Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/35

Rh eldest son of our great William of Orange, was kidnapped from the University where  he was studying, and taken a captive to  Spain. We had little time to think of that outrage, so great was our grief for our dear  father. Vrouw Voorhaas dismissed all the servants, closed the house and sold it, and  we came to Leyden to live in the little house  in Belfry Lane, where we have been ever  since.”

The boy listened spellbound, though the recital was evidently one that had been oft-repeated, but had never lost its mystery and  sorrowful charm.

“I was so little,” he said at last, “I only remember our father as a tall man with gray  hair and beard, and very blue, twinkling  eyes. It is all like a dream to me! But is it not singular, Jacqueline, that Vrouw Voorhaas will never talk about him to us, nor answer any questions when we ask about him? And she has told us never to mention his name to others, and has made us change our