2
 
 
 OP. CALIF. LIBHAHY, LOS AHGELES
 
 By permission of George II'. Roughton. 
 
 ANNKKK.
 
 ANNEKE 
 
 A LITTLE DAME OF NEW NETHERLANDS 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIZABETH W. CHAMPNEY 
 
 AUTHOR OF "WITCH WINNIE," " WITCH WINNIE'S MYSTEBY," 
 "PATIENCE," ETC. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 
 
 1900
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1900 
 
 BY 
 DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 

 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. A VERY QUEER CHEESE 1 
 
 II. A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE 18 
 
 III. AT EEMBRANDT'S HOUSE 46 
 
 IV. EIVALS IN HONOR 68 
 
 V. UNDER FALSE COLORS 84 
 
 VI. THE BUBBLE BURSTS 105 
 
 VII. WITH THE BUCCANEERS AND THE MAROONERS . . . 117 
 
 VIII. ORANGE BOVEN 141 
 
 IX. PEARLS AND TEARS 155 
 
 X. THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 175 
 
 XI. AT RENSSELAERSWYCK 198 
 
 XII. THAT PEARL OF PEARLS A NOBLE LIFE 222 
 
 XIII. A CAVALIER OF KING CHARLES 246 
 
 XIV. FRANCE TAKES A HAND ... .278 
 
 111 
 
 21S86G5
 
 Introduction. 
 
 THE author confesses at the outset that her story 
 is not true to the biography of the characters whose 
 names she has borrowed for her heroine and heroes. 
 
 A real Anneke lived long ago and was loved by 
 Kiliaen Yan Rensselaer and by William Nicoll ; but 
 they were born a few years too late to have had the 
 experiences related in the early part of this nar- 
 rative. 
 
 The historical events described are in their main 
 lines true to fact, and it has been the author's aim 
 to create a faithful presentment of the ambitions, 
 emotions, vicissitudes, struggles and victories which 
 might have come into the lives of noble-minded 
 men and women living at this period ; and in so do- 
 ing to show what were the influences in Holland 
 and in England which led to the founding of the 
 Colony of New Netherland and to its seizure by the 
 English.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 
 
 He that can endure 
 To follow with allegiance a falling lord, 
 
 earns a place i' the story. 
 
 Shakespeare, 
 
 ILLIE NICOLL, Wil- 
 lie Nicoll, will you 
 give me your answer ? 
 Will you stay in your 
 burrow like a milk- 
 blooded rabbit, to be 
 killed by that ferret Cromwell, or 
 is it off with me to make your 
 fortune in the Spanish Main ? 
 Once for all will you answer me, 
 Willie Nicoll?" 
 
 " And once for all my answer 
 is no, Captain Morgan, no to both questions. I will 
 not stay at home to be caught by the Puritans, and 
 I will not accept your offer. England is no place 
 for a Royalist unless he is in the service of the 
 King, and since his Majesty has nothing for a boy 
 of seventeen to do, I'm back to finish my studies at
 
 2 ANNEKE. 
 
 Leyden, and to fit myself to serve him to some pur- 
 pose by and by." 
 
 " Nonsense, lad, by the time you have graduated 
 the king will have no need of you. There will be 
 great changes in England in the next few years, or 
 I am no weather prophet and can't tell that there's 
 a storm coming when I see the clouds gathering. 
 Nobody knows what will be left standing when the 
 hurricane has passed. Better put off to sea, says I, 
 and then, when your cruise is ended, you'll know 
 what colors to run up as you sail into port." 
 
 The youth's cheeks flushed. " I shall display the 
 King's colors, no matter what happens, and fight 
 for him the more desperately the more he needs 
 me," Willie said, stoutly. 
 
 "Eight you are, and gallantly said. I only 
 spoke as I did to try your mettle, man, and what 
 better university could there be for an English 
 cavalier than the free wide sea ? What better col- 
 lege than a ship of war? I'll warrant that you 
 will be better fitted to serve his Majesty when I 
 have graduated you, with your sea chest full of 
 pearls from Margarita, and your share of Spanish 
 silver in the hold, your arm trained to cutlass fenc- 
 ing, and a decoration or two carved on your cheek, 
 than as a pale-faced student, with your pockets 
 empty of everything but a Dutch diploma. I tell
 
 A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 3 
 
 you, too, "Willie Nicoll, that the African wench, 
 Mookinga, who keeps my cabin at Tortuga, was 
 with the Spaniards at Margarita. She was held as 
 a Youdoo witch by the negro pearl-divers. They 
 stole all the larger pearls and gave them to her to 
 keep for them. She alone knows where they are 
 buried. She heard in some way of the free negroes 
 of Jamaica, and slipped away in a crazy craft with 
 two other fugitives, to try to find them and rouse 
 them to make a descent on Margarita. "We came 
 across the sloop when her provisions were spent, 
 and Mookinga fell to my share. She was my cook 
 and housekeeper, while I was buccaneering at 
 Tortuga. I was kind to her, and one day she gave 
 me some great pearls which she had secreted in her 
 hair, and she promised to show me how I could 
 surprise the Spanish garrison at the fort at the 
 entrance of the harbor at Margarita, and what sig- 
 nals to show to make all the negroes of the island 
 rise and massacre the Spaniards. I am to set the 
 negroes free and clear out the Spaniards, and the 
 pearls are to be mine." 
 
 " Why did you not sail on this expedition instead 
 of returning to England ? " 
 
 " Because, "Willie, I was only one of a band of 
 buccaneers, with whom I would have had to divide 
 my booty if I had taken them into my confidence.
 
 4 ANNEKE. 
 
 I came back to England to get the command of a 
 ship from King Charles, and to gather a company 
 of gentlemen adventurers of the right stamp with 
 his Majesty's permission to make war on the 
 Spaniards." 
 
 " Did you get your commission, Captain Morgan ? " 
 " No, Willie, his Majesty is in too great straits 
 just at present to involve himself with other powers 
 by granting his royal signature to any paper which 
 might plunge him into more hot water. We must 
 needs take the matter into our own hands, and sail 
 on the authority of our own broadswords. Harkee, 
 Willie, if there's no other way, I'll engage under 
 the Earl of Warwick with other gentlemen of the 
 right spirit, and when we receive our orders (for no 
 matter what port), we'll set the helm for the West 
 Indies. It will be easy enough to purchase a par- 
 don, from whichever party happens to be in power, 
 when we return with a lot of Spanish prizes. I'm 
 over to Holland now under sealed orders from the 
 King. I am to take command of a sloop that I shall 
 find at a harbor hereabouts, but what I'm to do I 
 know no more than you, Willie. It's the last time 
 that I shall set out under any orders but my own if 
 I can make up the crew I want." 
 
 "And have you told my father of this fine 
 scheme ? "
 
 A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 5 
 
 " No, Willie, your father is a courtier of the old 
 school. It would be of no use to talk it over with 
 him ; but I've made you the offer in all good faith, 
 and I've shown my hand, rather more plainly than 
 is prudent, because I trust in your honor as a gen- 
 tleman. Now all I want to know is why will you 
 not take your schooling with me, since I am not 
 particular if you do serve the King if you ever see 
 your chance to do so ? " 
 
 " Because," cried the young man, not calculating 
 the effect of his words in his indignation, " because 
 I happen to have my chance now. There are more 
 ways of serving the King than you realize, Captain 
 Morgan, and since we are having a straight look 
 into each other's principles, I will say just this : I 
 am as fond of treasure as you are, and still more so 
 of adventure in the getting, but I've no fancy to 
 fight under a pirate's flag, Captain Morgan." 
 
 The Captain's face grew black and he lifted his 
 clenched fist but let it fall with an oath to his side. 
 
 "Nay, I love you too much, Willie Nicoll, to 
 quarrel with you because we have both blabbed 
 more than is good for us. So, you have found your 
 chance for serving the King have you ? Well, trust 
 me for keeping your secret, if you keep mine. This 
 sea air gives a man a rousing appetite, let us eat and 
 drink together here on deck, and then we will both
 
 6 ANNEKE. 
 
 i 
 
 be better natured. Have you nothing in that 
 lunch-hamper which you have been nursing all the 
 way from London to share with an old friend, 
 Willie Nicoll?" 
 
 The young man started and changed color, but 
 unstrapped the hamper with alacrity. It contained 
 a variety of savory viands, and to these Willie 
 helped his companion with a liberal hand. It was 
 amazing to note how much the Captain ate. It was 
 as though he were provisioning for his contemplated 
 voyage to the Spanish Main, and as "Willie lifted 
 out one delicacy after another the captain peered 
 greedily into the hamper eager to ascertain what 
 was left. The young man made no attempt to 
 hinder him, and the gormandizing guest at last felt 
 both appetite and curiosity fully satisfied. There 
 was nothing remaining in the hamper but a round 
 cheese box. 
 
 " A little slice of cheese, Willie," coaxed the Cap- 
 tain, " just a little slice of cheese to top off with, 
 and then I'll share my 'baccy and brandy with you, 
 and thank ye kindly, Willie. It's been a luncheon 
 fit for a king." 
 
 " I think I'll not cut the cheese this afternoon, 
 Captain Morgan. I am saving that to remind me 
 of home for many a day to come," said Willie, re- 
 placing the half emptied preserve pots and bottle
 
 A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 7 
 
 in the hamper, and fastening down the cover with 
 decision. 
 
 " As you please," replied the other surlily, " but 
 taking cheese to Holland is a bit like carrying coals 
 to New Castle, isn't it, Willie? You must have 
 plenty of it at Leyden." 
 
 " Not cheese like this," Willie replied airily, " this 
 is Stilton, old Stilton, and it will be riper still before 
 I cut it. Then I'll surprise some of my Dutch 
 mates." 
 
 " Just invite me in, Willie, when you open the 
 box," said Captain Morgan, " for I'm powerful fond 
 of cheese, and I've taken it into my head that this 
 is an uncommon rich one." And the Captain winked 
 knowingly as he took a gulp from his pocket-flask. 
 The Captain's insinuation alarmed Willie, and he 
 had good cause for apprehension, although he was 
 really a student of Leyden university, having the 
 year before entered the school of engineering which 
 Prince Maurice founded. To all appearances he 
 was only a quiet youth deeply interested in his 
 studies, but in reality he was much more than this. 
 King Charles I. had trusty agents all over Europe, 
 and to Willie Nicoll, through a relative who was 
 groom of the bedchamber, were entrusted secret 
 errands of great importance, which could not be 
 transacted openly by the English ambassador.
 
 8 ANN EKE. 
 
 When Governor Winthrop came from the New 
 England colony to solicit help from King Charles 
 for the building of a fort at the mouth of the Con- 
 necticut River a letter was sent through Willie to 
 Lion Gardiner, an English military engineer, who 
 had established himself at the town of Woreden in 
 Holland, and the negotiations were so well con- 
 ducted by Willie that Gardiner accepted the con- 
 struction and command of this fort, and removed 
 under the patronage of Lords Say and Brooke to 
 New England. The part played by Willie was a 
 delicate one, for it was important that no hint of 
 this transaction, which threatened the Dutch Colony 
 in America should be known in Holland. 
 
 Having accomplished this errand to the satisfac- 
 tion of his principals, others were entrusted to him, 
 in the conduct of which young Willie Nicoll dis- 
 played a tact beyond his years. In 1641 the second 
 year of his residence at Leyden he received a letter 
 summoning him home on account of the illness of his 
 mother. Seriously alarmed, for Willie was passion- 
 ately attached to his mother, he easily obtained 
 leave of absence on reporting the reason to the uni- 
 versity authorities, and hurried to London. What 
 was his relief on reaching home to find his mother 
 in perfect health, her illness being only a pretext 
 for his presence, which was required to fully under-
 
 A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 9 
 
 stand a mission of more than ordinary importance 
 and danger. King Charles was entering upon the 
 last stage of his struggle to maintain his royal 
 authority, against that of Parliament. Already he 
 felt that he was playing a losing game, but there 
 were certain expedients to be tried before the stand- 
 ard was raised and a last desperate appeal was made 
 to arms. 
 
 First of all money was needed, to pay off the 
 royal troops, whose allegiance was wavering, and 
 in a hundred other ways to strengthen the totter- 
 ing throne. The Parliament would not vote the 
 funds of which the King was so deeply in need and 
 money from some quarter must be had. 
 
 The Stadtholder of the Netherlands, Prince 
 Frederick, had proposed in the name of his son, 
 Prince "William II. of Orange, for the hand of King 
 Charles' daughter, the Princess Mary. This alliance 
 at any other time would not have been considered, 
 for though William the Silent, the young man's 
 grandfather, was a nobler man than any of the race 
 of Stuarts, he lacked the prestige of royal birth. 
 
 But Prince Frederick, who shrewdly guessed the 
 King's necessities, had offered financial assistance 
 and the offer had been made at the most favorable 
 moment, for Charles was at his wits' end. The 
 Queen, Henrietta Maria, had decided to sell her
 
 10 ANN EKE. 
 
 jewels, but this could not be effected openly as it 
 was important that Parliament should know noth- 
 ing of the King's attempts to raise money. The 
 jewels were too valuable to be presented for sale 
 in any city of Europe by a private individual with- 
 out exciting inquiry, and in this exigency Prince 
 Frederick had been applied to, and had agreed to 
 privately negotiate a loan upon them. 
 
 It was to convey these jewels to the Prince that 
 a secret and trusty messenger had been required, 
 and that Willie had been summoned. 
 
 It was easy for the Groom-of-the-Bedchamber to 
 receive the precious casket from the Queen, and to 
 convey it to the house occupied by Willie's father, 
 but even in the short walk in the dusk across 
 Whitehall gardens the circumstance of a Groom-of- 
 the-Bedchamber hastening along with a large parcel 
 under his arm was not unnoted by one of the sen- 
 tinels instructed to keep a sharp eye on the exits 
 and entrances of the palace. This sentinel followed 
 at a distance, noted what house the groom en- 
 tered, that the shutters were immediately closed 
 and that he came out in a few moments without 
 the parcel. 
 
 Later, when in Willie's presence the casket was 
 opened, he was dazzled by the magnificence and 
 oppressed by the responsibility of the trust confided
 
 A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 11 
 
 to him. The principal object in the casket was a 
 small coronet made for the Queen in France and a 
 part of her bridal trousseau. The casket was of 
 considerable size and much thought was bestowed 
 by Willie's father as to how best to conceal it. At 
 last it was decided to wrap it in tinfoil and hide it 
 within the excavated rind of a Stilton cheese. The 
 cheese box was in turn packed at the bottom of a 
 luncheon hamper under two roasted partridges, a 
 bottle of port and several pots of jam. This lunch- 
 eon hamper it will be well understood was the ob- 
 ject of great solicitude to Willie in his journey. 
 When the driver of the stagecoach insisted that it 
 should be placed outside, Willie took his seat on 
 top with the precious hamper between his legs, 
 sticking to his post through a driving rain and 
 never relinquishing his hold of the hamper, until 
 he boarded the ship that was to take him across the 
 German ocean. It was on the deck of this ship 
 that he had met with Captain Morgan, an old 
 friend of his father's, and that the conversation had 
 taken place with which this chapter opens. 
 
 The Captain grew more and more good-natured 
 and confidential as the strong waters with which he 
 had refreshed himself began to take effect. 
 
 " Harkee, Willie," he said, " I like you, and I don't 
 mind giving you a warning. You are watched,
 
 12 ANNEKE. 
 
 Willie. There's an officer on board this ship with 
 a warrant for your arrest in his pocket." 
 
 "Arrest," exclaimed the young man, "and on 
 what charge ? " 
 
 "Kobbery, Willie. Some rogues have made a 
 great haul. One of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting 
 discovered yesterday that some of her most valuable 
 jewels are missing. The Queen vowed she had done 
 nothing with them, but was not inclined to have 
 any search made. The lady's husband, however, 
 reported the matter, and the police have it in 
 hand." 
 
 " But what have I to do with all this ? " asked 
 Willie. 
 
 " Simply this, my lad. One of the sentinels on 
 being questioned reported that he had followed a 
 man carrying a parcel from the private entrance of 
 the queen's apartments to your father's house night 
 before last." 
 
 " Richard Nicolls, whose duties as groom of the 
 bedchamber kept him late at the palace last night 
 dropped in to see me. He may have been the man 
 whom the sentinel saw." 
 
 " That is what I said, Willie. What more nat- 
 ural than that your cousin should wish to greet 
 you. You are clever not to deny that it was he for 
 the sentinel was sure of his identity ; but the parcel,
 
 A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 13 
 
 what explanation have you as to what was in the 
 parcel ? " 
 
 " As to that, I am sure I can't tell." 
 
 " Nobody wants you to tell, Willie. I'm just go- 
 ing to suppose a case, and it's a supposition that may 
 have occurred to them that's tracing up this theft. 
 Your cousin's honesty is undoubted, Willie. Every 
 one knows he's devoted to the King and Queen, but 
 now supposing that the Queen wanted him to do an 
 errand for her with these jewels. We won't pre- 
 tend to guess what the errand was. They were her 
 own property, it is her own business, and no busi- 
 ness of Parliament's, is it ? But suppose the husband 
 of the Queen's lady-in-waiting is a member of Parlia- 
 ment, and that Parliament has a nasty curiosity 
 about everything that the King and Queen are do- 
 ing nowadays, why of course it would be your 
 cousin's duty to help the Queen circumvent Parlia- 
 ment, wouldn't it? Then suppose that the Queen 
 wanted those jewels carried to foreign parts and 
 you happened home in the nick of time and were 
 returning to your college duties, what more natural 
 to suppose than that you might do the Queen a 
 favor by taking them along with you. Eh ! 
 Willie ! " 
 
 The young man shrugged his shoulders. "The 
 only baggage that I have brought with me," he
 
 14 ANN EKE. 
 
 said, nonchalantly, "is a handbag and mandolin, 
 which I left in the Captain's cabin. They are at 
 liberty to search them." 
 
 " So glad, my lad, that they have your permission, 
 for they have done it. They were a-going through 
 'em when I fitted my eye to the keyhole, just be- 
 fore I came on deck ; and they are going to relieve 
 you of this here hamper just as soon as you start to 
 go ashore. So I don't feel any compunctions at 
 having consumed so much of your food, Willie." 
 
 " Are you sure of this ? " the young man asked 
 quite startled. 
 
 " Just you go below and take a look at your traps, 
 and see whether I'm right," replied the Captain. 
 " I'll walk along with you, so that they shan't 
 snatch your hamper from you, and I'll lean against 
 the cabin door, careless like, while you overhaul 
 your belongings." 
 
 It took but a moment for Willie to ascertain that 
 the Captain was right. His bag had been thoroughly 
 ransacked, and the front of his mandolin had been 
 sliced from the back, to ascertain whether anything 
 were concealed within. This gave Willie an idea, 
 and whipping the casket out of its hiding-place, he 
 placed it within the broken mandolin, tying the in- 
 strument together with a piece of dark cord, and 
 slinging it across his breast by its ribbon. Then,
 
 A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 15 
 
 feeling that he must not encumber himself with un- 
 necessary luggage, he left his bag in the cabin, and 
 came out, carrying conspicuously the hamper with 
 which he had entered. He handed it to the Cap- 
 tain, saying meaningly " If you really want to do 
 me a favor I beg you to carry this hamper on shore 
 at Delf shaven, and leave it with the landlady of the 
 Jolly Mermaid, where I will call for it." 
 
 "Now, "Willie, aren't you asking a little too 
 much?" the captain replied in an injured tone. 
 " That hamper has been a pretty noticeable object 
 all the way down from London." 
 
 " There is nothing in it of any value, I assure 
 you," said Willie. " You know yourself that you 
 already carry the greater part of its former con- 
 tents." 
 
 "All but the cheese, "Willie. You haven't left 
 the cheese in the hamper, have you ? " 
 
 " It is there fast enough, but I assure you that it 
 does not contain what you think it does." 
 
 " Of course not. It was only a supposititious 
 case, Willie. But supposing that the jewels we 
 were speaking about were concealed in that cheese. 
 Why then it would be a handy thing to have a 
 trusty friend like me take 'em in charge for you at 
 a ticklish time like this. For you know, Willie, that 
 if you should be arrested, and if so be they were
 
 16 ANNEKE. 
 
 found upon you, and you were taken back to Lon- 
 don why the Queen wouldn't acknowledge she 
 sent 'em to foreign parts by you Oh ! no, Willie, 
 the Queen wouldn't help you out, for Parliament 
 would say that the jewels are the property of Eng- 
 land most likely, and that the Queen had no right 
 to send them out of the country. The Queen would 
 just stick to what she has said already, that she 
 didn't know what had become of them. She's dis- 
 owned you, Willie. She's declared they're stolen, 
 and she can't go back on her word. More luck to 
 you" 
 
 " What do you mean ? " the young man asked, for 
 there was a subtle insinuation in Morgan's tone. 
 
 " She's declared they're stolen, hasn't she ? We'll 
 make her words true. Skip with them, Willie, and 
 I'll help you. Will meet on the deck of my sloop 
 and go shares with the cheese." They were stand- 
 ing under the shelter of the sail and Captain Mor- 
 gan, opening the hamper took out the cheese box, 
 and tied his great silk handerchief about it. 
 
 " There goes the hamper overboard," he said, " I 
 may have to cut for it when we land, and I may as 
 well carr}' no unnecessary ballast. Why, here we 
 are now ! Well, this has been a short voyage and a 
 pleasant one. I'll let you know where to find me, 
 Willie. We'd better separate as we go ashore."
 
 A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 17 
 
 "Willie thought so too, for he had been aware 
 that a stranger in a Puritan hat and cloak, who was 
 seated on the capstan with his back to them, al- 
 though apparently absorbed in reading, had observed 
 the transfer of the cheese box from a small mirror 
 which lay between the leaves of his book. This in- 
 dividual was presently joined by another of the 
 same complexion, and the two stood on either side 
 of the gangway as the passengers disembarked. 
 
 As Willie stepped on the plank, Captain Morgan 
 pushed by him and leaping on shore, started off at a 
 run. At the same moment a chill shot down Willie's 
 spinal column, as he felt the hand of one of the 
 officers on his shoulder. But the other cried ex- 
 citedly, " Not this fellow, the other. Catch the man 
 with the cheese ! " So saying he was off after Morgan 
 as fast as his legs could carry him. The man who 
 held Willie whirled him around, and seeing that he 
 carried nothing but his mandolin which had been 
 but lately investigated, pushed him aside and ran 
 after his companion. 
 
 Willie lost no time in watching the chase, but 
 hurrying to a posting-house with which he was 
 familiar secured a horse to take him to Leyden, as 
 it was necessary for him to keep up his character of 
 a student of the university.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 
 
 Ever and anon, 
 
 Came patient camels laden heavily 
 With sacks they poured down, kneeling at his feet, 
 With garnets, or red rubies, from the hills, 
 Filled to the brim. Then Azron would out-pour 
 The glittering heap, sifting them carelessly, 
 Choosing now here, now there, from all the heaps, 
 Maybe a dozen exquisite bright gems. 
 
 Or again, some day 
 A lonely diver with a single pearl 
 Brought it to Azron. Azron paid and smiled 
 Undaunted by the cost of pricelessness. 
 
 Alice Wellington Rollins. 
 
 HERE was no doubt 
 in Willie's mind that 
 if the jewels had real- 
 ly been committed 
 to Captain Morgan's 
 keeping, neither the 
 Queen nor he would ever have 
 seen them again. By his own 
 showing Morgan was a pre- 
 cious rascal, and Willie chuck- 
 led to himself at the trick he 
 had played upon him, as he 
 rode with his precious mandolin swinging at his side. 
 
 18
 
 A PEARL OF GEE AT PRICE. 19 
 
 He had bought a pot of glue at Delf shaven and had 
 paused in the first copse to mend the mandolin, per- 
 forming the task so neatly that when it was dry no 
 one would have imagined, save for its weight that 
 it was the depository of the Queen's casket, while it 
 was a far less suspicious object to carry about with 
 him than a Stilton cheese. 
 
 The usual residence at the Hague of the Stadt- 
 holders was the Binnenhof, but Willie knew that 
 Prince Frederick was not at the palace, for he had 
 been instructed to meet him in Amsterdam, and he 
 only paused to leave his horse at the post-house, to 
 refresh himself at an inn and to purchase a mount 
 that pleased him at the horse market. 
 
 It was well for him that he did so, for the detect- 
 ives, whom he had thrown off his track at Delfs- 
 haven, followed him to the Hague and finding that 
 he had given up his horse without taking another lost 
 much time in searching for him in that city, and es- 
 pecially in watching the Binnenhof. Willie had 
 brought with him from England but one letter of 
 introduction, a recommendation from the artist 
 Vandyke to his friend Kembrandt in Amsterdam ; 
 this was destined to be of great service to him, but 
 as he rode toward Leyden he felt that he might 
 have need of other influence in this enterprise, 
 and he bethought him that one of his best friends
 
 20 ANN EKE. 
 
 at the university, Kiliaen Yan Rennselaer, who had 
 repeatedly urged him to visit in Amsterdam, was 
 the grandson and namesake of the principal dealer 
 in precious stones in that city. 
 
 Accordingly after a good night's rest in his own 
 rooms, he presented himself at his friend's quarters. 
 
 " Close your books, Kiliaen," he cried, gaily, 
 " and be off with me to Amsterdam. I have busi- 
 ness with your painter Rembrandt and now is your 
 opportunity to entertain me for a day or two, if 
 you are still of the mind." 
 
 Kiliaen threw his cap into the air with delight. 
 
 " Nothing could happen better," he cried, seating 
 himself on the side of Willie's chair, and throwing 
 an arm affectionately around his neck, " I was just 
 on the point of going home for a little visit. Lis- 
 ten, and see how finely things have arranged them- 
 selves. My uncle, Jeremias Yan Rensselaer has 
 returned with his family from our plantation in 
 the American wilderness, to place his daughter 
 where she may be educated. They are visiting at 
 my grandfather's house in Amsterdam, and my 
 mother has written me to come home and meet 
 them before my Cousin Anneke is clapped into some 
 prison-school and my aunt returns to Rensselaer- 
 wyck. My mother wrote that Anneke is the pret- 
 tiest little maid that one can imagine, though born
 
 A PEARL OF GEE A T PRICE. 21 
 
 and hitherto bred up, among the savages. I am 
 wild to see my barbarian cousin, and, marvel of 
 generosity, I am desirous of sharing her acquaint- 
 ance with you. Not a word. I have often written 
 of you to my parents, and they are prepared to 
 give you a hearty welcome. Our house is not so 
 large as my grandfather's mansion but you shall 
 share my chamber and all my pleasures." 
 
 " It will be a privilege indeed to know your fam- 
 ily," said Willie, " and especially the pretty cousin, 
 and I give you my word to make no attempt to 
 cut you out in her good graces." 
 
 " No danger," Kiliaen replied, " we have neither 
 of us the ghost of a chance, for my mother writes 
 that my grandfather has great designs for her. 
 My grandfather is a born ruler. He is one of the 
 Lord Directors of the West India Company, and 
 president of the Amsterdam chamber. Every one 
 says that it is owing to his admirable management 
 that the company is paying dividends of one hun- 
 dred per cent. ; but an autocrat is not always the 
 most agreeable man to have intimate relations with, 
 and I fancy his fellow-directors feel something as 
 his family do about his tyranny." 
 
 " So, your grandfather is something of a tyrant ? " 
 
 " The most affectionate one in the world. He 
 never desires anything unless he imagines it is for
 
 22 ANNBKE. 
 
 our best interest, and the plague of it all is that he 
 is invariably right. He rules his five grown sons as 
 though they were children. His word is law with 
 our entire clan, but one is not always in love with 
 law, you understand, even when it is just." 
 
 As the two friends journeyed together toward 
 Amsterdam, Kiliaen told Willie more of his grand- 
 father, and interested him greatly in this remark- 
 able man. 
 
 For Kiliaen Yan Kensselaer, senior, was not only 
 a merchant prince of immense wealth for the times 
 in which he lived, but possessor of extraordinary 
 abilities which would have made him distinguished 
 in any walk in life. His inherited fortune had 
 been greatly increased by extensive mercantile 
 transactions, for he was one of the leading import- 
 ers of pearls and diamonds in Europe. He had 
 furnished gems to every sovereign of the day, and 
 his house was known in all the marts of trade. 
 But great as was the capital which was invested in 
 his business it was as nothing to his princely pos- 
 sessions in lands upon the Hudson. 
 
 The West India Company, organized at first for 
 purposes of trade alone, had found that to protect 
 its trading station on Manhattan Island, it must 
 colonize the country in its vicinity. 
 
 Accordingly its directors devised a scheme by
 
 A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 23 
 
 which any of their own number who should send 
 out a party of fifty settlers to any part of the coun- 
 try not already improved by the company, should 
 be created a patroon, or baron, and be granted by 
 the states general a tract of land sixteen miles on one 
 side or eight miles on both sides of a navigable 
 river, and extending inland indefinitely. 
 
 The patroon was granted feudal rights over his 
 colonists, who were little better than serfs. Manu- 
 factures were forbidden, hunting and trading with 
 the Indians were allowed, but the West India Com- 
 pany reserved the monopoly of purchasing furs 
 from the colonists, and of furnishing them with im- 
 ported goods. There was to be no taxation for ten 
 years, and the company encouraged farming and 
 building, and agreed to furnish a certain number of 
 negro slaves, and to provide soldiers as a protection 
 against Indians. 
 
 Kiliaen Yan Rensselaer had been one of the first 
 to avail himself of the opportunity offered. He 
 possessed ships of his own, and he had sent out a 
 colony well provided with all necessities. He had 
 chosen the most desirable of locations, the present 
 site of Albany, and beside the land granted had 
 bought immense tracts of the Indians east and west 
 of the Hudson. His great barony comprised the 
 present counties of Albany, Columbia and Rensse-
 
 24 ANN EKE. 
 
 laer and was called Rensselaerwyck. His second 
 son, Jeremias, had emigrated, and with the assist- 
 ance of an able agent, Arendt Van Corlear, man- 
 aged the great estate and built himself a comfortable 
 mansion, but the patroon himself had remained in 
 Holland, directing by his influence in the West In- 
 dia Company the course of affairs in the colony, 
 while he had made his eldest son, Johannes, his 
 partner in business, and intended that he should 
 succeed him in the inheritance of his interests in 
 Amsterdam. 
 
 Though by birth a member of the lesser nobility 
 Kiliaen Yan Rensselaer was at heart an aristocrat. 
 He cherished the idea of founding hereditary estates 
 for his descendants in the new world, and he had 
 other ambitious designs for those of his family who 
 remained in Europe. Love for his children with 
 Kiliaen Yan Eensselaer was more than a passion, it 
 was his religion. He had seen great changes dur- 
 ing his lifetime here in the Netherlands. The abdica- 
 tion of Charles V., the crowning of Philip II., and 
 the expulsion of the latter by William the Silent 
 were all matters of comparatively recent occurrence. 
 Prince Maurice had succeeded his father as stadt- 
 holder, and, though opposed by the democratic 
 party under John of Barneveld, had triumphed, and 
 his brother Frederick Henry held the Netherlands
 
 A PEARL OF GREA T PRICE. 25 
 
 with a royal grasp. Why in the new world, where 
 there were no old established monarchies to de- 
 throne, should not the Yan Rensselaers establish a 
 principality or even a new dynasty ? But the pa- 
 troon's most ambitious hopes were centred in his 
 granddaughter, Anneke. Kiliaen II., by right of 
 primogeniture might be monarch of the kingdom 
 in America, but what was to hinder Anneke from 
 becoming the wife of a European prince ? She was 
 very beautiful and could have a dowry befitting a 
 queen. On her mother's side there were preten- 
 sions to royal ancestry, for the Van Cortlands were 
 descended from the dukes of Courland. 
 
 None of his colleagues suspected that such a 
 dream floated through the mind of Kiliaen Van 
 Rensselaer, for he hid his great ambition behind an 
 impenetrable reserve, and played his game astutely 
 but silently, biding his time. 
 
 In the prosecution of his American plans, he had 
 influenced the West India Company to send out as 
 governor his nephew, Wouter Van Twiller, whose 
 sister Van Rensselaer's oldest son Johannes had 
 married. Van Twiller was a man of very ordinary 
 capacity, an easily managed tool carrying out the 
 designs of his principal with the utmost servility. 
 They had one strong interest in common, that of 
 seeing Kiliaen Van Rensselaer II. succeed to the
 
 26 ANN EKE. 
 
 governance, possibly to the future kingship, of New 
 Netherland. It was a part of the patroon's deep 
 laid scheme that neither his children nor his grand- 
 children fully understood his plans. He had de- 
 signedly sent to America his second son Jereraias, 
 whose children were to have no part in this scheme 
 of the future New Netherland domain, and while 
 urging him to send back his daughter for a conti- 
 nental education drew his thoughts toward a future 
 for her in Holland; and rendered Jeremias free 
 from the suspicion of his American neighbors of 
 harboring designs ambitious enough to encroach 
 upon their own. Jeremias Yan Kensselaer, it has 
 been said, had married into the Van Cortlandt 
 family, which was extremely popular in New Am- 
 sterdam. He was not even friendly with Governor 
 Van Twiller, who made himself extremely disliked 
 by the grasping manner in which he acquired land 
 of the Indians in every direction. Van Twiller 
 bought Nut Island in the harbor and named it from 
 his country residence Governor's Island. He se- 
 cured many other great tracts and was looked upon 
 as a greedy speculator, who was possibly misusing 
 the funds of the West India Company. No one 
 knew that the lands which he was acquiring on 
 Long Island and north of the Sound as well as 
 Arendt Van Corlear's extensive purchases from the
 
 A PEAEL OF GREAT PRICE. 27 
 
 Indians, and the great barony of Jeremias Yan 
 Rensselaer were all the property of Kiliaen Yan 
 Rensselaer of Amsterdam, and held by him as the 
 future realm of his grandson and namesake, Kiliaen 
 Yan Rensselaer II., student at Leyden university. 
 Still less could any one have fancied that the little 
 maid brought up on the pioneer farm, who met the 
 children of her neighbors with such unfeigned de- 
 light and good comradeship, was destined to a 
 queenly station. Least of all had the two young 
 people any intimation of this until the year in 
 which our story opens. 
 
 The Yan Rensselaer family had attended the 
 ball given by the burgomaster of Amsterdam in 
 honor of the visit of Prince Frederick and his son 
 Prince William, and Anneke had danced with the 
 young Prince. Her grandfather noticed that the 
 boyish fancy of Prince William was taken by An- 
 neke's beauty, but he evinced no interest in this cir- 
 cumstance, replying, with apparent inconsequence, 
 to the suggestion of Anneke's mother that a dinner 
 might be tendered to their High-mightinesses, that 
 gems offered in the open mart never brought so high 
 a price as those not supposed to be for sale. 
 
 Willie received a welcome from the parents of his 
 friend, Mr. and Mrs. Johannes Yan Rensselaer, and 
 from his pretty sister, Nelle Marya. They resided
 
 28 ANNEKE. 
 
 in an unostentatious but well appointed brick house, 
 whose stepped gable was reflected in one of the 
 quiet canals which wander through many of the 
 streets of the " Northern Venice." Kiliaen made 
 light of its conveniences " You shall see what a 
 true Dutch mansion is like when I take you to my 
 grandfather's house," he said, " and I am sure that 
 when you have seen it you will confess that 
 we Dutch know how to make ourselves comfort- 
 able." 
 
 As Kiliaen was all impatience to make the ac- 
 quaintance of his American cousin, while Willie 
 was anxious to perform his responsible errand and 
 to disembarrass himself of his trust, the two friends 
 parted on the morning after their arrival, Willie to 
 seek an audience with Prince Frederick. 
 
 He was not unexpected, for the negotiation of 
 the jewels was the Prince's chief errand at this 
 time in Amsterdam, though while awaiting their 
 arrival he had made a pretext for his stay by hav- 
 ing Rembrandt paint a portrait of his son. 
 
 He examined the jewels and listened with much 
 interest to Willie's adventures. " A secret is best 
 kept," he said, " when few have it in charge. I 
 would therefore prefer that you, rather than any 
 of my own people, should carry this casket to the 
 jeweller, to whom I have already spoken and with
 
 A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 29 
 
 whom this letter will be your sufficient warranty 
 for transacting the business." 
 
 It was not until after Willie had bowed himself 
 from the Prince's presence that he read the address 
 upon the letter, and noted with surprise that it was 
 that of his friend's grandfather, Kiliaen Yan Rens- 
 selaer, Senior. He had not walked far in the direc- 
 tion of his shop when he overtook young Kiliaen, 
 who had loitered so long over his toilet that he was 
 only now about to make his call. Kiliaen cordially 
 urged Willie to accompany him, but rallied him on 
 having brought his mandolin ; whereupon Willie 
 showed him that the instrument had been injured, 
 and explained that he had taken it out to have it 
 mended, begging that he would take him to some 
 maker of musical instruments after they had paid 
 their call. 
 
 Though prepared for a certain degree of luxury, 
 Willie found himself surprised in the house of 
 Kiliaen Yan Eensselaer, for it was one of the finest 
 in Amsterdam. It exists no longer, but one perfect 
 example of the comfort with which a Netherlander 
 of wealth surrounded himself in Yan Rensselaer's 
 day remains to us in the house of Nicholas Plantin, 
 so admirably preserved in the city of Antwerp. 
 The tourist can find in it at the present time a sug- 
 gestion of the house of the head of the Yan Rens-
 
 30 ANNEKE. 
 
 selaer family. Like the establishment of the great 
 book publisher, the merchant's home and business 
 premises were contiguous. The young men entered 
 the shop from the Kalverstraat, and passing through 
 the salesroom, where Johannes Van Rensselaer 
 usually presided, over which was the atelier of the 
 lapidaries and goldsmiths, they entered the private 
 office of the head of the firm. Willie was struck 
 by the ingenuity of its arrangement. An irregular 
 polygon in plan, there was a window or a door on 
 every side, making it a veritable watch-tower, com- 
 manding every portion of the establishment. From 
 his armchair at the centre table Kiliaen Van Rens- 
 selaer could scrutinize every customer who entered 
 his shop ; a short staircase led to the workrooms, 
 one door to the treasure-vault, another to an airy 
 court, across which was his home. The court had 
 an entrance upon a side street, but each time that 
 the bell rang the merchant could note who entered 
 or left his dwelling. All of this became evident to 
 Willie before he left the room, but as he stood on 
 the threshold his attention was absorbed by the re- 
 markable group at the table. Father and sons had 
 been engaged in a family council. They had been 
 taking account of stock, and the business had been 
 a pleasant one. Johannes, the eldest son, formed 
 the centre of the group, and was explaining with
 
 A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 31 
 
 expressive gestures the favorable condition of the 
 family firm. His brother, Jeremias, the guest from 
 distant America had been examining at the request 
 of the others the ledgers which showed a most 
 gratifying balance, and Jan Baptist who acted as 
 bookkeeper had yielded them for inspection with 
 the proud consciousness that his brother would ap- 
 prove his work. He sat a little removed from the 
 others, his attention less absorbed, for he thor- 
 oughly knew the contents of the books. The head 
 of the firm first noticed the opening of the door 
 and rose from his seat and scrutinized Willie with a 
 look of keenest penetration. This swift glance told 
 the young man that here was a personage of vast 
 resources and power, as a friend to be trusted ab- 
 solutely, but an exacting master and a man slow 
 to forgive an injury. The information did not 
 particularly concern "Willie at this juncture but he 
 laid it aside unconsciously for he was interested in 
 character as exhibited in physiognomy. The pa- 
 trician was also interested. " A personable youth," 
 was his mental comment, "with brains behind 
 those intelligent eyes. I wish Kiliaen had more of 
 his alertness. He is made to carve his way and to 
 keep his own counsel." 
 
 After a few moments of conversation the two 
 elder sons left the room, and a young man in cler-
 
 32 ANNEKE. 
 
 ical costume who had been standing at some dis- 
 tance silently took a position behind the elder Yan 
 Rensselaer. "Willie inferred at once from a certain 
 family resemblance that this was another son, but 
 there were marked personal peculiarities which 
 were not noticeable in the others. The chief of 
 these was in his eyes, which were very light, and 
 had a rapt, absorbed expression as though he saw 
 nothing that was passing about him. Kiliaen 
 greeted him as " Uncle Nicolaus," and he gave the 
 young man his hand but made no reply to his salu- 
 tation, and apparently to make up for his son's lack 
 of cordiality the merchant said to Kiliaen : " Your 
 Cousin Anneke is in the porcelain parlor catalogu- 
 ing my china curios. I have asked her to do this 
 to judge a little of her education and capacity. Go 
 in and help her. She is probably at her wits' end 
 by this time." 
 
 Kiliaen sprang forward eagerly, then hesitated 
 with his hand upon the latch of the open door. He 
 generously wished Willie to have the privilege of 
 meeting Anneke and he disingenuously stammered, 
 " My friend is a connoisseur in porcelains, may he 
 not go with me ? " 
 
 " A connoisseur rather in maidens," was the mer- 
 chant's thought ; but he had no time to speak, for 
 Nicolaus Van Rensselaer, who had been staring
 
 A PEAEL OF GEE AT PEIGE. 33 
 
 fixedly straight over Willie's head, placed himself 
 before the door, exclaiming : 
 
 " Father, if this young man comes into the pres- 
 ence of my niece all of your plans for her will be 
 thwarted." 
 
 " Tush ! " exclaimed the merchant, testily. " What 
 plans have I for Anneke ? You have been reading 
 too much theology, Nickon, take a walk in the 
 court and rest your brain. As for you, young man, 
 my china is not remarkable. It will be a far 
 greater treat to you, if you are possessed of any 
 knowledge of such objects, to see my pearls, which 
 are really worth the seeing." 
 
 Willie could scarcely have told why he was dis- 
 appointed. He had never seen this girl from the 
 outskirts of civilization. He told himself that she 
 was probably ignorant and ill-mannered, that he 
 had seen a hundred her superior in England and 
 that what he most wished at this moment was to 
 have this opportunity for private conversation with 
 the great dealer in precious stones. He roused 
 himself as Jan Baptist unlocked the ponderous 
 door of the vault and placed before his father one 
 of the many iron-banded treasure chests with which 
 it was filled. 
 
 The merchant unlocked the chest with a key on 
 the great ring at his girdle, and lifted out tray after
 
 34 ANN EKE. 
 
 tray on whose velvet lining reposed pearls which 
 might have made a princess envious. Some, care- 
 fully matched, were threaded in long ropes, others 
 un pierced, were set in gold filigree as earrings or 
 brooches. Very learned was their owner's dis- 
 course concerning the lands from whence they 
 came, Ceylon, India and Persia, for he had several 
 times visited the east in his own ships to collect 
 these treasures in the bazars of Constantinople or 
 at the pearl-fisheries. 
 
 Opening a locked drawer Van Kensselaer took 
 from it a triangular piece of embroidery, entirely 
 wrought in seed pearls. " You will hardly guess," he 
 said, " the use for which this object was designed." 
 
 " Is it a falbala (front to a lady's petticoat) ? " 
 Willie asked. 
 
 " Nay, it is the robe of an image of the virgin, a 
 hideous black, wooden idol, and it was embroidered 
 on the spot by wives of the pearl divers of the island 
 of Margarita in the West Indies. It was being sent 
 into Spain destined for the virgin of Toledo, when 
 our doughty Admiral Piet Hein, captured it along 
 with the silver fleet." 
 
 When Willie inquired how the tiny seed pearls 
 could be drilled, the merchant explained that this 
 was done at the fisheries by the natives. 
 
 " And have they vices delicate enough to hold
 
 A PEARL OF ORE A T PRICE. 35 
 
 such minute objects while they are being pierced ? " 
 Willie asked. 
 
 Kiliaen Van Rensselaer was pleased with his in- 
 terest, and replied : " Ah ! the invention of man- 
 kind is wonderful. These ignorant people have a 
 much more curious contrivance. They bore holes 
 in a piece of wood ; in these they partly insert the 
 pearls. Then they soak the wood, which swells, 
 holding the pearls so firmly that they can be per- 
 forated, and yet with a clasp so elastic that the 
 pearl does not break. I bought this robe as a curi- 
 osity, but it has made me very greedy to possess 
 more of the pearls of Margarita, for though most 
 of these are small, you will notice that there are a 
 few of very unusual size. The worn-out fisheries 
 of the Orient do not produce any so large as these. 
 The fisheries in the "West Indies have in comparison 
 been only recently opened, and the industrious lit- 
 tle workers have been undisturbed for centuries in 
 their task of rolling up these precious globules. 
 The largest known pearl that has ever existed came 
 from Margarita. It was brought to King Philip 
 II., of Spain, in 1559, and weighed one hundred 
 and thirty-four grains. Jan Baptist, hand me Gar- 
 cilaso de la Vega's Commentaries, and let me read 
 what he relates of La Pelegrina, for that is the 
 name by which this prodigy is known.
 
 36 ANNEKE. 
 
 " ' I did myself see in Seville a pearl which Don 
 Pedro de Temez did present to Philip II. This 
 pearl, pear shaped, was as large as the largest 
 pigeon's egg. Jacoba da Trezzo, a native of Milan 
 and jeweller to his Catholic Majesty, said that it 
 was worth a hundred thousand ducats, and without 
 parallel in the world, and that it outweighed by 
 twenty-four carats every other pearl in the world.' 
 
 " I have never feasted my eyes on this incom- 
 parable jewel ; but once, in the studio of Rubens, I 
 was shown a sketch for the portrait which he made 
 of the queen of Spain, and on her breast rested this 
 most beautiful miracle of nature. It is enough to 
 justify us for making war upon that barbarous 
 country, to think that it holds such a treasure." 
 
 Willie thought of the scheme of his friend, the 
 buccaneer Morgan, and he said carelessly, " It 
 might be a good plan to capture the fisheries of 
 Margarita from the rascally Spaniards." 
 
 " Yes," assented Yan Rensselaer. " We have 
 nearly finished our task of chasing them out of the 
 Netherlands, and Holland may soon play a hand at 
 the game in the West Indies. Meantime the only 
 pearls that come to us from there are chance cap- 
 tures like Piet Heins." 
 
 The merchant would have continued chatting on 
 his hobby had it not suddenly occurred to Willie
 
 A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 37 
 
 that it was time to announce the object of his visit 
 and to present the letter from Prince Frederick. 
 Van Rensselaer read it and then replied, " I am 
 somewhat surprised ; not that my Prince wishes to 
 dispose of some jewels, for of that I have been ad- 
 vertised, but that he should have chosen you, (who 
 my grandson has just told me are a student at 
 Ley den), instead of one of his own servants, for a 
 messenger." 
 
 " Is there anything impossible in a student being 
 also a servitor of the Prince?" Willie asked. 
 There was no direct reply, but Nicolaus Van Kens- 
 selaer, who had been gazing out of the window, ap- 
 proached and said solemnly, "you may trust this 
 young man in all matters save those of the heart, 
 my father." 
 
 Willie flushed indignantly. " A man who is not 
 honorable in love must be dishonorable to the core," 
 he said hotly. 
 
 " There is no question here of love," said the 
 merchant. " If you are indeed the messenger of 
 the Prince as this letter indicates, where are the 
 jewels ? " 
 
 With a quick motion Willie unsheathed a stiletto, 
 which he wore at his side, and again carved his 
 mandolin as though it were a melon and handed the 
 jeweller the casket. Van Rensselaer opened it, and
 
 38 ANNEKE. 
 
 his astonished look told that he could scarcely credit 
 his eyes. He examined the elegant coronet with 
 the gloating appreciation of an adept, for it was a 
 beautiful, as well as an extremely valuable object. 
 Clusters of large pearls outlined huge, many-facetted 
 sapphires of the most delicate azure tint, while 
 hoops of pearls met in graceful curves above the 
 blue velvet cap. 
 
