Page:The silent prince - a story of the Netherlands (IA cu31924008716957).pdf/251

 he boldly offered to row the party himself. The officer was loath to accept so generous an offer, but seeing no other avenue of escape, he suffered Peter to have his own way in the matter.

The sea was rough and the wind strong, but Peter had stout arms and rowed with no apparent effort. In due time they came astern the schooner Goodspeed, and shipped oars.

A call sounded from above.

“Who goes there?”

"Friends of the Beggars!” was the reply.

“All right!”

A rope ladder was swung over the side of the schooner. After pressing some gold into Peter’s reluctant hand, Colonel Van Straalen assisted Katharine up the ladder, and then mounted himself.

A ferocious looking man, with shaggy, unkempt hair and beard, greeted them roughly.

“Whom have we here?”

Reynold briefly related his own story and that of Katharine.

De la Marck, for it was he, spoke in kinder tones. “You are welcome. I will drop you in Leyden on the morrow.”

Savage and brutal in manner as persecution had made this man, he was loyal and kind-hearted, and never stopped to weigh personal interests where his Protestant fellow countrymen were concerned. He had made a vow not to use a razor until the