Page:The silent prince - a story of the Netherlands (IA cu31924008716957).pdf/226

 God has led us. It will also help to relieve the tedium of the weary days and weeks of waiting.

“Of the journey to North Holland, I will say but little. It was long and comparatively uneventful. We came near falling into the hands of Spanish troopers, but were rescued each time by the 'Gueulx.’ When we reached the river, which separated us from our destination, the ferryman utterly refused to be bribed to carry us across, fearing thereby he should lose his head. But a ‘Wild Beggar’ rowed us over, for he declared his life was worthless, and he was willing, even proud, to risk it in so good a cause.

“We reached in time the old farmhouse on the Zuyder Zee, where Lysken’s brother lived. It was a long, low building, close to the great dyke, against which the sea ever roared and tumbled. Lysken’s relatives were Lutherans, and kind, hospitable people have we found them to be, not indulging in the feeling of animosity toward the Calvinists which so disturbed the two bodies of Protestants in Antwerp.

“To your little sister, our life in Friesland was one long holiday. She walked over the farm daily with old Job Segerson, fed the chickens and calves, and never wearied of watching the almost human solicitude of the parent storks for their young. These birds had erected a huge nest on the large chimney of the house.