 As the jeweller lifted the coronet, the better to 
 examine it, he saw that it was not the only object 
 in the casket, for coiled beneath it was a necklace 
 of large pearls, having for its central pendant a 
 pear-shaped pearl of phenomenal size and exquisite 
 lustre. 
 
 Yan Rensselaer gazed upon this pearl with fasci- 
 nated astonishment. " The Pelegrina ! " he ex- 
 claimed in wonder-stricken admiration. Then 
 quickly recovering himself, " Nay, it is impossible, 
 but 'tis a remarkable pearl and the largest I have 
 ever seen. The diadem too is fit for a queen." l 
 
 Willie made no answer, and Nicolaus Van Rens- 
 selaer taking the crown from his father's hands 
 
 1 It was not until later that the invaluable pearl disappeared from 
 Spain, for on the occasion of the marriage of Louis XIV. (in 1660) 
 the grand mademoiselle thus describes Philip IV. : " The king had 
 on a grey coat with silver embroidery ; a great table diamond 
 fastened up his hat from which hung a pearl. They are two crown 
 jewels of extreme beauty they call the diamond the Mirror of 
 Portugal, and the pearl the Pelegrina.
 
 A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 39 
 
 raised it above his own head while his eyes shone 
 like those of a prophet as he exclaimed, "It is 
 the diadem of a queen, and though that rare pearl 
 has rightly the form of a tear, for who wears it 
 must shed many, still be not afraid, O my father, 
 to take these jewels into your keeping, or to lavish 
 your wealth in their behalf, for they shall be worn 
 by the wife of a Prince of Holland, yea, and by 
 their child, who shall reign over a kingdom beyond 
 the sea. You and I also shall come to honor." 
 
 Kiliaen Yan Rensselaer was deeply moved, but 
 he laid his hand upon his son's shoulder gently, and 
 took the crown from his hands. " He knows not 
 what you are saying," he said to Willie, " he is sub- 
 ject to these seizures. There, Nickon, my son, go 
 to the house and lie down, you are not well." 
 
 Nicolaus gazed about him vacantly and obeyed 
 his father, who watched him as he walked un- 
 steadily across the court. 
 
 " It was well you made a preacher of him," said 
 Jan Baptist, " for he has no head, poor fellow, no 
 head at all." 
 
 " Every one to his craft," replied the father, " it 
 was not because Nicolaus was a fool that I made 
 him a preacher ; but let us to our business. The 
 workmanship of this crown is French, it is of the 
 time of the Yalois, but I had no idea that Coligny's
 
 40 ANNEKE. 
 
 daughter brought "William the Silent such a dowry, 
 or that a son of his, having inherited it, could have 
 borne to part with it. If the Prince wishes to sell 
 these jewels he must be in need of money." 
 
 " I said not who was the owner," Willie replied, 
 " but you are right in guessing that money is needed, 
 and that the jewels are parted with reluctantly. 
 They are rather put in pawn than sold, and it is 
 stipulated that during one year they shall be neither 
 exhibited publicly nor broken up, but may be at any 
 time ransomed." 
 
 The merchant looked at Willie keenly and suspi- 
 ciously. " You are a young man to have so impor- 
 tant a matter in hand," he said. "I must have 
 further guaranty before I pay you the price of these 
 jewels." 
 
 " I shall be satisfied," Willie replied, " if you will 
 deliver the gold to Prince Frederick, giving me 
 simply a written statement that you have received 
 the jewels, and will render their value to the 
 Prince." 
 
 "And when can I have an interview with his 
 Highness ? " 
 
 " He told me that he would be at the house of 
 Rembrandt this evening. You can there arrange 
 with him for the delivery of the gold." 
 
 The merchant and Jan Baptist then valued the
 
 A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 41 
 
 jewels. " Those sapphires are most rare and pure 
 of tint," said Yan Rensselaer. " I have never seen 
 more beautiful ones, and shall be disappointed if 
 they are reclaimed." 
 
 He estimated each of the larger jewels sepa- 
 rately and conscientiously, Jan Baptist added up 
 the amount, his father nodding approvingly. " A 
 good round sum, but not more than I am willing to 
 advance on such security. Give me the agreement 
 to sign, and lock away the jewels in our strongest 
 chest. Tell the Prince that I will meet him to-night 
 at the house of our great painter. It would possi- 
 bly compromise him to seek me out. You have 
 spoiled your mandolin. I will send it to our work- 
 room, we have a very cunning artificer who will 
 mend it as cleverly as an instrument maker. He 
 invented the gold thimble, with a top, the real 
 finger hut, for he saw my wife embroidering across 
 the court and pricking her delicate finger with an 
 open thimble, and in an hour's time he brought me 
 a little golden helmet. 'It is for your lady, Sire 
 Van Rensselaer,' he said. You may judge if it 
 pleased my wife and me too, for there was a for- 
 tune in the invention." 
 
 They talked together a little longer. The mem- 
 ory of the thimble episode, or the thought of the 
 magnificent jewels which he had secured filled the
 
 42 ANNEKE. 
 
 merchant with serene satisfaction, and he discoursed 
 of the pearls of remarkable size, and among others 
 of Sir Thomas Gresham's famous one, valued at fif- 
 teen thousand pounds, which he pulverized and 
 drank in a glass of wine to the health of Queen 
 Elizabeth, to win a wager with the Spanish am- 
 bassador as to which should give the more costly 
 dinner. 
 
 "A wicked deed," commented Yan Rensselaer, 
 " and inspired by a wicked woman. Ah ! women 
 are responsible for all the rash folly of the world." 
 
 " And for all that is good," added Willie. " Our 
 valor may be prompted by personal reasons, but 
 surely long perseverance in drudgery, wearisome 
 labors, patient endurance in the pursuance of high 
 ideals, all that continuance in well doing which is 
 so irksome, was never persisted in except under the 
 direct inspiration of some good woman." 
 
 A light flashed behind the older man's inscru- 
 table eyes. " Surely no one should know this better 
 than I ; but you are young to have found it out." 
 
 "If I succeed in walking straight to my aim 
 through this tangled world it will be because I love 
 a noble woman, and would not disappoint her faith 
 in me." 
 
 Willie spoke with such evident earnestness that 
 Kiliaeu Van Rensselaer's jealous guardianship of
 
 A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. 43 
 
 his granddaughter relaxed. " The boy is harmless," 
 he said to himself, " his heart is already in the keep- 
 ing of some fine young woman to whom he will be 
 faithful." 
 
 Willie had referred to his mother, but he had un- 
 wittingly deceived Anneke's grandfather, and had 
 he been the most unprincipled of diplomats he could 
 not have devised a more skillful ruse. " Kiliaen is 
 spending a long time over my curios," he remarked 
 suddenly. " He said you were fond of porcelains. 
 Would you like to take a look at mine ? " 
 
 He led the way across the court to his private 
 dwelling, showing Willie into a room crammed 
 with beautiful objects. Its walls were covered 
 with gilded and stamped leather, against which 
 were set cabinets of marquetry filled with treasures. 
 They were piled too upon the table in the middle 
 of the room, but Willie hardly noticed them, for his 
 attention was instantly fixed upon the young girl 
 who stood behind the table and was showing a 
 precious sword to his friend. 
 
 Willie stood transfixed, for it was as though the 
 sluice gates of one of the placid Dutch canals had 
 been opened, and all its quiet depths agitated into un- 
 wonted tumult by the powerful drawing of the 
 mill race it had rushed joyously toward the level 
 which drew it so irresistibly.
 
 44 ANNEKE. 
 
 Anneke was dressed very simply, a close white 
 cap hiding her flaxen hair, but a sweet expression 
 irradiated her fair face making it even in this un- 
 becoming costume lovely to look upon. Willie had 
 never seen such a delicate peach-blossom complex- 
 ion, which deepened as he gazed into the most ex- 
 quisite rose, or such bewitching dimples trembling 
 at the corners of pouting baby lips, and in the mid- 
 dle of that perfect chin. He hardly dared look her 
 in the face, but when he finally plucked up courage 
 to do so he knew why the pearl merchant was so 
 fond of light blue sapphires for they exactly 
 matched Anneke's eyes. 
 
 The two Kiliaens stood by and watched the 
 meeting, and, as an apprehension of what it meant 
 to Willie dawned upon them, their displeasure 
 deepened. 
 
 " I have made a mistake," the elder man confessed 
 to himself, while he showed the young men politely 
 out of the court gateway. " One should not dis- 
 play his treasures so carelessly. This gay gallant 
 shall never darken my door again." 
 
 As the iron gate clanged behind them, Willie 
 muttered something to himself. 
 
 " What were you saying ? " Kiliaen asked. 
 
 " I was only repeating a verse from the Holy 
 Scriptures," the other replied. " * The kingdom of
 
 A PEARL OF ORE A T PRICE. 45 
 
 heaven is like unto a merchantman seeking goodly 
 pearls ; who when he had found one pearl of great 
 price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.' " 
 Kiliaen looked at Willie and scowled ; he knew 
 that his reference was not to any pearl in the mer- 
 chant's vaults. " You are not worth enough to buy 
 that pearl," he said bitterly, then his voice broke 
 and he flung his arm around his friend's neck in the 
 old affectionate way " but we needn't quarrel on 
 that account, Willie Nicoll, you are not worth 
 enough nor I neither."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 
 
 My house within the city 
 Is richly furnished with plate and gold : 
 Basins and ewers to lave her dainty hands; 
 My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry, 
 In ivory coffers I have stuffed my crowns ; 
 In cypress chests my arras, counterpoints, 
 Costly apparel, tents and canopies, 
 Fine linen, Turkey cushions boss'd with pearl, 
 Valance of Venice gold in needlework, 
 Pewter and brass and all things that belong 
 To house or housekeeping. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 FTER this occurrence 
 Willie was in no haste 
 to return to the univer- 
 sity, for he was a res- 
 olute young man, and 
 not inclined to take Kiliaen's de- 
 spairing view of the situation. 
 But before he could feel free to 
 prosecute his own designs it was 
 necessary for him to have the 
 Prince's acknowledgment that he 
 had received the money loaned upon the jewels, and 
 that his mission was accomplished. 
 
 46
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 47 
 
 Eembrandt's house on the Jodenbreed straat was 
 easy to find, for at this time it was one of the best 
 known in Amsterdam. It is still to be seen, a com- 
 fortable mansion in its day, built in the style of the 
 Dutch Kenaissance, of bricks and stone with arched 
 windows and a triangular pediment crowning the 
 fayade. 
 
 If Willie had been surprised by the richness of 
 the interior of the pearl merchant's home, he was daz- 
 zled by Kembrandt's, for the painter had appointed 
 his studio with an artist's taste and a prince's ex- 
 travagance. This extravagance brought him later 
 into great financial straits, but at this time no man- 
 sion in Amsterdam was such a museum of paintings 
 and artistic objects. l 
 
 The young man was first shown by a maid into an 
 anti-chamber handsomely furnished and hung with 
 a profusion of paintings. The prevailing tone of 
 the background and hangings was olive green. The 
 carved Spanish chairs were cushioned in green vel- 
 vet and a centre table was draped to the floor with 
 a cover of rich Tournai tapestry. Willie started as 
 he entered, for a young man of familiar aspect ad- 
 vanced to meet him, but a second glance told him 
 
 1 To picture to ourselves what Willie saw when he entered Rem- 
 brandt's door that afternoon we have followed the description of 
 his house given by the eminent archaeologist, John W. Mullet.
 
 48 ANNEXE. 
 
 that he had been deceived by his own reflection in 
 a Venetian mirror in an ebony frame. On the 
 marble ledge of a rich cabinet stood glass beakers 
 of curious shape, but Willie, who knew nothing of 
 the value of these objects, employed his moments of 
 waiting in studying the paintings. 
 
 "Willie had sent up Vandyke's letter of introduc- 
 tion and he had barely time to note these interest- 
 ing surroundings when the servant returned, saying 
 that her master was engaged for the moment with 
 a sitter, but would soon be at liberty, and that in 
 the meantime his wife would receive him. "Willie 
 followed the maid to the large drawing-room, a 
 veritable collector's museum, the walls covered 
 thickly with pictures, some very rare and valuable. 
 But the room, though elegantly appointed, bore 
 marks of daily use. Near the window stood a table 
 bearing etching utensils, and a woman's work- 
 basket was on a stand near by. There were com- 
 fortable easy-chairs, but "Willie had not taken his 
 seat when a portiere was thrust back and a flood of 
 sunshine poured in from a southern room, Saskia's 
 chamber, the brightest spot of Rembrandt's home. 
 Willie caught a glimpse of a great mirror, which 
 irradiated the light, he saw that the hangings and 
 upholstery were all of Delft blue, the carved furni- 
 ture of rosy cedar, that one of the most glowing
 
 REMBRANDT AND SASKIA.
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 49 
 
 canvasses of Giorgione hung opposite the door, 
 when suddenly he forgot all other pictures in the be- 
 witching little figure that appeared in the doorway. 
 It was Saskia, Rembrandt's wife, his joy and in- 
 spiration, whom he painted unwearyingly, not only 
 in numerous portraits but as the model for many of 
 his ideal compositions. Of a wealthy family dis- 
 tinguished in politics, literature and art, her mar- 
 riage with Rembrandt introduced him to patronage 
 and success. She was his mascot, and his happiest 
 as well as most prosperous days were bound up in 
 the eight years of their wedded life. She was a 
 bewitching, willful, changeable little creature, of 
 many varying moods, each rendering her more 
 piquant and fascinating than the last. Rembrandt 
 painted her in them all, " sometimes as a young 
 girl archly smiling, then as the queen of the fairies, 
 then dressed in a luxury of silks and jewels or 
 seated on her husband's knee, or presiding over his 
 table in the dignity of a matron in all these pic- 
 tures she is beaming with happiness and health, 
 beautifully dressed and wearing a profusion of jew- 
 els." "Whether he painted her in jovial mood or 
 grave, the face is always full of a double affection, 
 the loving nature of Saskia herself interpreted by 
 the love of her husband. It was a childish face, 
 and though the eyes frequently danced with mis-
 
 50 ANNEKE. 
 
 chief, Willie saw in them then, and many times af- 
 terward, a pathetic, appealing look, which he could 
 not fathom. She loved to play little tricks upon 
 her husband, and had the merriest and most mu- 
 sical laugh in the world. Sometimes a spirit of 
 teasing possessed her and she would lead him a 
 nimble race about the house before she granted 
 him the kiss for which he begged, and at other 
 times when he was deeply engrossed in his paint- 
 ing, she would plague him with little caresses as 
 though jealous that he could find enjoyment in 
 anything in which she had no part. 
 
 She looked at Willie with quizzical but kindly 
 curiosity. 
 
 "Rembrandt said that you came from his old 
 friend, Vandyke, whose pupil you have been. I 
 do not see what he finds to admire in the English 
 women that he paints, but I make no doubt that 
 you consider them handsomer than those of our 
 country," she remarked, pettishly. 
 
 " Scarcely, gracious madam, for I have this day 
 seen more of beauty than before in all my life." 
 
 Saskia tossed her head, understanding the state- 
 ment as a compliment to herself. Willie's atten- 
 tion turned a moment later to a portrait of a ma- 
 jestic old lady and he exclaimed, " What could be 
 more dignified, more reposeful than this portrait of
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 51 
 
 this aged matron in the heavy hood and cloak? 
 How placidly her folded hands rest upon the Bible ! 
 What reserved power there is in those massive fea- 
 tures, and in the calm, steadfast gaze of those hon- 
 est eyes ! I would like to have known that 
 woman." 
 
 " You would, indeed," replied Saskia, " for she 
 was my Rembrandt's good mother. She died two 
 years ago. It was his first sorrow." She was 
 silent for a moment and then said quickly : " Will 
 you come upstairs with me and let me show you 
 my husband's collections? He is working in his 
 little study at the end of the suite, and by the time 
 we reach its door he should be ready to see us. If 
 not, you have a good stout shoulder, and we will 
 force the door." 
 
 The apartments through which Willie was now 
 led comprised a remarkable museum. First they 
 passed through a room filled with statues ; Roman 
 emperors, busts of Homer, Ariosto, Socrates, and 
 other plaster casts from the antique, among them 
 the Laocoon. The walls were covered with oriental 
 weapons and armor, and beneath these trophies 
 there were racks holding sixty great leathern port- 
 folios, filled with drawings, studies, engravings and 
 etchings, many of which had cost their owner large 
 sums.
 
 52 ANNEXE. 
 
 " You see," said Saskia, " we give you occupation 
 for many hours of rummaging." 
 
 " I would consider it a privilege," Willie replied, 
 " if I may come from time to time during my stay 
 in Amsterdam." 
 
 He followed her through four other rooms all 
 equally rich in artistic treasures of every kind; 
 porcelains from China and Japan, Venetian glass, 
 oriental instruments of music, rich tapestries, bro- 
 cades and velvets. One room was hung with great 
 lion skins, another filled with costumes, for Kem- 
 brandt was a passionate collector of curiosities, 
 seeking his prizes in all the obscure bric-a-brac 
 shops of the city, and never haggling at the price 
 when a rare or picturesque object ensnared his 
 fancy. 
 
 When at last they reached the door of the 
 atelier, at the end of this superb suite, Saskia struck 
 a mellow toned gong which hung from the lintel, 
 and a hearty voice bade them enter. 
 
 Rembrandt sat before his easel, " a strong man of 
 ordinary figure, with a large head, not handsome 
 but remarkable when excited ; then it was the head 
 of a lion in the midst of his flowing mane. The nose 
 was thick and the mouth large and unrefined with 
 lips firmly closed and framed in a stiff horizontal 
 moustache and beard a mouth not given to com-
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 53 
 
 pliment." From under a slouched black velvet 
 toque looked out the dark eyes, at once piercing and 
 expressive, powerful instruments, as has been well 
 said, revealing to the mind behind them more 
 than ordinary vision reveals to us, and in turn 
 telling something of the soul whose windows they 
 were. The light which shone in their clear depths 
 was untroubled, for this was the happiest year of 
 Rembrandt's life, the culmination of his success, for 
 he had just finished his masterpiece, " The Sortie of 
 the Company of Frans Banning Cock." 
 
 The great canvas stood in the studio where Rem- 
 brandt was working, and after his first cordial 
 greeting he drew aside the curtain which concealed 
 it. Willie expressed his appreciation so heartily 
 that the painter was pleased and showed him many 
 other paintings which had been turned with their 
 faces to the wall or screened from view by drap- 
 eries. 
 
 Among these was one which drew from "Willie an 
 exclamation of astonishment, for it seemed to him 
 that with the exception of the addition of the figure 
 of an old man on the left it was a portrait of the 
 family group which he had seen around the table in 
 Kiliaen Van Rensselaer's office. It was not, how- 
 ever, a portrait of the Van Rensselaers but Rem- 
 brandt's masterpiece called the Syndic of the Cloth
 
 54 ANNEKE. 
 
 Hall. No portrait of the patroon or of any of his 
 sons excepting the handsome Jeremias has come 
 down to us ; but Rembrandt was a painter of types 
 as well as of individuals, and we can well under- 
 stand how groups of able and successful merchants 
 of the same city and period might have borne a 
 striking resemblance to each other, and so accept 
 these portraits as representing the Yan Rensselaer 
 family. 
 
 Willie had told his hostess, Mrs. Johannes Van 
 Rensselaer, that his return was uncertain, so that 
 he felt at liberty to accept Rembrandt's invitation 
 to dine and to spend the evening. 
 
 When the dessert was brought in Saskia left her 
 seat and perched herself upon her husband's knee 
 like a spoiled child, and while he cracked her nuts 
 and pared her fruit she fed him with comfits, with 
 bewitching little graces at once infantine and co- 
 quettish. Rembrandt lifted the tall glass of 
 Rhenish wine high above her head and called upon 
 his guest to toast her, asking at the same time, 
 "Did you ever see a lovelier subject for a picture ? " 
 
 " Never, and only one that could in any way ap- 
 proach the charm of Mistress Saskia," Willie replied 
 gallantly, "the rosebud face of a young girl, the 
 granddaughter of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the 
 dealer in precious stones."
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 55 
 
 " Hum," mused Rembrandt, " I know the grand- 
 father. I know him too well, for I owe him more 
 money than I can well afford to pay for that rope 
 of pearls which the evil one tempted me to buy for 
 Saskia. Is his granddaughter really so beautiful ? 
 He keeps her very close. She is rarely seen at the 
 merrymakings of the young people of this city. 
 They say that he has high ambitions for a grand al- 
 liance for her. If so they will probably be realized, 
 for he is very rich." 
 
 From the dining-room they returned to the suite 
 of studios on the second floor, where company was 
 already gathering, for at this time Rembrandt's 
 house was the resort of the most distinguished and 
 aristocratic society of Amsterdam, as well as of all 
 artists and art lovers. 
 
 Among those who called on this especial evening 
 were the eminent Professor Nicolas Tulp whom 
 Rembrandt had painted in " The Lecture on Anat- 
 omy, the Burgomaster Jan Six," Rembrandt's dear- 
 est friend, and with him his guests Prince Frederick 
 Henry and Prince William II. 
 
 Prince Frederick immediately spied Willie and 
 taking him aside asked him how he had prospered 
 in the disposal of the jewels, and Willie reported 
 his interview with Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and the 
 pearl merchant's intention of meeting the Prince
 
 56 ANNEKE. 
 
 presently, and receiving his orders for the delivery 
 of the gold. While they were speaking together 
 Kiliaen Yan Rensselaer himself entered the room. 
 He was dressed more elegantly than when Willie 
 had last seen him, in a suit of black velvet with lace 
 ruff and cuffs. His face was so distinguished that 
 Willie felt that here was a man who had mistaken 
 his calling, for he looked a statesman and was more 
 aristocratic in appearance then many a nobleman. 
 He was accompanied by a younger and more sol- 
 dierly appearing man, who wore a velvet doublet 
 with slashed sleeves and a great felt hat adorned by 
 a sweeping plume. A scarf of orange silk fluttered 
 across his chest and the sword at his side had known 
 grim service. 
 
 Rembrandt hastened forward to greet the new- 
 comers, and after presenting Van Rensselaer to 
 Prince Frederick and his son, introduced Willie to 
 the patroon's companion, his excellency Pietrus Stuy- 
 vesant, soon to sail to Curacao as director of the 
 Dutch possessions in the West Indies. 
 
 Willie found the Colonial governor extremely in- 
 telligent and much interested in England's schemes 
 as to the colonization of America. While courteous 
 to Willie personally, he showed very frankly that 
 he considered that the English had no right to their 
 colony in New England.
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 57 
 
 " But," apologized Willie, " the little band of emi- 
 grants, who formed that settlement, were virtually 
 expatriated outcasts who had been adopted by Hol- 
 land. It was their chief desire, as I am informed, 
 to settle under the auspices of the Dutch on 
 Manhattan Island, and to continue loyal Dutch sub- 
 jects and citizens of New Amsterdam. It seems to 
 me that it was the Dutch West India Company 
 who, by refusing their proposals, forced them to 
 form a colony of their own." 
 
 " Yes," Stuyvesant replied, " I know that this is 
 quite true, and I know why they were not accepted 
 as colonists under our flag, though many of the di- 
 rectors of the company recognized that they were 
 the best material one could ask for pioneers." 
 
 " And why was this ? " Willie inquired with in- 
 terest. 
 
 " Because we did not want them, sir," Stuyvesant 
 replied with emphasis. 
 
 " And why was that ? Had they not lived among 
 you with friendship for years, until they had learned 
 your language, your customs, your principles ? " 
 
 " True, but they were still English, and English- 
 men and Dutchmen can only be allies when they 
 are fighting Spain ; living together they are rivals, 
 sir, and the English are unscrupulous rivals. You 
 emulate our principles, and adapt yourselves to our
 
 58 ANNEXE. 
 
 manner of life it is true, but it is only to possess 
 yourselves of our advantages, to outstrip us in race. 
 I have fought by the side of Prince Rupert under 
 the Prince of Orange, and a dashing good fighter 
 he was, akin to us too by half his line of ancestry, 
 and educated at Leyden. One would say that we 
 might trust him as a son, but his heart is all Eng- 
 lish. He was only learning the art of war with us, 
 and for all his gallant courage he cared not a penny 
 for our cause. Nay, sir, there never was an Eng- 
 lishman that did. There never was a man of Eng- 
 lish birth, however kindly adopted and cherished by 
 us, who would not take the English side when the 
 crisis came. What do I say ? Nay, I will make one 
 exception. One friend I have, an Englishman, 
 who came over with our English allies under Lord 
 Vere, one of your ' fighting Veres.' He was in the 
 engineering corps, and master of the works of forti- 
 fication at Fort Orange, and he did his work soundly 
 and well, not all from love of his profession, as I be- 
 lieve, but partly because he loved our people, and 
 chief of all a little Dutch maid, niece of the Burgo- 
 master of Woreden for whose sake he gave up his 
 country and became one of us. He is my true 
 friend, and for my sake and his wife's, I believe 
 Lion Gardiner would stand by the Netherlands in 
 any event. But in the main the Dutch West India
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 59 
 
 Company were right when they wisely decided that 
 if they should allow so large a party of English emi- 
 grants to settle at New Amsterdam, that struggling 
 colony would soon be absorbed by its guests and be- 
 come English. ISTo, sir, we did not want you at 
 New Amsterdam, we do not want you anywhere in 
 America. We are on our guard against your en- 
 croachments in the West Indies. There has been 
 some fighting between us there, and as soon as we 
 have driven out our common enemy, the Spaniard, 
 there will be more." 
 
 He turned abruptly away and Willie looked after 
 him longingly. There was something so honest 
 and hearty in his frankness that he was sure so 
 good a fighter must be also a true lover. 
 
 " I would prize your friendship," he said to him- 
 self, " and if ever I have the opportunity I will try 
 to win it." Then he thought of Lion Gardiner, the 
 one Englishman in whom Stuy vesant believed, and ac- 
 knowledged to himself that if he had known that his 
 friend had gone out to America to help the English 
 against the Dutch his faith in friendship would have 
 been utterly shattered. He recalled Gardiner's hesi- 
 tation when the proposition was first made to him. 
 "I must sleep on it," he had said, "night brings 
 council." And Willie as he lay that night in the 
 little guest-room heard his host pacing the floor and
 
 60 ANNEKE. 
 
 talking in low earnest tones with his wife. In the 
 morning they were both very serious but they had 
 made up their minds. " I am an Englishman," 
 Gardiner had said, " and when my king commands 
 my service, I must go." 
 
 " And your wife ? " Willie had asked. 
 " When I married Lion," she replied, " I gave up 
 father and fatherland. I said, ' thy people shall be 
 my people,' and thy country my country." And 
 Willie knew that in Gardiner's place he would have 
 made the same decision, but it never occurred to 
 him to decide what he would have done if he had 
 married Anneke Van Bensselaer and she had asked 
 him to make her country his own. As he awoke 
 from his musings he noticed that though Prince 
 Frederick had passed to another part of the room 
 his son was still in conversation with Van Eens- 
 selaer, and that the young Prince was beckoning 
 him to approach. Prince William was speaking, but 
 he laid his hand familiarly on Willie's arm as he 
 said, " I am informed, Herr Van Rensselaer, that 
 when my uncle, Prince Maurice made his triumphal 
 entry into Amsterdam, and the city was illuminated 
 in his honor, you caused iron cressets to be filled 
 with blazing pitch and placed along the stone walls 
 in front of your courtyard, and also along the roof 
 of your house although in doing so you greatly
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 61 
 
 risked its taking fire. And I have further heard 
 that Prince Maurice was so pleased with this brill- 
 iant display that he called you from the mounted 
 gentlemen who were escorting him and then and 
 there granted an augmentatipn of arms a flaming 
 cresset for a crest and the motto ' Omnibus Efful- 
 geo,' ' I outshine all.' " 
 
 " Your Highness has but the partial truth," Yan 
 Rensselaer replied with dignity. " I have pleased 
 myself with the belief that though this was the oc- 
 casion on which the crest was conferred to top my 
 crusading ancestor's shield which bears the cross of 
 the Knights of St. John with other quarterings, the 
 decoration was given, not on account of that paltry 
 display, but because our family have always gladly 
 placed life and property in jeopardy for their prince, 
 and have lavished both at the hands of murderers 
 and robbers in return for their loyalty and confi- 
 dence." 
 
 Willie was struck with the dignity of Yan Rens- 
 selaer's bearing as he uttered these words. While 
 respectful, there was nothing obsequious in his 
 manner. He stood as one who felt himself the 
 equal, perhaps the superior, of the princeling to 
 whom he professed his allegiance, and was pre- 
 pared to confer, not to receive a favor. 
 
 This attitude surprised and nettled the Prince,
 
 62 ANNEKE. 
 
 who replied haughtily, " I do not understand you, 
 Herr Yan Rensselaer." 
 
 " It cannot be unknown to your Highness," re- 
 plied the other, " that my father-in-law and senior 
 partner in business, while waiting in an anteroom 
 of the palace for an interview, to which he had been 
 called by your uncle, Prince Maurice, was set upon 
 and foully murdered by the guards for the sake of 
 the diamonds, which he had brought as a gift to re- 
 lieve the pressing necessities of his prince." 
 
 " But that murder was quickly punished by the ex- 
 ecution of the murderers, and their booty recovered." 
 
 Van Kensselaer spread his hands with an express- 
 ive gesture. " It was recovered by your uncle, but 
 that crest of the blazing beacon is the only acknowl- 
 edgment that we have received for the gift of a life 
 and a fortune." 
 
 The Prince flushed. " And yet I understood you 
 to say just now to my father that you would send 
 us this sum of money simply as an expression of 
 love and loyalty, and that you held the jewels 
 which have been placed in your care not as security, 
 but to be kept in safety and delivered freely when 
 called for by their owner." 
 
 " Exactly, my Prince. My wife and I long ago 
 agreed that no claim should be made for the lost 
 jewels, but that if they, or their equivalent, should
 
 AT EEMBEANDT^S HOUSE. 63 
 
 ever be offered us it would be accepted, as a part of 
 the dowery of a daughter of our house." 
 
 The look of blank astonishment in the face of the 
 Prince showed that he had no comprehension of the 
 meaning of Yan Kensselaer's words. 
 
 " You surely do not recognize in the jewels placed 
 in your care any of those which you have lost," he 
 exclaimed. " If you have any idea of pressing a 
 claim to them this young man can and will an- 
 nounce the name of their true owner." 
 
 " It is not necessary for any names to be men- 
 tioned," Yan Eensselaer replied. " We are men of 
 honor and understand each other. My son who 
 has the gift of clairvoyance, has revealed to me 
 that the jewels in my vault are destined to belong 
 to your future wife, and your Highness shall place 
 that crown upon her head as soon as you please 
 after your marriage when you will receive as 
 further dowery, the right of succession for your 
 heirs to a kingdom beyond the seas." 
 
 Yan Rensselaer's words were true but not in the 
 sense in which he himself understood them. Prince 
 William and Willie both thought that he had rec- 
 ognized the jewels and that he had become ac- 
 quainted with the fact, not as yet generally known, of 
 the Prince's approaching marriage to the daughter 
 of Charles I.
 
 64 ANNEKE. 
 
 " It shall be as you say," the Prince replied, " and 
 my wife shall add her thanks to mine for your 
 munificence, but you will understand that for rea- 
 sons of state my betrothal must not be at present 
 publicly announced." 
 
 Yan Rensselaer bowed deeply. "And when, 
 may I ask, does your Highness propose to make the 
 acquaintance of your future wife ? " 
 
 " I shall begin my wooing immediately. "What 
 have I said ? My father wishes it to be generally 
 understood that I am still here in Amsterdam for 
 the purpose of having my portrait painted." 
 
 " That can be easily arranged with our friend Rem- 
 brandt, I am sure," Van Rensselaer replied with a 
 smile, and he placed his arm within that of his host 
 who now drew near, and in this attitude made the 
 round of the studio, complimenting him upon his 
 paintings. 
 
 " You have been blabbing, sir," said the Prince 
 to Willie when Van Rensselaer was beyond hear- 
 ing. " How else could he have possessed himself 
 of so much knowledge of my affairs ? " 
 
 Willie's cheek flushed crimson. " Your Highness 
 certainly cannot so misdoubt me. You heard the 
 Herr Van Rensselaer say that his son, the inspired 
 preacher Nicolaus, had given him this information. 
 I myself heard him deliver a remarkable prophecy,
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 65 
 
 to the intent that the troubles now pressing upon 
 my royal master will be dissipated, and that his de- 
 scendants and yours shall reign in England." 
 
 " Surely a very pleasant and useful prophet, he 
 shall be called to the court and speak forth his in- 
 spirations from the pulpit of the royal chapel. 
 You were right to be offended with me for my 
 hastiness, but this is a crazy time and one knows not 
 whom to trust. There are many in England who 
 oppose my marriage ; I know not whether it will 
 ever be solemnized. I would that I might visit 
 England incognito, then we might settle everything 
 before your boorish Parliament could circumvent 
 it, and I could woo my little bride like a simple 
 gentleman; but this, I fear, is not of the question, 
 for I would be missed here in Holland, and cu- 
 riosity as to my whereabouts would be excited." 
 
 " If I can ever aid you in any way," said Willie, 
 " I am at your service as at my own King's." 
 
 " I believe you. We shall see you again, for my 
 father has arranged with Van Rensselaer for you 
 to bring us the gold, which we shall carry to King 
 Charles as soon as our yacht arrives in port. Fare- 
 well until then." 
 
 In the prospect of the royal marriage the youth 
 had quite forgotten Anneke's pretty face, and in- 
 deed he had never thought seriously of her. The
 
 66 ANNEKE. 
 
 glamour which floated before Van Rensselaer's 
 eyes was an hallucination destined soon to melt 
 away, and to break no one's heart but his own in 
 the disillusion. 
 
 Later in the evening, as "Willie was taking his 
 leave, Rembrandt tapped him on the shoulder, ex- 
 claiming 
 
 " You have done me good service, my lad. I am 
 to paint the portrait of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer's 
 granddaughter. If she is as beautiful as you de- 
 scribe her it will be a privilege which I shall prize, 
 and at all events it will cancel my debt for Saskia's 
 pearls. What can I do for you to show my grati- 
 tude for putting me on the track of this transac- 
 tion?" 
 
 It suddenly occurred to Willie that instruction in 
 art and not in engineering and diplomacy at Ley den, 
 was the real object of his coming to Holland, and 
 he begged Rembrandt to enroll him among his 
 pupils. 
 
 The master, flattered by the supposed apprecia- 
 tion of his genius, did not at once perceive Willie's 
 real object, and accepted him graciously, introduc- 
 ing him to one of his fellow-pupils, Gerard Dow, 
 and bidding him present himself the following day 
 at the studio. 
 
 Willie felt as if he were treading on air as he
 
 AT REMBRANDT'S HOUSE. 67 
 
 walked through the moonlit streets. It was not 
 the nearest way to his friend's home, but he passed 
 through the Kalverstraat and around through the 
 side street where he saw the old merchant unlock- 
 ing the ponderous gate by the light of a link carried 
 by his servant. Willie gave him good-evening, 
 sweeping the ground with the plume of his cava- 
 lier's hat, but Van Kensselaer's scowl asked him 
 plainly why he was prowling so near his premises. 
 The young cavalier laughed gaily as he heard the 
 gate clang behind the suspicious burgher. 
 
 "Shut your granddaughter in your castle," 
 Willie chuckled to himself. " ' Love laughs at 
 locksmiths,' and I shall see her, I shall see her at 
 Rembrandt's house."
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 RIVALS IN HONOR. 
 
 But Sir Richard cried in his English pride, 
 "We have f ought such a fight for a day and a night 
 
 As may never be fought again ! 
 
 Sink me the ship, Master Gunner, sink her, split her in twain ! 
 Fall into the hands of God, not into the hands of Spain." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
 1HE course of true love 
 was not of a mind to 
 make any exception in its 
 usual turbulency in Wil- 
 lie's favor. Rembrandt's 
 pupils had their quarters 
 in the third story which 
 had no communication 
 with the rooms in which 
 the master received and 
 painted his sitters, and 
 although Willie presented 
 himself early the next morning and remained late, 
 and Anneke began her sittings, the only glance he 
 caught of her was from the window of her grand- 
 father's office when he received the money for the 
 
 68
 
 RIVALS IN HONOR. 69 
 
 Prince. He had no longer any excuse to call at 
 Yan Rensselaer's house, and if he could not see her 
 at the house of the artist he was indeed unfortu- 
 nate. 
 
 Moreover, although he toiled with painstaking 
 industry it was not possible for any one whose only 
 instruction in drawing had been the mechanical 
 drafting of a civil engineer to satisfy the require- 
 ments of Rembrandt. 
 
 The master's scrutiny of Willie's first attempt to 
 draw from a cast, drew from him a burst of un- 
 controllable laughter, which quickly gave place to 
 indignation. " Am I the teacher of a primary 
 school," he asked, angrily, " that such an imbecile 
 should enroll himself as one of my pupils ? Leave 
 my house, and never dare to boast that you have 
 had Rembrandt as an instructor, for I will teach 
 you nothing, not even how utterly beneath con- 
 tempt is the atrocity you have had the impudence 
 to show me." 
 
 Willie shamefacedly took his cap and left the 
 studio, but in the passage he met Saskia who had 
 overheard her husband's stormy outburst. 
 
 " Your drawing must have been very bad to have 
 made Rembrandt speak like that," she said. " Is 
 that it in your hand ? Unroll it and let me see it." 
 
 " It is vile," Willie replied, obeying her.
 
 70 ANNEKE. 
 
 " It is indeed. Why did you offer my husband 
 such an insult ? You must have known that you 
 had neither the knowledge nor the talent to war- 
 rant you being received as his pupil." 
 
 " I know it," "Willie replied humbly as they de- 
 scended the stairs, " it was abominable. I have no 
 excuse." But even as he spoke the excuse showed 
 itself in his flaming cheek, and his gaze which 
 losing all interest in Saskia was directed toward the 
 anteroom where Anneke and her maid were wait- 
 ing their summons to Kembrandt's studio. 
 
 " May I speak to her ? " he asked. " Can I not 
 remain until her sitting begins ? " 
 
 Practiced as he was in disguising his thoughts, 
 Saskia understood him in a flash. " Ah ! " she ex- 
 claimed meaningly. "I thought you had some 
 motive. The lessons were only a ruse. You 
 thought yourself vastly clever, when you were only 
 stupid. You might have known you could not 
 have succeeded without my help. You should have 
 taken me into your confidence. No, you cannot 
 speak with her. The maid would report the inter- 
 view and what would Mynheer Van Rensselaer 
 think of me ? You must go, but I am sorry for 
 you, for I have a great sympathy for lovers." 
 
 " Think out some scheme for me, dear madam. 
 Let me grind Rembrandt's colors and clean his
 
 KEMKRANDI S MOTHKR.
 
 RIVALS IN HONOR. 71 
 
 palette, let me perform any service however menial, 
 anything to be in the studio while she is sitting." 
 
 " The boy is mad," Saskia exclaimed in mock 
 horror. " Go, go at once, and do not fancy you 
 have an ally in me. It is one thing to be sorry for 
 a criminal who has his just desert, quite another to 
 aid and abet his crime." 
 
 So saying she pushed him firmly outside the 
 door. Her words were most determined, but the 
 hand that pushed gave him a little farewell pat 
 upon the shoulder and there was something in that 
 pat which filled Willie's heart with a wild unrea- 
 soning hope which he did not attempt to explain. 
 
 On his return to Johannes Van Rensselaer's 
 house he found his friend Kiliaen much excited. 
 
 " I have just had a talk with my grandfather," he 
 confided. " I shall not return to the university, for 
 I am off in a week's time to America. You are not 
 more surprised than I, but the old gentleman has 
 taken me into his confidence, he has more heart 
 than I thought, and it is touching to see how he 
 loves me, what faith he has in me. God grant I 
 may not disappoint him. Why he depends upon me 
 to take his place when he is gone as the real head 
 of the Van Rensselaer clan, for we are a clan, not 
 a family. Father, as his eldest son, would naturally 
 succeed him, but father has more talent for business
 
 72 ANN EKE. 
 
 than diplomacy, so father is gradually to relieve 
 him of his duties as head of the business in Amster- 
 dam, while I am to inherit the patroonship and be 
 lord of all the American estate. He made me swear 
 fealty to the Prince of Orange as my suzerain, as all 
 feudal lords do to some prince, and he made me 
 promise to hold the principality for him with my 
 life, never to suffer the encroachments of the Eng- 
 lish on the east, the French on the north, the 
 * Wilden ' on the west or the West India Company 
 itself on the south to wrest an inch of soil from 
 these possessions, which we hold only in trust for 
 our Prince. It is to be the glory of our race that 
 we have given a new kingdom to the house of 
 Orange. In turn he hinted that the Prince would 
 confer great honor upon us. But when I asked 
 him what that honor was, he told me that the time 
 had not come for me to know. 
 
 " I am to go to America soon to receive the fealty 
 of my serfs and to learn pioneering under my Uncle 
 Jeremias and our trusty Commissary, Arendt Yan 
 Corlear. Grandfather himself will devote his en- 
 tire attention to the affairs of the West India Com- 
 pany. He has his hands full there, for it has 
 dawned on that astute body that he is too much of 
 an autocrat and has been feathering his own nest 
 pretty well. They do not understand his disin-
 
 RIVALS IN HONOR. 73 
 
 terested loyalty, his dread of base democratic ideas 
 or his passionate devotion to the old feudal system 
 of a kingdom held together by fealty from the 
 lord to his sovereign, from the serf to his lord, of 
 service due in return for protection. 
 
 " The West India Company have discontinued their 
 offers of privileges to colonizing members, but they 
 cannot take from my grandfather the rights already 
 granted to him by the States General. The party 
 against him, however, are in the majority. That is 
 just the way of the world, when a man shows him- 
 self greater and stronger than the common herd, all 
 the rest of the pack of curs band against him to pull 
 him down. But the grand old man will give them 
 a fight yet. Only think, they have dared to recall 
 my uncle, on my mother's side, the Honorable 
 Wouter Yan T wilier, who has been such an ad- 
 mirable governor, and who is so devoted to our 
 interests, and they are sending out one of their own 
 creatures, named Kieft. I shall spike his guns, for 
 my grandfather has told me exactly how to act. I 
 am to secure his friendship, so that he will consent 
 to my title to my Uncle Yan Twiller's lands, and 
 not usurp them for the company. It is a pity that 
 his private estate on Nut Island was called Gover- 
 nor's instead of Yan Twiller's Island, for there is 
 some chance that Kieft may seize it as the apanage
 
 74 ANNEKE. 
 
 of the governors." So young Kiliaen rattled on, for 
 he was full of enthusiasm for the career opening be- 
 fore him, and with the egotism of youth believed 
 that everything that interested himself must' be of 
 equal entertainment to his friend. Another matter 
 too had been seething in his heart, until he felt that 
 he could contain his secret no longer ; he must have 
 a confidant. 
 
 " Willie," he said after a pause, " I have yet more 
 to tell you, the reason why I am most desirous to 
 go with my Uncle Jeremias, and to identify myself 
 with the western Yan Kensselaers. It is because 
 for family reasons my father thinks it most de- 
 sirable that our two branches of the house should 
 be united. My Uncle Jeremias has blazed the way 
 for me in the wilderness, but, in spite of my right, 
 as eldest son of the eldest son, he might feel a re- 
 sentment that the fruit of his labors should descend 
 to me instead of to his own child, Anneke. There 
 is, however, a very simple solution of that diffi- 
 culty." 
 
 " For you to marry Anneke ? " 
 
 " There you have guessed it. I knew you would 
 approve." 
 
 "I have not said that I approved," Willie an- 
 swered frankly. " Is this your grandfather's plan ? " 
 
 "No, it is my father's, or more properly my
 
 RIVALS IN HONOR. 75 
 
 mother's, and Aunt Maria's. They have been 
 courting each other ever since aunt's arrival. But 
 grandfather cannot fail to see the advantages of the 
 scheme." 
 
 "And Anneke?" 
 
 " Oh ! I've not said anything to her yet, she is 
 too young; but when she returns to Rensselaer- 
 wyck I shall be there, and with every advantage 
 on my side I defy all rivals. And, Willie, after we 
 are married you must come out to us. You have 
 been like a brother to me. I was saying so to my 
 mother, and you are to stay here in my place as 
 long as you care to pursue your studies with Eem- 
 brandt. But when you have finished your course 
 at the university come to New Netherland and visit 
 me. Things are not going well in your coun- 
 try for the King's party, and if you should 
 ever need a refuge remember you have one on 
 my estate." 
 
 " Thank you, Kiliaen, I prize your friendship, but 
 my career was marked out for me when I was born. 
 I am an Englishman and a royalist ; if the King 
 needs my service he shall have it." 
 
 Kiliaen flushed. " You can find as honorable a 
 career with us," he urged, " either in trade or in 
 arms. That is why we chose orange for our na- 
 tional color, a mingling of red and yellow, red,
 
 76 ANNEKE. 
 
 that's blood and valor, and yellow for gold, that's 
 trade, and who can beat the Dutch in either." 
 
 "I know of your nation's exploits in trade," 
 Willie replied, " and I honor the enterprise and sa- 
 gacity which formed the East India Company, and 
 the "West India Company too, but your trading- 
 ships must yield the palm to our fighting ones, for 
 I fancy that in valor we English can match you. 
 Since that little affair of the Armada you will have 
 to concede to us the armed supremacy of the seas." 
 
 They had been chatting in the arbor at the end 
 of the garden, and had not heard the approaching 
 footsteps of their hostess and Governor Stuyvesant 
 until his deep voice rang out with 
 
 " What is this heresy I hear ? Who is it is scoff- 
 ing at our fleet ? Do you know what a mere trader, 
 the state's ship Half -moon did ? " 
 
 " I suppose you refer to the exploit of Hendrik 
 Hudson in discovering and taking possession of the 
 river to which he gave his name. But in spite of 
 the presence of Indians you would hardly call that 
 a military feat." 
 
 " I do not refer to anything we have yet done 
 in New Netherland," Stuyvesant replied. "I am 
 aware that we have still a stiff piece of work ahead 
 of us, both in my department in the West Indies 
 and along the river which the Half-moon explored.
 
 RIVALS IN HONOR. 77 
 
 But possibly you have never heard how that gallant 
 little ship humbled the dreaded privateer Spinola at 
 the siege of Ostend in 1602." 
 
 "I thought the Spaniards conducted that siege 
 by land," said Willie. 1 
 
 " So they did," replied Stuy vesant. " Their 
 trenches made a semicircle around the city entirely 
 cutting off all communication from the landward 
 side. But what was it enabled the inhabitants to 
 hold out for three years? It was because the 
 Dutch ships held the Gullet and brought droves of 
 cattle and whole cargoes of bread stuffs and wine so 
 that the poorest fared sumptuously, and marketing 
 was cheaper in that beleaguered town than in any 
 capital of Europe. The Spanish commander com- 
 plained with reason that he could not be expected 
 to reduce a city whose port was open to the com- 
 merce of the world, and whose burghers had their 
 bellies lined with good fat capon, while his own 
 soldiers were grumbling at their short commons. 
 At last Frederick Spinola who was already famous 
 as a privateer, obtained the command of eight great 
 galleys belonging to the Spanish navy. He was to 
 man and equip them at his own expense, but was to 
 
 1 The author acknowledges her indebtedness to Motley for the 
 stories of Holland's naval greatness as supposed to have been re- 
 lated by Stuy vesant in Chapter IV., and also for the exploit of 
 Heemskirk given in Chapter IX.
 
