rounds.

He gave the lads some words of approval. "While the young ones show
such zeal I feel confident that we shall keep the foe in check till they
are compelled ignominiously to retreat," he observed.

For several days the citizens beheld the foreign troops gathering round
them, bringing their batteries closer to the walls, till Leyden was
invested by no less than sixty-two redoubts, while fresh troops were
seen coming in to swell the ranks of the besiegers. The city was now
placed on a strict allowance of food, all the provisions having been
purchased by the authorities, with an allowance of half a pound of meat,
half a pound of bread allotted to each full-grown man, and to the rest
in due proportion. At length the soldiers, and even some of the
burghers began to murmur at their own inactivity; to give them
confidence the commandant allowed a sortie to be made, promising a
reward to each man who brought in the head of a Spaniard. The men of
Leyden waited till nightfall, having previously carefully surveyed the
point it was proposed to attack. All was still in the city, the
Spaniards might have supposed that the besieged were sleeping, when
suddenly the gate at which the sortie was to be made was thrown open,
three hundred men eager for the fray noiselessly rushed out, not a word
was spoken, not a shout raised till they were upon their foe. The
Spaniards, the work of the day over, had piled their arms, and had
scarcely time to fall into their ranks before their enemies were upon
them; though a score or more fell yet they were too well disciplined to
remain long in a state of confusion, and the officer leading the sortie
deemed it prudent to call back his men. They returned without the loss
of one of their number, bringing back at least a dozen Spanish heads,
such was the savage commencement of the struggle. Night after night
similar enterprises were undertaken, not always with the same result,
though the Hollanders were invariably successful, so silently and well
executed were all their sorties, but several brave men fell, and the
commandant, from fear of losing too many of his troops, deemed it
necessary to prohibit any from leaving the gates without his express
order.

CHAPTER SIX.

The inhabitants of Leyden were already fearfully hard pressed for food.
Their bread was entirely consumed; they had but a small supply of malt
cake, with a few cows--kept as long as possible for