Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/176

150 soldiery had mocked them. “Who is afraid of you! You are nothing but a pack of beggars!” scoffed the Spaniards. “Very well!” replied the hot-headed Zeelanders. “Ye shall see how beggars can fight!” And truly  they made a ferocious crew, as the Spanish  found later, to their surprise and dismay. They neither gave nor took quarter, for theirs was a battle to the death, and woe to the  luckless Spaniard who fell within their  power! “Long live the Beggars!” was their rallying cry, and “Long live the Beggars!” now echoed in shout upon shout from Hengist Hill, by the crowds that had followed the burgomaster to the summit. Hope was once more restored, and Leyden gathered herself  together and drew a long breath of renewed  courage.

But before the consummation of this hope there was much to be done, and many battles  to fight. The Land-scheiding lay before the fleet guarded by Spanish troops, and all  about, the villages and fortresses were in