 78 ANN EKE. 
 
 have all the booty which he could gain, and he 
 swore to put an end to the free trade of Ostend. 
 Each of the galleys had for its motive power a chain 
 gang of two hundred and fifty slaves, and so was 
 independent of the wind, while each was manned 
 by four hundred fighting men. On the way Spi- 
 nola fell in with some English ships, which sunk 
 two of his galleys, but he fancied that the six gal- 
 leys remaining formed a fleet abundantly able to 
 perform the task which he had attempted, of hold- 
 ing the Gut of Sluys against all comers. 
 
 In his flagship, the St. Lewis, followed by the 
 Morning Star, the St. John, the Hyacinth, the St. 
 Philip and the Padilla, he crept along in the dead 
 of night hoping to slip unobserved into the Gut of 
 Sluys. But Captain Peter Mol, in the Dutch war- 
 ship Tiger, and Captain Lubbertson in the Pelican, 
 happened to be cruising in the channel in the even- 
 ing and noticed the galleys rowing in the dusk. 
 They were not strong enough to attack, but a light 
 breeze springing up, they scudded away and gave 
 the alarm to Yice-Admiral John Kant, who was 
 doing sentinel duty in the Half-moon. Very cau- 
 tiously Spinola's galleys crept on until they were 
 off Gravelines, when the moon rose and discovered 
 them to another Dutch ship, the Mackerel, which 
 at once attacked the St. Philip, while the Half-
 
 RIVALS IN HONOR. 79 
 
 moon with all sail set, bore down butting into the 
 galleys one after another, firing broadsides at short 
 range and sending them with all their crew to the 
 bottom. Spinola himself fled in his ship to Dun- 
 kirk, but all of the others were sunk or driven on 
 shore by the Half-moon and two other Dutch ships. 
 As soon as victory was assured, the Dutch boats 
 were despatched to pick up the drowning Spaniards, 
 soldiers and galley slaves alike; two hundred were 
 saved, but about three thousand perished. 
 
 " But that was not the end," said Willie. " If I 
 mistake not the bold privateer was not to be dis- 
 couraged by his reception, and visited the harbor 
 of Ostend again." 
 
 " Ah ! then you have heard how, laboring all the 
 winter and spring, Spinola gathered together a 
 second fleet of twelve ships and three thousand 
 men, and how just before sunrise on a beautiful 
 summer's day, the great galleys were discerned 
 crawling toward Admiral Joost de Moor's blockad- 
 ing fleet of five small ships. Spinola had chosen 
 a morning for his attack when there was not a 
 break of wind, and the Dutch ships lay motionless, 
 becalmed upon a glassy sea. The humane laws of 
 the Dutch republic forbade the horrible slavery of 
 the galleys to captives taken in war, and while the 
 Hollanders loved the hardy life of the ordinary
 
 80 ANNEKE. 
 
 sailor, there were few who could be tempted to 
 submit themselves to this servitude. Only one of 
 Admiral de Moor's ships, the Black Galley, com- 
 manded by Jacob Michelzoon, was propelled by 
 such human enginery, and its rowers were volun- 
 teers, not slaves chained to their oars. The brave 
 Black Galley saw the sails of the rest of the fleet 
 flapping impotently for lack of wind, and leaping 
 audaciously forward, challenged the foremost of 
 the enemy's ships. 
 
 "Two of the Spanish galleys immediately 
 rammed her on either side, but the Zeeland sailors 
 welcomed the Spanish, as they attempted to board 
 the Black Galley, with cutlass and marlin spikes, 
 and driving back their assailants, clambered along 
 the bowsprits into the Spanish galleys. Other 
 Spanish craft now came up and Captain Michel- 
 zoon was killed, but Lieutenant Hart assumed com- 
 mand, and the fighting went on on the decks of 
 the three galleys. Little by little the crew of the 
 Black Galley were driven back to their own ship, 
 and were called upon to surrender, but Lieutenant 
 Hart swore that rather than do this he would blow 
 up his ship. He was about to execute his threat 
 when suddenly the assailants on one side drew off 
 to answer the fire of one of the Dutch ships which 
 had drifted into range, borne imperceptibly nearer
 
 RIVALS IN HONOR. 81 
 
 by an auspicious current. At the same time on the 
 deck of his flagship, Frederick Spinola fell, torn to 
 pieces by a stone shot from the Black Galley, and 
 perceiving this, the Zeelanders uttered a mighty 
 cheer. Consternation siezed upon the Spaniards, 
 for now a light breeze sprang up and they could 
 see Joost de Moor's men setting their sails, and the 
 galleys rowed rapidly away, but not in time for all 
 to escape. Thirty-one Dutchmen were killed in 
 this encounter, but the loss of the Spaniards was 
 estimated at fourteen hundred." 
 
 " It was a gallant deed," said "Willie. " I wish 
 Captain Michelzoon might have lived." 
 
 " For what purpose ? " asked Stuy vesant. " He 
 had done enough for his country, and what Eng- 
 lishman can you name who did as much ? " 
 
 "I can name an English hero who did more," 
 Willie retorted, " and that was Sir Richard Gren- 
 ville, who met the Spanish fleet alone off the Azores, 
 his one ship against fifty-three, disdaining to fly or 
 to surrender. For it was not till he lay dying and 
 the wreck under other command that she struck 
 her colors. You know the story. Can you match 
 it, Governor Stuyvesant ? " 
 
 "'Can I match Grenville?' Yes. There was 
 Regnier Klazoon, who commanded a ship under 
 Admiral Haltain. Haltain's fleet was coasting
 
 82 ANNEKE. 
 
 along the shores of Spain in 1606, waiting the ar- 
 rival of the plate fleet, when the Spanish Admiral, 
 Don Luis de Fazardo, with eighteen great galleons 
 and eight galleys, beside many smaller vessels ap- 
 peared in sight. Admiral Haltain, after a brush 
 with the Spaniards, five Dutch ships against that 
 formidable fleet, feeling that discretion was the 
 better part of valor, showed a clean pair of heels 
 and took his ships uninjured out of the death-trap. 
 Klazoon, left in his dismasted ship, was repeatedly 
 summoned by Don Fazardo to surrender, but ob- 
 stinately refused to do so. For two days and 
 nights he drifted about with colors flying defiantly, 
 firing broadsides whenever the Spanish ships came 
 within range. At last, informed that his ship was 
 sinking, he called his officers and men together, and 
 amidst their applause announced his resolution 
 never to surrender. Kneeling, they commended 
 their souls to God, and then Klazoon himself ap- 
 plied the match to the powder magazine, and the 
 ship and its brave defenders were blown to atoms. 
 Two mutilated sailors were picked up by the Span- 
 iards, but these only lived long enough to tell the 
 heroic tale." 
 
 " I had forgotten Klazoon," said Willie ; " I will 
 admit that your valor equals ours. We are rivals in 
 bravery and obstinacy. God grant that the Dutch
 
 RIVALS IN HONOR. 83 
 
 and the English may never be pitted against each 
 other." 
 
 " God grant it," assented Stuy vesant fervently ; 
 " they would make bad enemies." 
 
 " Surely we never could be enemies," young 
 Kiliaen exclaimed impulsively. "Rivals, if you 
 will, but generous rivals, respecting each other, 
 taking no mean advantage and friends always, re- 
 joicing in the other's success." 
 
 " Amen to that," cried Willie, seizing his friend's 
 hand. " Governor Stuy vesant, I call you to witness 
 what Kiliaen has just said. Whatever rivalry there 
 may be between us in the future, whether in love 
 or war, the vanquished will not grudge the victor, 
 we shall still be friends."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 
 
 Why she is a pearl, 
 
 Whose price hath launched above a thousand ships 
 And turned crowned kings to merchants. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 ANY a man in Willie's 
 place would not have 
 been so magnanimous, 
 but he had come to 
 think that Kiliaen had 
 both advantage and the better 
 right on his side. What was 
 love at first sight, he asked 
 himself to Kiliaen's affection, 
 strengthened by family ties 
 and family ambition ? 
 
 Willie had completed the 
 business which had brought him to Amsterdam, and 
 the Princes had departed for England with the money 
 obtained for the jewels. There was no longer any 
 opportunity for him to meet Anneke ; even Rem- 
 brandt's house was closed to him, and he was about 
 to bid farewell to his friend and to return to Leyden 
 
 84
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 85 
 
 when the wheel of the fickle goddess Fortune turned 
 suddenly in his favor. 
 
 Early in the morning a moon-faced maid brought 
 Willie a note which caused him to seize his hat and 
 run after her, for it read as follows : 
 
 " FEIEND NICOLL : 
 
 " Come to us as soon as possible, for Rem- 
 brandt has forgiven you, and you can do him a favor 
 which will perhaps be not unpleasant to yourself. 
 " With all good intentions, 
 
 " Your friend, 
 
 "SASKIA." 
 
 Arrived at the artist's home "Willie was overjoyed 
 to find that Saskia had been a better friend to him 
 than he had dared to hope, for she had not only 
 made his peace with her indignant husband, but, 
 without betraying his secret, she had taken ad- 
 vantage of an unexpected turn of affairs to obtain 
 for Willie the very opportunity which he most de- 
 sired. 
 
 Prince William had called to say that he must 
 leave Amsterdam and that therefore his portrait 
 must be given up. 
 
 When Rembrandt had urged that the face was 
 nearly finished, and if the costume were left it might 
 still be completed, the Prince had agreed to this 
 arrangement. But as Rembrandt looked over the
 
 86 ANNEKE. 
 
 list of his models he could find no one to wear the 
 Prince's clothing who exactly suited him both in 
 youthful stature and in distinction of bearing until 
 Saskia came to his assistance, exclaiming, " I know 
 the very counterpart of the Prince ! Master Willie 
 Nicoll the young cavalier who, merely to enjoy see- 
 ing you paint, enrolled himself as your pupil, though 
 he had no creative talent whatever." 
 
 " Surely," mused Rembrandt, " now that you 
 speak of it there is a resemblance, though the young 
 man is a trifle older than his Highness. But do 
 you think he would sit for me ? It is one thing to 
 be a pupil, quite another a model." 
 
 "He told me," replied Saskia, "that he would 
 perform the most menial duties for you if you would 
 only- allow him the privilege of watching you at 
 your work." 
 
 " And if this were not so," said Prince "William, 
 " I think he would consent if you asked him to do it 
 as a favor to me. Tell him to remember our last 
 conversation and he will understand why I am not 
 only willing but desirous that he should personate 
 me, (even to the point of causing it to be generally 
 believed that I am still in Amsterdam), until such 
 time as he shall hear that the business of which I 
 spoke to him is accomplished. Allow him to remain 
 as a visitor in your house and if any imagine that I
 
 A TOWN CANAL.
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 87 
 
 am your guest do not undeceive them. There is no 
 harm in the deceit, 'tis but a jest which shall be ex- 
 plained and rewarded when I come again to claim 
 my portrait." 
 
 " So," replied Kembrandt, " if young Master 
 JSTicoll will understand your Highness' meaning 
 when I tell him all this, there must be more in the 
 young man than I thought." 
 
 And Saskia had replied with alacrity, "Decid- 
 edly you are right, my husband. There is more in 
 that young man than you think." 
 
 Willie comprehended the Prince's desire to visit 
 England incognito, and in order to lend himself to 
 the scheme and sink his own identity before assum- 
 ing that of the Prince of Orange, he bade farewell 
 to his hosts, announcing his intention to return to 
 Leyden. 
 
 Kiliaen was so taken up by the prospect of his 
 own near departure that he was easily deceived, 
 and when Willie rode away sent many messages by 
 him to his friends at the university. Having made 
 the circuit of the town Willie disposed of his horse 
 at a stock-yard in the suburbs and returned to 
 Rembrandt's house. Here, as he regarded himself 
 in the Yenetian mirror, tricked out in the Prince's 
 inlaid armor, with his own cavalier " love locks " 
 framing his handsomely cut features, he could but
 
 88 ANNEKE. 
 
 admit that he cut a very personable figure. He 
 was older than the Prince, who was only sixteen 
 and looked younger, while Willie, though barely 
 seventeen, might easily have been taken for twenty. 
 
 Kembrandt was evidently well satisfied, for he 
 posed him upon the model-stand and fell to his 
 work with the avidity of a hungry man attacking 
 a savory meal. 
 
 Willie had not stood long before Saskia entered. 
 " Here is some mistake," she said. " Mynheer Yan 
 Rensselaer has come with his daughter, and he says 
 you gave him an appointment for this morning." 
 
 " True. I had forgotten it but I am in full swing 
 now and cannot change. Send them away." 
 
 " Ah ! that would never do, one must not offend 
 one's patrons. I have told Mynheer that you are 
 engaged in painting the Prince's portrait, that the 
 sitting will soon be ended, and he has asked to 
 wait." 
 
 " They may wait, certainly, but I promised not 
 to make a short sitting. I shall paint as long as 
 my model can sustain the pose. This effect is too 
 fine to lose." 
 
 Saskia slipped away, but presently Willie with 
 his side-long gaze cast over his shoulder saw her 
 holding back the tapestry portiere and displaying 
 the studio to Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. The mer-
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 89 
 
 chant would have entered, but Saskia placed a de- 
 taining hand upon his arm and touching her lip 
 and pointing to Kenibrandt, who was working furi- 
 ously, indicated that he could not be disturbed. 
 
 "Willie's heart was in his mouth when the little 
 figure of Anneke appeared beside her father. There 
 was a whispered colloquy, and then Van Rensselaer 
 disappeared, and Anneke and her maid entered the 
 studio. They sat down demurely, and Rembrandt 
 did not notice her presence until some change in 
 Willie's expression caught his attention. 
 
 Then he paused and shook hands kindly with her, 
 apologizing for his forgetfulness of the appoint- 
 ment. " But you see how it is," he said, jokingly, 
 " when the Prince comes every one else must yield 
 the way. There, my dear young lady, I must ask 
 you to sit on the other side of the room, for otherwise 
 his Highness will not fix his eyes in the right direc- 
 tion." 
 
 So they sat for an hour with a world of un- 
 spoken admiration in Willie's quiet gaze under 
 which Anneke's eyes constantly fell and as con- 
 stantly glanced furtively up again with a troubled 
 questioning in their innocent depths. 
 
 Rembrandt grew jovial as the stress of his in- 
 tense working fit abated. He told stories and sang 
 songs, and challenged Willie to do the like. " I
 
 90 ANNEKE, 
 
 am not painting your face now," he said. "You 
 may chat freely and even move your head." But 
 Willie did not care to look in any other direction, 
 and he could think of only commonplaces to say. 
 
 So the time passed until Kembrandt threw down 
 his brushes, exclaiming, " Mortal man can endure 
 no longer, it is time for luncheon." Saskia had 
 been listening behind the tapestry, and he had 
 scarcely spoken when a servant trundled in a small 
 table set for four. Anneke's maid was invited to 
 refresh herself below stairs, and Kembrandt, Saskia, 
 Anneke and "Willie lunched cheerily together. The 
 spell of the sitting was broken and conversation 
 was free and merry. 
 
 After the meal was over Rembrandt announced 
 himself ready to begin Anneke's portrait, but Wil- 
 lie did not leave, model and observer simply ex- 
 changing places. 
 
 " Stay, if you care to watch me paint," Rem- 
 brandt had said carelessly, " and in return do me 
 the kindness to entertain my sitter, and keep away 
 that expression of deadly boredom which is the 
 portrait-painter's despair." 
 
 Again Willie's usually ready wit failed him, no 
 subject seemed worthy of introduction, but presently 
 a lucky thought struck him, he would make Anneke 
 talk, and he asked her to tell them about America.
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 91 
 
 At once the little maid became eloquent. She de- 
 scribed her home at Kensselaerwyck, the fortified 
 manor house, with its loopholes ready for defence 
 against the savages. She interested the painter in 
 these same Indians, and promised to bring him a 
 warrior's suit adorned with wampum and feathers, 
 which she had brought to Holland with her. She 
 told of the fierceness of the tribes on both sides of 
 the Hudson, and especially of the Pequots and 
 Mohegans on the east, from whom they were pro- 
 tected by their western neighbors the still more 
 powerful Iroquois. 
 
 Willie expressed his surprise that her father 
 should allow his wife and daughter to live in such 
 dangerous surroundings. 
 
 " But we are very safe," Anneke affirmed, " for 
 we have the protection of Fort Orange close at 
 hand, where the West India Company keep a garri- 
 son of which the brave Captain Dirk Wessels Ten 
 Broeck is commander. And between our manor 
 and the fort there is the dorp of Beverwyck, quite 
 a flourishing town, for my grandfather gave orders 
 that his fifty emigrants should build their homes 
 close together for greater safety. Beside the 
 homes of the settlers there is a church, for we 
 have a minister and a doctor too, and the com- 
 pany's warehouse, where all furs are sold, and our
 
 92 ANN EKE. 
 
 warehouse, where Arendt Yan Corlear keeps a 
 store for the barter of other commodities, and a 
 great common lodging house built of logs, where 
 the new settlers who come out from Holland can 
 live until they build homes of their own. There is 
 a windmill for grinding grain and up the creek 
 where the waterfall is, a sawmill and a brew- 
 ery. Arendt Yan Corlear says that without that 
 half of our settlers would have gone back to Hol- 
 land. The Indians have their camping ground out- 
 side the dorp, where they are allowed to build tem- 
 porary wigwams when they bring in their game 
 and peltries, and the squaws sell baskets and ber- 
 ries and maple sugar. At our manor we have gran- 
 aries and barns, cattle and horses, wagons and sleighs. 
 We have skating parties in the winter on the river. 
 Arendt Yan Corlear made me a pair of skates of 
 beef bones. In the summer we take trips in our 
 sloop and visit our friends on both sides of the 
 river. There is a settlement at Esopus, which 
 Mynheer Philip Pietrus Schuyler laid out. The 
 Schuylers are friends of ours, and I have been 
 there to visit when we were on our way to New 
 Amsterdam. We laid our schooner up beside their 
 wharf and Roelof Swarthout arranged a barbecue 
 and showed me about the estate ; but it is not as 
 well managed as ours. No one has as fine a house
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 93 
 
 as my father, except my Grandfather Oloff Stevense 
 Van Cortlandt ; I mean of course among the manors 
 for there are some fine houses in New Amsterdam 
 and society there is very gay. 
 
 " Yes, we are very enterprising, and my Grand- 
 father Van Eensselaer says it is astonishing how the 
 colony has grown. We were informed that the Earl 
 of Warwick had obtained grants of land on the Con- 
 necticut, and to circumvent him, Governor Van 
 T wilier has bought lands of the Pequots, and built 
 a blockhouse in the heart of the eastern wilderness, 
 at a ford of the Connecticut, where the deer cross and 
 our hunters often go and have named it Fort Good 
 Hope. He left a garrison of a few men there, and 
 when he left the region the Governor nailed the arms 
 of the States General to a tree at the mouth of the 
 Connecticut that any exploring Englishmen might 
 see that he had taken possession of the country for 
 Holland. My grandfather said that was a master 
 stroke, and would restrain the encroachments of 
 the unscrupulous English of the Massachusetts, 
 who are settling upon our lands and stirring up the 
 Pequots against us." 
 
 Willie smiled, as he thought how little respect 
 Lion Gardiner would have for the insignia of 
 the States General, left in solitary grandeur 
 upon the tree. He was curious to know more of
 
 94 ANNEKE. 
 
 the strength of the Dutch fort of Good Hope at 
 Hartford, but he scorned to extract information 
 from this unsuspecting girl, and he purposely led 
 the conversation into other channels. 
 
 The next day was equally pleasant, and the next, 
 and in this enjoyable way a week went by, a golden 
 week in Willie's life, in which he became more and 
 more deeply in love with Anneke. He found her 
 mind full of pleasant surprises and not so unfurnished 
 as he had fancied that of a girl brought up in a pio- 
 neer region must be. The Dutch emigrants had car- 
 ried out chests of books from the presses of Leyden 
 and Antwerp, and Anneke had read greedily what- 
 ever she had chanced upon in the libraries of the 
 neighboring manors, a nondescript course of read- 
 ing it had been. She had read theology with 
 Dominie Johannes Megapolensis, and had brushed 
 up her French conversation with Huguenot refugees. 
 
 Anneke spoke English too very fairly, and one 
 day when Willie asked her where she had learned 
 it she explained that her tutor at Rensselaerwyck 
 had been an Englishman. 
 
 " His name," she said, " was Love Brewster, and 
 he had such an interesting story. He came to New 
 Amsterdam from Virginia and tried to get a posi- 
 tion there as school-teacher, for he spoke Dutch 
 fluently and had studied at Leyden University.
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 95 
 
 There was nothing for him to do in New Amster- 
 dam, but Governor Yan T wilier recommended him 
 to my father and he came to Rensselaerwyck and 
 taught me and some of the other children. He was 
 very gentle, and sad, and we all loved him, and won- 
 dered what his history had been. One day he told 
 it to my mother, for she is so sympathetic and kind 
 that every one confides in her. But you look so 
 absorbed I don't believe you are interested." 
 
 " Indeed I am, Anneke, greatly interested, for I 
 believe that I have the very rooms at Leyden which 
 Love Brewster occupied when he was a student at 
 the university. They look upon a quiet garden 
 which is bounded on its other sides by the Yeiled 
 Nun's Cloister, the University Library and the Don- 
 ckere Graft (or Dark Canal)." 
 
 " "What ! " exclaimed Rembrandt. " Do you live 
 near the Donckere Graft? I know that garden 
 well. I used to go there as a boy to paint, for I 
 was brought up in Leyden. Who was this student 
 of whom you were speaking ? Not Love Brewster, 
 son of one of the English Puritan exiles ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes," replied Anneke eagerly. " He must 
 have been the same." 
 
 "Why he was my friend," replied Rembrandt, 
 " I taught him to see the beauty of the cloud reflec- 
 tions translated into a lower toned harmony by that
 
 96 ANNEKE. 
 
 amber canal, and he made me listen to the chimes 
 as they flung harmonies down upon us from the 
 great belfry back of us. Tell me all you know of 
 him, for I am. eager to learn what befell him in 
 America." 
 
 " It was a sad story," Anneke replied, " for he 
 loved a beautiful girl named Patience, who went 
 out with them to New England, and she did not 
 love him but his brother, Wrestling. This brother 
 had gone with Sir Walter Kaleigh to find El Do- 
 rado, but he did not come back. Finally Love 
 Brewster went in search of his brother, but he only 
 went as far as Virginia, for there he had very terri- 
 ble news. His brother had attempted to come back 
 from El Dorado to New England and had stopped 
 at Jamestown, and just then there had been a great 
 uprising of the savages and he had been massacred. 
 So he had returned from his unhappy quest ; but 
 when he reached New Amsterdam his heart failed 
 him. He could not bear to carry such news as that 
 to Patience in Plymouth, and so he stayed with us. 
 Sometimes his conscience upbraided him with un- 
 kindness to his parents in not returning, but when 
 he thought of his brother's betrothed he could not 
 bring himself either to go or to write. 
 
 " At last a very wonderful thing happened, and 
 this was how he came to tell my mother and to ask
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 97 
 
 her advice. The knowledge that Patience did not 
 love him had nearly broken his heart, but not quite, 
 for in the long absence from her the wound had 
 healed, and the wonderful thing which I am going 
 to tell is that he had fallen in love with a pretty 
 Dutch maiden at Rensselaerwyck." 
 
 " Not you, Anneke, surely not you ! " exclaimed 
 Willie. 
 
 " No, surely not me," replied Anneke ; " there are 
 other maidens in New Netherland, I would have 
 you to know, and this Mr. Brewster and his wife 
 are both a great, great deal older than I. For he 
 really did marry her. My mother eased his con- 
 science, and gave him absolution like a Catholic 
 priest after his confession. But she made him do 
 penance. She insisted on his writing to his mother 
 and telling her everything. He sent the letter with- 
 out date or letting his friends know where he was 
 settled, for he said he could not bear their re- 
 proaches or their grief when they knew that there 
 was no longer any hope, and that his brother was 
 dead." 
 
 " But," exclaimed Willie, " he is not dead. Wrest- 
 ling Brewster is very much alive. He escaped that 
 Indian massacre, returned to New England, mar- 
 ried Patience and is living there now." 
 
 " How do you know this ? " Anneke asked.
 
 98 ANN EKE. 
 
 " Because I saw him in London at the house of 
 the Earl of Warwick, who was an old friend of his. 
 He had returned to England with Governor Win- 
 throp to obtain a charter from the King for the 
 Connecticut." 
 
 " The Connecticut ! " exclaimed Anneke, " but 
 that river and the lands adjoining belong to us." 
 
 Willie bit his lip, for he realized how easy it was 
 for a man to betray state secrets to the woman he 
 loved. Anneke was as patriotic a Hollander as he 
 was an Englishman, and he wisely forbore there- 
 after from speaking of international disputes. 
 
 For all Anneke's appreciation of the advantages 
 of the more cultured life of the old world she was 
 homesick for America, and told Willie that she 
 counted the days until her return to the sweet wild 
 west. 
 
 " And no wonder," Willie exclaimed, " for you 
 Have made me in love with it simply by your de- 
 scription. I vow that so soon as I can I too will 
 emigrate." 
 
 " Oh ! no, your Highness has other duties," An- 
 neke replied with the prettiest and most deferential 
 air in the world. It always smote Willie with a 
 pang of keen self-reproach and made him feel like 
 the most double-dyed hyprocrite to hear her refer 
 to his princely rank, and once when she had so ad-
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 99 
 
 dressed him he could not contain himself but cried 
 hotly, " Do not call me your Highness, but plain 
 Willie." Then he bit his lip for he remembered his 
 promise to represent the Prince until the English 
 marriage was announced. "It is a great familiar- 
 ity," Anneke had replied, "to call his Highness 
 Prince William only Herr Willie, but I like it much 
 better, and since you are so gracious you must call 
 me Anneke." 
 
 So the opportunity for avowal passed. Anneke, 
 on her side was even more troubled than Willie. 
 She had recognized him at once as her Cousin Kil- 
 iaen's friend, and she could not understand why he 
 was masquerading as the Prince. Kiliaen had told 
 her much about Willie speaking always in the 
 most enthusiastic terms of his high sense of honor. 
 He had told of their close friendship and even of 
 their last serious conversation when they had prom- 
 ised each other that it should stand even the test 
 of rivalry. Anneke could not believe that Willie 
 had assumed this disguise simply for the sake of ob- 
 taining a dishonorable advantage over Kiliaen 
 still less to deceive her grandfather or herself. 
 What then could be the explanation ? 
 
 She had only seen the Prince of Orange at the 
 ball. At the time it was such a splendid vision that 
 his personality was rendered vague by the very
 
 100 ANNEKE. 
 
 glamour which surrounded it. She knew that he 
 was in Amsterdam for she had received sonnets and 
 tokens, all of which she had conscientiously given to 
 her grandfather, and others which she had not re- 
 ceived had been intercepted by him. 
 
 Her grandfather had praised her for this conduct 
 but he had not seemed greatly displeased. Now 
 that her maid Grytje faithfully reported that she 
 saw the Prince every day at Rembrandt's house he 
 made no objection, only stipulating that she 
 should never be left in his company alone. Anneke 
 was sure that Grytje reported their conversation 
 every evening to her grandfather and that he was 
 satisfied with her conduct. Moreover she remem- 
 bered that on her first introduction to the studio 
 her grandfather had been with her, he had stood in 
 the open doorway and had seen Willie upon the 
 model stand. She knew that her grandfather was 
 well acquainted with the Prince. He had spoken of 
 a recent interview with him when some mysterious 
 but important transaction had taken place be- 
 tween them. Surely he, as well as Rembrandt, 
 would have known if Willie had been an impostor. 
 Suddenly an explanation flashed through her mind. 
 Willie must indeed be the Prince of Orange. Kil- 
 iaen might be mistaken as to the identity of his 
 friend. The Prince, it was well known, was entered
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 101 
 
 as a student at Leyden, though Kiliaen had said 
 that he had never met him. What if he chose to 
 mingle incognito among his fellow-students ? Sure 
 that she had arrived at the real solution of the 
 mystery, Anneke gave it no further anxiety, but 
 accepted the agreeable acquaintance which fate had 
 sent her with the proud consciousness of being the 
 possessor of a mighty secret, discerned by her own 
 womanly insight. 
 
 Little by little she was learning to care for this 
 handsome young cavalier more than she realized, 
 and there were swift glances when the painter was 
 setting his palette, little love songs hummed, which 
 might or might not admit of personal interpreta- 
 tion, flowers dropped and caught up, and one morn- 
 ing the inevitable explosion. 
 
 They had both come early, and Rembrandt was 
 not in his studio. Anneke sent Grytje to summon 
 him and Willie's arm was around her in an instant. 
 
 "I love you, Anneke." 
 
 " I know it, Willie, and I love you." 
 
 There was a discreet cough, for Grytje had re- 
 membered the master's orders and had gone no 
 further than the staircase, but the words had been 
 spoken, and though the two were standing at some 
 distance from each other when the maid entered the 
 studio, Anneke arranging her hair before a mirror,
 
 102 ANN EKE. 
 
 and Willie staring at the ceiling while he diligently 
 fanned his flushed face with his broad-brimmed hat, 
 Grytje knew perfectly what had happened. 
 
 Kembrandt wondered why his sitters were so si- 
 lent. To amuse them he asked Saskia to show them 
 her jewels, of which the most beautiful were the 
 Van Kensselaer pearls, though she also possessed 
 some curiously set. Among these was a "jewel 
 salad," a brooch, whose centre, a light green table 
 emerald, was supposed to represent a lettuce, its 
 garnishing topazes and rubies, drops of oil and vine- 
 gar, while seed pearls were sprinkled between like 
 grains of salt. 
 
 " It is copied," said Rembrandt, " from a brooch 
 designed by King Philip II. to amuse his queen." 
 
 " To whom he also gave the famous Pelegrina ? " 
 "Willie asked. 
 
 " The same," Rembrandt replied, " the pearl of 
 which they say, that those who own it must shed 
 many tears." 
 
 " I would not be afraid to wear it," said Anneke, 
 " I love pearls. I have never owned any, but grand- 
 father says I shall have them when I am married. 
 My grandfather was talking about pearls last night. 
 He says the largest come from Margarita. He 
 thinks that if he had an agent at Curayao a good 
 smuggling business might be done with the natives,
 
 UNDER FALSE COLORS. 103 
 
 who would certainly rather be paid for their pearls 
 by the Dutch than deliver them up for nothing to 
 the Spaniards." 
 
 "If some one could do better than that," said 
 Willie, " if your grandfather could be put in posses- 
 sion of a vast cache of these pearls which had been 
 hidden by the divers, do you think that he would be 
 very much pleased ? " 
 
 " Pleased ! It is his darling desire to control the 
 pearl trade of Margarita. O, your Highness, if you 
 could wrest that island from the Spaniards and 
 make my grandfather its governor, I am certain that 
 he could so develop its resources that Holland would 
 receive a great revenue from the pearl-fisheries." 
 
 "You forget our agreement. I am not 'your 
 Highness ' to you. Only Sir Willie, a simple cava- 
 lier, who, though he cannot make your grandfather 
 lord of Margarita, will do his best to fill your lap 
 with pearls, which you may if you choose turn over 
 to your grandfather, if in return he will give me 
 possession of one single pearl now in his keeping. 
 Will you let me tell him so this very evening ? " 
 
 Again the troubled look came into Anneke's face. 
 " Why is it," she wondered, " that he does not like 
 to be called by his title ? " but she only replied, " I 
 do not like bargains, but my grandfather does, that 
 is, if they are honorable."
 
 104 ANN EKE. 
 
 When her sitting was over Willie sprang to put 
 her cloak about her and one of its buttons caught 
 in the fringe of his scarf. They were a long time 
 disentangling it and in the effort the button came 
 off. " It is a good omen," said Willie ; " may I keep 
 the button as a token that we are closely at- 
 tached ? " 
 
 She nodded gaily. " And it will be difficult to 
 part us." 
 
 " But you were the one to break away first." 
 
 " I left my proper place to fly to you. But 
 seriously, do you not see why the button clings to 
 you ? It is the decoration which your uncle con- 
 ferred upon our family." 
 
 Willie examined the bauble, and saw that it was 
 a tiny basket or cresset of steel filigree containing a 
 ruby, which gleamed like a coal of fire. " What is 
 it that the Scripture saith," he asked, " that love is 
 like fire, and the coals thereof have a most vehement 
 flame ? "
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BUBBLE BURSTS. 
 
 All I had to give I gave her. First my kisses, then my tears, 
 But the little one would have them not, "What use are they? " 
 she said. Lord Lytton. 
 
 S "Willie was taking a 
 walk along the quays 
 that afternoon he was 
 hailed by a loud "Yo 
 ho, my hearty ! " from 
 his old travelling com- 
 panion, Captain Mor- 
 gan, who seemed to be 
 all the more his admir- 
 ing friend for the trick 
 which Willie had served 
 him in parting. 
 The Captain laughed boisterously as he smote 
 Willie upon the shoulder, " Ah ! my lad," he cried, 
 " I did not think that Henry Morgan could have 
 been so taken in. It was vastly funny, for if you 
 cheated me, so you did the sheriffs, and I forgive 
 you the trick for the sake of the good their long 
 
 105
 
 106 ANNEKE. 
 
 faces did me when they saw the inside of that 
 cheese." 
 
 " But I told you plainly there was nothing in it," 
 protested Willie. 
 
 " So you did, and so I told them, on my oath as a 
 gentleman. It would have been worse for me if 
 you had not absconded safely with the jewels, for 
 though I made a good run and a good fight, they 
 chased me, the rogues, into a wine shop, where, 
 though I gave one a broken head, and tripped the 
 other into the cellar, protesting all the time that I 
 had been set upon by highwaymen, the owner of 
 the shop called in the authorities, who seized the 
 cheese and arrested us all. We were taken before 
 the Burgomaster, where my assailants explained 
 that I was the robber, making off with the Queen's 
 jewels, which were hidden in the cheese. I swore, 
 more truly than I knew, as I have said, that I had 
 never seen the jewels, and that the cheese box con- 
 tained only the remnants of the luncheon which I 
 had eaten publicly on shipboard. When it was 
 opened in court I was ready to go through the floor 
 with fright, until I saw the empty rind, and knew 
 that by that time you were miles away with your 
 plunder. Then how I laughed and swaggered, and 
 the rogues were fined for disturbing the peace ; 
 though the judge warned me that I would some day
 
 
 THE l.ITTLK MILL. WILLEM MARIS.
 
 THE BUBBLE BURSTS. 107 
 
 die of an indigestion if I was in the habit of eating 
 so much cheese for luncheon. 
 
 " But harkee, Willie, there is trouble brewing, for 
 the rogues were not imprisoned, only fined, and 
 they were shrewd enough to suspect you, for when 
 I went up to Leyden to find you, there were your 
 rooms sealed by the officers of the law, who, the 
 janitor told me, were inside rummaging your 
 papers." 
 
 Willie started, but recovered himself. " There is 
 nothing there that can implicate me," he replied, 
 after a moment's thought. 
 
 " No ? Well, that is lucky ; but they might have 
 found something if it had not occurred to me to de- 
 mand your mail for you at the post. So here it is, 
 and I have had all the trouble of the Evil One to 
 find you. I would never have succeeeded but for that 
 same janitor's wife. She is a good soul, and fond of 
 you, Willie. When I had convinced her that I was 
 your friend she told me that you had gone to Am- 
 sterdam with your chum the young Herr Yan 
 Eensselaer, though she protested to the officers 
 that you had not returned from England." 
 
 He handed Willie a letter from his father, and, 
 breaking the seal, the young man read the follow- 
 ing equivocal communication :
 
 108 ANNEXE. 
 
 " MY DEAR SON : 
 
 " Your mother and I are proud that you have 
 so well passed your examinations, having had the 
 best possible reports from your professor and re- 
 ceived the medal won in your last competition." 
 
 So far Willie was well pleased, for this was the 
 phrase agreed upon to convey the intelligence that 
 the Prince had arrived with the money for the 
 jewels ; but as he read on he was filled with appre- 
 hension. 
 
 " But, dear son, we are alarmed for your health, 
 which we fear such close application to your studies 
 has seriously impaired. I have therefore written 
 to the Dean of the University asking that you be 
 allowed a vacation for travel, and we advise you 
 on receipt of this to depart at once. We have con- 
 sulted a renowned physician, (the physician Willie 
 knew was the King) and he prescribes for you a 
 long sea- voyage, which, if it be undertaken at once, 
 he promises you shall return with a good stock of 
 health " (or was the word wealth ?). " As for the 
 interruption of your studies, have no regret, for 
 your professor before mentioned," (Prince William) 
 " stated in his report that you had fully completed 
 your course in his department." 
 
 By this Willie knew that the Prince no longer 
 required him to personate his character, and that 
 he was free to depart. 
 
 " So hoping soon to hear that you have gone as 
 is most convenient, we rest your anxious and loving 
 
 "PARENTS."
 
 THE BUBBLE BURSTS. 109 
 
 This was all, but it was imperative. "Willie knew 
 that he must be gone at once. His first thought 
 was to ask Peter Stuyvesant to allow him to ac- 
 company him to Curapoa. Then he remembered 
 his dislike of the English. " We do not want you, 
 sir ! " and Captain Morgan awakened him from his 
 reverie by the announcement, "You do not ask 
 how I have fared, but I have my ship, Willie, and 
 she lies off the mole yonder. I would have sailed 
 three days agone but I was anxious for your health. 
 Yes, I have read that letter, else why should I have 
 troubled myself to find you ? We are off at day- 
 break with the turn of the tide. So it's the same 
 old question over again, Will you off with me to 
 the Spanish Main to fill your sea-chest with the 
 pearls of Margarita ? " 
 
 " I have only the same answer, Captain Morgan, 
 under whose authority do you sail ? " 
 
 " Here it is, Willie Nicoll," the Captain replied 
 triumphantly, " didn't I tell you I had sealed or- 
 ders. The King sent back my application through 
 the Admiralty office with a flat refusal, but he sent 
 me this commission privately, with orders to as- 
 sume command of the Black Lady lying at Delfs- 
 haven. As soon as I had made my little excursion 
 to Leyden to look after you I went on board and 
 sailed around to this port to provision for my voy-
 
 110 ANNEKE. 
 
 age. Help me to do that, and I promise you five 
 hundred per cent, on your ' investment.' ' 
 
 " I thank you, Captain Morgan, and I will go 
 with you, if you will have a boat for me at the 
 old wharf at nine to-night. I have only to bid 
 farewell to my friends and that will take but a short 
 time. I will bring what money I possess with me." 
 
 Willie returned to Kembrandt's house and ate 
 his last meal at their hospitable board. It was hard 
 to explain that he must leave them, for the portrait 
 of the Prince was not finished (and indeed does not 
 appear among the works of the master that have 
 come down to us). Saskia was more sweetly teas- 
 ing than usual and Willie carried to his death a 
 picture in his memory of exactly how she looked 
 on that last evening. There was a young artist 
 present, William Van der Velde, and she wore her 
 Van Kensselaer pearls in his honor. " You are my 
 queen, my joy, and the light of my life," Kem- 
 brandt had said when he asked her to bedeck her- 
 self with her jewels. " It is only to make you 
 more beautiful and happier that I labor, that I live." 
 
 A wistful, almost pathetic expression came into 
 her face. " Is it so, Rembrandt ? then I promise 
 you never to be less happy, never to grow old or 
 ugly." 
 
 Did she know that she would keep her promise,
 
 THE BUBBLE BURSTS. Ill 
 
 that before the year ended Rembrandt would deck 
 his child wife in her costliest robes, and closing 
 the casket lid over his chiefest treasure, turn to his 
 desolate home to grow old alone ? 
 
 As Willie walked down the street toward the 
 pearl merchant's mansion, Yan der Yelde accom- 
 panied him. He was a painters of marines, and as 
 "Willie had said that he was about to take a long 
 sea-voyage, the young painter was full of interest 
 and envy. " I wish I were in your shoes," he cried. 
 " What an opportunity for fame ! I would ask no 
 better studio than the open deck of a ship." 
 
 "And I would gladly change places with you, 
 and remain here in Amsterdam. It is not fame I 
 seek but fortune, and that not for itself but for the 
 sake of one I love." 
 
 Willie was not unexpected by the Van Rens- 
 selaers. The faithful Grytje had to the best of her 
 ability reported the events which had occurred, 
 and after the evening meal Yan Rensselaer had 
 asked her to send his granddaughter to him. Anneke 
 came with a fluttering heart, but a determined face, 
 but her grandfather met her very kindly. "It is 
 all right, little girl," he said. " I have foreseen all 
 this. I had some time ago an interview with the 
 Prince. He is most honorable, most magnanimous. 
 Here is a wedding present which I promised him to
 
 112 ANN EKE. 
 
 give you on the occasion of your marriage. "Would 
 you like to see it ? " 
 
 He unlocked the vault and took from it the cas- 
 ket which had seen so many vicissitudes. Anneke 
 opened it and stood dazzled by the brilliancy of the 
 jewels. 
 
 " Put them on, my child," he said. "Let the old 
 man see how they become you." He clasped the 
 necklace about her throat and placed the coronet 
 upon her head ; and gazed at her with love and ad- 
 miration. There were even more emotions mingled 
 with these ; gratified ambition, a sense of some- 
 thing accomplished for which he had long labored, 
 and the foretaste of a more abundant triumph still 
 to come, were all bound up in the exaltation with 
 which he looked upon the beautiful girl. 
 
 As for Anneke, there was no mirror in the office 
 in which she could see herself, but even if there had 
 been she would not have been greatly moved, for 
 her eyes were dim with happy tears, at the 
 thought of womanhood's highest crown which was 
 soon to be hers. So they were standing when 
 Grytje knocked at the door. "If it please you, 
 Mynheer, the portrait, I mean the gentleman wishes 
 to see you." 
 
 " It is he," said Anneke, " he told me he was 
 coming to you to-night to ask me from you."
 
 TEE BUBBLE BURSTS. 113 
 
 "Then stay, Anneke, let me give you to him 
 worthily bedecked," and as Willie entered the room, 
 Van Eensselaer bowed deeply and laid his grand- 
 daughter's hand in that of the young man. But 
 even as he did so, he recognized his error and 
 pushed him back, exclaiming : 
 
 "How is it that you are here? Where is the 
 Prince?" 
 
 " I am here, respected sir, to tell you who I am 
 and the errand that brings me." 
 
 " But the Prince. Where is he ? " 
 
 " That I cannot tell you." 
 
 " Are you not the Prince ? " asked Anneke. 
 
 " What a question ! " exclaimed Yan Eensselaer, 
 impatiently. " You who have met Prince William 
 daily for over a week, you who but now told me 
 that he had confessed his love for you, should 
 surely know your lover." 
 
 " This is my lover, grandfather." 
 
 A startled look, not of anger, but of fear, came 
 into the old man's face. He looked from one to 
 the other and strove vainly to speak, and Willie 
 broke in impetuously 
 
 " I know that it must be a shock to you to know 
 that any man has dared to love your granddaugh- 
 ter, and that I, Willie Mcoll, am that man. I am the 
 son of a poor courtier, with no present fortune, but
 
 114 ANN EKE. 
 
 with a heart to strive and to wait until I can bring one 
 before I come again to claim this maiden as my wife." 
 
 " Silence," exclaimed Van Rensselaer. " Have 
 you the effrontery to confess that to steal my 
 granddaughter's affection, you disguised yourself as 
 the Prince of Orange, and thus deceiving me, wooed 
 her under false pretences ? " 
 
 " No and yes, honored sir. I am not the Prince. 
 I wore his clothing to please Rembrandt. I had 
 no thought of deception." 
 
 " But you did deceive me," Anneke broke in pas- 
 sionately. "You made me think that you were 
 the Prince, and you let my grandfather think so. 
 You could have told me the truth a hundred times, 
 if you had wished. Do you imagine that my grand- 
 father would have suffered me to remain in your 
 company if he had imagined you were simply a 
 poor English student ? " 
 
 " I imagined," "Willie replied bitterly, " that I was 
 loved for myself and not for any hereditary claims." 
 
 Anneke flushed. " And I imagined," she re- 
 plied with intense scorn in her voice, " that I was 
 loved by a man of honor." 
 
 " Well said, my child, and worthy of your race," 
 exclaimed Van Rensselaer proudly. " I shall see 
 Prince Frederick and demand that you be punished 
 for so misrepresenting him."
 
 THE BUBBLE BURSTS. 115 
 
 "If his Highness, Prince William, is informed of 
 jour charge, he can and will explain why my 
 tongue was tied, and I could not confess before this 
 evening that I am not the Prince." 
 
 A swift hope flared for an instant in Anneke's 
 heart. " If there is any honorable reason," she 
 implored, " tell it now." 
 
 Willie put his hand to his head. It was true 
 that he had received his release from his post, but 
 he could not feel free to tell why he impersonated 
 the Prince until his marriage to the Princess Mary 
 was publicly announced. His hand fell and he re- 
 plied, " I cannot, Anneke, I have already said too 
 much." 
 
 " Insult not our Prince," cried Van Eensselaer, 
 " by insinuating that there is any understanding 
 between you. Leave my house instantly and let us 
 never hear from you again." 
 
 Willie bowed deeply. " Is this your last word to 
 me, Anneke ? Can you not trust me even though 
 appearances are against me ? " 
 
 She could not look at him, for she felt her anger 
 dying out, and a wild longing drawing her to him 
 in spite of her belief in his unworthiness. 
 
 " If you had only told me," she murmured, then 
 her mood changed, and she exclaimed scornfully, 
 " but no, you tried to bribe me, you lied to me. I
 
 116 ANN EKE. 
 
 will believe you true when you keep your promise 
 and fill my lap with pearls," and turning from him 
 she threw her arms around her grandfather's neck 
 crying, " No, no, I never loved you. I could never 
 have loved anything so base." 
 
 Willie went out of the room with his reason tot- 
 tering. He strolled about the streets not knowing 
 what he did. After a time he remembered vaguely 
 his promise to meet some one at the old wharf. He 
 forgot that he was to return to Kembrandt's house 
 for his luggage, but he finally stumbled down to 
 the waterside. The sailor was still waiting impa- 
 tiently with the boat, though it was long past the 
 time set for the rendezvous. 
 
 Willie fell over the thwarts as he tried to take 
 his seat in the stern and as the sailor assisted him, 
 grumbling about young blades who sat all night 
 carousing, he replied sadly, " That's all over, my 
 man. I've been intoxicated, but I am so no longer."
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS AND THE MAROONERS. 
 
 There were forty craft in Aves that were both swift and stout, 
 All furnished well with small arms and cannon all about 
 And a thousand men in Aves made laws so fair and free 
 To choose their gallant captains and obey them loyally. 
 
 And we sailed against the Spaniard with his hoards of plate and gold, 
 Which he wrung with cruel tortures from the Indian folk of old. 
 Likewise the merchant captains with hearts as hard as stone 
 Who flog men and keel haul them and starve them to the bone. 
 
 Oh ! palms grow high in Aves and fruits that shine like gold, 
 And the coliberis and parrots were gorgeous to behold. 
 And the negro maids in Aves from bondage fast did flee 
 To welcome gallant sailors a sweeping in from sea. 
 
