Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/249

Rh secret, and be quick about it, for we have not all night to spend!”

“This, then, is my story,” answered Dirk. “I have discovered—never mind how!—a passageway through a certain part of the  wall of Leyden. Not a soul knows of its existence save myself, and none could ever find it unassisted, for I myself stumbled upon it  quite by chance. There is room for but one to pass through at a time, and the passage is  dangerous. But it would be an easy matter to introduce a regiment of soldiers through  it in the night, and in the morning the town  would be yours for the inhabitants are all too  weak from starvation to make much resistance.”

“But where is this secret passage?” demanded Valdez.

“That will I not divulge till I lead the first soldier through it,” replied Willumhoog  shrewdly. “When does your worship think would be the best and earliest opportunity to  effect the entrance?”