Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/288

262 make an entrance into the city before the Spaniards got wind of the disaster.

With this end in view he looked about him, ascertained as nearly as he could the position of the fleet, and commenced to row  steadily in that direction. As he drew near the Fortress of Lammen, however, he became aware that something very strange was  taking place. Wonderingly he shipped his oars and turned about to watch the curious  sight. Myriads of tiny lights twinkled across the dark waste of waters. There was almost no sound, but only a vague impression that  something mysterious was happening. After a time the lights formed themselves into a long procession which seemed to flit steadily across the one remaining causeway that  led to the Hague.

The boy sat breathless, eager, marvelling at this apparently never-ending procession of  lights, twinkling in single file over what  seemed the very face of the water. For a time he could find no explanation for this