 Charles Kingsley. 
 
 'APT A IN MORGAN 
 was impatiently wait- 
 ing Willie's arrival to 
 weigh anchor and sail 
 for the Spanish Main, 
 as the West Indies had 
 been rightly designated for 
 two hundred years. 
 
 It was nearly a century and 
 a half since Columbus had dis- 
 covered America, and land- 
 ing on San Salvador claimed 
 the West Indies and the still unknown continents 
 
 117
 
 118 ANN EKE. 
 
 of the Western Hemisphere for Spain. And for all 
 this time although other countries had grumbled 
 and questioned the right of Spain to these great 
 possessions, they had not been wrested from her. 
 
 True, Portugal claimed Brazil. Sir Walter Raleigh 
 had given his life, and his great heart had broken 
 in the vain endeavor to establish England's right 
 to a portion of this domain. But for the struggling 
 colonies at Jamestown, Yirginia, and in New Eng- 
 land on the mainland of North America none could 
 have foretold the triumph of the Anglo-Saxon race, 
 and Spain after her two centuries of discovery, of 
 limited colonization and unlimited theft was still 
 in fact the mistress of the New World. Little 
 Holland through the enterprise of her West India 
 Company was disputing her sovereignty of the seas 
 and insisting on trading ports for her merchant- 
 men, and a few adventurous Englishmen and 
 Frenchmen had established themselves in the lit- 
 tle island of St. Christopher or St. Kits, but this 
 was so trifling a menace to her dominion that Spain 
 hardly roused herself to take notice of the fact. 
 The Dutch had only begun to think of colonizing. 
 Their trading port at the mouth of the Hudson 
 had opened the way to the formation of the New 
 Netherlands ; but in the West Indies these islands 
 of St. Martin's in the northern Caribbees, and of
 
 A MAN IX ARMOR. VAN DYCK.
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 119 
 
 Curacao, Buen Ay re and Aruba on the coast of 
 Venezuela, were such insignificant points in the vast 
 area of New Spain as to be almost invisible. 
 
 At length the Spaniards noticed the little colony 
 at St. Kits, and descending upon the island expelled 
 the French and English settlers, who took refuge on 
 a still smaller island, that of Tortuga, on the north- 
 ern coast of Hayti or Hispaniola as it was then 
 called. Here the French cultivated small planta- 
 tions, and the English became hunters of the wild 
 cattle with which the neighboring large island of His- 
 paniola abounded. The beef thus obtained they 
 cured and sold to sailors, and as time went on they 
 acquired such a reputation for this commodity that 
 ships stopped regularly to provision at the island. 
 The meat was cured by smoking over fires fed by 
 the boucan nut, and was thus said to be boucaned, 
 and the hunters so preparing it were termed buc- 
 caneers. They were a wild, rough set, like our 
 western cowboys, hunting and ranging the plains 
 and camping together, generally by twos, sworn 
 comrades nursing each other when sick or wounded, 
 and often showing great devotion for one another. 
 The port on the island of Tortuga, however, was a 
 lawless place, the refuge of malcontents and male- 
 factors. There were gambling and drinking and 
 every kind of vice, and in time hunting seemed a
 
 120 ANN EKE. 
 
 slow way of earning money, and some of the buc- 
 caneers made marauding expeditions in Spanish 
 towns in Hispaniola and in Cuba. These were un- 
 fortunately so successful that large numbers banded 
 together under popular leaders, ships were taken 
 and refitted, and the buccaneers became pirates. 
 Their hatred for the cruelty, treachery, and rapac- 
 ity of the Spaniard was their excuse for these at- 
 tacks ; but they soon rivalled their enemies in all of 
 these particulars, and robbed inoffensive merchant 
 ships of every nation, not excepting their own, with 
 equal impartiality. Such a nest of corsairs was the 
 Island of Aves of which Kingsley wrote. For as 
 piracy became more general other resorts were 
 chosen, but Tortuga was the first and for many years 
 the most important of these haunts of wickedness. 
 
 It was to Tortuga that the Black Lady, Captain 
 Morgan's new ship, was bound ; and the Captain 
 was no better than the worst of the pirates there. 
 Willie had guessed that his honesty was dubious 
 from the first, and he revealed himself unmistakably 
 the first day after they set sail. 
 
 The ship was ploughing merrily down the channel 
 when the Captain called Willie into his cabin, re- 
 marking, " Now, Willie, my boy, you may give me 
 your money and we will run into Dunkirk and get 
 some more stores. By my agreement with his
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 121 
 
 Majesty I have my own expenses to pay and we 
 are not half provisioned." 
 
 "You are welcome to all I have," Willie replied, 
 " though I fear it will not go far," and he tossed his 
 money-belt on the table. 
 
 The Captain counted the sovereigns with a scowl 
 that grew darker as he realized the meagre amount. 
 ""What," he exclaimed, "did you do with the money 
 which you obtained from the jewels ? " 
 
 " I sent it to the King by Prince Frederick, as 
 agreed upon," Willie replied simply. 
 
 The Captain's face grew absolutely livid with 
 rage. "Fool, swindler," he yelled, "did you ac- 
 tually allow such a fortune to slip through your 
 fingers?" 
 
 " I may have been a fool in simply performing 
 my duty honorably," Willie replied, " but I fail to 
 see how I deserve the name of swindler." 
 
 " Do you suppose that I would have taken you on 
 this trip if I had not supposed that you would be of 
 some use to me? What can you do? Will you 
 swab decks, or fight ? " 
 
 " I expect to fight the Spaniards, and I can bear 
 a hand at work when necessary. But as we seem 
 to be mistaken in each other I will be obliged to 
 you if you will land me at the first port." 
 
 The Captain swore steadily for several minutes,
 
 122 ANN EKE. 
 
 and having expended his wrath in that way began 
 to laugh. " A fine joke," he muttered. " You have 
 played it on me twice, Willie Nicoll; you are a sharp 
 one, you are. So you thought it a good game to 
 curry royal favor by sending that money straight 
 to the King. Don't you know that when you come 
 back from this voyage there may not be any King 
 on the throne of England ? " 
 
 " I would have done it all the same if I had been 
 as certain of his failure as I am of his success." 
 
 " So, you are certain, are you ? "Well, you have 
 been in a position to know more about it than 
 Henry Morgan, and if when we do come back the 
 King should happen to be on the throne, it might 
 not be such a bad idea to have some influence at 
 court. Harkee, Willie, I believe that you are a fel- 
 low who will stick to his word. If I forgive you 
 these tricks, and mind you I've hung men for less, 
 will you stand by me when we come back ? " 
 
 " I would rather you would set me ashore when 
 you stop to provision." 
 
 " Oh ! would you ? Well you may have the 
 chance. As you cannot furnish the money to pur- 
 chase provisions it will be quite useless for us to 
 put in to any port, and we will simply overhaul the 
 next merchantman we meet and fit ourselves out 
 from her. We will kill the crew, if they offer re-
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 123 
 
 sistance ; if they surrender we will put them in irons. 
 I have men enough to manage both ships, and we 
 will maroon our prisoners, that is land them on the 
 first desert island we touch, and you shall be wel- 
 come to go ashore with them if you like." 
 
 Willie was silent ; he resolved within himself that 
 if the ship attacked were English he would accept 
 the fate of its survivors ; but it so happened that 
 they fell in off the Azores with a Spanish ship laden 
 with plate (silver), and he had no compunctions of 
 conscience in assisting in making her a prize. He 
 bore himself so gallantly in this action, fighting by 
 the side of Morgan, that the latter was completely 
 won, and promised Willie to make war only on their 
 national foes, the Spaniards, if he would remain 
 with them. 
 
 The Captain's home was a lonely blockhouse, 
 half hidden on a sheltered cove off the coast of Tor- 
 tuga, and Morgan steered directly for this point in- 
 stead of for the chief town of the island. It was 
 well for him that he did so, for in going ashore he 
 found only ashes and charred embers where his 
 iiome had been. Carrion crows were sailing slowly 
 above a thicket of bamboo at a little distance, and 
 skirting it they found a spot all trampled and 
 broken, which showed that his fugitive servants had 
 been followed and massacred. Their bones had
 
 124 ANNEKE. 
 
 been stripped by the crows, and it was impossible 
 for Captain Morgan to tell whether Mookinga, the 
 Voudoo witch, had been killed with the others. At 
 all events she had vanished, and with her the hope 
 of obtaining the pearls buried by the divers at Mar- 
 garita. 
 
 When Willie asked who could have dared to do 
 this, the Captain replied that it was plainly the 
 work of the French settlers, between whom and the 
 English buccaneers there had always been trouble. 
 
 " There are a number of planters in the valley 
 beyond that range of hills, whose potatoes, tobacco, 
 yams and sugar, I have frequently looted ; but 
 that they should dare to retaliate even in my ab- 
 sence, amazes me. We will row back to the 
 ship for the night, and to-morrow wipe these cow- 
 ardly miscreants from the face of the earth." 
 
 But Morgan was not to execute his threat. They 
 had scarcely returned to the boats when they 
 noticed that one of their ships was crowding can- 
 vas, and that the other was signalling to them to 
 hasten on board. As soon as they reached the ship 
 they saw the cause of alarm. A French man-of- 
 war of large size had come in sight and was giving 
 chase to their convoy the captured Spanish mer- 
 chantman. " Ah ! that is why my French neighbors 
 were so impudent," Morgan exclaimed. " There
 
 ITH THE BUCCANEERS, 125 
 
 is a French fleet in port, and they have decided to 
 drive the English from the island. We must scud, 
 for we are not strong enough to meet them in open 
 fight." 
 
 The French cruiser chased them far to the west, 
 capturing their convoy. Avoiding Cuba, Morgan 
 coasted the northern shore of Jamaica, which also 
 belonged to Spain at this time, but was not so well 
 settled as the larger island. Finding a sheltered in- 
 let, tortuous enough to hide the ship in its windings 
 between palm groves, he ran in, intending to re- 
 main in hiding until the French cruiser had given 
 up the hunt and then venture out again. Unfor- 
 tunately in the first bend of the inlet he ran the 
 ship on a bar, and although concealed from his 
 pursuers, was unable to leave his hiding, for his ves- 
 sel was held fast in the grip of the treacherous 
 sands. 
 
 Fearing the malaria of the lowlands and that 
 they might at any time be discovered, Morgan and 
 his sixteen men followed a little river which emptied 
 into the inlet, and after tramping for miles along 
 its bed, discovered a point in a rocky gorge, which 
 they felt sure they could hold against all invaders. 
 
 Here they built a blockhouse of palm logs ; and 
 to this point they transferred provisions and con- 
 veniencies from the ship. It was hard work, and
 
 126 ANNEKE. 
 
 could only be done in moonlit nights, for the days 
 were too warm, and the moist air was as enervat- 
 ing as that of an orchid house. They had an abun- 
 dance of food, for beside the ship's stores, pigeons 
 flew over in flocks, the shore swarmed with turtle, 
 and thousands of crabs scuttled over the sand. 
 These the sailors ate too freely, and presently half 
 of their number were ill. They lacked vegetables, 
 and though there were Spanish settlements further 
 west they dared not approach them, and so they re- 
 mained in their rocky ravine waiting for their sick 
 to recover, and hoping after that to organize a 
 hunting party. 
 
 One day a startling discovery was made by a 
 member of their party, the charred remnants of a 
 camp-fire near their fort. A small party of men had 
 passed that way recently, for their trail was fresh 
 on the river bank, and showed that they had 
 marched down toward the shore. 
 
 There was no proof that the blockhouse had been 
 discovered, for it was situated at an angle in a side 
 ravine. As many days went by and there were no 
 further signs of the passing of any human being, 
 the alarm occasioned by this incident subsided, and 
 it was thought that the party must have been a 
 band of hunters. 
 
 The rainy season was approaching, the migration
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 127 
 
 of the pigeons had long since ceased and Morgan 
 with the strongest of his men set out to the plains 
 to kill some of the wild cattle and boar, and pro- 
 vision their fort with meat against the time that 
 they would be shut in. 
 
 One afternoon while the hunting party was away, 
 Willie was exploring the upper part of the ravine, 
 when he heard in a thicket at a little distance, the 
 sweet, rich note of a bird hitherto unfamiliar to 
 him. He listened attentively, and after a time he 
 heard it again, prolonged and apparently nearer. 
 
 It was so full and clear that he imagined it must 
 be quite large, and possibly of the mocking-bird 
 species ; and he stole nearer, skirting the thicket in 
 hopes that he might catch a glimpse of the flash of 
 its wings. The bird seemed to understand his 
 curiosity and to be possessed with a spirit of mis- 
 chief in luring him on, for presently the plaintive 
 notes came from a grove further up the ravine. Or 
 was it another bird of the same species answering 
 the first ? Impulsively Willie obeyed the strange, 
 melancholy call, and dashed on toward the grove ; 
 but an instinct of caution made him pause before 
 penetrating its jungle. At that instant of hesita- 
 tion the sweet, alluring cry sounded from the 
 midst of a clump of flowering shrubs close at hand, 
 and to frighten the bird into showing itself he fired
 
 128 ANNEKE. 
 
 into the bush. His shot was answered by a shriek, 
 and a young negress sprang from the thicket, and 
 stood wild-eyed before him with blood trickling 
 from her wounded arm. 
 
 "Willie was by far the more startled of the two, 
 for the girl was not at all frightened, but simply 
 indignant. She showed him. the wound, chattering 
 and scolding angrily in Spanish, and Willie, sur- 
 prised and repentant, proceeded to dress the wound 
 to the best of his ability. "While doing so two 
 negroes appeared armed with bows and arrows, to 
 whom the girl explained the situation in some 
 African dialect upon which they took away "Willie's 
 gun, and fastening a hammock to a long pole gave 
 him one end to carry. The girl dropped into the 
 hammock wearily, but murmured something as they 
 were about to set forward. 
 
 One of the negroes darted into the thicket, and 
 returning placed in her hand a Koromanti flute, 
 made from a porous branch of the trumpet tree. It 
 was with this instrument that the young negress 
 had given the bird-like call, at once so sweet and 
 melancholy, which had allured him into captivity. 
 
 For Willie was now a prisoner. He realized this 
 as he tramped on for miles up the canon into wilder 
 and wilder regions. 
 
 Whither were they leading him, and for what
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 129 
 
 purpose? "Was their clemency in sparing his life 
 only that they might torture him later on ? 
 
 Were these negroes the slaves of Spaniards, or 
 acting on their own behalf ? These were some of 
 the questions which perplexed his mind as he 
 stumbled up the rocky path, or waded the bed of 
 the stream. They rested for a short time in the 
 middle of the day, and then tramped on far into 
 the night, arriving at last at a valley surrounded 
 and hidden by a range of high hills. It was ap- 
 parently the crater of an extinct volcano, or the 
 bed of an ancient lake, which had burst its bounds 
 and disappeared so long ago that a vast plain of 
 arable soil brought down by the rains from the 
 surrounding cliffs, had been deposited within its 
 cup. This plain had been cultivated, and was cov- 
 ered with fields of tobacco, corn and coffee. At 
 first Willie saw no houses or other signs of habita- 
 tion, but as they descended into the valley the 
 moon rose over the mountain range and he discovered 
 that the rocky wall was pigeonholed with caves, 
 tier upon tier, with narrow ramps and footpaths 
 leading to them, like the cliff-dwellings of the 
 ancient Pueblo Indians. There were so many of 
 these caves that they formed an amphitheatre sweep- 
 ing around the plantations, and Willie compre- 
 hended that he was in one of those cities of the
 
 130 ANN EKE. 
 
 runaway slaves or marooners similar to that of 
 Nanny. A sentinel at the pass, through which they 
 entered the crater, lighted a torch and led them up 
 a winding footpath to a great vaulted cavern, which 
 was later to be known as Cudjos Cave, one of the 
 council chambers of that celebrated king of the 
 blacks. 
 
 As they approached the entrance they had been 
 joined by other negroes who seemed to spring up 
 from the ground, and to ooze from the rocks them- 
 selves. The procession filled the cavern with a 
 murmuring crowd, who pressed forward to have a 
 look at Willie. But other guards had joined the 
 sentinel, who kept the crowd back, and Willie, too 
 weary to stand, leaned against the wall and looked 
 into the dark faces resolutely, wondering whether 
 they had come to watch his execution. But there 
 was curiosity, not fury in their gestures, and some 
 women brought calabashes of mush and coffee, with 
 which he refreshed himself. The wounded girl had 
 left her hammock and disappeared before they en- 
 tered the cavern, and presently a weird figure came 
 from the extreme end, and mounting a block of 
 stone, which appeared to have been placed there as 
 a sort of rostrum, harangued the audience. She 
 was an aged but energetic negress, her woolly hair 
 whitened by age, and her figure bent, but her arms
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 131 
 
 sinewy and her voice powerful. She was dressed 
 in a course robe of sacking, and supported herself 
 with a long staff. As she talked the negroes 
 grunted their approval, and finally, as she spread 
 her hands above her head in dismissal, they obedi- 
 ently left the hall. Then the witch-like creature 
 descended from her pedestal, and approaching 
 Willie, addressed him to his intense surprise in 
 fairly good English. 
 
 " Captain Morgan much trouble. No keep prom- 
 ise Mookinga, free her people, Margarita." 
 
 " Are you Mookinga ? " Willie asked. " Then 
 you ought to know that Captain Morgan was to 
 return to Tortuga before setting out on the Mar- 
 garita expedition. He did so, but found his home 
 destroyed, and no Mookinga to tell him with what 
 signals to rally the pearl divers of Margarita to his 
 assistance." 
 
 The old woman nodded gravely. 
 
 " You take message to Captain Morgan. If he 
 no shoot poor black people, no whip, no abuse, then 
 they come down to ship, Mookinga work great 
 spell, float ship, black people go with Captain Mor- 
 gan. He show where to steer ship. Kill Spaniards, 
 free slaves, give him pearl, much pearl." 
 
 Willie was by no means certain that Captain 
 Morgan would be willing to man his vessel with a
 
 132 ANNEXE. 
 
 crew of half savage blacks, but he reflected that it 
 was quite safe to promise anything contingent on 
 the floating of the ship, and as he was entirely in 
 the power of this strange woman, he expressed his 
 willingness to carry her message. He was not al- 
 lowed to do so for many days. The girl, whom he 
 had inadvertently shot, was Mookinga's daughter 
 Figa. Willie's knowledge of surgery adapted to 
 gunshot wounds, though rudimentary, was in ad- 
 vance of that of any of the negroes, and Mookinga 
 insisted that he should not return until the girl's 
 arm was cured. Meantime his position was very tol- 
 erable. The negroes were fugitives from the Span- 
 iards, and some of them had even been house-servants, 
 and knew the European ways of cooking. In their 
 plantations inside the crater and in other fertile 
 valleys further up the mountains, they cultivated 
 many kinds of fruits and vegetables, and Willie 
 especially enjoyed the bananas, and the sour wild 
 oranges sweetened with brown sugar. Mookinga 
 made delicate fritters, and when his appetite was 
 satisfied it was a pleasant thing to 
 
 "Swing with good tobacco in a net between the trees." 
 
 Figa had a small green parrot which it was amus- 
 ing to attempt to teach. It already knew a num- 
 ber of Spanish words but appeared perplexed by
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 133 
 
 English. There were many strange song birds, he 
 was told, in the mountains, but he was not allowed 
 to wander outside of the crater. He was half guest 
 and half prisoner, and was always watched by ne- 
 groes quick to wait upon him, but who would have 
 been equally officious in hindering any attempt to 
 escape. Soon his imprisonment became closer and 
 more irksome, for the rainy season came on. 
 
 The rain descended in sheets, and Willie was con- 
 fined to the great cave. It was impossible now to 
 descend the canon, for the little stream had swollen 
 to a torrent which filled the stony bed from wall 
 to wall. So Willie remained a captive with the ne- 
 groes and Morgan and his companions imagined 
 that he had met his death. They, too, were prison- 
 ers, shut in by the driving rain, and the men were 
 growing every day more restless, and were longing 
 for any adventure, no matter how desperate, to re- 
 lease them from their Crusoe life. 
 
 At last the rain ceased and one morning, to their 
 horror, the little garrison were awakened by the 
 beating of drums and barbarous shouts and cries, and 
 peering over their palings, saw that an armed band 
 of half-naked negroes had seized the cliffs above 
 them, and were in a position to fire down into their 
 enclosure. The men snatched their guns, prepared 
 to sell their lives as dearly as possible, when they
 
 134 ANNEKE. 
 
 saw two figures descending a narrow pathvyay. As 
 they came nearer Captain Morgan saw that one of 
 them was dressed in civilized garb, and carried a 
 flag of truce, and that the other was a woman. 
 Later when the door of the blockhouse was opened 
 and they were allowed to enter he was astonished 
 to recognize Willie and Mookinga. 
 
 The Captain was neither so incredulous as to 
 Mookinga's power, nor so scrupulous as to condi- 
 tions as Willie imagined that he would be, and an 
 agreement was speedily made between them. It 
 was arranged that nearly all the negroes were to 
 return to their homes to bring provisions for the 
 voyage ; while only twenty were to be taken with 
 Mookinga to Margarita to rescue the pearl divers 
 as soon as the ship could be released from the sands. 
 
 When the larger party had departed the bucca- 
 neers descended with the other negroes to the 
 shore. Mookinga led the procession, brandishing 
 her staff, to which was tied as a fetich a serpent's 
 skin stuffed with poisonous horse beans brought 
 from Africa and a variety of other magical objects 
 used in incantations. 
 
 Willie fancied that the Captain intended that the 
 negroes should clear the sand from around the keel 
 of the vessel while others lightened it by removing 
 the cannon and ballast and that thus it would be
 
 WITH TEE BUCCANEERS. 135 
 
 floated. What was his surprise therefore, to find 
 on coming in sight of the inlet, that the Black Lady 
 was entirely free of the sands, and had drifted 
 quite a distance. He saw in an instant that this 
 had been accomplished in a perfectly natural way, 
 for the heavy rains had swollen the streams to tor- 
 rents, and the freshet had lifted the ship from the 
 treacherous bar. Mookinga, however, claimed the 
 entire credit for this event, and the negroes scatter- 
 ing in several directions hauled from their hiding- 
 places several canoes in which the entire party 
 were paddled to the ship. 
 
 The negroes worked with a will, transferring the 
 supplies from the blockhouse back to the ship, 
 and in due time the others who had been sent to 
 their mountain fastness returned with provisions, 
 and Captain Morgan finally set sail in better condi- 
 tion than when cast away upon the island. 
 
 It will be readily understood that he could not 
 be depended upon to take the part of the slaves 
 any further than served his own interest ; but he 
 had long had the idea in his mind of attacking 
 Margarita. He therefore determined to avail him- 
 self of the help of the blacks, and after the port 
 was taken to act as was most convenient. Even 
 now he did not feel strong enough to attempt the 
 enterprise unaided, and he determined to cruise
 
 136 ANNEKE. 
 
 along the northern coast of Hispaniola, hoping to 
 fall in with some other pirate ship that would share 
 in the adventure. 
 
 He would have found companions easily if he 
 had stopped at Tortuga, for the French cruiser had 
 made but a short stay, and the buccaneers were 
 back at their old place of call where Frangois Lo- 
 lonnois was organizing an expedition to plunder 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 Lolonnois was possibly the most brutal of all the 
 pirates. He captured a Spanish frigate sent from 
 Cuba, with a negro executioner on board instructed 
 to hang all the pirates to the yard-arm. Lolonnois 
 boarded the ship with his gang, and led the attack, 
 striking off the heads of the Spaniards, and licking 
 his cutlass after every blow. No leader of the buc- 
 caneers approached so nearly to being an incarnate 
 fiend in the cold ingenuity of his tortures, though 
 Morgan, when attempting to extract information of 
 secreted treasure, was a close follower. 
 
 Ignorant of what was going on at Tortuga, Mor- 
 gan gave his old haunts a wide berth, and sailed on 
 past Porto Kico and the Virgin Islands to the Car- 
 ibbees. As they came in sight of St. Martin one 
 of the most northerly of this group, they were sur- 
 prised to see that a naval engagement was going 
 on in its principal harbor.
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 137 
 
 Two great Portuguese galleons had attempted to 
 land, but had been pluckily met in the bay by three 
 small yachts, which disputed their approach. The 
 smallest of the vessels carrying but five guns and 
 manned by thirty men sailed between the Portu- 
 guese ships, which were so near together that they 
 dared not fire upon the yacht for fear of injuring 
 each other. While the attention of the two crews 
 was taken up by this daring exploit the other 
 yachts grappled each the outer side of the two gal- 
 leons, and their boarders were on deck before the 
 Portuguese realized what had happened. 
 
 " Well done, Dutchmen ! " shouted Morgan, 
 " though they have a stiff bit of work before them 
 yet, for the Portuguese outnumber them three to 
 one." 
 
 " Dutchmen, did you say ? " asked Willie. " You 
 are right too, I recognize that little fleet of 
 yachts, for I went on board them all with Kiliaen 
 when they were lying at Amsterdam. The one on 
 the port side of the larger galleon is the Neptune. 
 That is the Cat to the starboard of the other, 
 and that little hero sailing in between is the 
 Paroquit, Stuyvesant's favorite, and his flagship. 
 But he told me he was bound for Curacao. What 
 is he doing here ? " 
 
 " Defending his dependency, and by the powers
 
 138 ANNEXE. 
 
 he is doing it well. St. Martin belongs to the 
 Dutch, but the Portuguese have long coveted it. 
 We are in luck, Willie Nicoll, we are going to have 
 sport better than the best cockfight or bear baiting 
 you ever witnessed. We will lie off here at a safe 
 distance and see them batter one another, and when 
 all is over the victor may be so worried out that we 
 can sail in and make prizes of them all. Perfect 
 neutrality, says I, perfect neutrality, till I sees 
 which way luck is going to jump, and then jump 
 with it quick, and hard, and never mind what you 
 jump on, Willie Nicoll ! " 
 
 So they watched the unequal fight, taking turns 
 at the ship's best spyglass. Willie's attention was 
 concentrated on the yacht Paroquit which, it 
 has been said, lay at close quarters between the 
 two great galleons. Its five guns were being fired 
 with such rapidity and effect that one of the Portu- 
 guese ships bore off to a safer distance leaving 
 Willie a more unobstructed view. As he scruti- 
 nized the deck of the yacht he was attracted by 
 two men ; the first was Stuy vesant, who was here, 
 there and everywhere, directing the fire of the 
 gunners, shouting to the helmsman, or the man who 
 was running up signals to the other yachts, 
 now vanishing, now reappearing, gesticulating, and, 
 Willie felt sure though he could not hear the words,
 
 WITH THE BUCCANEERS. 139 
 
 swearing as he delivered his vehement orders. 
 The other man sat quite alone in an exposed por- 
 tion of the deck with a strange contrivance rigged 
 before him, which at first Willie imagined to be a 
 great shield raised for his protection on a sort of 
 tripod, but as Willie continued to study this puz- 
 zling figure it flashed through his mind that the 
 shield was simply a large canvas on a sketching 
 easel, the man an artist so carried away by enthu- 
 siasm, that he was painting with as complete 
 absorption and coolness as though in the safest and 
 most quiet of studios. 
 
 Suddenly, after an energetic dab at the canvas, 
 the painter rose from his camp-stool, took a few 
 steps backward to regard his work from a little 
 distance, ran his fingers through his hair with a 
 gesture of despair and precipitated himself upon his 
 painting with renewed energy. 
 
 That dramatic gesture was enough to recall the 
 artist to Willie, and he exclaimed : " It is Yan der 
 Yelde ; at last he has his opportunity." l 
 
 1 The talents of William Van der Velde so recommended him to 
 the States of Holland that they furnished him with a small vessel 
 to accompany their fleets that he might design the different ma- 
 neuvres and engagements. He was present at the battle between 
 the English and the Dutch fleets under the command of the Duke 
 of York and Admiral Opdam in which the ship of the latter with 
 five hundred men was blown up. During the engagements he 
 sailed between the fleets so as to represent every movement of the
 
 140 ANNEKE. 
 
 At that instant a shot from one of the yacht's 
 guns took effect in the powder magazine of the re- 
 treating Portuguese ship, there was a fearful ex- 
 plosion, a volcano of flame and burning fragments 
 rose into the air, and then a curtain of smoke de- 
 scended and hid the combatants from view. 
 
 ships with exactness, constantly exposing himself to the greatest 
 danger without the least apparent anxiety. He wrote over the 
 ships their names and those of their commanders, and under his 
 own frail craft " V. Velde's Gallijodt." 
 
 Both he and his son were taken into the service of King Charles 
 II., as appears from an order of the privy seal as follows : "Charles 
 II. by the grace of God, etc., to our dear cousin, Prince Rupert, 
 greeting. Whereas, we have thought fit to allow the salary of 
 100 per annum unto William Van der Velde the Elder for taking 
 and making draughts of sea-fights ; and the like salary of 100 per 
 annum unto William Van der Velde the Younger, for putting the 
 said draughts in color for our own particular use, we do hereby 
 require said salaries to be paid unto them, and for so doing these 
 our letters shall be your sufficient warrant and discharge."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OEANGE BOVEN. 1 
 
 " Will you have a white knot? 
 
 No, it is too cold. 
 Give me splendid orange, 
 Tint of flame and gold. 
 
 " Aye the maid of Holland 
 For her own true love 
 Ties the gleaming orange, 
 
 Orange still above! 
 oranje boven ! 
 Orange still above! " 
 
 Dutch national song translated. 
 
 O the Dutchman," (says 
 Griffis) " orange is a 
 symbolical as well as 
 historical color. Com- 
 pounded of red and yel- 
 low, it tells of blood and 
 gold, life and property." 
 Both of these the Hol- 
 lander was always willing 
 to lavish for his country. 
 No one had more gener- 
 ously given his wealth than 
 Kiliaen Van Eensselaer ; his ambition even had been 
 
 1 Oranje boven, orange above. 
 141
 
 142 ANNEKE. 
 
 so mingled with patriotism that it was hardly per- 
 sonal, and when the wrench came that tore asunder 
 the interests of his family and those of his Prince 
 his loyalty never wavered. 
 
 It is true that on the day that the marriage of 
 Prince William II. with the Princess Mary of Eng- 
 land, was publicly proclaimed in Amsterdam, he was 
 prostrated by a stroke of apoplexy, but he rallied 
 almost immediately and no one but little Anneke 
 saw any connection between the two events or 
 guessed at the mirage which vanished with this 
 certainty. 
 
 Young Kiliaen had been upon the point of sail- 
 ing for New Amsterdam in his grandfather's ship 
 the Goede Vrouw, but he put off his departure in- 
 definitely, unwilling to leave Holland until the old 
 man's recovery, and the ship which took back Jere- 
 mias Yan Eensselaer sailed without him. 
 
 Before she started upon her voyage her owner 
 was borne on board and transported across the 
 southern end of the Zuyder Zee to his ancestral 
 estates in Gelderland, the Riddergoed of Rensse- 
 laerwyck near Nykerk, to spend the months of his 
 convalescence in the old moated manor house. 
 
 Young Kiliaen and Anneke nursed him devotedly 
 and he was affectionate to both, but tenderer and 
 more confidential to his granddaughter, with whom
 
 ORANGE BOVEN. 143 
 
 he spoke frankly of the thwarting of his hopes, ab- 
 solving the Prince from all blame. 
 
 " It was all a mistake," he said. " I understand 
 it now as I look back upon our conversation. The 
 Prince was thinking of the English marriage. He 
 supposed that I referred to the Princess Mary and 
 had no thought of you. You must forgive 
 him." 
 
 " It seems," Anneke replied, " that I have noth- 
 ing to forgive. The Prince meant me no harm and 
 I never cared for him, but this young man, who 
 played his part and imposed upon us both, I can 
 never forgive." 
 
 They drove together along the wet roads between 
 the canals and the seashore, ready to hoist the 
 great top of the heavy carriage when the pearly 
 mist changed to actual rain, for the air like the 
 earth was surcharged with moisture. They were 
 gracious drops, however, and the sunbeams 
 twinkled through them so blithely, turning the tiny 
 globules into thousands of diamonds brilliant with 
 prismatic color, that the young people were never 
 depressed. They were young, and could no more 
 give themselves to despondency than the ducklings 
 that swam among water lilies. Kiliaen Yan Rens- 
 selaer the elder, was tranquil and thoughtful. 
 Little by little he regained his hold on life, though
 
 144 ANNEKE. 
 
 he often lost himself in his musings and did not 
 hear or understand when spoken to, so that the 
 cousins were practically alone. One day Kiliaen 
 overestimated his grandfather's preoccupation. 
 " The Goede Yrouw," he said, " has returned, and 
 grandfather is so much better that I need delay my 
 departure no longer. He told me so yesterday. He 
 wishes me to go to Harderwijk, where the ship is 
 waiting, and see that she is put in readiness for sail- 
 ing for America." 
 
 " I wish," said Anneke impulsively, " that I were 
 going back with you." 
 
 " Then why not, dear Anneke ? Be my wife 
 now, instead of making me wait until I can come 
 back to claim you." 
 
 Anneke had started when he began to speak and 
 she now interrupted him. " I do not understand 
 you, Kiliaen. I never said you might come back to 
 claim me at all, and you have never asked me to be 
 your wife have never even told me that you 
 loved me." 
 
 " But surely that was always understood. Our 
 parents settled all that when we were babies. I 
 am sure that the earliest thing that I can remember 
 was my mother scolding me for kissing a neighbor's 
 little girl because I was promised to my cousin in 
 America."
 
 ORANGE BOVEN. 145 
 
 "And have you loved me all these years?" 
 Anneke asked mischievously. 
 
 " I confess I have hated you very heartily. The 
 thought that we were as good as betrothed has 
 come in many a time to spoil my pleasure. But all 
 that vanished as soon as I saw you. I became 
 from that moment the most dutiful son in the 
 world. The day after I first called on you, 
 Anneke, I said to my mother, 'My will is yours.' 
 Poor Willie Mcoll, it was all over with him the 
 same day. We confessed it to each other. You 
 will be surprised to know that we were rivals from 
 that moment, but he, poor fellow, had no chance, 
 that is why I tell you now that he loved you. We 
 promised that we would be rivals in all honor, and 
 I could never respect myself if I took a mean ad- 
 vantage of my friend. You must first choose be- 
 tween us, for if you care for him I will go to 
 Leyden and tell him so before I sail. He is a good 
 fellow, Anneke, and honorable as the day is long." 
 
 "No," cried Anneke, "that is just what he is 
 not. He is a false friend ; never trust him 
 more." 
 
 " What do you mean, Anneke," Kiliaen asked, 
 his trouble showing itself in his face and voice. 
 But their grandfather, who had seemingly been 
 asleep in his chair, roused himself suddenly and
 
 146 ANN EKE. 
 
 asked for his pipe. "Do not bother Anneke by 
 asking her how it happens that she dislikes your 
 friend," he said to Kiliaen as the girl ran for the 
 pipe, " be satisfied that she does not love him, and 
 that she loves you. Is not that enough ? " 
 
 " Oh ! More than enough," Kiliaen replied, but 
 Anneke, who had heard both, answered, "I shall 
 tell Kiliaen all the truth, grandfather." She did 
 so very bravely, not concealing that she had fancied 
 that she loved Willie until she knew that he had 
 made use of such dishonorable means to meet her. 
 " Then," she said simply, " I knew that I never 
 loved that unworthy one but only the noble char- 
 acter that I imagined him to be. You could never 
 have done such a thing, Cousin Kiliaen." 
 
 Kiliaen pondered deeply. " I cannot believe it," 
 he cried. " It is so unlike "Willie, but since you 
 assure me that he did this thing I must believe that 
 his love for you is greater than mine, since it could 
 make him forget honor." 
 
 "I know it," Anneke replied proudly. "You 
 are a true Hollander and a true Van Rensselaer 
 and so am I. We hold certain things dearer than 
 love itself, and so I trust you as you may trust me. 
 I love you too, I am sure, quite as much as you love 
 me. It is not just what I thought the love of hus- 
 band and wife would be, but if you are satisfied,
 
 ORANGE BO YEN. 147 
 
 Kiliaen, I will be your wife and I promise to be a 
 true and grateful one." 
 
 " Say a happy one, Anneke, for I love you with 
 all my heart." 
 
 " Of course she will be happy," broke in the old 
 man. "Hasn't she said that she has no regrets, 
 that she is grateful for your love and proud of you, 
 in short that she loves you ? Why split hairs as to 
 whether it is just the love of a wife for a husband ? 
 What do you know about that, I should like to 
 know? Down on your knees both of you, and 
 thank God each for the other. He gives no better 
 gift than you each received to-day." 
 
 They knelt beside their grandfather's armchair, 
 and he embraced them both, and blessed them. 
 
 A few weeks later they were married by their 
 Uncle Mcolaus, the seer; but when they asked 
 him for a vision of their future he said solemnly, 
 " Ask me not, I can see but a little way. Some- 
 times the vision fails, and then 'tis best not to 
 know." 
 
 From the moment that Anneke and Kiliaen un- 
 derstood each other their grandfather seemed to 
 receive a new lease of life. He took an active in- 
 terest in the hurried preparations for the wedding, 
 giving orders for a change in the lading of the 
 Goede Yrouw, and ordering her to be ballasted
 
 148 ANNEKE. 
 
 with brick for the building of the new home on the 
 Hudson, and laden with rich household furniture, 
 carved chests of linen and massive plate engraved 
 with the family coat-of-arms, a bale of rugs which 
 had been brought back in one of his ships from 
 Constantinople, a box of books and even some 
 paintings. 
 
 " I cannot give you the jewels, my child ; " he 
 said, " the crown which I imagined might be yours 
 one day will be worn by the daughter of King 
 Charles. But some day I may fashion for you an- 
 other. That vast new country has great opportu- 
 nities and possibly great surprises in store for us." 
 
 The usual route for the Dutch at that day to 
 their colony on the Hudson, was by way of the 
 West Indies, and Kiliaen Van Rensselaer had a 
 special reason for wishing the Goede Vrouw to go 
 first to Curaao. He had long planned to visit the 
 island himself, and to establish there a branch house 
 for the purchase of such of the Panama pearls and 
 those of Margarita as could be obtained from smug- 
 glers, and he now sent out his youngest son to su- 
 perintend this business. 
 
 " Governor Stuy vesant will receive you well for 
 my sake," he said, " and will put you in the way of 
 making your fortune. The Spaniards themselves 
 will be glad to evade their own laws and trade with
 
 ORANGE BO YEN. 149 
 
 us, for we can make it greatly to their advantage to 
 do so." 
 
 The wedding was a stately one, the family re- 
 turning to Amsterdam for its celebration, and the 
 numerous connections rallying to do the young 
 couple honor. Ex-Governor Wouter Van Twiller 
 and his wife took an especial interest in the emigra- 
 tion of their nephew, and though Kiliaen used to 
 say in sport that his uncle's career in New Nether- 
 lands furnished him with many brilliant examples of 
 what not to do, he was fond of the old man and 
 especially so of his Aunt Petronella. The Goede 
 Yrouw was gaily bedecked with orange bunting, 
 and the old national song with which we have 
 headed this chapter, was sung by the wedding 
 guests as they stood in front of the Schreyerstoren 
 and waved a farewell to Goede Vrouw as she fol- 
 lowed the very track which had been taken by the 
 Black Lady, which two years before had carried 
 Willie Nicoll on his despairing voyage to the Span- 
 ish Main. 
 
 To just the point where they embarked the tour- 
 ists of to-day flock to take the small steamers which 
 make trips at every hour of the day to interesting 
 points in the vicinity of the city, but few probably 
 know the history of the old tower which still 
 watches over the harbor as it did when Anneke
 
 150 ANNEKE. 
 
 sailed away. It is built in fantastic style and called 
 the Schreyerstoren or Tower of Tears, because it 
 was here that the mariners departing on their long 
 voyages bade farewell to their friends. 
 
 Over the gate is an ancient bas-relief, represent- 
 ing a weeping woman, and in the distance a depart- 
 ing ship, a tablet said to have been placed there in 
 memory of a sailor's wife who died of grief, but 
 emblematical as well of many another broken heart. 
 
 The island of Curacao to which Anneke and Kil- 
 iaen were bound was one of the early discoveries. 
 Amerigo Vespucci, whose name was given later to 
 both continents, came upon it with Columbus' lieu- 
 tenant, Ojeda, in 1499, and called it the Isle of 
 Giants, from the men of great stature whom he 
 found there. Vespucci was a Venetian, and he gave 
 the name of Venezuela, or Little Venice, to the en- 
 tire northern coast of South America which he 
 skirted in this voyage, because the delta of the Ori- 
 noco with its numerous islands reminded him of 
 his native lagoons. Up this many -mouthed Orinoco 
 Raleigh sailed later, to make his ill-fated attempt to 
 claim its gold fields for England. Vespucci did not 
 ascend the river, but simply threaded the inlets and 
 land-locked bays boldly entering the unknown 
 lake between Trinidad and the mainland by the 
 Serpent's Mouth, and leaving it by the Dragons',
 
 ORANGE BO YEN. 151 
 
 coasting Margarita, all unconscious of its treasure of 
 pearl, and discovering the three small islands of 
 Buen Ayre, Curasao, and Aruba which the Dutch 
 were to take in 1632, entered the Gulf of Mara- 
 caibo. There the Spaniards were to build one of 
 their richest and most unfortunate cities, richest be- 
 cause it was the centre of the entire South American 
 trade, and unfortunate because its wealth attracted 
 frequent visits from pirates, who burned and plun- 
 dered the town, killing and torturing its inhabitants. 
 
 This was the course followed by the Goede Yrouw, 
 save that it darted swiftly past Margarita, giving 
 its castle a wide berth, for close beside it was an- 
 chored the Spanish plate ship, Magdalena, taking 
 on a cargo of pearls, and the Dutch sloop was not 
 prepared to attack the Spanish galleon. 
 
 Anneke was surprised by the homelike aspect of 
 Cura9ao, for the Dutch settlers had done wonders 
 in their short time of occupancy. They had found 
 a small arid island, its natural deficiency of water 
 only partly supplied by the cisterns which the 
 Spaniards had built, and its resources entirely unde- 
 veloped. But the Hollanders had set to work 
 and by means of plentiful irrigation had rendered 
 its plains productive. Canals had been carried 
 inland from the bay of Santa Anna on which the 
 town of Willemstadt was built. Its deep and shel-
 
 152 ANN EKE. 
 
 tered harbor was the chief rendezvous of the Dutch 
 West Indian fleet, and as the Goede Vrouw rounded 
 its breakwater, Kiliaen recognized Stuy vesant's little 
 squadron of one ship and three yachts. A salute 
 was fired in their honor as they landed, and pres- 
 ently the director's boat, rowed by stout negroes, 
 came dashing down the Schottegat. This deep 
 lagoon separated the business part of the town 
 from its residential suburb, the " Oberzijde," whose 
 green plantations were reflected in spreading 
 swamps which reminded the young emigrants of 
 the watery landscapes of their native land. True, 
 everything was on a tiny scale. Fort Amsterdam, 
 which defended the harbor, was only a small town, 
 the houses were of one story, for fear of earth- 
 quakes, and were built of adobe bricks ; but many 
 of them were roofed with red tiles brought from 
 Holland. The costumes were those of the Dutch 
 peasant, and the dear familiar Dutch language ap- 
 peared on the signs of their shops and was heard 
 on every hand. 
 
 Stuy vesant conveyed his guests to his bowery, or 
 farm, where they were greeted by his wife, a 
 charming woman, of French Huguenot extraction. 
 He gave them a hearty welcome and urged them to 
 make a long visit, for he could do nothing at present 
 to forward the pearl merchant's plans of establish-
 
 ORANGE BOVEN. 153 
 
 ing a branch house at Willemstadt. They had ar- 
 rived just as he was on the point of departing for 
 the plucky defence of St. Martin which Willie 
 was to witness. He could not tell what would be 
 the result of his trip, but if successful he promised 
 to return by way of Margarita and possibly make 
 a raid upon its port, though he could not spare men 
 enough to leave a permanent garrison and hold it 
 for Holland unless reinforcements were sent him 
 from the mother country. In the meantime he 
 begged his guests to defer their departure to New 
 Amsterdam until his return, and this they readily 
 agreed to do. 
 
 The island of Curapao was a pleasant place to 
 linger in, for the director's bowery was planted 
 with orange groves, whose sweet perfume hung 
 heavily in the warm air. They swung lazily in the 
 hammocks and watched the fruit grow round and 
 golden above their heads, and Anneke declared 
 that even nature here was declaring for Holland, 
 and singing Orange Boven. Stuyvesant had had 
 no such sentimental ideas in planting the orange 
 groves. The climate was suited to their cultiva- 
 tion, they were a profitable article of export, and it 
 was possible to distil from them a delectable variety 
 of Dutch Schnaps, the liqueur called Curacao, for 
 which the island is still celebrated.
 
 154 ANNEKE. 
 
 Orange Boven was not the only song sung under 
 the orange branches. Just as the Goede Vrouw 
 had been about to leave the port of Amsterdam, 
 one of Yan Kensselaer's workmen had rushed on 
 board with Willie Mcoll's mandolin which had 
 been entrusted to him long before to mend. He 
 had accomplished his task very cleverly, and when, 
 after they had been several days at sea, Kiliaen 
 found the mandolin lying on the cabin table and 
 ran his fingers over its strings, he found the instru- 
 ment in perfect condition. 
 
 It reminded him with a shock of his lost friend. 
 He had forgiven what he believed to be Willie's 
 baseness because of his love, and he had even ac- 
 cepted his own success with less compunction be- 
 cause he believed that Willie had been justly pun- 
 ished for resorting to unfair means in their rivalry. 
 All the greater, he thought, must have been Willie's 
 grief and chagrin that his sacrifice of honor was in 
 vain, and Kiliaen's noble heart held only a great 
 pity for his wretched friend. 
 
 Anneke did not connect the mandolin with Willie, 
 and when Kiliaen touched it and sang tender love 
 songs under the arching orange boughs the notes 
 wakened no troubled memories in her calm and 
 happy mind.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PEARLS AND TEARS. 
 
 But she drained into each ruby's heart from mine a drop of blood, 
 
 And a purity my spirit lost with every pearl that fell, 
 Then she laughed, " Good pearls thy tears are now, thy kisses rubies 
 
 good, 
 
 And the proper use of precious stones thy little one knows 
 well." Lord Lytton. 
 
 HEN Stuyvesant and 
 Willie had competed 
 in citing examples of 
 Dutch and English 
 bravery as they sat 
 with the Van Rensse- 
 laers in the pleasant 
 arbor at Amsterdam, 
 Willie had capped the 
 heroic death of Kla- 
 zoon with that of Sir 
 Richard Grenville and 
 
 there the argument had rested. 
 
 But there was one Dutch naval hero whom Stuy- 
 vesant had not mentioned at that time, possibly be- 
 
 155
 
 156 ANNEXE. 
 
 cause while his heart was fired with a fierce desire 
 to emulate his wonderful exploit, he could not de- 
 fend on high moral grounds the principle of re- 
 venge. 1 
 
 Jacob Yan Heemskerk was but the individual ex- 
 pression of the national desire to balance the bloody 
 account with Spain, and we can best understand 
 one phase of the Dutch spirit, as inherited from the 
 immediate ancestors of the men of the time we are 
 considering, by turning a leaf backward in history 
 to one of the naval exploits of Holland. 
 
