Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/175

Rh not stint thyself in thy distribution of it!” he ended laughing.

When she bad gone, Van der Werf hastened to despatch a town-crier to spread  the good news, and himself made all speed  to Hengist Hill to observe the position of  the fleet. The day was clear, and the flotilla lay in plain sight, not far beyond the Land-scheiding—a motley array of more than two  hundred vessels of every conceivable shape  and size. The largest, an enormous craft with shot-proof bulwarks and moved by huge  paddle wheels turned by a crank, was called  the “Ark of Delft,” It served as the flagship  for Admiral Boisot, and was renowned for  being the leader in every battle. Each ship carried from eight to ten cannon, and the  whole fleet was manned by twenty-five hundred wild and battle-scarred veterans, the  bravest and fiercest in the land.

They called themselves the “Beggars of the Sea,” a name they had assumed since a  time at first, when the scornful Spanish