Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/290

264 boat and watched the retreat. In all the city of Leyden or its environments, he was the  only soul that night who was aware of the  true state of affairs. At length the last few straggling lights disappeared, and all was  silence and darkness. When he was convinced that a nearer approach was safe, he rowed slowly toward Fort Lammen, reconnoitering carefully at almost every yard. But the nearer he drew, the plainer it became that the fort was absolutely deserted. Boldly landing at the foot of the battlement, he entered at the cannon-defended gate, and  found the enclosure empty. Colonel Borgia and his troops had fled so hastily that even some of their time-honored battle-flags  were left behind!

Gysbert was not content, however, with ascertaining only the condition of Lammen. It was quite possible that the retreating army had halted at Leyderdorp, the headquarters  of Valdez, half a mile away. Now that he was about it, he concluded that he might as