 Van Heemskerk by turns merchantman, explorer, 
 privateer and admiral of the navy was a man of re- 
 fined appearance with fair hair and gentle expres- 
 sion, but he hid under his delicate physique an iron 
 will and unconquerable valor and ambition. 
 
 Placed in command of the Dutch fleet of twenty- 
 six small ships, he set out in the spring of 1607 for 
 the coast of Spain. Vice Admiral Alteras was 
 next to himself in command, but Lambert, nick- 
 named on account of his beauty, Pretty Lambert, 
 was among all the captains Heemskerk's best 
 friend. 
 
 They had news from merchantmen that the entire 
 
 1 The author acknowledges her indebtedness to Motley for the 
 stories of Holland's naval greatness as supposed to have been re- 
 lated by Stuyvesant in chapter iv., and also for the exploit of 
 Heemskerk given in chapter ix.
 
 PEARLS AND TEARS. 157 
 
 Spanish fleet of warships was lying in wait in the 
 Straits of Gibraltar for Netherland traders returning 
 from the East. Although they knew that this fleet 
 was far superior to their own, the Netherlander ad- 
 vanced eagerly to its attack, encouraged by Heems-. 
 kerk, who called the captains to a council on board 
 his flagship. 
 
 " I have led you into a position," he said, 
 " whence escape is impossible ; you have no choice 
 between triumph and destruction. The enemy's 
 ships are far superior to ours in bulk ; but remember 
 that their excessive size makes them difficult to han- 
 dle and easier to hit, while our own vessels are en- 
 tirely within control." 
 
 He explained the plan of attack. They would 
 advance two by two, himself leading, with Pretty 
 Lambert, and so grapple each of the great ships 
 they met simultaneously on either side. Heems- 
 kerk was in complete armor, with orange plumes and 
 silken orange scarf across his heart, and as he raised 
 the loving cup and dictated an oath to stand by his 
 comrades to the bitter death, each of his captains 
 repeated it solemnly, and drank the parting health 
 with enthusiasm. Then they returned to their 
 ships which were appropriately named for the most 
 savage of beasts of prey, the Tiger, the Sea Dog, 
 the Griffin, the Ked Lion, the Golden Lion, the
 
 158 ANNEKE. 
 
 Black Bear and the White Bear, and others of like 
 rapacity. 
 
 The Spanish ships had been baptized by the most 
 sacred names known in their religion and were sup- 
 posed to be under the special protection of the holy 
 personages whose godchildren they were. 
 
 There were several named for the Madonna, as, 
 Our Lady of La Vega, The Mother of God, and the 
 flagship was the St. Augustine. They bore at least 
 four thousand soldiers beside the sailors. 
 
 At the first encounter the two admirals, Spanish 
 and Dutch, were slain, but a cloak was thrown over 
 the body of the gallant Heemskerk and the fight 
 went on, few of his men knowing that he was slain. 
 " Long Harry," too, was killed, but " Pretty Lam- 
 bert " bore a charmed life. 
 
 Two by two the little ships closed on each of the 
 great galleons, the men boarding on each side after 
 one or two broadsides. One by one the Spanish 
 ships succumbed and sank, or drifted helplessly 
 about burning, to the water's edge. " Our Lady of 
 Vega ablaze from top gallant mast to quarter deck," 
 floated a frightful torch among the clouds of smoke, 
 " her guns going off wildly and her crew dashing 
 themselves into the sea." Suddenly there was a 
 tremendous explosion, one of the largest galleons 
 had blown up, and its blazing wreckage floated
 
 PEARLS AND TEARS. 159 
 
 about setting two more of the Spanish ships on 
 fire. " It seemed," said an eyewitness, " as if 
 heaven and earth were passing away." 
 
 At last every galleon was sunk or burned. It 
 was a great victory honorably gained; but the 
 sequel was dishonorable. The crews of the Dutch 
 ships swarmed into their long boats and rowed 
 about among the drowning wretches with which 
 the bay was filled ; but it was not to emulate the 
 humanity of the crew of the Half Moon who saved 
 two hundred of their enemies. The blood of the 
 Dutch seamen was up, and, burning to revenge the 
 death of their commander, the crews of the Tiger 
 the Lion and the Bear showed a bestial ferocity as 
 they beat the dying wretches with their boat- 
 hooks and held them down to drown, shooting and 
 stabbing such as clung to their boat sides implor- 
 ing mercy. This infamous butchery shows the 
 difference between honorable and dishonorable war- 
 fare, and how easily god-fearing patriots may be 
 transformed into fiends. 
 
 The war between Holland and Spain had nearly 
 reached its conclusion, but in the Spanish Main the 
 political situation was not clearly defined. The 
 Dutch had become conscious of their power, for the 
 West India Company had since 1621 captured five- 
 hundred and forty-seven vessels, mainly off the coast
 
 160 ANN EKE. 
 
 of America, the prize money from which amounted 
 to thirty million guilders (over twelve million dol- 
 lars), while the damage to Spain was at least six 
 times as much. It had recently conquered Brazil, 
 which with Portugal and her colonies was in the 
 hands of Spain, 1 and it must be understood that in 
 attacking the Portuguese who had seized St. 
 Martin, Stuyvesant was virtually following the ex- 
 ample of Heemskerk in visiting the revenge of 
 Holland upon Spain. 
 
 After the smoke which had obscured the issue of 
 the combat at St. Martin had cleared, it was 
 evident to Captain Morgan and to Willie that the 
 entire situation had changed. One of the Por- 
 tuguese ships lay a dismantled hulk, the other was 
 scudding for dear life, and the Dutch were masters 
 of the field. They had made no attempt, however, 
 to follow the retreating galleon, but were huddled 
 in a quiet, and, for victors, rather disconsolate 
 group. It needed but a second glance to divine the 
 reason. A circle of anxious men about a prostrate 
 form on the deck of the Paroquit, showed that the 
 leader had fallen, and that consternation reigned 
 for the moment among his followers. 
 
 " Now is our chance ; " exclaimed Morgan, " if we 
 
 1 Eodney's West Indies and Spanish Main.
 
 PEARLS AND TEARS. 161 
 
 attack the Dutch now we have some chance of tak- 
 ing them by surprise." 
 
 " Would it not be better," Willie urged, " to give 
 chase to the Portuguese ship ? She is a better prize, 
 and the Dutch are recovering from their disorder. 
 See, the largest of their yachts has discovered us 
 and is preparing to give us a warm reception." 
 
 "You are right, Willie," Morgan admitted re- 
 luctantly ; " they were game enough to do for the 
 two galleons. It was the part of prudence to gain 
 them as allies rather than attack them. You say 
 you knew their commander in Amsterdam. Take to 
 the boat, let some of these blacks row you out with 
 a flag of truce. Present my compliments, and see 
 if you can patch up a partnership for an attack on 
 Margarita. In the meantime I'll follow up the 
 galleon and whatever the result will come back and 
 join you here." 
 
 Willie quickly obeyed the Captain and was taken 
 on board the Paroquit, where he found that Stuy- 
 vesant, though desperately wounded, was still giving 
 orders. A cannon ball had carried off his leg. He 
 had been treated by the surgeon of the fleet and he 
 lay in a hammock, very pale, but with his resolute 
 will still undaunted. He had placed no one else in 
 command and his lieutenant came constantly to 
 him with information and received his directions.
 
 162 ANN EKE. 
 
 He recognized Willie, and greeted him in a 
 friendly manner but listened somewhat dubiously 
 to Morgan's overtures. " You are not in such 
 company as I would wish for you, my lad," he said, 
 "and to tell the truth I wish nothing more ear- 
 nestly from your Captain than that he leave me to 
 my own business. I neither wish his enmity nor 
 his favor, put it as you think best, but that is the 
 matter of my message." 
 
 When Willie explained that Captain Morgan had 
 followed the fleeing Portuguese galleon, but had 
 promised to return shortly to St. Martin, Stuy- 
 vesant replied gleefully, " Then you are my pris- 
 oner, my lad, for I have no intention of awaiting 
 the return of your Captain. You and your negroes 
 shall go with me to Curacao, prisoners or guests as 
 you will, and a lucky thing it is for you that you 
 are rid of your buccaneering friends. As for the 
 attack on the Spanish castle at Margarita, I had 
 that adventure in mind myself. We will outsail 
 the Black Lady and when she reaches Margarita 
 the work will have been done Kiliaen and 
 Anneke Yan Rensselaer, your old friends, are at 
 Curaao. You could do them no greater favor 
 than to assist in the seizure of Margarita. Can you 
 think of a prettier sight in the world than Anneke's 
 face will be when we fill her apron with pearls ? "
 
 PEARLS AND TEARS. 163 
 
 It was a chance remark, but it was destined to 
 influence Willie's career in a most important crisis. 
 The order was passed along to the other yachts to 
 proceed to the neighboring Dutch island of St. Eu- 
 statius in order to repair the damages sustained in 
 the encounter and to prepare for this next adven- 
 ture. Stuy vesant passed a painful night ; he had 
 exerted himself too much mentally after being 
 wounded, and he was in a high fever. The surgeon 
 was much alarmed. " He can never direct an en- 
 gagement in this condition," he said to the other 
 officers, " nor have I any hope of his recovery in 
 this hot climate. If we steer at once for Holland 
 we may be able to combat his fever when we strike 
 the cool breezes of the open ocean ; and if his wound 
 does not heal favorably or there is need of a second 
 operation, we can call in the assistance of the best 
 surgical advice in Europe. I refuse to be responsi- 
 ble for his safety in these latitudes." In this 
 emergency it was decided to give up the Margarita 
 expedition, the yacht Cat returning to Curayao to 
 report the news, and the Neptune with Stuyve- 
 sant's Paroquit attempting the voyage across the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 William Van der Velde went back to Curapao, 
 but before he left he said to Willie 
 
 " You are needed at home, Nicoll. There are
 
 164 ANNEKE. 
 
 wild doings in England, there was rumor of civil 
 war when I left Holland ; you should be fighting 
 under Prince Rupert, who passed through the 
 Hague on his way to take a commission under his 
 royal uncle, King Charles." 
 
 At another time this information would have 
 met with but one answer from Willie, but now 
 it awoke a fierce struggle within his breast. 
 Anneke was at Curayao and every leap which 
 the Paroquit took across the waves was bearing 
 him away from her. Stuyvesant had not said 
 that she was married to Kiliaen, he was delirious 
 now and could not give the information which 
 would have quenched the wild hope which was 
 flaming once more in Willie's heart. The Cat 
 had sailed for Cura9ao, but on the horizon there 
 appeared the familiar shape of the Black Lady. 
 Morgan was returning successful from his chase 
 of the Portuguese ship, which was following at 
 some distance as his prize, and manned by some 
 of his buccaneers, its own crew having been 
 marooned on a neighboring island. This division 
 of his men made Morgan hesitate to attack the 
 Dutch ships, while he was still hopeful that Willie 
 had secured them as allies. He accordingly stopped 
 at a little distance, signalling that he wished to 
 confer with the commander.
 
 PEARLS AND TEARS. 165 
 
 " Pay no attention to his signals," shouted the 
 lieutenant, " but crowd all canvas and sail by ; we 
 have the wind in our favor, and can give him the 
 slip." When his choice lay only between accepting 
 Captain Morgan's conditions or death it had never 
 occurred to Willie that he would not embrace the 
 first opportunity of escape from the pirates which 
 might open before him, but he was destined to sur- 
 prise himself and his captain as well, by voluntarily 
 turning his back upon a return to England with all 
 its honorable possibilities, and demanding that his 
 boat should be lowered and his negroes allowed to 
 row him to the pirate ship. If Stuy vesant had been 
 on deck he would not have been permitted any 
 choice in the matter ; but Willie was so peremptory 
 that he was allowed to depart, much to the distress 
 of honest William Yan der Yelde. 
 
 To Captain Morgan his decision was most grati- 
 fying. "I was afraid you might slip me, Willie; 
 forgive me that I misjudged you. You shall 
 never regret the stand you have taken this day. 
 I'll share with you share and share alike. As 
 they say in the marriage service for 'better or 
 for worse' half of the better and half of the 
 worser." 
 
 They were now embarked in good earnest for 
 Margarita. Morgan had found an abundance of
 
 166 ANN EKE. 
 
 arms and provisions on board the galleon, and 
 though he had not as many men as he could have 
 wished, he hoped that the rising of the slaves at 
 Mookinga's signals would supply that deficiency. 
 At first he was angry with Stuyvesant for not 
 accepting his overtures, but came to look upon the 
 refusal as fortunate, as there would be fewer claim- 
 ants for the plunder. They were talking one day 
 with Mookinga about the location of the pearl fish- 
 eries and the manner in which the pearls were stored 
 and obtained, when Morgan asked Willie whether 
 it was true as he had heard that pearls were the eggs 
 of oysters. Willie expounded the new theory of 
 their formation, telling how the origin of the pearl 
 had been the subject of recent discussion by the 
 professor of natural history at Leyden, who main- 
 tained that it was formed by the irritation of a 
 grain of sand, or some other intruding substance, 
 causing the oyster to protect its delicate body, by 
 secreting about it the nacre, the same beautiful sub- 
 stance with which its rough shell is lined. " If this 
 is so," he added, " I would greatly like to keep a few 
 pearl oysters in a tank and experiment upon them, 
 by introducing shot and other small objects within 
 their shells." 
 
 "You shall have not alone all the shells you 
 want," said Mookinga, " but pearls too, a calabash
 
 PEARLS AND TEARS. 167 
 
 of pearls, when you free my people. Are we many 
 days distant from the island ? " 
 
 " Not many, Mookinga. Tell us how the negroes 
 manage the pearl fishing." 
 
 Mookinga described the method as she had often 
 witnessed it. The divers paddling out in their 
 canoes to the oyster bed, then fastening around 
 their bodies one end of the rope by which they were 
 to be hauled up, and dropping over the sides of the 
 canoes into the deep water. They hastened their 
 sinking by means of a heavy stone tied to their feet, 
 and carried with them a knife, with which to dis- 
 lodge the shells from their rocky bed, a basket in 
 which to bestow them, and a sponge dipped in oil. 
 This was the most important of all the objects, for 
 from it the diver from time to time sucked a little 
 of the air which the oil prevented from escaping 
 through the water. 
 
 When the negro could remain no longer he un- 
 tied the weight from his feet, jerked at the rope, 
 and was hauled up with his basket of oysters. Five 
 minutes was the usual limit of endurance. 
 
 " Were any very large pearls found at Margarita 
 while you were there ? " Morgan asked. In reply 
 Mookinga told of a marvellous great pearl of 
 the shape and size of a small pear, which had been 
 found long ago, when a boy, by an aged negro of
 
 168 ANN EKE. 
 
 her acquaintance. It was so wonderful that he had 
 been given his freedom, and the other divers were 
 promised that if its equal were ever found they too 
 should be free, but its like was never seen. The 
 admiral of the Spanish fleet carried it back to Spain, 
 where, she was told, the King wore it in his hat. 
 But before it went it was taken into church and laid 
 before the image of the virgin, and there the mis- 
 sionary priest christened it as though it had been a 
 baby. 
 
 " Stop," cried "Willie. " I can tell you what it 
 was christened La Pelegrina, the pilgrim. I have 
 seen the pearl and I know where it is now." 
 
 " Yes," replied Mookinga, " it was La Pelegrina, 
 but wherever it is it will bring trouble. The 
 negroes called it the tear of the All Pitiful, for 
 they believed that one day the Christ, that the padre 
 told us of, looked down on Margarita, and when he 
 saw the woes of the pearl divers he wept, and this 
 pearl was one of his tears. Certain it is that wher- 
 ever it rests tears will rain." 
 
 " May it bring no tears to the gentle eyes of her 
 on whose breast I saw it last," said Willie, fervently. 
 
 No attention was paid to his remark, for Morgan 
 now called upon him to assist in planning the at- 
 tack upon the fort at the entrance of the harbor. 
 
 It was Morgan's scheme to land Mookinga and
 
 PEAELS AND TEARS. 169 
 
 some of the blacks at a little distance from the 
 port, two nights before the attack was to be made, 
 and thus allow them to prepare the slaves for an 
 uprising. He then proposed to hoist the Spanish 
 colors on the ship which he had captured, and sail 
 boldly by the fort into the harbor, followed by the 
 Black Lady. This was only to be done if there 
 were no Spanish men-of-war in the harbor, as it 
 was madness to attempt an attack if the Plate fleet 
 were stopping for a cargo of pearls. 
 
 Fortunately for the pirate's attack, but not for his 
 gathering, the Spanish fleet had just made its col- 
 lection and had sailed away. The commander of 
 the Castle allowed the two vessels to pass unchal- 
 lenged, for he recognized the galleon which had 
 provisioned here, and had not heard of the result of 
 its attack on St. Martin. 
 
 All happened exactly as Morgan had planned. 
 As soon as the ships appeared before the town, 
 a conflagration, set by the slaves, broke out 
 in the suburbs, and, while the inhabitants rushed 
 to extinguish it, Morgan landed his men unop- 
 posed, and, with the assistance of the negroes, bar- 
 ricaded all the city gates opening toward the 
 country, while he looted the principal buildings. 
 
 It is not the writer's intention to describe the 
 horrors of one of Morgan's raids, the indiscriminate
 
 170 ANNEKE. 
 
 massacre and wanton cruelty ; aged people tortured 
 in the hope of gaining information of hidden treas- 
 ure, priests murdered before the altar and the 
 sacred vessels and vestments seized. For a little 
 while men seemed changed to fiends. Willie was 
 everywhere striving to protect and to intercede for 
 the unfortunates, but the memory of that day of 
 carnage, followed by a night of riot, remained with 
 him until his death. Morgan was furious to find 
 that the pearls had just been shipped to Spain, and 
 that his plunder was after all hardly worth the 
 pains. He took what he could of miscellaneous 
 booty, and about sixty of the negroes led by Mook- 
 inga trooped on board the galleon, when he gave 
 the order to put to sea. Margarita was in the track 
 of Spanish commerce, and it was dangerous to re- 
 main here longer than necessary. The descent had 
 been sudden, the blow swift and terrible, but flight 
 must be immediate. As it was, the garrison at the 
 fort had become alarmed and the pirates feared 
 that they would have to run the gauntlet of its 
 guns in leaving. But a negro pilot guided them 
 through a channel known only to the pearl divers, 
 quite out of reach of the cannon, and when the 
 island faded from view they were gliding as safely 
 and peacefully on their way as though their errand 
 had not been one of death. It was in vain that
 
 PEAELS AND TEARS. 171 
 
 Willie told himself that these people were Span- 
 iards, enemies both of the English and the Dutch ; 
 war had never seemed so hideous to him and he 
 was sick at heart. There was only one redeeming 
 feature to it all, the slaves had obtained their 
 freedom. They were squatted upon the after deck 
 in a circle around Mookinga, who was telling them 
 of the beauties of the mountain village in Jamaica 
 to which she believed they were bound. 
 
 As Willie looked at these poor creatures and saw 
 their stolid faces lighten with something like hope, 
 he strove to console himself with the thought that 
 some good was to come out of all this cruelty. He 
 was speaking encouragingly to Mookinga when 
 Captain Morgan called him to join him in the 
 cabin. 
 
 " I have been dividing the prizes ; " he said to 
 Willie, " each man has his share, and now it is our 
 turn. I have said that we should share alike, and I 
 will do even better by you than I promised, for you 
 shall take your choice of the two lots which I have 
 reserved. There is one," (pointing to a small cala- 
 bash of pearls which lay on his bed). " Mookinga 
 kept her promise, and brought these to me. See, 
 they are all fine ones, secreted from time to time, 
 by the divers. If it were not for Mookinga we 
 would have had almost no pearls. You have doubt-
 
 1T2 ANNEKE. 
 
 less some sweetheart, in England or elsewhere, who 
 will know what to do with those baubles, but if 
 they are not to your mind then you may have what 
 I consider a fair equivalent in value." 
 
 " What is that ? " asked Willie. 
 
 " The sixty slaves of Margarita, and the twenty 
 we took on board at Jamaica. They are fine, able- 
 bodied negroes, and they will bring a good price 
 from the Dutch planters of Caracao, where we are 
 now bound." 
 
 Willie started. "But you promised Mookinga 
 that you would set her people at liberty, if they 
 would help you against the Spaniards and give you 
 these pearls ! " 
 
 " What is a promise to a negress ? " the Captain 
 asked, scornfully. 
 
 " An honorable man's promise is his promise, no 
 matter to whom it is given," Willie replied, simply. 
 
 " Do you dare to preach to me ? " Morgan asked, 
 laying his hand on his sword. 
 
 " No, Captain Morgan, but I beg of you to take 
 these negroes to Jamaica, according to your agree- 
 ment." 
 
 " I shall do nothing of the kind. If you choose 
 them as your share of the plunder, you may take 
 them where you please. If you choose the pearls, I 
 shall trade the negroes for a cargo of that fine liqueur
 
 PEARLS AND TEARS. 173 
 
 the Dutch make from the oranges of Caraao. We 
 shall reach the island some time to-morrow. I shall 
 let the blacks remain at liberty until just before I 
 land them ; they will be in better condition, and 
 there is no need of clapping them into irons until 
 just as they are coming on deck in the morning." 
 
 "And after you have obtained your cargo of 
 liqueur, what do you intend to do?" Willie 
 asked. 
 
 " Then I shall sail north for Tortuga. I heard at 
 St. Eustatius that the buccaneers were back again. 
 I shall dispose of my cordial at a good price, and 
 organize an expedition to come down this way again, 
 and take Maracaibo. It is the centre for the over- 
 land trade from Peru. I would attack it now were 
 I strong enough, but Margarita was child's play to 
 what we have before us there. Stay by me in this 
 venture, Willie, and your fortune will be made. 
 You will be as rich as a king, richer than some 
 kings I know of. Come, which will you have, the 
 pearls or the niggers ? Because, if you want to take 
 Mookinga and her people to Jamaica, there is no 
 need of our going to Caracao, and we will steer for 
 the north at once. I'll land your company where I 
 took Mookinga aboard, and I'll land you with them, 
 for I've no use for such a fool at Tortuga." 
 
 As the Captain spoke he lifted a handful of pearls
 
 174 ANN EKE. 
 
 from the calabash and let them trickle slowly 
 through his fingers. 
 
 Was it some glamour of Satan ? As Willie looked, 
 the ugly face of Morgan faded from vie\v, and he 
 saw instead Anneke, as she had looked in Rem- 
 brandt's studio when he had promised to seek the 
 pearls of Margarita. He saw himself come softly 
 behind her and shower the pearls over her white 
 shoulders. They rolled around her snowy throat 
 and nestled in her corsage, then dripped as 
 from the overflowing brim of a fountain into her 
 lap, where her small hands played with them. He 
 could not see her face, for it was turned from him, 
 but he remembered vividly her last words in that 
 bitter parting, " I will believe you when you fill my 
 lap with pearls." 
 
 He came out of his reverie with a start, but it 
 was all possible, the ship was cutting through the 
 blue water merrily. To-morrow they would be at 
 Curaao, and Anneke was there ! 
 
 Morgan was still playing with the pearls and re- 
 garding him with an evil smile. " Well, which do 
 you choose," he asked, " the negroes or the pearls ? " 
 and Willie answered mechanically (or was it a 
 tempting fiend at his side who answered for him ?), 
 " I choose the pearls."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 
 
 v 
 
 Our life is like a narrow raft 
 Afloat upon the hungry sea, 
 Hereon is but a little space 
 And each man eager for a place 
 Doth thrust his brother in the sea. 
 
 From an old Manuscript. 
 
 IFTER MS decision 
 
 Willie passed a trou- 
 bled night. The heat 
 was stifling, and he 
 left his hammock to 
 pace the deck. Mook- 
 inga was seated far 
 forward, like a carven 
 figure-head, above the 
 prow. She was strain- 
 ing her eyes for the 
 first view of land, for 
 
 she believed that they were nearing Jamaica. But 
 the breezes during the night had been light and 
 baffling, and there was no land in sight. Willie 
 avoided her. Her unquestioning faith and eager 
 
 175
 
 176 ANNEKE. 
 
 expectation were alike a reproach to him, and he 
 strode toward the stern where Morgan was talking 
 to the man at the helm. 
 
 "We shall not reach Curaao to-day," he said, 
 "unless the wind freshens. We have made little 
 headway. The negroes may as well have their 
 liberty as usual, for even should we make Willem- 
 stadt this afternoon there is no need of landing the 
 slaves until we have sold them. As you understand 
 the Dutch language better than I do, Willie, you 
 may take the long boat, go ashore, bargain with 
 the planters, and if you find any who wish to pur- 
 chase slaves bring them back with you." 
 
 This was exactly the opportunity which Willie 
 wished. All day long he paced feverishly too and 
 fro. All day long his good genius fought the battle 
 over with him, and, vanquished at every encounter, 
 at length sadly left him to his baser self. When 
 the sun set, the island of Cura9ao was outlined 
 against the fiery sky as though it floated before a 
 blazing furnace. Blood-red clouds succeeded the 
 sea of flame as the sun sank below the horizon, and 
 the town was silhouetted black and sinister against 
 them. 
 
 Willie had never seen a more ominous portent in 
 the heavens, but he buckled the pearls within his 
 doublet, and descended into the long boat recklessly
 
 I'KTKK STUVVF.SANT.
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 1T7 
 
 unscrupulous, saying to himself that if all that phan- 
 tasmagoria of fire and blood were literal flame and 
 slaughter, and lay between him and Anneke, instead 
 of beyond the island, he would have dared to pass 
 through it to reach her. 
 
 He stood erect in the boat and threw his slouched 
 cavalier hat on a thwart, to let the breeze cool his 
 forehead, and the better to direct the landing. 
 Morgan had said as they pulled away that if he 
 found it desirable to spend the night on shore he 
 might do so, and as Willie sprang on the dock he 
 told the men to row back to the ship, and to call 
 for him again in the morning. 
 
 Several Dutchmen, who had watched Willie's ap- 
 proach with curiosity, accosted him ; and fortunately 
 for Willie there was among them the artist, William 
 Yan der Yelde, who had been attracted to the pier 
 by the wonderful sunset. 
 
 He greeted Willie cordially, and led him toward 
 his own lodging, urging him to dine with him, and 
 proffering every service in his power. 
 
 Willie made brief explanation and asked to be 
 directed to Governor Stuyvesant's bowery, where 
 he knew that Anneke was visiting. 
 
 "I will conduct you there with pleasure," said 
 Yan der Yelde. " I was at the house only yester- 
 day, and we talked much of you. Your friend,
 
 178 ANNEKE. 
 
 Kiliaen, spoke of you with much affection. It is a 
 pity that he went away this morning to be gone a 
 month. A transport left for Maracaibo, to barter 
 salt, which we manufacture in these islands, for 
 beef with the hunters and herders of the great 
 plains. There is a rumor that diamonds have been 
 discovered beyond the mountains, and Kiliaen was 
 audacious enough to venture an attempt to trade 
 for it. The Plate fleet has sailed for Spain. She 
 was sighted as she passed this port. It would have 
 been unfortunate for the youth had she been lying 
 at Maracaibo when he arrived, for Spain brooks no 
 smuggling of gold or precious stones from her pos- 
 sessions." 
 
 Thus discoursing, the honest painter conducted 
 "Willie by boat along the lagoon of the Schottegat, 
 to the home of Director Stuy vesant in the suburb of 
 the Oberzijde. The moon had risen and lent its 
 witchery to the tropical night. Great tree ferns 
 and palms were reflected in the canal, and the stars 
 came out in diamond-like brilliancy in the clear 
 sky. As they came in sight of the low country 
 house with its wide verandas Willie could hear the 
 tinkle of a mandolin and a woman's voice singing. 
 He caught, too, the gleam of white dresses, and he 
 knew that for the first time in two years he was 
 to enter the presence of European women, and
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 179 
 
 that Anneke, the last to dismiss him from civilized 
 society, would be the first to greet him. How 
 would she welcome him? His parting from her 
 had left him no ground for hope, but in spite of it 
 hope had lingered, and passionate love had leaped 
 up again when he knew that she was near. But 
 now a great timidity overpowered him. 
 
 " Go forward, Yan der Velde," he begged, " pave 
 the way for me. Tell her I am here and ask if she 
 will receive me." 
 
 He drew quite near under the protecting shadow 
 of the orange trees, and the faint sweet perfume of 
 their starry flowers sacred to happy brides, lingered 
 in his memory for many a weary day. 
 
 There was a pause in the music. Yan der Yelde 
 was greeted courteously, then he evidently apolo- 
 gized for interrupting and begged her to continue 
 her song. Willie heard again the familiar notes of 
 his mandolin, and her sweet voice singing what 
 but one of his own English songs, which he had 
 taught Kiliaen at Leyden, and which he in turn 
 had taught Anneke ! The words were by Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, and were written when he turned longingly 
 from the thought of fighting and exploring in these 
 very waters to the companionship of his wife at 
 his beloved Sherburne. 
 
 Liquid and clear as the sound of water falling
 
 180 ANNEKE. 
 
 from a fountain the words fell upon his spirit and 
 cooled its passion. 
 
 He could see her face, now calm and yet touched 
 with sadness, and, all unconscious of his presence, 
 she seemed to be declining the gift which he had 
 brought her as she sang. 
 
 " Go, let the diving negro seek 
 For pearls hid in some Indian creek. 
 We all pearls scorn, 
 Save those the dewy morn 
 Congeals upon some little spires of grass 
 Which careless shepherds beat down as they pass ; 
 For we who love are ne'er forlorn 
 We all pearls scorn. ' ' 
 
 Anneke laid aside the instrument, and said 
 sweetly, "That is what I said to my husband 
 when he went on this dangerous expedition. Are 
 we not rich enough, I asked, with our love for each 
 other ? Would all the gems of the world make up 
 for his death ? "What if he should be held a captive 
 by the Spaniards, or fall in with those terrible 
 pirates ! I do not know why, but I am oppressed 
 with a sense of evil lurking near. I shall not be 
 quite at ease until I have my husband safely back 
 again." 
 
 It was the first intimation that Willie had had 
 of her marriage, and was a great shock. For a mo- 
 ment he lost consciousness of what they were say-
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 181 
 
 ing, and lay on his face on the ground tearing up 
 the grass convulsively with his hands. After a 
 short time he mastered himself and listened. He 
 felt that he would never have the privilege of hear- 
 ing her voice again, and every word was precious. 
 
 He had only lost Yan der Yelde's explanation 
 that he had come to Curaao and begged an inter- 
 view, and now Anneke was replying. 
 
 " If Kiliaen were here he would be glad to see 
 him, but I cannot imagine any errand that he 
 can have with me." She was silent for a moment 
 and then added, "We parted in anger; tell him 
 for me that if I was mistaken and did him wrong, 
 if under false appearances he was, and still is, a 
 man of honor, then Anneke Yan Rensselaer begs 
 his forgiveness, but this is all that I could ever have 
 to say to him ; and it is perhaps better that he should 
 hear it from your lips rather than from my own." 
 
 Willie staggered to his feet and hurried back to 
 the boat. When the crushing blow had first fallen 
 upon him there had come with it the temptation to 
 end the agony, there in the orange grove, with his 
 small sharp poniard to let her find him there with 
 the pearls in his dead hand. Then her message had 
 awakened his better nature. He acknowledged to 
 himself that his punishment was just, that if he 
 had not been base when she thought him so, he
 
 182 ANNEXE. 
 
 had fallen now beneath her contempt. Death is 
 sometimes so much easier than long expiation. But 
 he could not die and leave matters as they were. 
 He had made a bargain with Satan and had taken 
 his wage worse than that, he had brought it to 
 bribe her love. Thank heaven, he had been pre- 
 vented from doing so, and possibly it was not too 
 late to recover his lost honor. 
 
 Van der Velde found Willie a little later and gave 
 him Anneke's message. He was glad to hear it 
 over again. " Tell her," he said, " to-morrow, after 
 I have gone, that I shall make it the ambition of 
 my life to be worthy of her respect." 
 
 He declined the painter's insistance that he 
 should remain with him until the next day, and 
 rowed back to the Black Lady, where his appear- 
 ance greatly surprised Captain Morgan, who did 
 not expect him until the morning. But the buc- 
 caneer was destined to still greater astonishment, 
 when Willie informed him that he had not offered 
 the blacks for sale because he wished to reconsider 
 his choice and return the pearls. It had not 
 occurred to Willie to leave as much as one for 
 Anneke. They had been purchased by an act of 
 villainy, and now that her words had awakened his 
 conscience he hastened like Judas to return the 
 price of blood and treachery. He was more fortu-
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 183 
 
 nate than Judas, for Morgan greedily accepted the 
 exchange, saying, " You are a fool, Willie Nicoll, 
 the pearls are worth twice as much as the niggers; 
 I have been kicking myself ever since I gave you 
 the choice. I suppose you think it will be a fine 
 thing to reign as a king over them in that Jamaica 
 volcano, but you will soon be sick of your bargain." 
 
 "I shall not land with them," Willie replied, 
 "unless you maroon me, Captain Morgan. I am 
 tired of the Spanish Main, and, if you will permit 
 me, I will return to England at the first opportu- 
 nity." 
 
 The Captain's eyes protruded from his head. 
 "Return to England empty handed, when you 
 might have had a calabash full of pearls. Well of 
 all blathering idiots ! " 
 
 He cursed himself for a still greater fool for 
 landing the blacks on the island of Jamaica, and 
 perhaps might not have kept his word and done 
 so had he not feared that Willie would denounce 
 him to Mookinga, and that a mutiny would have 
 been the result of treachery on his part. 
 
 Willie stood by the gangplank expecting to be 
 ordered off after the last negro had gone on shore, 
 but Morgan called to him surlily that their next 
 destination was Tortuga and he might come with 
 him or not as he chose.
 
 184 ANNEKE. 
 
 At Tortuga they found no ships bound for 
 Europe, but an unusually large number of buc- 
 caneers returned from various cruises waiting for 
 some new adventure. The sight of Morgan's pearls 
 excited their cupidity; and when he announced 
 that he was ready to head an attack on the wealthy 
 Spanish city of Maracaibo, he had no lack of vol- 
 unteers. 
 
 In a few days ships were provisioned and armed, 
 and one of the strongest piratical fleets which had 
 ever sailed from Tortuga was ready to set out on a 
 career of rapine. 
 
 Willie watched the preparations with disgust and 
 sad forebodings. He knew too well the cruelty of 
 these lawless men and their unprincipled leader, 
 and from his heart he pitied the poor Spanish set- 
 tlers at Maracaibo. He had intended to wait at 
 Tortuga for an opportunity to return to England, 
 but the evening before Morgan's expedition sailed 
 it suddenly occurred to him that Kiliaen Yan Rens- 
 selaer had gone to Maracaibo, and that, allowing 
 for the time which it probably takes to make his 
 trip to the mountains and to return, he would very 
 likely be in the city when the pirates proposed to 
 attack it. 
 
 He at once called upon the Captain, told him of 
 the circumstance, and begged him to order his men
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 185 
 
 to spare all the Dutchmen, and especially Kiliaen, 
 if he fell into their hands. 
 
 " That is easier said than done, Willie Nicoll," 
 replied Morgan. " When one is in the heat of an 
 assault one has not time to ask the name and na- 
 tionality of a man before striking. If you wish to 
 protect your friends, either in Curacao or elsewhere, 
 come along with us, Willie. If your conscience will 
 not let you fight, join our hospital corps. You did 
 good service after the attack on Margarita in band- 
 aging wounds, and I know that Mookinga gave you 
 some of her simples, especially that magical herb 
 with which she stanched the flow of blood. Come 
 and use it for us. You need not strike a single 
 blow, and if we are taken prisoners I will testify 
 that you are a non-combatant." 
 
 Willie knew that such testimony would avail him 
 little, for a man is frequently hanged as well as 
 known from the company he keeps ; but it was 
 true that Mookinga had given him some witch- 
 hazel, whose virtues were little known at this time, 
 together with the wonderful " Jesuit's powder," or 
 quinine, which was so efficacious in fevers. Willie 
 had, too, such a smattering of surgery as might now 
 be considered " first help " for the wounded, and 
 which any red cross stretcher bearer might give be- 
 fore the surgeon made his rounds. There was no
 
 186 ANNEKE. 
 
 surgeon on board the Black Lady, and only one in 
 all the pirate fleet, and common humanity seemed 
 to plead with Captain Morgan. 
 
 " I will go," Willie replied, promptly, " if you 
 will promise not to attack Curaao, will allow me 
 to intercede for a Spaniard as my fee for every one 
 of your men whom I serve, and will also let me wait 
 on the enemy's wounded if I have opportunity and 
 time after treating yours." 
 
 "Willie, Willie, what a lunatic you are; but 
 there is no withstanding you, my lad, only try me 
 not too far. Come not between me and my victim 
 when I am either angry or drunk." 
 
 " And when are you not either one or the other ? " 
 thought Willie, but he was wise enough not to ask 
 this question aloud. 
 
 It was well for the little colony at Curapao that 
 Willie Nicoll decided to accompany Captain Mor- 
 gan, for when the ship approached that isle of the 
 orange it needed all of Willie's most eloquent per- 
 suasion to keep the pirates from looting the Dutch 
 distilleries, and possessing themselves of a cargo of 
 the famous Dutch schnaps. " They say that Cura- 
 pao is the finest of all liqueurs, Willie," pleaded Cap- 
 tain Morgan, " and I have such a thirst, my lad. 
 That cognac which we laid in at Tortuga, is detest- 
 able."
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 187 
 
 Willie assured the Captain that the liqueur of 
 which he spoke was much overestimated, " for," said 
 he, " during my brief call at the island my friend, 
 Yan der Yeldt, made me take a glass with him, 
 and he told me that instead of being made solely 
 from the small oranges of Curacao it is manufac- 
 tured from distilled spirits colored with powdered 
 Brazil-wood, mellowed with burned brown sugar 
 and flavored with orange-peel and cloves. I can 
 make you all the Cura9ao you wish without going 
 near the Dutch, who I assure you are strongly for- 
 tified, so that it would be no easy matter to take 
 their island." 
 
 Willie argued so well that the pirates sailed by 
 the Dutch islands, through the great Gulf of Mar- 
 acaibo, and silencing the guns of the castle which 
 commanded the straits between the open gulf and 
 the inland sea or Lake of Maracaibo, arrived in 
 force before the doomed city. 
 
 Here only an ineffectual defence was made by 
 the inhabitants, the women fleeing in a small ship 
 to Gibraltar, a town at the other end of the lake. 
 For weeks the pirates rioted in the unfortunate 
 city, torturing the inhabitants to make them give 
 up their treasures and demanding an enormous sum 
 before they would agree to leave. When this was 
 paid, and they sailed, it was not to return to the
 
 188 ANN EKE. 
 
 Caribbean, but to pay a devastating visit to Gib- 
 raltar. Here there was even more blood shed than 
 at Maracaibo, for some Spanish soldiers came down 
 from a fort in the mountains, and their resistance 
 so infuriated Morgan that his victory ended in a 
 general massacre. At Maracaibo Willie had made 
 many inquiries for Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and he 
 was relieved to find that he had not returned from 
 the mountains. What was Willie's horror, there- 
 fore, on the attack of the Spanish soldiers to recog- 
 nize his friend fighting at the side of their Captain. 
 Morgan, who was as daring as he was wicked, 
 engaged the Captain in a hand-to-hand struggle, and 
 felled him to the earth. While he was stooping, in 
 the endeavor to regain his cutlass, which had been 
 wrenched from his hand by the fall of his victim, 
 Kiliaen flew at him, and would certainly have 
 wounded him severely if Willie had not sent his 
 friend's light rapier flying from his hand by a blow 
 from his own sword. Then thrusting Kiliaen to 
 the ground he held him there firmly until Morgan 
 and his men had rushed past him after the retreat- 
 ing Spaniards. When the last buccaneer had passed 
 Willie loosened his hold, exclaiming, " It is I, 
 Kiliaen ; I did it to save your life. Quick, help me 
 get these wounded men into the church, and 
 when Morgan finds you at work there with me he
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 189 
 
 will never suspect that you have just failed in an 
 attempt to kill him." 
 
 Kiliaen gave one look toward the pirates who 
 were slaughtering the Spaniards, despite the fact 
 that they had thrown away their arms and were 
 begging for quarter. 
 
 " I accept my life at your hands, Willie Mcoll," 
 he said reproachfully, " and I will not ask how it is 
 I find you here, for other things more difficult of 
 belief have happened than that you should be a 
 pirate." 
 
 He aided Willie all that afternoon and late into 
 the night, and when at last they both ceased their 
 labors of mercy from sheer exhaustion, he drew 
 Willie's head down upon his shoulder and mur- 
 mured, " You need not explain, Willie, I believe in 
 you in spite of everything." 
 
 When Morgan was finally ready to sail for home, 
 he stopped at Maracaibo to collect the ransom which 
 he had demanded for not burning all the houses. 
 This ransom was twenty thousand pieces of eight 
 (or silver dollars), and five hundred beeves, which 
 the drovers had been sent to the plains to gather. 
 Here he learned that three Spanish men-of-war had 
 arrived at the entry of the lake, and waited for his 
 return in the narrow strait in front of the castle. 
 Having sent a boat to reconnoitre, it returned with
 
 190 ANNEKE. 
 
 the unwelcome intelligence that the ships were 
 much stronger than their own, one of them being 
 mounted with forty guns and the smallest with 
 twenty-four. 
 
 This created a general panic among the bucca- 
 neers, who saw themselves caught like rats in a trap. 
 Morgan alone was undaunted, and sent one of his 
 Spanish prisoners to the admiral of the ship with 
 an impudent demand for ransom for the lives of 
 such of the inhabitants of Maracaibo as still re- 
 mained in his power, with leave to pass unattacked 
 from the lake to the open sea. 
 
 But the Spanish admiral was made of more val- 
 iant stuff than to take his orders from a pirate, and 
 he replied as follows : 
 
 " Having understood that you have dared to 
 commit hostilities in the dominions of his Catholic 
 Majesty I let you understand that I have come unto 
 that castle which you took out of the hands of a 
 parcel of cowards, where I have remounted the 
 artillery. My intention is to dispute with you your 
 passage out of the lake, and to follow and pursue you 
 everywhere to the end that you may see the per- 
 formance of my duty. Notwithstanding, if you be 
 contented to surrender all you have taken, I will let 
 you freely pass. But in case you make any resist- 
 ance I will cause you utterly to perish by putting
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 191 
 
 every man to the sword. This is my last and abso- 
 lute resolution. 
 
 " Dated on board the Royal Ship Magdalen, lying 
 at anchor at the entry of Lake Maracaibo. 
 
 " DON ALONZO DEL CAMPO of Espinosa." l 
 
 Morgan himself was daunted at this brave reply 
 for he had no desire to fight the Spanish fleet, but 
 one of the pirates now suggested a device of in- 
 fernal ingenuity. This was to construct a " brulot " 
 or fire ship from the Spanish sloop which they had 
 taken at Gibraltar. They mounted logs of wood 
 to represent cannon, and nailed a quantity of poles 
 upright on the deck, on which they hung cloaks 
 and sombreros from the shops of Maracaibo, which 
 gave the ship the appearance of being well 
 manned. They displayed the English colors and 
 then filled the ship with a cargo of pitch, tar 
 and brimstone. Twelve men, among whom was 
 Kiliaen, were ordered to navigate the " brulot " 
 until it reached the Spanish ships, when they 
 would set fire to the inflammable materials, 
 spring into the water, and take their chances 
 of escape. Hitherto Willie had taken no part in 
 the hostilities but when he saw Kiliaen go on board 
 the fire ship he immediately volunteered for the 
 
 1 This letter has been preserved to us by Esquemeling, one of the 
 pirates, who was on this expedition.
 
 192 ANN EKE. 
 
 same service. A light breeze aided the current. 
 The men grappled the " brulot " to the largest of 
 the Spanish ships. The instant this was accom- 
 plished they all jumped and swam for their lives for 
 the next ship, Morgan's own, which had lowered a 
 boat to pick them up. The last to leap had flung 
 a lighted torch upon a great pool of tar in which 
 stood a barrel of gunpowder. As he dropped over 
 the side of the ship he saw beyond the flames the 
 ship swarming with Spaniards who had boarded 
 under the impression that this was a regular fight- 
 ing vessel. Then there was a loud explosion and 
 all the air was filled with blazing fragments. Willie 
 ducked, swam a few strokes beneath the water, and 
 rose to be hauled into the boat by Kiliaen whose 
 hair was still dripping from his own swim, but who 
 cried out exultingly, " "We are all safe, but Morgan 
 has dashed on to attack the Spaniards." 
 
 A transport which followed laden with the beeves 
 and other booty from the city, took them on board 
 and they were able to see how fully successful the 
 stratagem had been. 
 
 The "brulot" had set fire to the gallant man-of- 
 war, which burned to the water's edge. The second 
 Spanish ship was scuttled by its own sailors to pre- 
 vent its falling into the hands of the pirates, while 
 the men escaped to the shore and took refuge in
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 193 
 
 the castle. Morgan was engaging the third ship, 
 and very shortly they saw the Spanish colors 
 struck, and knew that it had surrendered. 
 
 The fleet was destroyed, but it was evident that 
 the castle had been provided with new guns of 
 greater range than any possessed by Morgan. 
 These were all pointed across the strait, and it 
 would have been impossible for a ship to have 
 escaped their aim. 
 
 Again Morgan attempted to gain a free passage 
 by negotiation, sending one of his Spanish prisoners 
 to say that only on these terms would he give up 
 the men whom he had brought from Maracaibo. 
 But Don Alonzo del Campo, who was now the 
 commander of the castle instead of Admiral of a 
 fleet, gave the poor men a sharp reprimand for 
 their cowardice, saying, " If you had been as loyal 
 to your king in hindering the entry of these pirates 
 as I shall their going out you had never caused 
 these troubles." 
 
 " Then Captain Morgan assures me he will storm 
 the castle," said the messenger. 
 
 "And I will strive to be more successful as a 
 General of land forces than I have proved as an 
 Admiral of the seas," replied del Campo. 
 
 Morgan, who had learned from the pilot of the 
 Spanish ship which he had taken that the ship
 
 194 ANN EKE. 
 
 which the enemy had been so anxious to sink was 
 heavily laden with silver, set to work with divers 
 to get out what they could, and secured fifteen 
 thousand pieces of eight, besides many pieces of 
 silver plate such as hilts of swords and sacerdotal 
 vessels. In this occupation they spent several days, 
 for Morgan hoped that as the fort was crammed 
 with refugees from the fleet they might become 
 distressed for provisions. 
 
 At length Morgan made use of another stratagem 
 to deceive the Spaniards with the impression that 
 he intended to attack the castle on the landward 
 side, and so make them drag their heavy ordnance 
 over to that side of the fort. To effect this he or- 
 dered his men to row to the shore in canoes, as 
 though they intended to land. Then, when the 
 canoes were hidden from the castle by the shrub- 
 bery, he caused most of the men to lie down in the 
 boats, and the canoes returned to the ship with the 
 appearance of only two or three men rowing them 
 back. This false landing of men was repeated sev- 
 eral times, completely deceiving the Spaniards, who 
 prepared themselves for a night assault of the castle. 
 
 The night was starlit but moonless, and the pirate 
 fleet, profiting by the obscurity, spread their sails as 
 noiselessly as they could and stood out for sea. 
 Morgan's flag ship passed unperceived, but when
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 195 
 
 the transport containing the booty was opposite the 
 castle it was noticed by the sentinel and the alarm 
 given. Instantly the ruse was understood and all 
 hands fell to work dragging the guns into their 
 former position, but when ready for action the en- 
 tire pirate fleet was beyond their range. 
 
 When quite out of the reach of the castle guns 
 Morgan allowed the Spanish prisoners to return to 
 the shore in canoes, and, in mock courtesy, as Esque- 
 meling quaintly relates, " in departing ordered seven 
 guns to be fired, as it were to take his leave ; but 
 they of the castle answered not so much as with a 
 musket shot." 
 
 Willie now demanded that Morgan should put 
 him off with Kiliaen at Aruba, the Dutch island 
 which lay nearest to his course. This the Captain 
 was unwilling to do, so on the next night, when 
 they judged themselves in its vicinity, he and 
 Kiliaen bribed the watch, cut loose a boat and 
 dropped astern. 
 
 Unfortunately they miscalculated the distance, and 
 rowed for two days unsuccessfully. Kiliaen, who 
 had suffered beyond his endurance, was utterly ex- 
 hausted on the second day. He lay in the bottom 
 of the boat only moaning when Willie moistened 
 his lips, and finally, when their Avater was spent, 
 fell into piteous delirium, and begged to be thrown
 
 196 ANNEXE. 
 
 overboard and allowed to die. At length as the 
 boat rose on one of the great green billows, Willie 
 caught sight of land, and, binding Kiliaen down, 
 rowed with all his failing strength until the tide 
 which was fortunately running in, washed the boat 
 on shore. Here they were succored by some 
 Dutch fishermen, and after a time Kiliaen was suf- 
 ficiently restored to set out in a fishing smack for 
 Curapao. The evening before he left, as they sat 
 together in the fisherman's hut, Willie explained to 
 his friend the passages of his life which had seemed to 
 him dishonorable. How it was that he became asso- 
 ciated with the pirates, and why he had acted the 
 part of Prince William at Rembrandt's house. He 
 learned from Kiliaen for the first time how useless 
 this sacrifice had been, for the boyish fancy of the 
 Prince to woo his bride incognito had not been 
 carried out. He had gone to England quite openly, 
 and there had been no need for Willie to represent 
 him in Amsterdam. 
 
 "If Anneke had known this," said Kiliaen, "she 
 would never have married me. Her love for you 
 died only when she thought you dishonorable." 
 
 " Then you must never explain the truth," Willie 
 insisted ; " it would do no good now." 
 
 Kiliaen begged Willie to accompany him to Cu- 
 raao, but he persistently refused, and on the morn-
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 197 
 
 ing of the very day that Kiliaen left a French ship 
 touched at the island for water and "Willie wrung 
 his friend's hand and sailed in it to Bordeaux, in- 
 tending from that port to make his way to England.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 AT RENSSELAERSWYCK. 
 
 Well might the traveller start to see 
 The tall dark forms that take their way 
 From the birch canoe on the river shore 
 And the forest paths to a chapel door. 
 
 But hark ! the Jesuit knows the cry 
 
 Which tells that the foe of his flock is nigh. 
 
 The hurrying feet (for the chase is hot) 
 
 And the short, sharp sound of the rifle shot, 
 
 And taunt and menace answered well 
 
 By the Indians' mocking cry and yell, 
 
 The bark of dogs, the squaw's mad scream, 
 
 And the dash of paddles along the stream. Whittier. 
 
 OON after these events 
 Anneke and Kiliaen 
 sailed for their barony 
 of Rensselaerswyck, 
 making but a short 
 stop at New Amster- 
 dam, as New York was 
 called while it belonged to 
 the Dutch. Established 
 at first simply as a trading 
 post of the Dutch West 
 India Company, settlers in its 
 vicinity had only recently begun 
 to improve their estates and to build permanent 
 
 198
 
 AT BENSSELAEESWYCK. 199 
 
 homes. The look of the frontier town had not 
 passed away. Its inhabitants were determined and 
 adventurous men, but the graces of life were lack- 
 ing. It was, too, a very dangerous period, for the 
 rash governor, Kieft, had exasperated the Indians 
 by inexcusable attacks, and war had broken out. 
 
 Arendt Van Corlear, the trusty and sagacious 
 agent of the Van Kensselaers, met the ship on its 
 arrival at New Amsterdam and reassured the young 
 couple. The Indians near Rensselaerswyck, the fa- 
 mous Five Nations of the Iroquois, though the most 
 powerful and warlike of any of the American tribes, 
 had resisted all the overtures of the angry Indians liv- 
 ing between their colony and New Amsterdam, and 
 had refused to go on the warpath. While terrible 
 massacres took place at Pavonia and later at Esopus, 
 the Dutch settlers at Kensselaers wyck were not only 
 living in peace and safety, but the Mohawks, the 
 nation of the Iroquois who lived nearest their set- 
 tlement, constituted themselves their standing army, 
 defending the barony from all encroachment. 
 
 Rensselaerswyck needed such an army to main- 
 tain its claims, for it was now an immense inland 
 domain comprising over a thousand square miles. 
 For four and twenty miles along the Hudson and 
 extending westward indefinitely, the splendid barony 
 asserted its feudal rights.
 
 200 ANNEKE. 
 
 There was one spot in its very heart, over which 
 it had no jurisdiction. The West India Company 
 had established Fort Orange on the present site of 
 Albany, before Kiliaen Yan Kensselaer had taken 
 up his land, and this fort, originally a protection to 
 the settlers, was now a thorn in the side of the col- 
 ony, and a cause of many disputes with the West 
 India Company and its representatives at New Am- 
 sterdam. While these rivals of their own nation 
 were pressing on Rensselaerswyck from the south, 
 its northern boundaries were disputed by the French 
 and its eastern limits by the English. The French 
 had as allies the Hurons, a tribe of Canadian In- 
 dians with whom the Mohawks (whom we may re- 
 gard as the Yan Rensselaer militia) were at war, 
 and every move of the French to secure Lake Cham- 
 plain was contested by them. The Plymouth, Bos- 
 ton and Connecticut colonies had united and were 
 pushing the settlement of New England beyond the 
 Connecticut Yalley. They would soon trench upon 
 West Chester County and the eastern confines of 
 Rensselaerswyck. Fortunately for the Dutch, the 
 Pequots resisted this advance of the English into 
 their country, and the Mohawks again regarded the 
 Pequots and the English alike as their enemies and 
 would have no encroachment from either. On the 
 south and west they formed a guard against the
 
 A T RENSSELAERS WYCK. 201 
 
 other savages, who were now giving so much 
 trouble to Kieft and the Dutch settlers of the lower 
 Hudson. Arendt Van Corlear had cemented this 
 friendship by honest dealing. He was greatly 
 blamed by the Dutch West India Company for 
 furnishing the Indians with firearms, but though 
 he sold them in the neighborhood of six hundred 
 guns and quantities of gunpowder and bullets, 
 this ammunition was never employed against the 
 inhabitants of Kensselaerswyck. 
 
 When the Goede Vrouw anchored in front of the 
 manor-house a salute was fired by the command of 
 the Herr Brandt Yan Slechtenhorst, commander 
 of the castle Rensselaerstein, on the island of 
 Beeren, which had been built to maintain the rights 
 of the Yan Kensselaers to the Hudson Kiver ; and 
 Jeremias Yan Eensselaer gave a great festival to 
 celebrate the arrival of his daughter and son-in-law. 
 Of those tenants who accepted their seigneur's invi- 
 tation on this occasion, there were heads of families 
 which have since taken distinguished rank in the 
 state, the Lispinards, Yan Burens, Schermerhorns, 
 Beekmans, Cuylers, Yan Deusens, Yerplancks, Ten- 
 brookes, and others. 
 
 Among these guests Anneke's maternal grand- 
 father, Oloflf Stevenson Yan Cortland, Commissary 
 under Governor Kieft, and afterward President
 
 202 ANNEKE. 
 
 of the Nine Men, Indian Commissaries and Colonel 
 of the Burghery, was conspicuous for his stately 
 manner. There was Philip Pieteise Schuyler 
 with his pretty daughters, one of whom at a 
 later date would marry the Reverend Nicholas 
 Yan Rensselaer, and their brother who was to 
 possess, after Van Corlear, the most remarkable 
 power over the Indians of any white man of that 
 time ; and there was Doctor Kierstede the 
 " Chirugijn," and Major Ten-Broeck from the 
 Fort, with honest Dominie Megapolensis, of whom 
 more hereafter. 
 
 Robert Livingston came later, and was to be a 
 staunch friend, and there was hardly a name of 
 any note on the roll-call of the colony but was at 
 some time linked in friendship with the Yan Rens- 
 selaers. Their time was filled by peaceful duties 
 and a pleasant interchange of social courtesies, 
 and it was not until the second year of Anneke's 
 residence at Rensselaerswyck that anything oc- 
 curred of an alarming or even of an exciting na- 
 ture. 
 
 While politically the proprietors of Rensselaers- 
 wyck distrusted every overture of the French to- 
 ward the Iroquois, and as good Protestants they 
 could not approve of the conversion of the Indians 
 to the Roman Catholic religion, still every instinct
 
 A T RENSSELAERS WYCK. 203 
 
 of their common humanity was stirred when they 
 heard that a war party of the Iroquois had taken 
 and held as prisoners four Frenchmen, one of whom 
 was a Jesuit missionary. 
 
 Arendt Van Corlear at once prepared for a long 
 journey to the western part of New York State to 
 attempt to ransom these unfortunates, and Kiliaen 
 resolved to accompany him. They loaded a pack 
 horse with such articles as they thought the 
 Indians would fancy most, and set out on horse- 
 back accompanied by only two servants. They fol- 
 lowed the great Indian trail, which was so straight 
 and well chosen, that the engineers of later times 
 could find no better route for the New York Cen- 
 tral Railroad. After marching sixteen miles they 
 came to a ford of the Mohawk Eiver where Van 
 Corlear afterward located a Dutch hamlet which 
 received the name of Scharnhechstede, or Schen- 
 ectady. Following the windings of the river they 
 came to the three principal Mohawk Castles or 
 forts on Schoharie Creek and at Canajoharie. 
 The Mohawks were the most powerful of the five 
 nations of the Iroquois. The other four, the 
 Oneidas, the Onondagas, Cayugas, and far distant 
 Senecas occupied the western part of what is now 
 New York State. Their strength was in their union, 
 and they were as remarkable for their intelligence
 
 204 ANNEKE. 
 
 as for their ferocity. Each of these tribes had 
 taken some animal as their insignia, and the author 
 of the " Romance of Frontenac " has told of the 
 fear felt by the other tribes when these symbols 
 were seen marked upon trees. 
 
 "The fierce Adirondacks had fled from their wrath, 
 The Hurons been swept from their merciless path 
 By the far Mississippi the Ilini shrank 
 When the trail of the Tortoise was seen on the bank, 
 On the hills of New England the Pequot turned pale 
 When the howl of the Wolf swelled at night on the gale, 
 And the Cherokee shook, in his green smiling bowers, 
 When the foot of the Bear stamped his carpet of flowers. ' ' 
 
 The Indians welcomed their Dutch guests cour- 
 teously and treated them to a feast of succotash, 
 broiled wild buck and dog-soup. Yan Corlear made 
 them valuable presents, and they presented him 
 with belts of wampum assuring him of their un- 
 alterable fidelity to the Dutch and hatred for 
 " Onontio," as they styled the French, into whose 
 territory, they boasted, they had lately made a 
 successful incursion capturing four prisoners, among 
 whom was a " black robe " (a Jesuit). 
 
 Yan Corlear asked to see this prisoner, and the 
 devoted missionary Isaac Jogues was brought be- 
 fore them. Although in the utmost misery, nearly 
 naked and starved, his cassock in tatters, his body 
 mutilated by repeated torture, and in constant fear
 
 AT RENSSELAERSWYCK. 205 
 
 of being burned alive, there was a dignity and 
 sweet serenity in his bearing which moved 
 Kiliaen profoundly, and he begged Yan Corlear to 
 ransom him at any cost. 
 
 The Jesuit told his story simply. He had been 
 highly educated at the College of Clermont in 
 Paris, and had gladly embraced the vocation of a 
 missionary to the Hurons. He had been estab- 
 lished with Father Raymbault at St. Mary's, where 
 he had learned several Indian dialects and taught 
 his beloved converts with great success. Some- 
 times he made long explorations with them by 
 canoe up the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario and 
 even beyond. Kiliaen knew that the astute 
 French government looked for territorial conquest 
 as a result of the labors of the Jesuit missionaries, 
 but it was nevertheless perfectly evident that Fa- 
 ther Jogues' only aim had been the conversion of 
 souls. All had gone well at his mission, in spite of 
 numerous hardships to be expected at a frontier 
 post in such a rigorous climate, until on an unlucky 
 day Father Jogues was sent down the river to 
 Quebec for supplies. 
 
 He was returning with a train of canoes laden 
 with provisions, clothing, and some vestments and 
 sacred utensils for the chapel, when the convoy were 
 attacked and captured by the war party of Mo-
 
 206 ANNEXE. 
 
 hawks. A few of the Huron Indians, who were 
 paddling, escaped, but twenty-two were taken, and 
 among them were three Frenchmen : Rene Goupil, 
 William Couture and a boy named Henri. Father 
 Jogues might have fled, but when he saw that Rene 
 Goupil, to whom he was deeply attached, was 
 taken, he voluntarily joined him. 
 
 They had all endured untold cruelties. Henri 
 had taken to the woods, and had either starved to 
 death or had managed to reach Canada. William 
 Couture, who was physically strong and of invinci- 
 ble courage, had so won the admiration of his sav- 
 age captors, in running the gauntlet and enduring 
 torture without flinching, that he had been adopted 
 by a squaw, whose husband had been killed by the 
 Hurons, and who had the right to claim a prisoner 
 of war. From that time his condition was a little 
 better. Though treated as a slave, overworked and 
 beaten, he was not tortured, had food of some sort, 
 and his life was no longer in danger. Not so 
 Father Jogues and young Rene Goupil. The latter 
 was delicate in health, and succumbed at length to 
 his frightful sufferings, dying a martyr with Father 
 Jogues' blessing to console his last moments. Sev- 
 eral of the Huron Indians taken were burned at the 
 stake. Father Jogues had attended them, baptiz- 
 ing through the flames such as had not already
 
 AT RENSSELAERSWYCK. 207 
 
 received the rite, serene in his confidence that 
 this sacrament opened for them the gates of 
 heaven. 
 
 The noble priest was himself many times tor- 
 tured ; his nails were pulled out, and the fingers of 
 his left hand cut off with clam shells. The meek- 
 ness with which he bore the insults of his torment- 
 ors only infuriated them. They seared him with 
 hot irons, their children stoned him, their women 
 spat upon him, but he bore all with gentle resigna- 
 tion. When however they blasphemed the name of 
 Christ he rebuked them fearlessly. He had one 
 comfort, a little volume, " The Imitation of Christ," 
 by Thomas a Kempis, which he carried in his 
 breast, and which they made no attempt to take 
 from him. He showed Kiliaen one page on en- 
 during suffering which was a great comfort to 
 him. 
 
 " The whole life of Christ was a cross and a mar- 
 tyrdom, and do you seek after rest and pleasure ? 
 
 " If indeed there had been anything better than 
 suffering Christ would have shown it by word and 
 example. 
 
 " For our merit and progress in life are not reck- 
 oned by the number of our sweetnesses and consola- 
 tions, but by patient endurance of many hardships 
 and trials."
 
 208 ANNEKE. 
 
 He had cut a cross in the bark of a tree in the 
 forest, and this was his chapel where he went to 
 pray whenever permitted. 
 
 Kiliaen was so touched by what he saw and heard 
 that the tears came to his eyes. He offered the 
 Indians all the money and ornaments which he had 
 brought with him, and made promises of more. He 
 would provide guns for all their braves and they 
 should have unlimited quantities of beer at the 
 Dutch brewery. Van Corlear, too, exhausted his 
 eloquence. All in vain, they would do anything 
 else to show their devotion to Corlear, but they 
 would not part with their prisoner. They hoped to 
 receive a greater ransom from the French. This 
 last intelligence somewhat reassured Van Corlear, 
 and he made the Indians promise not to kill Father 
 Jogues ; but if their negotiations with the French 
 governor were unsatisfactory to bring him to Rens- 
 selaerswyck where an enormous ransom would be 
 paid for him. Very reluctantly they left him with 
 the Indians. 
 
 Before they returned Kiliaen stripped himself of 
 half of his own clothing, giving Father Jogues his 
 shoes and thick stockings and his fur lined cloak, 
 with a blanket to wrap about him at night. It was 
 useless generosity, for the Dutchmen's backs were 
 hardly turned when the priest was robbed of their
 
 AT EENSSELAERSWYCK. 209 
 
 gifts. Only the shoes were thrown scornfully back 
 to him for the Indians much preferred their own 
 moccasins. 
 
 The memory of the frightful things which he 
 had seen, and of the still more terrible ones of 
 which he had heard, lived in Kiliaen's memory 
 after his return, and affected him with profound 
 melancholy. Often he dreamed that he saw Father 
 Jogues being burned alive, and he would start from 
 his sleep with a cry of horror. 
 
 " What right have we," he would say to Anneke, 
 "to live in comfort and security in our manor- 
 house while one of God's saints is suffering martyr- 
 dom at the hands of those fiends ? No matter that 
 he belongs to an unfriendly nation, that his religion 
 is one that has inflicted cruelties. Personally he is 
 a noble man and a sincere Christian, and I cannot 
 rest while he is in peril." 
 
 Van Corlear encouraged him to have patience. 
 " The time for the Mohawks to come to Eensselaers- 
 wyck for their annual spring trade is approaching. 
 You will see that they will bring the priest with 
 them." 
 
 The Indians began to come in and to establish 
 themselves in the vicinity of Beverwyck, while 
 they bartered their peltries for Dutch commodities. 
 At about the same time a vessel touched at the
 
 210 ANNEKE. 
 
 wharf which was bound for Virginia and thence to 
 Bordeaux. Kiliaen invited the Captain to dine with 
 him, and so interested him in the story of Father 
 Jogues that he consented to wait for a week in the 
 hope that the captive might be brought in. Van 
 Corlear interrogated the Indians as they came to the 
 warehouse to trade, but the news which he obtained 
 was most disquieting. 
 
 It seemed that instead of receiving any ransom 
 from the French, the government had attempted to 
 chastise them. The French soldiers had made an 
 incursion into their territory, had burned some of 
 their dwellings and had carried away prisoners. 
 Unless these were restored before the season of 
 green corn there would be a great powAvow of the 
 Five Nations and Father Jogues would be burned 
 alive as a reprisal. It was of no use for " Corlear " 
 to offer ransom, gifts were sweet, but to the Indians 
 revenge was sweeter. They wanted the flesh of 
 their captive at their great feast, and no other 
 dainty, not even hogsheads of beer and casks of 
 stronger waters, would compensate them for that 
 meat. 
 
 Kiliaen was horrified. He rashly wished to 
 throw every Indian into prison until Father Jogues 
 was produced. As Jeremias Van Rensselaer was 
 temporarily absent at New Amsterdam, Kiliaen
 
 AT RENSSELAERSWYCK. 211 
 
 had full power, and it was with difficulty that Van 
 Corlear restrained him from this action. 
 
 One day a squaw appeared at the manor-house 
 with maple sugar to sell, and when Anneke pur- 
 chased a small package she noticed with surprise 
 that it Avas wrapped in printed paper. Curious to 
 know what book or journal this Indian woman 
 could have obtained, she read in Latin "The 
 Royal Way of the Holy Cross. If gladly you carry 
 the cross it will bear you and bring you to the 
 longed-for goal where there shall be no more pain." 
 
 Instantly she comprehended that this was a leaf 
 out of Father Jogues' Imitation of Christ, and she 
 asked the woman where she obtained it. The 
 woman would not reply and hurried away; but 
 Anneke hastened to the door and bade a servant, 
 one Jan who was devoted to her interests, to fol- 
 low her and ascertain whether Father Jogues was 
 with the party. 
 
 Jan returned that night with the information 
 that he had seen Father Jogues. He had followed 
 the squaw to a long barn where her family had ob- 
 tained permission to sleep on the hay, while they 
 were in the neighborhood. Jan had pretended to 
 be one of the farmer's hands, and had gone into 
 the barn and busied himself with giving the cattle 
 fodder. Here he had found Father Jogues, and
 
 212 ANN EKE. 
 
 had told him how anxious his friends were for his 
 safety and that they urged him. to run away. He 
 had not seemed willing to do this as he was not 
 sure what the result of such action on his part 
 would be, but he had promised to pray over it, and 
 if the barn door was left open that night while the 
 Indians slept, he would take it as a sign that God 
 wished him to take advantage of this opportunity 
 for escape. 
 
 Dominie Megapolensis, who was present when 
 Jan told his story, greatly admired this conscien- 
 tiousness on the part of Father Jogues, and offered 
 to go at once to the captain of the ship and inform 
 him that his passenger would probably come on 
 board that night, for without doubt Providence 
 would extend the sign of its approval to so good a 
 man. 
 
 Kiliaen and Anneke exchanged significant looks, 
 and when the Dominie had departed Kiliaen said 
 meaningly, "We will help Providence a little, 
 Anneke. Jan, do you go back to the farmhouse, 
 and tell Father Jogues that a boat will be hidden 
 under the bank just opposite the ship whereby he 
 can row himself out. You say that Father Jogues 
 sleeps in the middle of the barn, with the Indians 
 between him and the great door, toward the fields, 
 which they bolt before going to sleep. There is no
 
 AT RENSSELAERSWYCK. 213 
 
 hope of escape therefore in that direction. Tell 
 him to try the small door at the other end of the 
 barn which opens into the woodhouse, and do you 
 lurk about the place until you see the farmer make 
 that fast for the night, and then unbolt it." 
 
 Kiliaen was not satisfied with having sent Jan to 
 execute his commands. He went after nightfall to 
 the river bank, and made sure that the boat was in 
 place, and stood guard beside it a long time, but 
 Father Jogues did not appear. Consumed with 
 anxiety he walked out to the farmer's house, and 
 hearing a great barking of dogs in the woodhouse 
 at once divined the truth, that the farmer had shut 
 these intelligent brutes in this outbuilding, making 
 them understand that they were not to allow his 
 Indian guests to approach too near. Kiliaen saw 
 that there was no other way than to take the 
 farmer into his confidence. He accordingly knocked 
 at his front door, roused him, explained the situa- 
 tion and offered him a tempting reward to call his 
 dogs into his living-room. The farmer consented, 
 and after waiting long enough for the Indians to 
 fall asleep again, in case they might have been dis- 
 turbed by the barking, Kiliaen slipped the farmer's 
 blue smock which hung in the woodhouse over his 
 clothing, and with a pitchfork in his hand cau- 
 tiously entered the barn. Father Jogues, who had
 
 214 ANNEKE. 
 
 attempted to escape and had been bitten and driven 
 back by the dogs, was kneeling in an empty stall 
 praying for resignation to the will of God. The 
 morning was just dawning, and they could see each 
 other vaguely. Kiliaen beckoned energetically, 
 and Father Jogues arose from his knees. " It is 
 the will of God that you should follow me," said 
 Kiliaen, and the priest obeyed. 
 
 Kiliaen led him to the boat, and waited until he 
 saw him on board the ship before he returned to 
 his home. 
 
 The next day the manor-house was besieged by a 
 deputation of angry savages, who insisted that their 
 Captain should be restored to them. 
 
 " I have him not," Kiliaen replied. " .You may 
 search the house," and they did so without success. 
 
 " Then he must be on the ship," they very natur- 
 ally concluded. 
 
 But the Captain had hidden the fugitive in the 
 hold, and although a few of the Indians were al- 
 lowed to come on board they did not discover the 
 Jesuit. All day long they rushed to and fro, work- 
 ing themselves up to a state of frenzy, and at night 
 a council was held outside the town, at which their 
 chiefs made speeches, a medicine man wrought his 
 weird spells and a dance was indulged in by the 
 young braves. To conciliate them Dominie Mega-
 
 AT RENSSELAERSWYCK. 215 
 
 polensis attempted to address the council ; but the 
 medicine man interrupted his broken words with a 
 wild shriek. " It is this ghost doctor," he said, 
 " who has spirited our prisoner away. He knows 
 where he is now, and can produce him." 
 
 The honest Dominie stammered and turned 
 pale. 
 
 "See, he cannot deny it," the medicine man 
 yelled. "Go back to Coiiear, and tell him that 
 unless he delivers our prisoner to us to-morrow we 
 will burn his new wigwam of little yellow stones 
 (light bricks). "We will burn his entire town, and 
 plunder his warehouses. We will kill him and all 
 his Dutch braves because he has deceived us. But 
 we will not kill you, O ghost doctor, not now, we 
 will take you with us to the long house of the 
 Iroquois and burn you at our feast. One black 
 robe is as good as another and will make as fine a 
 roast. But you shall not go alone. Tell the young 
 Corlear that we will take his pretty squaw with us 
 to be the wife of our principal chief, and we will 
 never again trust the friendship of a white man." 
 
 Thrust from the council the Dominie fled wild 
 with terror to the river and rowed to the ship, 
 which was at that moment weighing anchor. He 
 sought Father Jogues and told him what he had 
 heard. The self-sacrificing priest crossed himself
 
 216 ANN EKE. 
 
 and replied, " It is expedient that one man should 
 die and not that the whole nation perish." 
 
 So saying he nobly bade farewell to the Captain 
 and returned with the Dominie to the manor- 
 house. 
 
 The family were asleep, but the Dominie entered 
 by a window and secreted Father Jogues in the 
 cellar. 
 
 "Tell me when to give myself up," said the 
 priest, and Megapolensis went away very sorrow- 
 ful. He threw himself on a settle by the dining- 
 room fireplace, and when Anneke came down in 
 the morning she found him there snoring heavily. 
 " Poor man," she thought, " he has labored much 
 for us of late, I will not awaken him," and she 
 stepped silently about the room setting the table 
 for breakfast with the Delft china which she prized 
 so highly that she always cared for it herself. 
 Suddenly hurried howls and cries rang out around 
 the house, and the Dominie started from the settle 
 exclaiming, " The savages. Have they come al- 
 ready ? " 
 
 " Yes," Anneke replied, " they have come. But 
 do not be troubled, the ship has sailed, and has 
 taken our friend beyond their reach. Kiliaen and 
 I saw that it had gone when the sun rose this 
 morning, and we thanked God together."
 
 AT RENSSELAERSWYCK. 217 
 
 " But, they will wreak a horrible revenge upon 
 you," replied the dazed Dominie. 
 
 " Oh no, they will not dare to do so," Anneke 
 replied calmly. " Kiliaen is addressing them now 
 from the roof of the porch. As soon as they realize 
 that the priest has really escaped they will calm 
 down. Kiliaen will let them have the provi- 
 sions in the cellar which the chief asked him for 
 when he searched the house yesterday, and Arendt 
 Van Corlear will talk with them." 
 
 " The cellar ! " cried the Dominie, " but the Jesuit 
 is there ! He refused to go when he knew that we 
 were in danger, and came back last night to give 
 himself up." 
 
 "Horrible! and Kiliaen is protesting at this 
 moment that he has never been in this house, but 
 that the Captain of the ship has carried him off. 
 In another moment he is likely to invite them to 
 the cellar. Oh ! What have you done ? " 
 
 But Anneke did not stand wringing her hands in 
 despair. She darted down the cellar stairs, bidding 
 the Dominie lock the door behind her, and he had 
 hardly time to do so and to place the key in his 
 pocket before the room was full of Indians. 
 
 " Ah ! You are here ! " exclaimed the medicine 
 man. " We will take you. One black robe is as 
 good as another."
 
 218 ANN EKE. 
 
 " No," said Kiliaen, who entered with the chief. 
 " You shall have full indemnity for your prisoner, 
 but you shall have no captives. We are your 
 friends. We have never deceived you. I assure you 
 on the honor of a white man that the Frenchmen 
 are our enemies as well as yours, and that this priest 
 has never been in my house. Search if you will, but 
 some of you come with me to the cellar and help 
 yourselves to the good provisions stored there." 
 
 He attempted to open the door leading to the 
 cellar stairs, and was surprised to find that it was 
 fastened. The medicine man was watching Mega- 
 polensis, and he dared make no sign. " There is 
 plenty of beer at the brewery," he stammered. 
 " That is better for them than Anneke's good pre- 
 serves." 
 
 But Kiliaen paid no attention to the Dominie, 
 and taking a tomahawk from the hand of an Indian 
 he pried open the door and himself led the way. 
 The frightened minister listened, but there were no 
 ominous sounds, and presently the Indians returned 
 bearing hams and sausages, a keg of soused pigs 
 feet, cheeses and firkins of butter, with pots of mar- 
 malade, and jam made from wild fruit by Anneke. 
 Kiliaen came last of all a relieved expression on 
 his face. 
 
 " The worst is past," he said to the Dominie. " I
 
 AT RENSSELAERSWYCK. 219 
 
 am glad that Anneke kept herself hidden, for she 
 would have been frightened." 
 
 But what had become of Anneke and Father 
 Jogues ? This was Kiliaen's question whem Dom- 
 inie Megapolensis told him what had happened. 
 Together they searched the cellar again but could 
 discover no other door or stairway than that by 
 which they had just entered. Suddenly a set of 
 shelves, which Kiliaen had recently stripped of pre- 
 serve pots, swung forward showing a sort of tunnel 
 and Anneke crouching within it. 
 
 " Have they gone ? " she asked, and a smile quiv- 
 ered on her lips, though her face was pale. " I was 
 here all the time, and I could hardly contain myself, 
 sir, when you gave away all the candied fruits I 
 brought from Curacao. I did not mind the rasp- 
 berry-jam, for the squaws will bring me more berries 
 this summer ; but the last jar of orange marmalade ! 
 O Kiliaen, how could you ? " 
 
 " Perish the marmalade ! Where is Father 
 Jogues, and what cavern is that in which you are 
 standing ? " 
 
 " It is not a cavern, but an underground passage 
 to the warehouse. Father had it constructed for 
 just such an emergency as this. I forgot to show 
 it to you. He feared that we might be surprised 
 by savages at some time when he was at the ware-
 
 220 . ANNEKE. 
 
 house, and in this way he could bring reinforce- 
 ments to the manor or we could escape to him. I 
 have taken Father Jogues to Arendt Van Corlear, 
 and he has concealed him in the little room parti- 
 tioned off from the loft where he stores the gun- 
 powder. He is safe for the present. The next 
 thing to do is to pacify the Indians." 
 
 It was more easily said than done. For days 
 the disappointed barbarians ranged through Rens- 
 selaerswyck, making themselves disagreeably famil- 
 iar. Several times Kiliaen paid them for their 
 captive, for each demand was followed by another, 
 and he dared not anger them. Once they presented 
 themselves at the warehouse, asking for ammunition, 
 and following him to the loft when he went after 
 the powder. But he firmly insisted that they should 
 not enter the room in which it was kept, and they 
 submitted without suspecting that Father Jogues 
 saw them plainly through the cracks in the ill- 
 matched boards. 
 
 It is doubtful how long these uninvited guests 
 might have remained at Rensselaerswyck if one 
 fine day a sloop belonging to the West India Com- 
 pany had not arrived and landed a company of 
 soldiers. The captain of the ship which had sailed 
 away without Father Jogues had at New Amster- 
 dam reported to Jeremias Yan Rensselaer that
 
 AT RENSSELAERSWYCK. 221 
 
 there was an uprising of the Mohawks, and he had 
 returned bringing these troops to their succor. 
 Kiliaen begged them to make no attack until he had 
 asked the Indians to depart peaceably. They did 
 so, professing their friendship and impressed with 
 much respect for Corlear's power. A man who 
 could summon a great canoe filled with warriors 
 whenever he needed it was not to be trifled with. 
 
 Some of the soldiers remained to strengthen the 
 garrison at Fort Orange, and when the others re- 
 turned to Xew Amsterdam Father Jogues went 
 with them, and later sailed for France by way of 
 England. He left his blessing for all the inhabit- 
 ants of Rensselaerswyck not even excepting Dom- 
 inie Megapolensis, who would often boast, " He was 
 a very learned man. He complimented my Latin, 
 and especially my facility in the use of the sub- 
 junctive."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THAT PEARL OF PEAELS A NOBLE LIFE. 
 
 I do not think a braver gentleman 
 More active valiant, or more valiant young, 
 More genorous or more bold is now alive, 
 To grace this latter age with noble deeds. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 BEDTIME and har- 
 vest had quietly come 
 and gone at Rens- 
 selaerswyck, filling 
 the years with their 
 round of healthful, 
 active duties. There 
 were wild doings on 
 the lower Hudson, 
 and by the Pequots 
 in New England, but 
 still the Mohawks 
 were true to Corlear and the Yan Rensselaers. 
 
 Governor Kieft by his wicked folly in the mas- 
 sacre of the Indians at Pavonia had lighted a war 
 which had blazed for five years. All of the tribes 
 
 of New Jersey and Connecticut had joined in it, 
 
 222
 
 THAT PEARL OF PEARLS. 223 
 
 hundreds of Dutchmen had been killed or carried 
 captive, settlements had been destroyed, homes 
 burned and the entire country about New Amster- 
 dam desolated. At last the colony could bear it no 
 longer and it sent back to the home government a 
 memorial ending in the following appeal : 
 
 " Our fields lie waste. Our dwellings are burned. 
 We have no means to provide necessaries for our 
 wives or children. We sit here amidst thousands 
 of savages from whom we can find neither peace 
 nor mercy. 
 
 "All right thinking men here know that these 
 Indians have lived as lambs among us until a few 
 years ago, injuring no man, and when no supplies 
 were sent for several months, furnishing provisions 
 to the company's servants until they received sup- 
 plies. These hath the director, by several uncalled- 
 for proceedings from time to time so estranged 
 from us, and so embittered that we do not believe 
 that anything will bring peace back unless the Lord 
 propitiate their people. 
 
 " Honored Lords, we shall end here, praying that 
 God will move your lordships' minds, so that a 
 Governor may be speedily sent to us with a beloved 
 peace, or that we may be permitted to return with 
 our wives and children to our dear fatherland. 
 For it is impossible ever to settle this country until
 
 224 ANNEKE. 
 
 a different system be introduced and a new Gover- 
 nor sent out." 
 
 In answer to this call it seemed to the West India 
 Company as though providence had sent the very 
 man to them. Director Peter Stuyvesant, recov- 
 ered from his wound, stood sturdily before them, 
 his famous wooden leg inlaid with silver, ready to 
 do vigorous service for many a year to come. His 
 conduct of affairs in the West Indies was approved, 
 and he was forthwith appointed Governor of New 
 Netherland, and Kieft was recalled. 
 
 Governor Stuyvesant sailed on Christmas day, 
 
 1646. He stopped on the way at Curayao and 
 arrived in New Amsterdam on the llth of May, 
 
 1647. One of his titles was " Redresser General of 
 Abuses," and this office was by no means a sinecure. 
 No governor had so difficult a piece of work cut 
 out for him, and none, taking all things into con- 
 sideration, accomplished his work better. Irving 
 calls him, "a valiant, weather-beaten, mettlesome, 
 obstinate, leathern-sided, lion-hearted old gov- 
 ernor;" and Fiske traces his name humorously 
 from Stm/ven, to stir up, and sand, interpreting the 
 compound as, " he who stirs up a dust." 
 
 It is true that he made mistakes, that he was 
 arbitrary, testy, impulsive and obstinate ; but he 
 was also sincerely patriotic, brave, unselfish and un-
 
 THAT PEARL OF PEARLS. 225 
 
 tiring in his activity. He managed matters with a 
 high hand, refusing to take counsel or criticism from 
 any of his fellow-townsmen, and announcing at the 
 outset " If any one during my administration shall 
 appeal, I will make him a foot shorter and send the 
 pieces to Holland and let him appeal in that way." 
 
 The Van Rensselaers had been criticised for sell- 
 ing firearms to the Mohawks, but it is doubtful 
 whether any Indian outbreak could be traced to 
 this practice ; and Stuy vesant put his finger on the 
 true source of all the mischief when he forbade 
 under penalty of a fine of one hundred guilders the 
 sale of intoxicating liquors to the savages, and 
 further decreed that the seller should be held re- 
 sponsible for any injury which the savage might 
 inflict while under the influence of strong drink. 
 
 A temporary peace was concluded with the In- 
 dians, and the Governor had time to make an 
 expedition against the Swedes in Delaware and 
 to take up the question of the boundary between 
 the Dutch and the English settlements on the 
 East. Van T wilier had built and garrisoned 
 Fort Good Hope at Hartford, but Lion Gardiner 
 on the petition of Winthrop had built a stronger 
 fort at Saybrook, and English settlers laid out the 
 town of Hartford under the very guns of the Dutch 
 blockhouse and poured into Connecticut. Stuy-
 
 226 ANNEKE. 
 
 vesant wrote to Winthrop protesting, and was in- 
 vited to meet him at Hartford for the settlement of 
 the boundary question. As the Dutch Governor 
 spoke no English it was necessary for him to take 
 an interpreter with him, and it chanced that Love 
 Brewster was recommended by Jeremias Van 
 Rensselaer for this position. 
 
 Love brought the letter requesting his services to 
 the Van Kensselaer manor-house, begging that he 
 might be excused as he might meet with some of 
 his family. 
 
 " But Mr. Brewster," cried Anneke, " I have such 
 good news for you. Forgive me that I had for- 
 gotten to tell you before," and she told him how 
 she had learned from Willie Nicoll that Wrestling 
 Brewster had not perished in the Virginia massacre 
 but had returned safely to Plymouth and had mar- 
 ried Patience Dudley. 
 
 " Thank God," exclaimed Love Brewster fer- 
 vently, " I will go not only with the Governor to 
 Hartford, but, if he will permit me, still further and 
 visit my kindred." 
 
 Governor Stuyvesant embarked from New Am- 
 sterdam with an imposing suite, and sailing through 
 the sound arrived at Hartford after four days. The 
 negotiations were complicated, but were conducted 
 in a friendly manner and were referred to four ar-
 
 THAT PEARL OF PEAELS. 227 
 
 bitrators, two on the part of New England and two 
 for New Netherland. It was afterward objected 
 by the Dutch that Stuy vesant chose Englishmen to 
 represent them, and that his secretary was an Eng- 
 lishman. By this treaty of 1650 Long Island was 
 divided at Oyster Bay, and on the mainland the line 
 was to begin at Greenwich and run north "so that 
 said line came not within ten miles of the Hudson 
 river." This arbitration was accepted, but it satis- 
 fied neither the Dutch, who wished the Connecticut 
 river to be the boundary, nor the English, who cov- 
 eted the entire country occupied by the Hollanders. 
 Love Brewster, who had been allowed a brief 
 leave of absence, and had made a most enjoyable 
 visit with his relatives, returned to New Amster- 
 dam, where he remained in the employ of the Dutch 
 governor. Stuyvesant next turned his attention to 
 Kensselaerswyck, where, in spite of his friendship 
 for the family, he felt that the lords of the manor 
 were holding their heads far too high. Since the 
 building of the castle of Kensselaerstein on Bear 
 Island its " wacht meester " had had orders to collect 
 a toll of five guilders from every vessel passing up 
 or down the river, and to demand that colors be 
 dipped as a salute to the patroon. But one day 
 Govert Loockermans attempted to pass in his yacht 
 Good Hope, without tendering this homage.
 
 228 ANNEXE. 
 
 " Strike your colors ! " shouted the commander of 
 the castle. 
 
 " For whom shall I strike ? " scoffed Loockermans. 
 
 " For my lord Kiliaen, and the right of Rensse- 
 laerstein," cried the " wacht meester." 
 
 "I strike for nobody," replied Loockermans, 
 " but the Prince of Orange and their High Mighti- 
 nesses, the States General." 
 
 Three shots were then fired from the ramparts, 
 one of which tore a rent in the flag of the ship. 
 
 Such arrogant behavior as this could not pass un- 
 noticed and Stuyvesant proceeded to Rensselaers- 
 wyck with a small body of soldiers. Unfortunately 
 he did not visit at the manor in a friendly way but 
 went directly to Fort Orange, which belonged to 
 the West India Company, and summoned Van 
 Slechtenhorst, the commissary of the Van Rensse- 
 laers, to come to him. Now the commissary was 
 a man endowed with a little brief authority of which 
 he was far more jealous than the patroon himself, 
 and when Stuyvesant handed him a list of his per- 
 emptory orders he replied insubordinately that he 
 should obey only those which pleased him, and 
 asked with a sneer if the Governor supposed him- 
 self to be the patroon of Rensselaerswyck. One of 
 the orders was that no houses were to be built 
 within musket range of the fort, and scarcely had
 
 THAT PEARL OF PEARLS. 229 
 
 Stuyvesant gone when Van Slechtenhorst, to show 
 his contempt of his authority, began putting up 
 some cabins close to the fort. Hearing of this, 
 Stuyvesant sent up a squad of soldiers with orders 
 to the commandant of Fort Orange to arrest Van 
 Slechtenhorst and to pull down the houses. 
 
 It happened that a party of Mohawks were visit- 
 ing Kensselaerswyck when Stuyvesant had his first 
 altercation with the commissary. They could not 
 understand what it was all about, but when they 
 saw the angry face of the Governor purple with 
 rage, they hurried to Kiliaen after Stuy vesant's de- 
 parture with the information that the great chief, 
 Wooden Leg, was very drunk. "Impossible," 
 Kiliaen replied, " the Governor never drinks to 
 excess." 
 
 "I do not mean," replied their chief, Saheda, 
 " that Wooden Leg is drunk with rum. He was 
 born drunk." 
 
 When these same Indians saw the soldiers tearing 
 down the houses and they were informed that it 
 was done by the command of Wooden Leg, they 
 were greatly excited and asked permission to go 
 down the river and burn New Amsterdam and kill 
 Chief Wooden Leg, and it needed all of Yan Cor- 
 lear's utmost influence to keep them from executing 
 their threat.
 
 230 ANNEKE. 
 
 The Yan Kensselaers deeply regretted the mis- 
 understanding which had arisen, and later they 
 were able to convince their hasty friend of their 
 friendship. 
 
 Shortly after this occurrence, too, the Governor 
 sent them as a peace-offering a strange present, " a 
 dividance of negro slaves," which had been brought 
 to New Amsterdam by a skipper whom the Gov- 
 ernor shrewdly suspected to be little better than a 
 pirate, as he confessed to having taken them by 
 force from a Spanish slaver, Juan Gaillardo. 
 
 The negroes, who were named Mookinga, Figa, 
 La Caubotera, Paulo and Diego, had their own 
 strange story to tell. 
 
 They were free blacks living in a village in 
 Jamaica, but had been captured by the Spaniards, 
 who in turn had been taken by the pirate Morgan, 
 who recognized some of them as having made a 
 cruise under his command against the island of 
 Margarita. 
 
 Morgan had treated them kindly, and, as their 
 city had been destroyed, asked what they wished 
 him to do with them. Mookinga begged that he 
 would take them to an English gentleman named 
 Nicoll, whom he well knew had once been kind to 
 them. The Captain had replied that he knew 
 not where to find him, but would sell them to
 
 THAT PEARL OF PEARLS. 231 
 
 certain Dutch, friends of his, and he had kept his 
 word. 
 
 From this story and other relations of Mookinga, 
 Anneke and Kiliaen received a better idea of the 
 character of Willie's piratical adventures than they 
 had previously entertained. With all their kindness 
 shown to the negroes, they shivered and pined for 
 the tropics and were at last sent to Curaao. 1 About 
 this time the Van Kensselaers received a more 
 agreeable visit from an old friend, Father Isaac 
 Jogues. 
 
 The devoted missionary, after exciting adventures 
 in Ireland and England, had landed at Brest, and 
 from this port had made his way to Rennes, where 
 there was a society of Jesuits. He announced him- 
 self simply as a returning missionary, when the rec- 
 tor asked most anxiously if he could give them any 
 news of their beloved brother, Father Jogues, whom 
 they feared had suffered martyrdom. 
 
 " He is well," the priest replied, " and I am he." 
 Upon this the entire community fell upon their 
 knees and asked his blessing. There was rejoicing 
 all through France over his return. The Queen 
 Regent, Anne of Austria, sent for him to come to 
 court, and kneeling before him with the court ladies 
 
 1 This affair occasioned considerable diplomatic correspondence. 
 See "Juan Gaillardo's complaint," Holland Documents, vol. ii.
 
 232 ANNEKE. 
 
 had kissed his mutilated hands. The modest priest 
 did not speak of this, or of the many other honors 
 that were showered upon him at court, but he told 
 with tears in his eyes of one special grace which had 
 been extended him by the Pope. It is one of the 
 canons of the Roman Catholic Church that only a 
 priest physically perfect can celebrate the Eucharist, 
 and it was Father Jogues' greatest grief that he had 
 been deprived of this privilege by the loss of his 
 fingers. Pope Urban VIII. decided that a martyr 
 who, like Christ, had been wounded in his hands, 
 ought with more reason to be allowed to celebrate 
 the Holy Sacrifice, and made this special dispensa- 
 tion in his behalf. 
 
 His French friends had collected the ransom of 
 three hundred livres which Kiliaen had paid the 
 Mohawks, and a part of his errand was to repay 
 this debt; but this his hosts would not suffer him 
 to do. He told of a conversation which he had 
 had with the young King Louis XIV., and with 
 the great Cardinal Mazarin, and of their interest in 
 the Canadian possessions, and in the conversion of 
 the savages. He had evidently done everything in 
 his power to persuade them to preserve peace with 
 their English and Dutch neighbors, and not to en- 
 croach upon their territory. 
 
 " There were certain unscrupulous men at court,"
 
 TEA T PEARL OF PEARLS. 233 
 
 he admitted, "who harbored ambitious designs 
 of bringing themselves into notice by inducing 
 the king to allow them to attempt to conquer 
 more territory for France. I have urged the 
 cardinal to restrain such spirits, and to limit our 
 attempts at conquest to a spiritual kingdom. I 
 am ready to give my life for the conversion of 
 the heathen, but I shall steadfastly oppose all at- 
 tempts to win them from their allegiance to your 
 flag." 
 
 Father Jogues left in a few days for the very 
 tribe which had tortured him, and Kiliaen insisted 
 on accompanying him to their first castle to insure 
 his favorable reception. Here, when the Jesuit ex- 
 plained that he had been sent to negotiate a peace 
 between the French and the Iroquois, Kiliaen as- 
 sured the chief, Saheda, that this peace had the en- 
 tire approval of his Dutch allies, and urged him to 
 exert his influence with the other Iroquois to con- 
 clude it. He was convinced of Father Jogues' good 
 faith, but was rendered uneasy by the suggestion 
 that there was some scheme brewing at the French 
 court which might bring on hostilities between the 
 French and the Dutch, and before he parted from 
 the good priest, begged him to explain more defi- 
 nitely his vague allusions. 
 
 Father Jogues admitted that he had talked with
 
 234 ANNEKE. 
 
 one young man who advocated the right of France 
 to the entire North American Continent, and was 
 so insane as to say that it was the ambition of his 
 life to head an expedition to sweep the Dutch and 
 the English from America. " But be not alarmed," 
 the priest added, " this man was only a fanatical 
 young noble named Frontenac, without great influ- 
 ence, and with no means to prosecute his insane and 
 wicked schemes. You need not fear until you hear 
 that he is Governor of Canada. Nor then, for while 
 I live he can do nothing. I have the ear of Mazarin, 
 who controls the king, and of the Jesuits of Canada, 
 who control the Indians. Fear not the rage of 
 man." 
 
 As he was leaving he said to Anneke, " I have 
 brought you a little gift. May it bring you con- 
 solation when you are in trouble as it did to me." 
 And Anneke was not surprised to find that the 
 missionary's present was a little book, The Imita- 
 tion of Christ. 
 
 So Anneke and Kiliaen received the blessing of 
 the good priest, and saw him no more. 
 
 " You have driven a nail in your own coffin, in 
 sanctioning his mission to the Iroquois," said Yan 
 Corlear. "If the French win over our allies we 
 are defenceless." 
 
 " No matter," replied Kiliaen, " I believe in
 
 THA T PEARL OF PEARLS. 235 
 
 Father Jogues, and am willing to take the con- 
 sequences." 
 
 The Jesuit did not remain long with the 
 Mohawks. Having accomplished his mission he 
 returned to Canada, but he promised that he would 
 return to them again and expound to them his re- 
 ligion. In pledge of this he left in their keeping a 
 box containing various church utensils, and among 
 them an ivory crucifix. Unfortunately sickness 
 fell upon the Iroquois the following winter, and in 
 the summer a pestilence devoured their crops. 
 Their medicine men insisted that the Black Robe 
 had left an evil talisman among them to work their 
 destruction. Bursting open the chest they found 
 the image of a man stretched in torture upon a 
 cross, and the wizard pointed triumphantly to this 
 sign of suffering. They destroyed it, and the evil 
 spell appeared to be lifted. 
 
 Another year, and hostilities broke out between 
 the Hurons and the Iroquois. Father Jogues was 
 sent with some Hurons to pacify the Five Nations. 
 He knew that in their enraged state this was im- 
 possible, but he accepted the mission, assuring his 
 friends that he was going to his death. Half way 
 between Lake George and the Mohawk Country he 
 was taken prisoner, and carried to their town of 
 Caughnawaga. Here he was summoned to an in-
 
 236 ANNEKE. 
 
 terview with a chief and as he was stooping to 
 enter the wigwam was struck down with a toma- 
 hawk and killed. 
 
 There was great grief at Eensselaerswyck when 
 the news of the murder of the devoted missionary 
 was brought them, and the Mohawks were made to 
 understand how wicked the deed had been, and 
 that it would surely be avenged by the French. 
 
 Arendt Van Corlear had laid out a new village 
 in the spot which he had alwa} r s regarded as the 
 most beautiful in all the Rensselaer domain. 
 Schenectady was the darling of his heart, and the 
 very outpost of civilization. Schuyler too had 
 established a manor near Saratoga, and these settle- 
 ments and other scattered farms were exposed to 
 the incursions of the Hurons. Kiliaen saw the 
 necessity of an understanding with the French 
 Governor, and taking with him letters from the 
 Governor of New Netherlands, he set out with Yan 
 Corlear for Canada. 
 
 Although feverishly anxious to go, Kiliaen was 
 oppressed by a presentiment of coming evil. 
 Anneke and he had been very happy since their 
 coming to Rensselaerswyck. Over on the east- 
 shore they had bought of the Mohegans land 
 stretching beyond the blue Berkshires into Massa- 
 chusetts. On this opposite bank Kiliaen was build-
 
 THA T PEARL OF PEARLS. 237 
 
 ing a new house for himself and Anneke. They 
 called the place The Grails, after an estate owned 
 by Kiliaen's father near Amsterdam, and they were 
 looking forward to taking possession of it in the 
 following spring. The day before Kiliaen started 
 for Canada they rowed over to the new home, that 
 he might leave orders for the work to be done in 
 his absence. A pretty garden, in the formal Dutch 
 style, with clipped trees and beds of tulips, had 
 already been laid out, a terrace descended to the 
 little landing, and Anneke had transplanted wild 
 roses, and set flowering shrubs, laurel and pink 
 azaleas, along the borders. They walked about 
 the place, and Anneke strove to interest Kiliaen in 
 her plans for a dovecote here, and a rabbit warren 
 there, but he was listless and sad. Seeing that 
 he scarcely listened, she sat down by his side in 
 a rustic seat and quietly waited. Suddenly he 
 drew her closer to him. " You have been happy, 
 Anneke ? " he asked. 
 
 " Very," she replied. " And you, dear Kiliaen ? " 
 " Not quite. There has been something on my 
 conscience for a long time, which I ought to have 
 told you. You married me because you believed 
 Willie ISTicoll a villain. You thought that he dis- 
 guised himself as the prince to deceive our grand- 
 father and steal your love. That was not his mo-
 
 238 ANNEKE. 
 
 tive. He sustained the Prince's character at the 
 Prince's own request, and loyalty to his word made 
 it impossible for him to tell you this when you 
 charged him with dishonor." 
 
 " Surely you did not know this, when you asked 
 me to marry you ? " Anneke asked in a stifled voice. 
 
 " No, Anneke, I was not so base as that ; I never 
 knew it until our talk after we floated together be- 
 tween death and life after leaving the pirate ship. 
 He had gone to Maracaibo with the pirates simply 
 to find and save me for your sake. He urged me 
 not to tell you, and I did not tell you for I feared 
 I might lose your love. Have I lost it, Anneke ? " 
 
 " I love you all the more, Kiliaen, for telling me 
 now. It was right that I should know that Willie 
 Nicoll was not the despicable creature that I 
 thought him, but that knowledge can make no dif- 
 ference with us, dear Kiliaen." 
 
 The tears came to his eyes, for his heart was full, 
 and he had borne the burden long. 
 
 "If anything should happen," he said, "you will 
 tell Willie that I told you, and that you still loved 
 me." 
 
 " If I ever see him again, certainly ; but that is not 
 likely, for we have not heard from him since he left 
 you at Aruba." 
 
 " He will find you," Kiliaen said, " but now I do
 
 TEA T PEARL OF PEARLS. 239 
 
 not dread it, since you know all and have no regret." 
 A great strain had been removed from his mind and 
 from that time until he left he was gay and boyish. 
 "I shall have great stories to tell you of New 
 France when I come back," he said, " but if they 
 boast of their fine ladies so shall I. So that we 
 shall soon see a procession of French gentlemen 
 coming down to New Netherlands for Dutch wives. 
 But seriously, Anneke, I have no fears of French 
 invasion, for though we have lost our great peace- 
 advocate, Father Jogues, there seem to be no signs 
 of war, and we need not desert our home till we 
 hear of the coming of Frontenac." 
 
 He went away the next morning with Van Cor- 
 lear and two Mohawks. They ascended the Hudson 
 in canoes, making a portage to Lake George, and 
 intending to continue through Lake Champlain and 
 the Kichelieu River to the St. Lawrence. But on 
 Lake George, which had been discovered by Father 
 Jogues, and named by him St. Sacrament, a sudden 
 storm came up, the skiffs were capsized, and the 
 wise Yan Corlear, with the young and high-minded 
 Kiliaen, was drowned. One of their Indian serv- 
 ants escaped and brought back the terrible news, 
 but it was impossible to recover their bodies. 
 
 For days Anneke went about her duties dry -eyed, 
 stunned by the terrible blow, and unreconciled to
 
 240 ANNEKE. 
 
 God's will. But one morning her attention was at- 
 tracted by the little book which Father Jogues had 
 given her. 
 
 He had not said, read it if you are in trouble, 
 but " when you are in trouble." How did he know 
 that trouble would surely come? She had not 
 opened it because she had been so happy, but now 
 she read greedily the very words which he had 
 shown to Kiliaen when he was a captive. It 
 seemed to her a personal message from the good 
 priest bidding her be patient, and at last the tears, 
 which had refused to flow, brought relief to her 
 burning brain as she read the triumphant assurance 
 of Jesus. 
 
 " Lift up therefore your face unto heaven, behold 
 I and all my saints who had in this world sharp 
 conflict now rejoice, now are comforted, now are in 
 safety, now are in rest. And they shall remain 
 with me in my Father's kingdom forever." 
 
 Very bravely Anneke took up the burden of life 
 again. Kiliaen's death was not the only misfortune 
 to fall at this time on Eensselaerswyck. He of all 
 the family who would have felt it most never knew 
 that the young life had gone out in which all of his 
 hopes had been centred. The steady hand of the 
 great Patroon, Kiliaen Yan Rensselaer of Amster-
 
 THAT PEARL OF PEARLS. 241 
 
 dam, was no longer at the helm. His life of im- 
 mense activity and achievement had closed; and 
 not his family and Rensselaerswyck alone, but the 
 great "West India Company and all New Nether- 
 land were to feel the loss of his sagacious counsel 
 and ever ready resources. 
 
 Jeremias Yan Rensselaer, smitten at once by the 
 loss of father and son-in-law, rose to the emergency, 
 but he had never held the barony except as in trust. 
 There was no hope now of keeping it united, and 
 he foresaw its division and disintegration. There 
 were also more pressing and immediate dangers. 
 
 For ten years the Indians in the vicinity of New 
 Amsterdam had kept their truce, but now they rose 
 in war, and this time, as always, it was the white 
 man's fault. Ensign Yan Dyck, saw an Indian 
 woman gathering peaches in his orchard and wick- 
 edly shot her dead. This roused all the tribes. 
 They burned villages, desolated Staten Island and 
 New Jersey, killing one hundred settlers, taking 
 one hundred and fifty prisoners and rendering three 
 hundred more homeless. The damage inflicted was 
 estimated at over eighty thousand dollars, a great 
 blow for the infant colony. 
 
 Stuyvesant soon quelled this outbreak, and at 
 first showed great moderation in dealing with the 
 Indians, so that nearly all the captives were ran-
 
 242 ANNEKE. 
 
 somed ; but hatred rankled in the hearts of one of 
 the most powerful tribes, the Esopus. They bided 
 their time, and waited for provocation and oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 In August, 1659, a band of these Indians were 
 employed by a settler in husking corn. In the 
 evening they were supplied with brandy and were 
 carousing noisily in the barn. Some soldiers in a 
 neighboring outpost hearing their shouts insanely 
 attacked the drunken creatures who were " doing 
 no harm to any one but themselves," and killed 
 one and wounded several others. Horrible war 
 now broke out anew, and it was feared that the 
 Mohawks would join with the Esopus Indians. 
 
 Jeremias Van Rensselaer with other prominent 
 men proceeded to Caughnawaga and called a council 
 of the Iroquois, giving them presents of wampum and 
 ammunition, and asking for a renewal of friendship. 
 The Indians not only pledged alliance with the 
 Dutch, but placing the blame of the war exactly 
 where it rested, asked the Dutch not to sell intoxi- 
 cating liquors to the Indians. 
 
 They kept their treaty, and several times acted 
 as intermediaries between Stuyvesant and the 
 Esopus Indians in the ransoming of prisoners, and 
 at length the war ended (as all foresaw it must if 
 the Mohawks maintained neutrality) in the com-
 
 THAT PEARL OF PEARLS. 243 
 
 plete victory of the Dutch, and the annihilation of 
 the Esopus tribe. 
 
 Hardly were the Indians silenced when another 
 very serious matter demanded Stuyvesant's atten- 
 tion. Ever since his unsatisfactory treaty with 
 Winthrop concerning the boundary question there 
 had been dissatisfaction between the Dutch and the 
 English. There had been a short period during the 
 rule of Cromwell when Holland and England had 
 been at war, and the inhabitants of New England 
 had prepared for an armed invasion of New Nether- 
 land. But the news that peace had been declared 
 at home had arrived before the expedition had 
 actually set out, and the Dutch believed that the 
 danger was averted. 
 
 But now, that Charles II. had come to the 
 throne, though England and Holland were at peace, 
 most alarming encroachments were being com- 
 mitted by the New Englanders on the territory of 
 New Netherland. 
 
 Stuyvesant sailed to Boston to try to obtain an 
 adjustment of the difficulty, but he could effect noth- 
 ing. He learned here that a charter had been 
 granted to Connecticut by King Charles and that 
 the boundaries must remain as there defined. On 
 his return to New Amsterdam, the Dutch Governor 
 found that an Englishman named Scott had visited
 
 244 ANN EKE. 
 
 the different towns in Long Island and informed 
 the inhabitants that they were no longer citizens of 
 New Netherland, but of Connecticut. Stuyvesant 
 at once sent commissioners to Governor Winthrop 
 at Hartford to attempt to settle the difficulty of the 
 boundary. The General Assembly of the State at 
 Hartford appointed a committee to meet the dele- 
 gation from New Amsterdam and to read them the 
 charter just obtained from Charles II. What was 
 the consternation of the honest Dutchmen to find 
 that the grant of the new king of England to the 
 State of Connecticut included all the land south of 
 the Massachusetts line to Virginia, and from Nar- 
 ragansett Bay on the east to the Pacific Ocean on 
 the west ! 
 
 " What then becomes of our treaty of 1650 ? " 
 asked the Dutch Commissioners. 
 
 " That treaty," replied the Assembly, " is now 
 only waste paper. We do not recognize any prov- 
 ince of New Netherland. The land which you 
 call by that name is included in our patent. We 
 shall possess it, and maintain it." 
 
 This message the commissioners brought back to 
 Stuyvesant in a letter from the General Assembly, 
 which, ignoring his title of Governor of New Neth- 
 erland, was discourteously addressed to the " Di- 
 rector of the West India Company."
 
 THA T PEARL OF PEARLS. 245 
 
 Anxious, but still resolute, Governor Stuyvesant 
 summoned his council and began to fortify New 
 Amsterdam, and in other ways to prepare for hos- 
 tilities. 
 
 Provisions, ammunition and soldiers were needed, 
 and the Governor in his little yacht hurried up the 
 river to Kennselaerswyck to ask for help from 
 Jeremias Van Kensselaer.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A CAVALIER OF KING CHARLES. 
 
 And hark! like the roar of the billows on the shore, 
 The cry of battle rises along the charging line! 
 
 For God! for the Cause! for the Church! for the Laws! 
 For Charles, King of England, and Rupert of the Rhine. 
 
 Macaulay. 
 
 ILLIE NICOLL 
 reached England at a 
 most exciting time. It 
 was the summer of 
 1645 just before the 
 battle of Naseby. 
 Like a good royalist 
 he immediately joined 
 the King and was as- 
 signed to the com- 
 mand of Prince Eu- 
 pert, whose cavalry 
 
 had lost so many of its flower in the battle of 
 
 Marston Moor. 
 
 Willie was with Prince Rupert in that gallant 
 
 charge at Naseby and followed the flash of his 
 
 scarlet cloak, when, burning to wipe out the humilia- 
 
 246
 
 A CA VALIER OF KING CHARLES. 247 
 
 tion of their previous defeat, his cavaliers mowed 
 their path through Ireton's men, and, never dream- 
 ing but their cause was everywhere victorious, fol- 
 lowed them too far. Keturning jaded from that 
 inconsiderate chase, he had found the brave king 
 overwhelmed by Cromwell, and the main army in 
 mad retreat. 
 
 Had Rupert rejoined his uncle a few minutes be- 
 fore, the day might have been theirs, for Charles 
 was urging his men on to a last desperate charge 
 when the Earl of Carn wrath, seeing how few were 
 his followers, seized his horse by the bridle and 
 turning it around gave the signal for flight. 
 
 Henceforth Willie's fortunes were to be those of 
 Prince Rupert. He was with him in the siege of 
 Bristol, and fled with him to France when the King 
 ordered him to leave England. He joined him in 
 Holland when the Prince was placed in command of 
 the royal fleet, and the cavalier army became a 
 navy. 
 
 The Prince of Orange sympathized warmly with 
 his royal father-in-law, King Charles. The ports of 
 Holland were havens for his ships. The Hague was 
 full of intrigues to rescue the King, in one of which 
 the Prince is known to have been concerned. 
 
 Willie had not seen Prince William since they 
 parted in Rembrandt's studio, but the day after he
 
 248 ANNEKE. 
 
 had been assigned to his ship, a gay little barge 
 came alongside, and the Prince came on board. 
 
 Willie met Prince William in the cabin, and 
 learned from him that Prince Rupert had indicated 
 his vessel for a bit of secret service. King Charles 
 was a prisoner in Carrisbrooke Castle, in the Isle 
 of Wight. They were to approach as near as possi- 
 ble, await certain signals, and, if all succeeded as 
 planned, bring the king to Holland. 
 
 " You can imagine," said the Prince of Orange, 
 " the agony with which my wife awaits the issue 
 of the attempt to rescue her father. I have been 
 informed by Prince Rupert that he has not a ship 
 in his command manned by more loyal officers, and 
 I willingly trust this dangerous and delicate busi- 
 ness to your discretion." 
 
 As the Captain replied, Prince William looked at 
 Willie more keenly. Three years upon the Spanish 
 main, and one in campaign life had changed the 
 youth to a weather-beaten soldier, but nevertheless 
 the Prince was puzzled. " Where have I seen you 
 before ? " he asked. 
 
 " I once served my king, and your Highness also, 
 much to my own damage," Willie replied, " and I 
 am ready to serve you both again, though it should 
 cost me as dear." 
 
 Prince William recognized his voice and ex-
 
 A CAVAIJKR OF KING CHARLES.
 
 A CA VALIER OF KING CHARLES. 249 
 
 claimed, "'Tis the young cavalier to whom my wife 
 owes it that she possesses her mother's jewels. I 
 am. sorry that enterprise was unfortunate for you. 
 God speed you in this one. You will never 
 regret it." 
 
 For six days the ship waited at the rendezvous, 
 moving away when other vessels appeared to sus- 
 pect her but ever returning to her port. Through 
 fog and blinding rain, by night and by day, Willie 
 watched for the signal that was to tell them that 
 the King had left the castle, and that a boat must 
 be sent to a certain secluded spot on the beach. 
 That signal never came ; but one day a sloop passed 
 at a little distance, and in passing ran up three lan- 
 terns, which signified that the attempt had failed 
 and they were to return. 
 
 On the thirtieth of January, 1649, Charles 1. was 
 beheaded in front of his palace of Whitehall. His 
 execution is acknowledged to have been a great 
 political blunder even by the supporters of Puritan 
 principles. Cromwell himself, as he gazed on his 
 dead face, murmured, "Cruel necessity." For 
 Charles I., in his private life was pure and high- 
 minded, passionately devoted to his wife and chil- 
 dren, brave in battle and heroic in his death. A 
 courtly gentleman and a good Christian, as it was 
 given him to understand the religion of Christ.
 
 250 ANNEKE. 
 
 He said while dressing on the morning of his exe- 
 cution, " Let me be as trim as may be, this is my 
 second marriage day ; for before night I hope to be 
 espoused to my blessed Jesus." 
 
 On the scaffold he was undismayed, dignified but 
 gentle. It was the most truly royal moment of his 
 life, for his sublime bearing in that supreme crisis 
 won the hearts even of his enemies. A puritan 
 poem wrote of him : 
 
 " He nothing common did or mean 
 Upon that memorable scene. 
 But with his keener eye, 
 The axe's edge did try ; 
 And bowed his comely head 
 Down, as upon a bed." 
 
 While at this distance we pity the royal victim 
 of the march of events, as we do the innocent Louis 
 XVI., and Marie Antoinette, we must not forget 
 that the world had outgrown the system and prin- 
 ciple which they represented, the divine right of 
 kings. Charles gave his life for that principle. He 
 asserted in his farewell words from the scaffold, " A 
 subject and a sovereign are clean different things ; 
 the liberty of the people consists in having of the 
 Government those laws by which their lives and 
 goods may be most their own, but for having a share 
 in the Government is nothing pertaining to them." 
 
 The royal family took refuge in France and in
 
 A CAVALIER OF KING CHARLES. 251 
 
 Holland. Though Cromwell held the reins of gov- 
 ernment, from the moment that Charles I. died, 
 Charles II. was, for the royalist party, the rightful 
 king of England. 
 
 While he lingered in exile at a foreign court, his 
 cousin, Prince Rupert, as his admiral of the seas, sup- 
 ported him and his needy courtiers by his formida- 
 ble buccaneering. Sometimes he did this by dodg- 
 ing the Parliament's fleet and receiving supplies off 
 the coast of England, and sometimes by capturing 
 Spanish galleons on their return from the West 
 Indies, or by bartering gums and ivory of Africa 
 for gunpowder and wine in Portugal. 
 
 At one time he wrote to Charles, " We take to 
 the Mediterranean, poverty and despair our com- 
 panions and revenge our guide," but soon after he 
 was able to report : 
 
 " I have sold my prizes for 40,000. I have one 
 hundred thousand men aboard the fleet, and we are 
 now victualling for four months more." 
 
 His chaplain wrote in his diary, "Whereas the 
 Prince found the fleet mutinous and tempted by 
 the Earl of Warwick's agents, he who was so lately 
 necessitated for want of men and money hath now 
 profusely of both, and begins to plow the main 
 with confidence, claiming the obedience thereof to 
 his standard."
 
 252 ANNEKE. 
 
 Willie might not have embarked upon another 
 buccaneering expedition had it not been for an ex- 
 perience which happened to him in Holland. He 
 had taken a little trip to Amsterdam, desiring to 
 revisit the old scenes so full of bitter-sweet mem- 
 ories. He passed by, without entering, the great 
 diamond establishment of the old Patroon now car- 
 ried on by his son, Johannes Van Kensselaer, but he 
 strove to find Rembrandt, and was saddened to 
 learn of the death of Saskia, and that the affairs of 
 the painter had gone from bad to worse, until his 
 reckless extravagance as a collector had rendered 
 him insolvent. His friends however had not de- 
 serted him, and Willie learned that he was living in 
 retirement on the estate of Burgomaster Six, where 
 he was solacing himself by etching the marvellous 
 landscapes which have contributed so much to his 
 fame. 
 
 At Leyden Willie knocked at the door of his old 
 quarters, and was welcomed by a young student, 
 who introduced himself as Robert Brewster, a New 
 Englander, who had come to the university for an 
 education, and had taken the rooms formerly oc- 
 cupied by his uncle, Love Brewster. 
 
 Willie immediately related what he already knew 
 of the young man's father and uncle, and was taken 
 into the youth's confidence.
 
 A CA VALIER OF KING CHARLES. 253 
 
 He begged Willie to help him execute a com- 
 mand of his father's which he had been unable to 
 obey. 
 
 " My father," said Robert Brewster, " was with 
 Raleigh on his last unfortunate expedition, and re- 
 mained for some years in the hands of the Spanish 
 settlers of the Orinoco. He said to me on leaving 
 home : 
 
 " * Fail not to make careful inquiry for Lady Ra- 
 leigh, and give her my duty. Tell her that her 
 husband was right ; that I have explored his gold 
 mines. I worked in them while a prisoner with 
 the Spaniards ; but the Spanish colony was driven 
 out by the great Indian uprising, and the entire 
 country is overrun with tribes hostile to all Euro- 
 peans. Raleigh himself could not conquer that 
 country now.' 
 
 " I objected to my father," Robert Brewster con- 
 tinued, " that some day that land might be opened 
 to the English, and some descendant of ours might 
 amass wealth if he knew the exact locality of these 
 mines, and my father replied : 
 
 "'The wealth is already amassed. While en- 
 trusted by my captors, on account of my knowledge 
 of metallurgy, with the superintendence of the 
 mines, I buried vast quantities of pure gold in an 
 underground vault known only to myself and to
 
 254 ANNEKE. 
 
 the friendly Indian, Harry, who escaped with me 
 and died in Plymouth last year.' 
 
 " * Then, father,' I said, ' why do you not make 
 maps which would enable a searcher to find those 
 mines and especially this treasure vault ? ' 
 
 " ' The love of gold,' said my good mother, ' is 
 the root of all evil. How often the fathers of this 
 colony have rejoiced that no precious metals existed 
 here, to draw the colonists from homely but neces- 
 sary labor and to breed dissension amongst them. 
 I would be in despair if I saw you a victim to the 
 mania of the gold seeker. I am glad that the posi- 
 tion of the mines is unknown, that the country is 
 guarded by savages, that their very existence is dis- 
 credited. There let El Dorado remain, impene- 
 trable, and derided as an illusive dream until the 
 very memory of the fable fades from the mind of 
 man.' 
 
 " * Nevertheless,' replied my father, calmly, ' it is 
 no fable ; and I have felt it to be my duty to draw 
 just such a map as Robert has suggested, whereby, 
 if the savages were not hostile, it would be an easy 
 thing for a specially equipped exploring party to 
 find the mines and the treasure chamber. But this 
 treasure is not for any of our line, for it belongs by 
 right of inheritance to the race of that daring ex- 
 plorer who sacrificed wealth and ease and life itself
 
 A CA VALIER OF KING CHARLES. 255 
 
 in the attempt to enrich not himself but his perfid- 
 ious king. Sir Walter's younger son, named for 
 his friend Carew, may still be alive. Seek out that 
 young man and give to him the papers which I will 
 entrust to you. Fail not, be faithful in your stew- 
 ardship. It is my chief joy in sending you back to 
 the mother country that I may acquit myself of 
 this duty.' " 
 
 " And have you done this ? " asked Willie. 
 
 " Alas, no," replied the young man. " I have not 
 been able to find Carew Kaleigh, though I hear 
 that he still lives in straitened circumstances. He 
 could fit out no expedition, but you, who say you 
 are thinking of sailing to the Spanish Main might 
 make such terms with Prince Rupert whereby the 
 son of the great explorer would receive a goodly 
 portion of this treasure; and should the greater 
 part enrich the royal coffers it is but what Raleigh 
 would have wished." 
 
 Willie introduced Robert Brewster to Prince 
 Rupert who heard the story carelessly. He was 
 evidently incredulous, but he bade Willie keep the 
 chart, promising to search for the mines, if he 
 found it convenient. 
 
 The time never came. The Prince had made up 
 his mind to seek seriously for El Dorado when the 
 tragedy of the sinking of his flagship with three
 
 256 ANN EKE. 
 
 hundred and thirty-three of its crew, and his own 
 narrow escape, led to his relinquishment of the life 
 of a sea-rover. 
 
 Willie returned to England before the end of the 
 Commonwealth, sick of buccaneering and devoted 
 himself quietly to the study of law. At length, 
 after the death of Cromwell, the pendulum of pop- 
 ular sentiment swung back to a desire for absolute 
 monarchy, and the restoration of the house of 
 Stuart. On the 26th of May, 1660, Charles II. was 
 welcomed with wild expressions of enthusiasm, and 
 ascending the throne was endowed with the oppor- 
 tunities and responsibilities which he so shamelessly 
 abused. It was in his power to have made the en- 
 tire Puritan movement seem a grotesque mistake ; 
 but if anything could have justified its past severi- 
 ties surely the dishonorable and profligate reign of 
 Charles II. would have done so. 
 
 London was soon filled with a swarm of greedy, 
 poverty-stricken courtiers, clamoring for office. 
 Charles had no sense of gratitude and no discrim- 
 ination. His gifts were showered upon dissolute 
 favorites while many a loyal old cavalier could 
 say: 
 
 "For our martyred Charles I lost my lands, 
 
 For his son I spent my all ; 
 That a churl might dine and drink my wine 
 And preach in my father's hall.
 
 A CA VALIEE OF KING CHARLES. 257 
 
 That father died on Marston Moor, 
 
 My son on Worcester plain ; 
 But the King he turned his back on me 
 
 When he came to his own again." 
 
 One staunch friend of his exile Charles remem- 
 bered, and the Reverend Nicholas Van Rensselaer 
 who had foretold the restoration and had come to 
 England, was made Chaplain of the Dutch Chapel 
 at Westminster. He was ordained deacon by the 
 Bishop of Salisbury, and given a lectureship at St. 
 Margaret's, Lotterbury. 
 
 He did not however remain permanently in Eng- 
 land, but emigrated to Rensselaerswyck after the 
 death of his nephew Kiliaen, where he married 
 Alida Schuyler. 1 
 
 In New England the Restoration could but bring 
 misgiving. The original grant of "the Connec- 
 ticut River and places adjoining thereto " had been 
 made by the Earl of Warwick to Lords Say and 
 Brooke. This document declared that : 
 
 "Robert Earl of Warwick sendeth greeting in 
 our Lord God everlasting to all people unto whom 
 this present writing shall come, He gives, grants, 
 
 1 His old power of clairvoyance did not desert him, for when on his 
 deathbed young Robert Livingston was summoned to draw up his 
 will, he cried imperiously, "not that young man," and when the 
 notary had gone Nicholas Van Rensselaer explained that he foresaw 
 that Livingston would become the second husband of his widow, a 
 prophecy which may have suggested its own fulfillment.
 
 258 ANN EKE. 
 
 bargains, sells, enfeoffs, aliens and confirms the soil 
 from the Narragansett River to the Pacific Ocean 
 and all jurisdiction which the said Robert Earl of 
 Warwick now hath or had or might use, exercise or 
 enjoy." 
 
 Evidently this claim had never been taken very 
 seriously by the grantees themselves, since they had 
 made a treaty with Stuyvesant fixing the western 
 boundary at ten miles east of the Hudson River. 
 It never appeared that Robert Earl of Warwick 
 ever had any jurisdiction to sell, but if a kingly 
 pretender claimed the right to convey the same 
 land though with no title, the matter took on a 
 different aspect. The King had armies to maintain 
 what he might seize, and the assembly of the state 
 of Connecticut determined to send a petition to 
 Charles II. for a new charter. 
 
 As an early New England poet quaintly wrote : 
 
 " Learned Winthrop then by general consent 
 Sat at the helm to sway the government, 
 Who prudently the people doth advise, 
 To ask the King for chartered liberties. 
 All like his counsel well, and all reply, 
 Sir, you must undertake our agency." 
 
 Winthrop came to London bearing a ring which 
 his father had received from Charles I., and it is 
 generally stated that Charles II. was so touched
 
 A GA VALIEE OF KING CHARLES. 259 
 
 \vhen he saw this memento of his father that he in- 
 stantly granted the request. It is very possible 
 however that the five hundred pounds, which the 
 Connecticut Assembly cannily voted to defray the 
 expenses of presenting the petition, were so tact- 
 fully disbursed as to aid in bringing the ring and 
 the petition to the King's notice. 
 
 Governor "YVinthrop returned with the charter 
 which was so exultantly displayed to the dismayed 
 Stuy vesant, with the bitter information that their 
 boundary treaty of 1650 was only so much waste 
 paper ; but Winthrop had yet to learn that Charles 
 II. would regard his royal word, and the charter so 
 sacredly and legally attested over his acknowledged 
 signature, as equally worthless. 
 
 After granting the territory occupied by the 
 Dutch to the state of Connecticut, the King with 
 the most shameless effrontery, presented the same 
 region to his brother the Duke of York, sending 
 at the same time an armed fleet to maintain his 
 claim. Thus with no reason or apology did King 
 Charles twice give away what never belonged to 
 him! 
 
 The Duke of York sent out as commander of the 
 fleet and as future Governor of his possession, 
 Colonel Kichard Nicholls and as Secretary Matthias 
 Nicoll father of our hero. The similarity of the
 
 260 ANNEKE. 
 
 names has caused much confusion, but it is not 
 probable that they were even relatives. 
 
 The English fleet of four frigates carrying in all 
 ninety-four guns, arrived at Boston in July and re- 
 mained there several weeks. Colonel JSTicholls had 
 instructions to visit the different New England 
 Colonies and to require them " to assist vigorously 
 in reducing the Dutch to subjection." 
 
 A sloop had been despatched to Plymouth and the 
 different towns on the coast and on the Sound with 
 this intelligence, and Willie Nicoll with several others 
 were assigned to this duty. On the way the sloop 
 touched at Gardiner's Island, and here Willie, to 
 his great delight, found his old acquaintance, Lion 
 Gardiner. 
 
 Gardiner, it will be remembered, was the English 
 military engineer who had married and resided in 
 Holland, and whom Willie had been deputed so 
 long ago to engage to go out to Connecticut to 
 build Fort Say brook. 
 
 Lion Gardiner had much to tell Willie of his ex- 
 periences in the new world. He had built the fort 
 and commanded it until the coming of Colonel and 
 Lady Fenwick. He had done valiant service in the 
 terrible Pequot war, and had finally purchased this 
 island from the Long Island Indians for " one gun, 
 some powder, shot, rum, five pounds' worth of blank-
 
 A CA VALIER OF KING CHARLES. 261 
 
 ets, and a black dog." Here he lived with his wife 
 and three children, and here another Lion Gar- 
 diner, the twelfth in descent from the original lord 
 of the manor, still lives. Willie and his companions 
 were entertained at his hospitable board, and dined 
 toothsomely on fish caught in his own waters and 
 on venison from his own preserves. 
 
 "Come and be my neighbor, Nicoll," said the 
 host, " there are other beautiful islands still to be 
 purchased of the Indians. They are all friendly to 
 me here. I reign as a little king over the Mon- 
 taukets, for when their chief died he made me the 
 guardian of his infant son, and though they recog- 
 nize the regency of the mother as * Sachemsqua,' 
 her acts are only valid when confirmed by me." 
 
 As they were talking they were seated on the 
 high stoop of Gardiner's log house, which com- 
 manded the bay, and they noticed putting out from 
 the opposite shore a little fleet of Indian canoes. 
 
 Gardiner handed his spyglass to Willie, remark- 
 ing : " We are to have visitors, and I am glad that 
 you are to have an opportunity of seeing some of 
 our aborigines." 
 
 The Indians landing, came up the hill in single 
 file. They were headed by a woman, wearing a 
 robe elaborately embroidered with quills and beads, 
 and adorned with many strings of wampum. She
 
 262 ANNEKE. 
 
 was followed by a boy of twelve, nearly naked, and 
 decorated with war paint. His long black hair was 
 ornamented with eagle feathers, and he wore silver 
 bracelets upon his arms. He carried bows and 
 arrows and led a savage-looking dog by a leathern 
 leash. 
 
 "It is the Sachemsqua herself, with the young 
 prince, Weoncombone," exclaimed Gardiner, " and 
 that is Mondugh, sachem of the Shinnecock Indians, 
 and Mongtucksee (Long Knife), and Pomotork, and 
 Cawbut, why it is a delegation of Long Island 
 chieftains ! What can be their object ? " 
 
 He was soon to be informed. Runners from 
 Uncas, chief of the Mohegans, had lately visited the 
 Indians, bringing startling news. Uncas, who 
 prided himself on being the friend of the English, 
 had profited by their alliance in the extermination 
 of the Pequots and the subjugation of the Narra- 
 gansetts, so that he was now the most powerful 
 chieftain in New England. The other tribes were 
 now tributary to him, and there were none that 
 dared withstand him, except the Iroquois army in 
 the west. He had attempted to gain their friend- 
 ship, representing that if the Iroquois and Mohe- 
 gans should unite they might sweep the white man 
 from the continent. But the Iroquois had remained 
 faithful to the Dutch, though some of the Mohe-
 
 A CA VALIER OF KING CHARLES. 263 
 
 gans had killed certain Mohawks and had endeav- 
 ored to persuade the Mohawks that the Dutch had 
 murdered them. The Mohawks had discovered the 
 real perpetrators of the crime and had denounced 
 Uncas to the council of the Iroquois, and his over- 
 tures had been spurned. 
 
 So there had been desultory war between the 
 Mohegans and Mohawks, only restrained by their 
 respective allies, the English and the Dutch. 
 
 But now, Uncas sent word to his vassals, the 
 great hour of revenge had come. Hostilities were 
 to begin between the whites. He had just returned 
 from a visit to Boston, and had seen four great war 
 canoes laden with huge guns and many English 
 braves. The word to take the tomahawk had been 
 sent to all the English towns, and the English would 
 shortly burn and pillage New Amsterdam and put 
 every Dutchman to the sword. Was it a time for 
 the Indian allies of the English to sit calmly in their 
 wigwams smoking the pipe of peace ? Certainly 
 not. They would win great glory and praise from 
 the English by cooperating with them at this crit- 
 ical juncture, and many Mohawk scalps and much 
 Dutch booty for themselves. They would not enter 
 New Amsterdam with the English, for that city 
 contained no more plunder than would be desired 
 by the white conquerors ; the Indians would make
 
 264 ANNEKE. 
 
 a simultaneous attack on Kensselaerswyck, seize the 
 arms stored in its warehouse, burn the town, take 
 the fort and hold it against the Mohawks until Win- 
 throp came up the river to help them chase the 
 Iroquois far into the western wilderness, and re- 
 ward the Mohegans for their prowess by the gift of 
 their lands. 
 
 This had already happened in their wars with the 
 Pequots. Uncas had killed Sasacus, sachem of the 
 Pequots, a better man than himself, and had brought 
 his bloody head to the English at the point now 
 called Sachem's Head. He had killed Miantonomoh, 
 chief of the Narragansetts, and had been rewarded 
 for it. The news which he now sent seemed plausi- 
 ble. The sachems of the Long Island Indians had 
 come to Lion Gardiner to hear it confirmed, and then 
 they would set out with their braves to join 
 Uncas. 
 
 Willie was horrified, and Gardiner himself turned 
 pale ; but he harangued the chiefs eloquently, not 
 hesitating to call Uncas a liar. The misunderstand- 
 ing between the Dutch and English, he assured 
 them, would be settled without bloodshed in a 
 grand powwow. Instead of gaining the approval 
 of the English they would bring upon themselves 
 relentless punishment if they dared to attack the 
 Dutch. White men were brothers, and would never
 
 A CA VALIER OF KING CHARLES. 265 
 
 suffer Indians to attack others of their race, much 
 less reward them, for doing so. The long Island 
 Sachems received Gardiner's speech with grunts of 
 approval. The peace pipe was passed around and 
 presents accepted from his storehouse. Some of 
 the chiefs had their own opinion of the ambitious 
 Uncas, and were pleased when they understood that 
 he was in a fair way to get himself into trouble. 
 They would return to their own fields until they 
 were wanted. So saying, the principal speaker led 
 the way and the chiefs followed him down the bank 
 to their canoes. 
 
 " Stay," said Gardiner to the Sachemsqua. 
 " Where was the rendezvous where you were to 
 meet Uncas and his braves ? " 
 
 "At the ruined fort of Good Hope which the 
 Dutch built near Hartford. He sent us one of his 
 moccasins that we might follow his trail if we 
 were too late and he had passed on ; and he prom- 
 ised to cut signs on trees that we might surely 
 know that we were on the trail." 
 
 " Give me the moccasin. Now if I only had my 
 dog Pilot which I sold to your husband, I could 
 track Uncas through any jungle." 
 
 " Pilot has been dead these ten years," replied 
 the Sachemsqua, " but, Quaquasho there is of his 
 blood. The name signifies Great Hunter. His
 
 266 ANNEKE. 
 
 scent is finer and his endurance greater than Pilot's 
 ever was, for he has been brought up by Indians. 
 Pilot loved his ease, but Quaquasho never rests and 
 never tires till he brings down his game." 
 
 " Lend him to me, good Sachemsqua, and I will 
 bring him back to you with many gifts. There, 
 your son shall have that knife of mine which he has 
 been fingering, and you may have my talking clock. 
 Take this key, and every day when the sun sets 
 turn it in the hole, so, and the spirit in the box will 
 move its hands, lifting them both toward the sun 
 at the hour of noon, and crying out twelve times to 
 the Great Spirit, and so counting the hours for you 
 until it is noon again. If the spirit is unruly and 
 will not obey, do you bring the box to me and I 
 will correct him." 
 
 The Sachemsqua went away carrying the Dutch 
 clock in triumph. It had always excited her won- 
 der and envy, and she was delighted beyond meas- 
 ure to possess it. 
 
 " And now," said Gardiner, " as you are by 
 luck on your way to Hartford, you must take me 
 with you. The wind is favorable ; let us set out at 
 once." 
 
 They sailed across the Sound to Saybrook, and 
 then as the wind was not strong enough for the 
 sloop to make much headway against the current,
 
 A CA V ALTER OF KING CHARLES 267 
 
 they took rowboats with oarsmen and mounted the 
 Connecticut to Hartford. 
 
 At this point Willie obtained permission from the 
 young officer under whose command he had been 
 placed to detach himself from despatch duty and 
 proceed with Lion Gardiner on his mission of hold- 
 ing the Mohegans in check. 
 
 They went first to the old Dutch fort, but found 
 it forlornly vacant. The Dutch had surrendered 
 and evacuated it several years previous, and it had 
 not been thought worth while to garrison it. 
 
 The Mohegans had been here the night before 
 and had passed on. 
 
 Gardiner did not hesitate for a moment. Sum- 
 moning to his aid a hardy scout who now resided 
 in Hartford, but who had served him during the 
 Pequot war and had explored the region further 
 than any white man, he plunged into the trackless 
 wilderness which lay between Hartford and the 
 Hudson. This man, strange to say was a Dutch- 
 man named Dirck Van Corlear, a relative of the 
 agent of the Yan Kensselaers. He had been one of 
 the little garrison stationed at the Fort of Good 
 Hope under Captain Gyspert Op Dyck. But when 
 the Dutch soldiers had evacuated that outpost and 
 marched back to New Amsterdam, he had decided 
 to remain, having fallen in love with the daughter
 
 268 ANN EKE. 
 
 of one of the New England settlers. He had once 
 made the trip across the country to Rensselaers- 
 wyck to see his relative, and was known by the 
 Yan Rensselaers. 
 
 Dirck was delighted with the adventure, and 
 loading themselves with provisions and ammunition, 
 the three began their toilsome journey. There 
 was also a fourth member of the party quite as 
 important to its success. Quaquasho, the hunter, 
 had been led to the block from which Gardiner felt 
 sure Uncas had harangued his braves, the keen- 
 scented animal had snuffed the footprints and the 
 moccasin in Gardiner's possession, and had bounded 
 joyfully in advance, discovering to his companions 
 the trail of the Mohegans. 
 
 For six days they followed it steadily. It led in 
 a generally northwesterly direction and finally 
 struck the Hudson a little north of the Dutch settle- 
 ment at Claverack. Here for the first time they 
 overtook a portion of the war party which had been 
 sent by Uncas to attack the settlers at Greenbush, 
 while he fell upon those near Claverack. Some of 
 these warriors were very fortunately known to 
 Gardiner, and they obeyed him when he ordered 
 them to return to Uncas and to forbid his commit- 
 ting hostilities. 
 
 The scout had informed Gardiner of the situation
 
 A CAVA LIER OF KING CHARLES. 269 
 
 of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer's country house, The 
 Crails, near Greenbush, and Willie urged his friend 
 to proceed in that direction and give the alarm, 
 trusting to his Indian messenger to restrain Uncas 
 from injuring the settlers at Claverack. 
 
 As it happened, a spring flood had destroyed the 
 manor-house on the west of the Hudson, and the en- 
 tire family had removed temporarily to The Crails, 
 after a most exciting experience and the loss of 
 many household treasures. 
 
 Willie, who had not heard of the death of his 
 friend Kiliaen, braced himself for another meeting 
 with him and with Anneke, whom he expected to 
 find a happy wife ; and it was with many mingled 
 emotions that he understood the mute witness of 
 her black dress and widow's cap. 
 
 The entire family were standing on the little pier 
 as Willie and Gardiner approached. They were 
 waving a farewell to Governor Stuyvesant, who 
 had just made his visit and was crossing in his 
 yacht to Fort Orange. They had signalled for the 
 Goede Yrouw, which lay at their warehouse on the 
 opposite bank, to be sent over to The Crails, for a 
 young Mohawk had brought disquieting rumors of 
 Mohegans in the vicinity and they had decided to 
 remove with their effects to Rensselaerstein. They 
 were therefore at first somewhat alarmed by the
 
 270 ANNEXE. 
 
 appearance of three armed strangers, whose worn 
 clothing showed that they had been ranging the 
 woods for many days, and one of whom held in 
 leash a fierce looking dog. But Jeremias Van Rens- 
 selaer almost immediately recognized Dirck Yan 
 Corlear, and when Willie raised his cavalier hat, 
 Anneke met his gaze and extended her hand in 
 glad surprise. Gardiner came forward, and their 
 errand was explained. 
 
 " Something of this we have heard," said Anneke, 
 " and we are preparing to remove ; but will you not 
 dine with us before we take leave of The Grails ? " 
 
 " Do not wait to extend hospitality," Willie re- 
 plied, " but go at once, and give the alarm at Fort 
 Orange. We will stay on this side of the river and 
 guard your property until it is certain that the 
 Mohegans have left the region." 
 
 " Your advice is good," Jeremias Yan Rensselaer 
 replied. "We must see Stuyvesant before he 
 leaves Fort Orange and beg him not to withdraw 
 the garrison, for he has heard some wild story of 
 an attack planned on New Amsterdam by your 
 government. I trust you can assure me that he 
 has no cause for alarm." 
 
 " I regret to confirm the news," Willie replied, 
 " but you can spare him no aid at this time, and 
 even could you do so resistance will be worse than
 
 A CA VALIER OF KING CHARLES. 271 
 
 useless. I may be able to be of some use to you in 
 that quarter later on, and at present I counsel you 
 to protect your homes from the savages." 
 
 The Van Rensselaers immediately crossed the 
 river, sending back a few Mohawks to defend The 
 Grails under Willie's orders. As Gardiner had fore- 
 seen, Uncas was not dissuaded from continuing his 
 raid by the message received through his warriors. 
 His scouts, concealed in the shrubbery, had watched 
 and reported to him the hasty crossing of the fam- 
 ily and a few hours later he reached The Crails with 
 his entire band. 
 
 Fortunately the reinforcing Mohawks had just 
 arrived, and finding the manor-house defended by a 
 strong force, Uncas held a colloquy with Gardiner 
 under a flag of truce, and was persuaded to return 
 with his braves to his own reservation. In the 
 meantime Stuyvesant, much alarmed by the infor- 
 mation brought, hastily returned to New Amster- 
 dam with no reinforcements from Rensselaerswyck. 
 At New Amsterdam every able-bodied man was 
 summoned to work on the fortifications. The 
 brewers were forbidden to use any more grain, but 
 to send it into the fort. But while Stuyvesant 
 was engaged in these desperate but ineffectual 
 preparations, the English fleet appeared before the 
 city. The next morning Colonel Nicholls sent a
 
 272 ANNEKE. 
 
 summons for the surrender of the town. He made 
 the terms as lenient as possible, assuring the Gov- 
 ernor, " I shall not hinder any people from the 
 Netherlands to freely come and plant. And any of 
 them may as freely return home ; this much and 
 more is contained in the privilege of his Majesty's 
 English subjects." 
 
 Governor Stuyvesant in his anger tore this com- 
 munication to atoms. 
 
 The rumor spread that conditions of surrender 
 had been received, and the citizens met and a dele- 
 gation was sent to Stuyvesant demanding to be told 
 what they were. At length the governor sent them 
 the fragments of the letter. They were pasted to- 
 gether and read to the citizens, who clamored for 
 surrender. Still Stuyvesant would not yield; he 
 drew up and sent Colonel Nicholls a strong remon- 
 strance, deducing the title of the Dutch from the 
 three principles, which had always been respected 
 by civilized nations, " Discovery, Settlement and 
 Purchase from the Indians," and, concluding, said : 
 " In case you act by force of arms we protest before 
 God and man that you will perform an act of un- 
 just violence. You will violate the articles of peace 
 solemnly ratified by his Majesty of England and 
 my Lords the States General." 
 
 Colonel Mcholls could only obey his orders, and
 
 A CAVALIER OF KING CHARLES. 273 
 
 he sent an imperious demand, " Hoist the white flag 
 of surrender," refusing to listen to further parley 
 until this was done. 
 
 The citizens were in the greatest consternation, 
 fearing immediate bombardment, and, assembling 
 in the city hall, they drew up and presented to 
 their valiant governor and his council an appeal 
 from which we quote a few paragraphs. 
 
 " Eight Honorable : 
 
 " We, your sorrowful subjects, beg to 
 represent, in these sad circumstances that we cannot 
 foresee for this fort and city in further resistance 
 aught else than misery, sorrow and conflagration, 
 in a word the ruin of fifteen hundred innocent 
 souls, only two hundred and fifty of whom are 
 capable of bearing arms. 
 
 " You are aware that four of the English King's 
 frigates are now in the roadstead, with six hundred 
 soldiers on board. They have also commissions to 
 all the governors of New England, a populous coun- 
 try to impress troops. 
 
 "These threats we would not have regarded, 
 could we expect the smallest aid. But, God help 
 us, where shall we turn for assistance, to the north or 
 to the south, to the east or to the west ? On all sides 
 we are encompassed and hemmed in by our enemies.
 
 274 ANN EKE. 
 
 " We shall now examine your Honors' fortress, 
 it cannot against so powerful an enemy save the 
 smallest portion of our entire city, our property, 
 and what is dearer to us, our wives and children, 
 from total ruin. 
 
 " Wherefore in bitterness of heart we humbly im- 
 plore your Honors not to reject the conditions of so 
 generous a foe, but be pleased to meet him in the 
 speediest and most reputable manner. Otherwise, 
 which God forbid, we are obliged to protest before 
 God and the world ; and to call down upon your 
 Honors the vengeance of Heaven for all the inno- 
 cent blood which shall be shed in consequence of 
 your Honors' obstinacy. 
 
 " We feel certain that your Honors will conclude 
 with God's help an honorable and reasonable ca- 
 pitulation. May the Lord our God be pleased to 
 grant this to us. Amen." 
 
 This petition was signed by ninety-four prominent 
 citizens and among them by Stuyvesant's own son. 
 
 Under these circumstances Stuy vesant was forced 
 to yield, protesting as he did so " I would rather 
 be carried to my grave." 
 
 " Thus," says one historian, " was fitly consum- 
 mated an act of spoliation, which in a period of 
 profound peace, wrested this province from the
 
 A CA V ALTER OF KING CHARLES. 275 
 
 rightful owners, by violating all public justice and 
 infringing all public law. The only additional out- 
 rage that remained was to impose on the country 
 the name of one unknown in history save as the 
 enemy of religious and political freedom wherever 
 he ruled. New Netherland was accordingly called 
 New York." 
 
 It must, however, be conceded that the new gov- 
 ernor, Richard Nicholls, performed this ungracious 
 act without bloodshed or the spoliation of private 
 individuals, and with as little harshness as was pos- 
 sible. He confiscated all of the property of the "West 
 India Company, which visited its resentment on its 
 unfortunate director, reprimanding Stuyvesant and 
 calling him to Holland to answer for his surrender. 
 In this sore need, Jeremias Van Rensselaer took his 
 part, arguing his case so ably before the company 
 that he was triumphantly vindicated. 
 
 Governor Stuyvesant returned to New York, liv- 
 ing quietly for the remainder of his life in his 
 bowery which extended from Third Avenue to 
 East River, and from Sixth to Sixteenth Streets. 
 Stuyvesant Square occupies a small portion of the 
 original farm, and fittingly commemorates his 
 name. 
 
 Little more remains to be told. As soon as the 
 absolute security of Rensselaerswyck was estab-
 
 276 ANN EKE. 
 
 lished, Willie Nicoll repaired to New Amsterdam, 
 where, exchanging the cavalier name of Willie for 
 the more dignified one of William, his authentic 
 career may be traced in the early history of the 
 colony through a long life of honor and distinction. 
 
 He bought an extensive estate on Long Island, 
 naming it Islip from his ancestral home in England, 
 and later he became a neighbor during the summer 
 months of his friend Lion Gardiner, purchasing the 
 larger part of beautiful Shelter Island. 
 
 There could be but one ending to such a story of 
 untiring devotion, and one day his long patience 
 had its reward. On a winter morning, as he was 
 looking from his law office in New York across the 
 Bowling Green, he saw tripping briskly along in 
 front of the quaint stepped-gabled houses, who 
 but Dame Anneke Van Rensselaer. Snatching his 
 hat, he joined her in her walk along the Battery 
 and inquired what happy chance had brought her 
 from Eensselaerswyck. 
 
 " It is not altogether a happy circumstance," she 
 replied. " Kiliaen enjoined upon me that I should not 
 desert the manor until I heard that Frontenac was 
 Governor of Canada." 
 
 " And he has been sent out by King Louis," Wil- 
 lie exclaimed, " but surely there is no possibility of 
 French invasion."
 
 A C AVAL IE R OF KING CHARLES. 277 
 
 " We have had a mysterious warning sent by a 
 Jesuit missionary, who states that Father Jogues 
 made him swear to send us word if we were in 
 danger and so my father has thought best that 
 my mother and I should spend the winter in the 
 city." 
 
 A great joy flamed in William Nicoll's face. 
 " Let me be your protector, Anneke. I have waited 
 long. I have no pearls with which to fill your 
 apron to make you believe me but 
 
 " Flowers will do as well," Anneke replied, coyly. 
 
 " Does that mean, my darling, that when spring 
 comes and I can fill your apron with flowers you 
 will be mine ? " 
 
 " You need not wait for spring, Willie," Anneke 
 replied, making a bewitching courtesy and in the 
 act spreading her pretty embroidered apron with 
 both hands. Instantly he realized that she no 
 longer wore widow's weeds, that her little fur-bor- 
 dered velvet cape and hood matched the pale sap- 
 phire blue of her eyes, that her apron was bordered 
 with marguerites and other flowers of her own 
 dainty stitchery, and that flowers of love could 
 blossom in winter as well as in spring.
 
 CHAPTEK XIY. 
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 
 
 The red tiled towers of the old chateau 
 Perched on the cliff above our bark, 
 Burn in the western evening glow. 
 The fiery spirit of Papineau 
 Consumes them still with its fever spark 
 The red tiled towers of the old chateau ! 
 
 S. Frances Harrison. 
 
 JFE, for Anneke and Wil- 
 liam Mcoll, did not 
 lose its zest of adven- 
 ture with marriage. 
 They were destined to 
 pass through thrilling 
 scenes, to suffer cruel 
 anxiety and alterna- 
 tions of hopes and fears, to do 
 valiant work and true as pio- 
 neers in the new world to 
 
 their latest day. 
 
 The early records of New York are silent in re- 
 gard to the youthful adventures of Willie .Nicoll ; 
 but they have much to say of the honorable career 
 
 278
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 279 
 
 of one William Nicoll, who never hesitated to 
 champion the right. They tell how resolutely he 
 combatted Governor Leisler, suffering imprisonment 
 for so doing ; but that later in life he loyally sup- 
 ported the cause of William and Mary, true to his 
 early friendship for the father of the young king ; 
 how fearlessly he defended those who were perse- 
 cuted for their religious opinions ; and how, in spite 
 of never hesitating to take the unpopular side, he 
 won his place in the estimation of his fellow-men. 
 For twenty-one years in succession he was elected to 
 the Assembly of New York, and for sixteen he was 
 as regularly chosen by the House as its speaker, 
 until he firmly declined the honor. 
 
 Better than his town-house or his great estate at 
 Islip he loved beautiful Shelter Island, where he 
 built a comfortable mansion, and lived in friend- 
 ship with the Indians and neighboring settlers. 
 The Gardiners were near at hand, and were often 
 visited in the swift sailing yacht which carried the 
 Nicoll family to and from New York, to the towns 
 of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and once a year 
 up the Hudson to Rensselaerswyck. 
 
 One day a strange, dark craft anchored at their 
 little wharf, and a burly man, richly but flashily 
 dressed in a suit of crimson velvet embroidered 
 with gold, strode up the hill to the open door,
 
 280 ANNEKE. 
 
 where William Nicoll stood regarding him with a 
 haunting feeling of familiarity. 
 
 " Ahoy ! there, Willie Nicoll, where are your sig- 
 nals of welcome for an old ship-mate ? " roared a 
 stentorian voice, and for the sake of many kind- 
 nesses William Nicoll gave the old pirate a cordial 
 greeting. 
 
 " I trust, Captain Morgan," he said, as they sat at 
 table, " that your errand in our northern waters is 
 a peaceful one ; otherwise, I tell you plainly that I 
 shall feel obliged to alarm the coast." 
 
 " Sturdily said, Willie, and like your old self, but 
 how if I shot you through the heart before you 
 could give the alarm ? " 
 
 "A signal is already flying, Captain Morgan, 
 which will call an English ship of the line now at 
 anchorage at Gardiner's Island. She will arrive in 
 an hour, and, unless I fly another signal that all is 
 well, will give you chase. You may kill me if you 
 like, but you will have to answer for it, and that 
 very speedily." 
 
 " Clever as ever, Willie, and I did but jest. Let 
 the ship come. I shall be glad to meet its officers, 
 for since I helped Admiral Penn take Jamaica from 
 the Spaniards, I have abandoned my old trade. 
 Not only that, but, prepare to be astonished, 
 Willie, I am returning from a visit to England,
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 281 
 
 where I made such good employ of that calabash 
 of pearls taken at Margarita that I have been 
 knighted by his Majesty King Charles, and have a 
 commission as Governor of Jamaica ! Ha ! ha ! 
 "Willie, no wonder your eyes bulge out ; read that, 
 my boy, ' Sir Henry Morgan, Governor of our 
 colony ! ' What do you say to that, lad ? And you 
 might have had those pearls and these honors, but 
 you preferred to land a parcel of niggers where they 
 could not maintain themselves and were speedily 
 taken by the Spaniards, falling after that into my 
 hands, I selling them in turn to the Dutch, pre- 
 cisely as I would have done at first, had you taken 
 the pearls. Say frankly, man, that you repent your 
 choice, and see no gain in your fine notions of 
 honor." 
 
 "No, Captain Morgan. Though I admit that 
 my good intentions were productive of no good for 
 the negroes, that possibly they are as well off phys- 
 ically as slaves of the Dutch as in their half savage 
 condition in the mountains of Jamaica, still slavery 
 is degradation, and I hold no man has a right to in- 
 flict it on his fellows. Moreover, you forget the 
 peculiar situation. These people had been prom- 
 ised that in return for their services, and for the 
 gift of those pearls, they would be safely landed in 
 Jamaica. I judge no man, but it is a whim of mine
 
 282 ANNEKE. 
 
 to keep my word, and I would not change my 
 memories for yours, not to be Sir Knight and Gov- 
 ernor of all the Indies." 
 
 " You were always a fool, Willie Nicoll, and I 
 have taken more impudence from you than from 
 any man living. Let me tell you that the King 
 himself does not scruple to break his word." 
 
 " I know it," the other replied sadly, " and for 
 that reason if for no other, Sir Henry and Governor 
 Morgan, you may find that you have not made so 
 good a bargain as you think. Still, since I must 
 believe the credentials which you show me, I can 
 only hope that you have reformed, and I will run 
 up the signals of which I spoke, which will assure 
 the Captain of the frigate which you see approach- 
 ing that I have summoned him simply to meet you 
 socially." 
 
 Morgan took the spyglass which his host handed 
 him and regarded the ship thoughtfully. " Thankee 
 kindly, Willie," he said, " but if my men have got 
 on board the water and provisions you were so kind 
 as to give me, I'll not wait to meet your friend ; 
 though I believe in your good faith. I'm sorry 
 your wife is in New York. I would have liked to 
 meet her, though you didn't invite me to your 
 wedding, my boy. Harkee, Willie, you may find 
 worse friends and worse pirates than Henry
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 283 
 
 Morgan. I'll give you a word of warning before 
 I go. I have learned, no matter how, that the 
 French have a plan of taking New York. They 
 are sly cats, the French. Do you remember how 
 they burned my home at Tortuga, and killed my 
 servants ? Well, I have found out that that wretch, 
 the Frenchman Lollonois, had a hand in that enter- 
 prise. He who was my comrade against the Span- 
 iards ! I will give him good entertainment if ever 
 he comes to Port Royal. Fare ye well, Willie ; mind 
 my words, look out for the French, and if things 
 don't turn out here to suit you, come to Jamaica. I 
 would like to leave a present for your good lady, a 
 bracelet of the pearls of Margarita, just a handful 
 that I chose out before the rest went to the King. 
 You shake your head. Very well, I might have 
 known better than to offer it if I had remembered 
 my Scripture lessons as a boy 'Cast not your 
 pearls before swine ' Eh ! Willie, that was not so 
 bad a turn for old Morgan." 
 
 He shouted this last shot as his men pulled him 
 out to the Black Lady, whose sails were being set 
 even before the boat came alongside. William 
 Nicoll waited on the wharf to explain the situation 
 to the officers of the frigate, which glided in as 
 Morgan's ship scudded away ; but as the ex-pirate 
 had committed no depredations, and William Nicoll
 
 284 ANNEXE. 
 
 assured the officers that his commission from King 
 Charles appeared genuine, no chase was given. Such 
 a visit was not a phenomenal occurrence. Later, 
 Captain Kidd came to Gardiner's Island, and left a 
 rich cache of his ill gotten gains in the care of 
 descendants of Lion Gardiner, who honestly gave 
 them up to the authorities on the conviction of 
 Kidd. Others were not so conscientious, and Fiske 
 writes : 
 
 " The streets of New York might have re- 
 minded one of Teheran or Bassora, with their 
 shops displaying rugs of Anatolia or Daghestan, 
 tables of carved teak wood, vases of hammered 
 brass and silver, Bagdad portieres, fans of ivory or 
 sandal wood, soft shawls of myriad gorgeous hues, 
 and of white crape, daintily embroidered, along 
 with exquisite ornaments of ruby, pearl and emer- 
 ald. In the little town which had been wont to eke 
 out its slender currency with wampum, strange 
 pieces of gold and silver now passed freely from 
 hand to hand ; Greek byzants, Arabian dinars, and 
 mohurs from Hindustan, along with Spanish doub- 
 loons and the louis d'or of France." 
 
 The same author tells most graphically the fate 
 of the pirate city of Port Royal, Jamaica, " which 
 united to more than royal opulence the worst vices 
 which ever disgraced a seaport. But a terrible
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 285 
 
 retribution seemed to await the sinful city of the 
 sand spit. On the 7th of June, 1692, at noon, while 
 the assembly was in session, and the populace occu- 
 pied as usual with their schemes of money -getting, 
 or squandering their gains in revelry while the 
 waters glittered in the tropic sun and the summer 
 air was filled with a placid calm, there came a sud- 
 den roar, followed by a dreadful rumbling as if the 
 mountains were shaken by a tremendous explosion, 
 and before the startled citizens could gather their 
 wits together an earthquake of awful energy rolled 
 through the depths under their feet. When the 
 tumult was over, a frigate had been hurled over the 
 houses and landed high and dry, and the houses 
 were submerged beneath the waves, where some of 
 them remained visible for a hundred and fifty 
 years." 
 
 Three thousand of the inhabitants had been 
 killed, but Governor Henry Morgan was not among 
 the number. His perfidious monarch had found it 
 advisable to curry favor with Spain, and nine years 
 before the destruction of Port Royal, Charles II. 
 had recalled his accomplice to England to answer 
 for his depredations upon the Spaniards, and to die 
 in the Tower of London for the very deeds for 
 which he had been knighted. 
 
 After Morgan's visit, William Nicoll gave serious
 
 286 ANNEXE. 
 
 thought to his warning in regard to a French inva- 
 sion. It was not the only one which had come to 
 the colony. The Jesuit, Jogues, had told the Van 
 Rensselaers to beware of the time when the Comte 
 de Frontenac should come into power in Canada. 
 Before the Dutch settled at Rensselaers wyck, 
 Champlain had discovered the lake which bears his 
 name and had claimed the state of New York for 
 the French ; but Champlain had attacked the 
 Mohawks and had kindled their hostility against 
 the French and no subsequent efforts of the Jesuit 
 missionaries had been able to correct that fatal mis- 
 take and to seduce them from their allegiance to 
 the Dutch. 
 
 Still, was it not possible that the Indians might 
 not feel the same devotion to the English or that 
 the French might attempt to take by force what 
 they had not been able to obtain by treaty ? "Wil- 
 liam Mcoll determined to make a visit to Rensse- 
 laerswyck and even to penetrate into the Mohawk 
 country to learn the feeling of the Iroquois and 
 whether there had been any signs of French 
 aggression. 
 
 On the way he confided his fears to the Assembly 
 at New York, and found that they had lately re- 
 ceived a communication of a disquieting nature 
 from a Frenchman named de Fontenay, who had
 
 FRANCE TAKES A BAND. 28T 
 
 settled at Schenectady. He had written them that 
 certain suspicious characters had visited this frontier 
 town. They had professed to be Canadian cour- 
 reurs de lois (hunters), interested in securing a 
 market for their peltries ; but they had been far too 
 curious in their examination of the defences of the 
 town, and he had other reasons for believing them 
 to be spies. 
 
 In view of these alarms the Assembly approved 
 of Nicoll's decision to proceed to Kensselaerswyck 
 and the western settlements, and urged him, in case 
 the result of his investigation justified such action, to 
 sail at once for England, to lay the matter before 
 the crown and ask for funds for the defence of the 
 colony. 
 
 William Nicoll was already acquainted with 
 Monsieur de Fontenay, and felt that he would not 
 have sent such a warning without sufficient reason, 
 for he was a man of intrepid courage and sound 
 judgment, a Huguenot emigre, who had suffered 
 persecution for his religion in France, and had found 
 a refuge with his family in America. De Fontenay 
 had explained that his choice of this particular 
 locality had come about through Father Jogues, 
 who after his return to France had spoken grate- 
 fully of the succor which he had received from 
 Protestants at Rensselaerswyck. The fame of this
 
 288 ANNEKE. 
 
 kindly action on the part of people whom they had 
 been taught to consider their enemies had passed 
 from one Catholic to another until it had come to 
 the knowledge of the Huguenots, and when obliged 
 to leave their homes many sought asylum in 
 America. 
 
 A warm friendship had sprung up between the 
 de Fontenays and the Van Rensselaers. Though 
 the French exiles made no pretensions, it was evi- 
 dent that they were of gentle birth and breeding. 
 The head of the family had not been accustomed to 
 manual labor, and he gave French lessons for a time 
 in Rensselaerswyck, attempting also to obtain pupils 
 in fencing and in music. Later the family had re- 
 moved to the neighborhood of the new settlement 
 of Schenectady, obtaining a tract of land and build- 
 ing a rude habitation which Monsieur de Fontenay 
 called his hunting-lodge. He had been accustomed 
 in his youth to woodland sports, and he adapted 
 himself to the hardy life of a hunter. Anneke had 
 visited them in their pioneer home, for the daughter 
 of the house, Yvonne de Fontenay was her dearest 
 friend, and the interruption of their intercourse had 
 been her chief regret in leaving Rensselaerswyck. 
 
 The de Fontenays greeted William Nicoll with 
 the utmost cordiality, and, in explaining the imme- 
 diate cause for alarm, Franois de Fontenay con-
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 289 
 
 nected the visit of the mysterious strangers with an 
 episode in his own early life. 
 
 " I have reason to believe," he confided, " that ray 
 banishment from France was not due to my reli- 
 gious opinions, but because I was so unfortunate as 
 to incur the hatred of Madame de Montespan, as 
 well as that of the Comte de Frontenac, who 
 was at one time my friend and companion in 
 arms. 
 
 " It came about in this wise. Louis XIV. was at 
 Oiron, the chateau which he gave to Madame de 
 Montespan. My own home was not far distant, 
 and I was among those Avho were honored by an 
 invitation to one of the festivities given to celebrate 
 the royal visit. A most unfortunate honor it was 
 for me. De Frontenac was also present, apparently 
 in high favor with the King. It was he who pre- 
 sented me to his Majesty. The King presently took 
 my arm, and leading me out upon the terrace under 
 pretence of asking me to admire the gardens con- 
 structed by his own landscape architect, Le Notre, 
 asked me several questions in regard to de Fronte- 
 nac. I praised his ability as a soldier, his courage 
 and persistency in any enterprise which he might 
 attempt, and assured the King of his audacity and 
 wonderful success in the most ambitious and impos- 
 sible ventures. I meant all that I said in kindness,
 
 290 ANN EKE. 
 
 but the King listened with a strange expression 
 which I did not at first fathom. 
 
 " ' Be asssured,' he said, ' that I will remember 
 what you have said, and will advance your friend 
 to a position where he can find full scope for these 
 admirable qualities.' 
 
 " He was about to say more, when Madame de 
 Montespan joined us. Just where she came from I 
 could not say. She appeared to rise from the 
 ground, and it occurred to me that she must have 
 stepped from behind the hedge which formed the 
 bosquet in which we were standing. She led the 
 King away, hissing the word ' serpent,' as she passed 
 me, and accompanying it with a look of rage which 
 I shall remember to my dying day. 
 
 " As the King bade me farewell, he asked me par- 
 ticularly where I lived, and said that I should hear 
 from him again. I thought that I had secured his 
 favor, but only misfortune came from the inter- 
 view. 
 
 " Shortly after my return to my home I received 
 a letter from de Frontenac telling me of his appoint- 
 ment as Governor of Canada. It was couched in 
 careful terms, which to the casual reader would 
 have conveyed no double meaning, but to me the 
 concluding sentence seemed a threat. ' I well 
 know,' he wrote, ' to whom I owe this honor, and
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 291 
 
 were it not that my immediate departure deprives 
 me of the pleasure, I would seek you out and show 
 you that your friend knows how to requite such 
 favors. Be assured, however, that your kindness 
 will not remain unrewarded. I leave to a faithful 
 friend the duty of recompensing you as you de- 
 serve.' 
 
 "This menace was followed by a warning, a 
 friendly letter informing me that orders had been 
 issued to a troop of soldiers to arrest me on account 
 of my Calvinistic opinions, to confiscate my prop- 
 erty and to place my daughter in a convent to be 
 educated in the Catholic faith. I was thunder- 
 struck, for this was before the Revocation of the 
 Edict of Nantes, and Protestants, though hated, 
 were nominally tolerated. I could not discredit the 
 warning, for it came from the officer to whom the 
 order for my arrest had been given. ' I shall per- 
 form my duty to-morrow,' he wrote, ' if I find you 
 and your family at your home. I send you this in- 
 formation in order that you may escape.' 
 
 " My wife begged me to flee, and I determined to 
 take her and my daughter to friends at La Rochelle, 
 leaving a faithful servant to notify me of whatever 
 occurred. 
 
 " He brought me the news that we had hardly 
 escaped before a band of disorderly soldiers took
 
 292 ANNEXE. 
 
 possession of our home, carrying away or destroy- 
 ing everything which they could lay their hands 
 upon, burning the outbuildings and leaving the 
 chateau itself in flames. The servants had rallied 
 and put out the fire after the departure of the sol- 
 diers, but only roofless walls remained. 
 
 " The officer in command had said to him : ' Your 
 master is fortunate in having escaped, but tell him 
 for me never to return, but to put the ocean be- 
 tween him and France, for the King has long arms.' 
 
 " I took the advice, given apparently in friendship, 
 and came to America, but I have since thought that 
 I made a mistake in doing so. I believe that 
 Madame de Montespan was the friend of whom de 
 Frontenac wrote, that they thought me responsible 
 for his banishment, that she feared as well as hated 
 me, that the destruction of my property and the 
 warning to flee came from her, and that in leaving 
 the country I did exactly what she most desired." 
 
 " It was doubtless all for the best, Franfois," 
 said Madame de Fontenay, "for we could hardly 
 have escaped further persecution after the Revoca- 
 tion of the Edict of Nantes. Think of the suffer- 
 ings of our friends the De Lanceys, who are 
 in ignorance even now as so whether their son is 
 living, or if living whether he may not have con- 
 formed to the Catholic faith."
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 293 
 
 " Etienne would die rather than do that," said 
 Yvonne. 
 
 Francois de Fontenay bowed his head, " I fear 
 we must give up hope of ever seeing that noble 
 youth again," he said gravely. " We have now to 
 consider whether we are ourselves out of danger. 
 I have not yet told Mr. Nicoll the circumstance 
 which convinced me that the pretended trappers 
 who visited us a few days since were spies. 
 
 " I recognized one of them as the body-servant of 
 the Comte de Frontenac. I saw him last when he 
 held his master's horse at the gate of Madame de 
 Montespan's Chateau of Oiron on the afternoon of 
 the fete." 
 
 " Are you certain of this ? " William Nicoll 
 asked. 
 
 " Perfectly, for I knew the man as well as I did 
 his master. He had unusual cunning of a low 
 type, and de Frontenac trusted him. He had 
 changed in the years that have intervened, but not 
 past recognition. What is quite as alarming is the 
 fact that I am certain that he recognized me." 
 
 " Then, Franois, we are no longer safe here," ex- 
 claimed Madame de Fontenay. 
 
 "I will make you so," William Nicoll replied. 
 " I will see the chief of the Mohawks, who will call 
 a council of the other tribes of the Iroquois, You
 
 294 ANNEKE. 
 
 will be as safe as though you were surrounded by a 
 civilized army. Besides, the French will attempt 
 no incursion in winter. I leave shortly for Eng- 
 land, and shall return with ordnance, guns and 
 ammunition to fortify our towns and equip our 
 militia. I will see that a captain's commission is sent 
 you, Monsieur de Fontenay, before my departure, 
 and you will at once begin drilling your townspeo- 
 ple. If you are alarmed, let me take Madame and 
 Mademoiselle Fontenay to my home and leave 
 them in the care of my wife." 
 
 Madame Fontenay declined the offer, saying 
 that her post was at her husband's side, but on 
 "William Nicoll's pressing the invitation, and assur- 
 ing the family that it would be a kindness to 
 Anneke in his absence, Yvonne returned with him 
 to visit her friend. 
 
 Just before he set out upon his embassy, 
 Yvonne confided to his care a letter which she 
 begged him to entrust to any discreet person 
 whom he might find in England about under- 
 taking a journey to France, as she dared not send 
 it by mail. The letter was addressed to Etienne 
 De Lancey. In care of the Sieur Melchior Bonne- 
 foi. 
 
 " LA KOCHELLE, France. 
 
 " I do not wish to compromise the Sieur Bonne-
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 295 
 
 foi," Yvonne explained, "by sending this letter 
 publicly in his care, for though he is a Catholic it 
 might bring him under suspicion if it were known 
 that he aided heretics b}^ so much as forwarding 
 their letters. He will gladly for our sake give it 
 to Etienne De Lancey if Etienne is in La Kochelle 
 or send it to him if he knows where he is. I can- 
 not share my father's opinion that Etienne is dead. 
 He had gone to the West Indies when we left La 
 Rochelle. His family were forced to emigrate 
 soon after, but they have never heard from him. 
 Something tells me that he is still alive, and seek- 
 ing for us. I believe that he would return to La 
 Eochelle and that the Sieur Bonnefoi may have 
 seen him, for it is to the Sieur Bonnefoi that 
 Etienne would go for news of us." 
 
 Yvonne paused abruptly, but "William Nicoll's 
 keen sympathy told him the rest. He knew from 
 his own experience the hope deferred which makes 
 the heart sick, and the truth of the old proverb, 
 " To search, and still to find not, to wait for one 
 who comes not, to want and still to have not are 
 three things to die of." 
 
 He took the letter and answered cheerily, 
 " Keep a brave heart, little one. Lovers are hard 
 to kill. I know that because I would have died
 
 296 ANNEKE. 
 
 long ago had not the thought of the chance of see- 
 ing Anneke given me the courage to battle for my 
 life. The young man shall have his letter, and I 
 predict that before the year is out you will have 
 news of him." 
 
 Crossing the ocean was not then the pleasure trip 
 which it is for us, and Anneke's heart was full of 
 vague alarm as she saw her husband sail away. 
 Must she lose him now that life was so sweet ? She 
 stifled her own fears while she encouraged Yvonne, 
 and a busy round of household cares filled the hours 
 of the weary waiting time. 
 
 With William Nicoll all went well until the voy- 
 age was nearly over. Favoring winds had borne 
 the ship swiftly on its way. In another day they 
 hoped to sight the coast of England, when suddenly 
 a French privateer bore down upon them, and with 
 a shot across their bows demanded their surrender. 
 
 The captain promptly ran up a white flag. 
 "What does this mean, captain ?" the passengers 
 asked anxiously. 
 
 "It means," the captain replied, "that the ship 
 will be taken as a prize to Saint Malo, where we 
 will all be detained until arrangements can be made 
 for our exchange. As we are all non-combatants 
 we are in no danger of our lives. We are simply 
 forced to make a little visit in France."
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 297 
 
 "William Nicoll thought of the credentials which 
 he was carrying as ambassador to England to ob- 
 tain munition of war against the French, and, not 
 sure that he would be considered a non-combatant 
 if they were read, he destroyed them with all haste 
 possible. He hesitated a moment whether to sub- 
 mit Yvonne's letter to the same fate, but it occurred 
 to him that in this enforced visit to France he might 
 find the opportunity of sending it on its way for 
 which she had hoped, and he secreted it with a part 
 of his money in the lining of his coat. 
 
 It was a vain precaution, the practised hands of 
 the searchers felt the gold, and letter and money 
 were taken to the Captain of the Privateer, who 
 sent a summons for Nicoll to be brought on board 
 his own ship. As he stepped on deck the shock of 
 recognition was mutual, for though the Captain of 
 an authorized privateer instead of a pirate the evil 
 face of Lollonois was unmistakable. 
 
 " I see you know me," said the ex-pirate. " I re- 
 member too that you were one of Morgan's men. 
 We met last in Tortuga. "We have each become 
 more respectable since those days." 
 
 " I was with Morgan in the West Indies," Wil- 
 liam JSTicoll replied, not attempting to clear himself 
 of Lollonois' imputation. 
 
 "Then you know enough of me to understand
 
 298 ANNEKE. 
 
 that I never scruple to take a man's life, and that 
 if I spare yours it is because I expect you to render 
 me service in future." 
 
 " You will doubtless receive a good recompense 
 in prize money when you reach Saint Malo, and 
 Captain Lollonois hardly needs the reminder that 
 (in honorable warfare) prisoners are more valuable 
 alive than dead." 
 
 " I shall make you more valuable," Lollonois re- 
 plied surlily. 
 
 "You have over three hundred pounds of my 
 private property. I will enter no complaint against 
 you for taking this money from me, which can 
 hardly be a part of your instructions, if you will 
 help me to continue my journey to England, and 
 return the letter taken from me." 
 
 "You will have no opportunity to make com- 
 plaint, for unless you give me your oath not to do 
 so you will walk the plank before we reach shore. 
 As for the letter, it was for that I sent for you. It 
 happens oddly enough that it concerns me. The 
 man to whom it is addressed was killed two years 
 ago. I took his ship off Margarita. It was a good 
 haul. I have his papers in my locker with other 
 letters from the Demoiselle Yvonne. I laughed 
 when I read them. Shall I tell you why ? 
 
 " I was born and brought up at the Sables d'Ol-
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 299 
 
 lonnes, that is why they call me Lollonois. I have 
 good reason to remember Franpois Fontenay and 
 his castle of Tiffauges. It was one of the strongest 
 castles in our part of France, and it belonged in 
 feudal times to the most wicked and cruel of the 
 old seigneurs, the infamous Gilles de Retz, him they 
 called Blue Beard, who murdered his wives and 
 sacrificed little children to Satan. My mother used 
 to try to scare me into goodness, with, ' Take care, 
 Gilles de Retz will catch you ! ' But her stories did 
 not have the desired effect. I only thought how 
 fine it must be to be a grand seigneur and be as 
 cruel as I pleased with no one to call me to account. 
 So I tortured cats instead of children, and when I 
 grew older I ranged the country round searching 
 for the castle of Tiffauges. At last I saw it crown- 
 ing a long eminence, black and grim against a 
 flaming sunset sky. I knew it without asking any 
 one, and I swam the Sevre to reach it, and walked 
 a mile along its outer wall before I reached the 
 drawbridge. It was down and the portcullis up, 
 and I slipped inside. The old ruined keep was at 
 one side of the entrance. It was in its dungeons 
 that Gilles de Retz used to kill the children, and 
 while I was gaping at it I felt a hand grip my 
 shoulder, and a rough voice asked me what I was 
 doing in the courtyard. I struggled and kicked
 
 300 ANNEKE. 
 
 and bit the hand that held me, but to no purpose. 
 I was in the grasp of the warden who was about to 
 put me out, when I heard a gentle voice say, 
 ' Bring the boy here, Bastien,' and I was led to the 
 terrace of a pretty modern villa, the new chateau, 
 built in the centre of the old enceinte. 
 
 " My fears left me at once, for it did not look at 
 all like a castle, but only an elegant little house. 
 Lights were twinkling inside, and I found myself 
 face to face with a fine gentleman. ' Come in, my 
 boy,' he said, 'and tell me why you came to see 
 me.' 
 
 " I despised him at once for his courtesy. ' I did 
 not come to see you at all,' I said, ' I wanted to see 
 the castle of Gilles de Retz.' 
 
 " * He was a bad man, we do not like to remember 
 him ; but if you will come in the daylight you shall 
 see the dungeons. You have come far and are wet, 
 and doubtless hungry. Bastien will give you some 
 supper before you go.' His kindness made me im- 
 pudent. * Was Gilles de Eetz a relation of yours ? ' 
 I asked. 
 
 " ' Gilles de Retz left no descendant,' he replied, 
 ' but I belong to the family of his innocent though 
 unfortunate wife. We do not murder little chil- 
 dren, you need not be afraid.' 
 
 " Afraid ! Bah ! If he had known the contempt I
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 301 
 
 felt for him, and to think that the castle of my 
 hero had fallen to a milk- sop like that ! 
 
 " Years later, but before I ran away to sea, I paid 
 another visit to the castle. I found the drawbridge 
 broken, the pretty villa inside the walls burned, the 
 place vacant and desolate. There was not a living 
 creature within the enclosure, and I roamed about 
 it freely. One tower at the extreme end of the 
 courtyard had not been dismantled, and I explored 
 its dungeons and clambered about its battlements. 
 A room in this tower had been overlooked when 
 the place was sacked. There was a piece of tapes- 
 try on the wall which I thought would make me a 
 good blanket. The arms of the family were woven 
 into the border. I learned to know them well for 
 I slept under them all that winter. They must 
 have worked a spell upon me, for I swore that one 
 day I too would have the right to bear arms and 
 live in a castle like that. Look you how strangely 
 things come out. I have gone through fire and 
 blood and crime, but I have come back to France 
 so rich that your paltry three hundred pounds are 
 not worth my taking though I shall keep them all 
 the same. I have told you all this that you may 
 tell Franyois de Fontenay Vicomte of Tiffauges that 
 the boy whom he patronized and fed like a stray 
 dog, intends to buy the castle which he deserted
 
 302 ANN EKE. 
 
 without so much as striking a blow in its defence, 
 and to lead such a life there as will be worthy of 
 Gilles de Ketz. 
 
 " Tell Mademoiselle Yvonne to dry her pretty 
 eyes and to take another lover. I have no grudge 
 against her, and I would not have her wait for one 
 who can never come. As for you, I will do what I 
 can to have you released, for it would please me to 
 have you carry these messages." 
 
 On their arrival at Saint Malo William Nicoll 
 was handed over to the governor of the castle 
 with the other prisoners. On giving their parole 
 not to attempt to escape they were allowed a cer- 
 tain amount of liberty until their exchange could 
 be effected. The days dragged wearily and William 
 Nicoll fell sick from anxiety and impatience for 
 the promised release. The governor, pitying his 
 condition, allowed him to be removed to a little inn 
 outside the castle, and here he improved sufficiently 
 to sit upon a bench beside the door. 
 
 One day a traveller stopped at the inn, and, as 
 his chest was carried into the house, William Nicoll 
 noticed the name, Bonnefoi, stenciled upon the end 
 in large white letters. Where had he seen that 
 name ? The man's face was kindly but unfamiliar. 
 Suddenly the answer to his question flashed through 
 his mind, and when the stranger reappeared Nicoll
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 303 
 
 asked : " Pardon me, sir, but am I speaking to 
 Melchior Bonnefoi of La Rochelle ? " 
 
 " The same," the other replied in surprise. " Have 
 you any errand with me ? " 
 
 " Alas, no ! I had a letter to be placed in your 
 care for one Etienne De Lancey ; but the letter has 
 been taken from me, and I have learned to my 
 grief that the young man is dead." 
 
 " What, dead ! " exclaimed Bonnefoi ; " and 
 when and how did he die ? " 
 
 " Two years ago. I have the story from the 
 pirate who took his life in the West Indies." 
 
 An expression of infinite relief took the place of 
 the startled look on Melchior Bonnef oi's countenance. 
 " Then I have to tell you, my friend, that your 
 pirate lied. Etienne De Lancey was alive six 
 months ago, for " and here he whispered in Wil- 
 liam KicolPs ear. " I myself helped him to escape 
 from La Rochelle to which place he had most im- 
 prudently returned." 
 
 "Where is he now?" William Nicoll asked 
 eagerly. " You may trust me, for I ask in behalf of 
 his friends the de Fontenays, who are very anxious 
 on his account." 
 
 "As he is for them. It was to obtain news 
 of them that he returned, and to search for them 
 that he has gone, to England as I think, but I
 
 304 ANNEKE. 
 
 have no address, no way of communicating with 
 him." 
 
 They talked together a little longer and before 
 he left, Bonnefoi insisted that William Nicoll should 
 accept as a loan a considerable sum of money. He 
 promised to do his best to obtain news of De Lan- 
 cey and to send him word of the whereabouts of 
 the de Fontenays, and William Nicoll was much 
 cheered by this chance meeting. The days length- 
 ened into weeks and the weeks to months and the 
 long-looked-for exchange was not announced, when, 
 one afternoon as he was impatiently pacing the 
 beach he saw approaching him the familiar figure 
 of Lollonois. There was something inexpressibly 
 offensive in the jauntiness of his swagger and 
 the assumption of equality with which he slapped 
 Nicoll upon the shoulder. 
 
 " Great news, good news for both of us," he 
 cried. " We set sail to-morrow for America." 
 
 " For America ! " William Nicoll exclaimed, in 
 astonishment. 
 
 " For America, and I do not wonder at your sur- 
 prise. Come back to the inn, and while we eat our 
 supper I will tell you what has happened. 
 
 " When I left you I had no more idea of sailing 
 anywhere than you had a half hour ago ; but the 
 King has made it to my advantage to go, and I will
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 305 
 
 make it to yours to accompany me. When I bade 
 you good-bye it was to take a run down to the 
 chateau of Tiffauges, of which I told you. I found 
 it not nearly so badly ruined as I expected. With 
 one third of the fortune which I have gained I 
 could restore it, and on the income of the remaining 
 two-thirds I could lead the life of a grand seigneur. 
 The idea struck me that it would be amusing to try 
 the experiment for a time. I journeyed to Ver- 
 sailles, and there I found an advocate named Qua- 
 trepattes, a man who makes it his business to 
 arrange such matters, and by a judicious expendi- 
 ture of my hard-earned gold I obtained his services. 
 The result is that I have not only bought the 
 chateau, but the title as well. Yes, Mr. Nicoll, I 
 am no longer the outlaw Lollonois but the Yicomte 
 de Tiffauges. It took more of my fortune than I 
 liked, but a new enterprise has been decided upon, 
 by which I hope to regain as much or more than I 
 have expended. The King has need of all the ships 
 of war which he can muster, and he has offered 
 such generous terms to privateers that I have 
 agreed to make one more voyage before I settle 
 down upon my estates." 
 
 " So you are going to Canada ? " William Nicoll 
 asked. 
 
 " No, my man," Lollonois replied, for the spirits
 
 306 ANNEKE. 
 
 which he had been drinking had loosened his 
 tongue, " I shall join the French fleet off New- 
 foundland ; but it is not to fish for cod, for our des- 
 tination is New York ! " 
 
 In spite of himself William Nicoll could not sup- 
 press an exclamation of dismay. * 
 
 "You need not be so put out," Lollonois replied. 
 " We have as good a right to take New York from 
 the English as they had to take New Amsterdam 
 from the Dutch, and if you act cleverly the change 
 may be none the worse for you. You went in with 
 one set of invaders, and you may enter with an- 
 other. You have helped me without meaning to 
 do so to my good luck, and if you help me still 
 further I will pay you well. Look, there is more 
 in this thing than I understand, but I leave the 
 ravelling of the tangle to my betters. Quatrepattes 
 has satisfied me as to what I am to have and that 
 is enough for me. Read this paper." 
 
 William Nicoll scrutinized the document which 
 Lollonois spread before him. It stated that Etienne 
 De Lancey had been proved innocent of all charges 
 heretofore preferred against him and was free to 
 return and live in France; it assured him the castle 
 and domain of Tiffauges in return for a certain 
 sum whose receipt was acknowledged as having 
 been paid by De Lancey's agent, and in case of his
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 307 
 
 marriage with the daughter of the present Yicomte 
 it promised him succession to the title as though he 
 were the son of the said noble. 
 
 " But I do not understand," said William Nicoll, 
 " how these grants to Etienne De Lancey concern 
 you." 
 
 " They concern me," Lollonois replied, " because 
 I am Etienne De Lancey. He is dead ; I have his 
 effects. In returning to France it serves my pur- 
 pose to drop my old life, and to take a new person- 
 ality. I talked this over with Quatrepattes, and 
 showed him De Lancey's papers. He has a great 
 head, that Quatrepattes, and he showed me how 
 easy it would be, provided as I am with all the 
 credentials, to assume the name of De Lancey. It 
 seems that he too was under a cloud but not so 
 black a one as mine. It was only a little charge of 
 heresy, which the King set aside when I swore that 
 it was untrue, and that I am a good Catholic. I 
 am to have all of De Lancey's property that was 
 confiscated, in case I voluntarily give half of its value 
 to the church to prove my orthodoxy, and half to the 
 King to prove my gratitude. I did not see where 
 I was bettered by this arrangement ; but Quatre- 
 pattes assures me that it puts me on good terms 
 with church and King. Quatrepattes says the 
 King was delighted when he showed him the
 
 308 ANNEKE. 
 
 letters of Mademoiselle Yvonne proving that she 
 is my betrothed. Mind you, the King supposes that 
 I am really De Lancey, and so he very willingly 
 assured me the title of Yicomte de Tiffauges after 
 the death of my father-in-law, whom it seems he is 
 anxious that I should bring back with me to France, 
 as his going away was all a mistake. The King 
 has sought vainly to find his hiding-place, and when 
 the letter you brought from Mademoiselle Yvonne 
 proved them to be in New York he was pleased 
 beyond measure." 
 
 " Do you imagine," "William Nicoll asked in as- 
 tonishment, " that the de Fontenays, and especially 
 Mademoiselle Yvonne, will accept your personifica- 
 tion of De Lancey ? " 
 
 Lollonois smiled. " Mademoiselle Yvonne and her 
 family need not at first know that I am the Etienne 
 De Lancey referred to in this paper. They will 
 come with me willingly if they think the conditions 
 refer to her former lover. Mademoiselle will get 
 accustomed to me upon the voyage, and will accept 
 the situation when she understands that in marry- 
 ing me she purchases her ancestral possessions, her 
 liberty and her father's life." 
 
 " You are mistaken, the Vicomte would die rather 
 than have his daughter sacrifice herself." 
 
 "The Vicomte may die anyway. I am not so
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 309 
 
 sure of what will happen to him when he is in 
 the King's hands. I shall deliver him, that is 
 enough." 
 
 " Unless he does not fall into this trap. If he 
 should happen not to believe your story, or if he or 
 you should be killed in attacking the town." 
 
 " I have thought of that, and this is where you 
 can be useful to me. We will try persuasion first, 
 force only if necessary. The de Fontenays know 
 you, and trust you. You shall sail with me. We 
 will stop off Long Island before joining the French 
 fleet. You shall act for me, think for me, and per- 
 suade the de Fontenays to return to France with 
 me. Then when the country is taken, your life and 
 the lives and property of your friends shall be pre- 
 served to you." 
 
 For a moment William Nicoll hesitated, not in his 
 allegiance to his friends, but as to what would be 
 the better means of serving them. What if he 
 should apparently accept Lollonois' offer, go with 
 him, secure this document for the true Etienne De 
 Lancey, cause himself to be landed at Shelter Island 
 before the attack on the city, and so give the alarm 
 to the inhabitants ? 
 
 But every fibre of his honest nature recoiled 
 against this course of duplicity, and he threw down 
 the gage of defiance openly.
 
 310 ANN EKE. 
 
 " I will not go with you or help you, Captain Lol- 
 lonois," he declared. " On the contrary, I will use 
 every means in my power, and I have more than 
 you know, to thwart your plans." 
 
 " I was afraid you might at first decide in this 
 way," Lollonois replied, " but you shall have time 
 to consider. You will go with me, you will have 
 no possibility of thwarting me, and when I have 
 tried certain pleasant means of persuasion that I 
 know how to use, you may decide to help me." 
 
 He gave a low whistle, two doors flew open and 
 a half dozen seamen threw themselves upon Nicoll, 
 bound and gagged him, and led him to the shore. 
 Here a boat was waiting, and Lollonois gave the 
 order to row out to his ship. The sea was running 
 high, rowing was difficult, and the pirates deter- 
 mined to unbind Nicoll to obtain his assistance at 
 the oars. Most fortunately for him the boat cap- 
 sized when almost under the bows of the ship, and 
 the pirates in their scramble for life, paid no atten- 
 tion to their captive. They were able to get safely 
 on board, but though they searched the water with 
 lights, they failed to discover Nicoll, and concluded 
 that he had been drowned. 
 
 Aided by the tide, he was able to reach shore, and 
 after various adventures, at length made his way to 
 England. Here he found a ship about sailing for
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 311 
 
 New York, and he sent by her a report to his col- 
 leagues of all that he had been able to learn of the 
 expedition in preparation against them by the 
 French. He also sent two letters, one to Anneke, 
 assuring her of his own welfare, and begging her 
 to encourage Yvonne with the joyful news that 
 Etienne De Lancey was still alive and devotedly 
 searching for her, and the other to the Vicomte de 
 Fontenay, putting him on his guard against the vil- 
 lainous schemes of Lollonois. 
 
 Having mailed these despatches, he devoted him- 
 self to the mission on which he had been sent, and 
 prospered so well that he was able to secure a con- 
 siderable grant for the defence of New York, and 
 to set out for home within a few weeks on one of 
 his Majesty's men-of-war, ordered to this particular 
 service. 
 
 His heart throbbed with the most acute anxiety 
 as he approached the city. Should he find it in 
 ashes, or in the possession of the French ? and it 
 was with the greatest joy that he saw that the 
 English flag was still flying over the little fort at 
 the entrance to the harbor, and later recognized 
 Anneke among the townspeople who had flocked to 
 the shore on the announcement of the approach of 
 an English vessel. 
 
 On receipt of his letter she had come to the city
 
 312 ANN EKE. 
 
 to await his arrival, but she was wan with anxiety 
 and grief, as were the other citizens. No attack 
 had been made upon New York by the French 
 fleet, but Louis XIY.'s plans had only partly mis- 
 carried. Frontenac had carried out the orders 
 which he had received, and had sent three land 
 expeditions against the English colonies. Two of 
 these had brought death and desolation to settle- 
 ments in Maine and Vermont, and the third had 
 sacked and burned Schenectady, killing a large pro- 
 portion of its inhabitants and carrying many others 
 to Canada as prisoners. Tears streamed from 
 Anneke's eyes as she told her husband in the list of 
 the missing were the names of Franpois de Fontenay 
 and his family. 
 
 " But Yvonne was with you," said William 
 Nicoll, " she at least is safe." 
 
 " She was with me," Anneke replied. " until the 
 arrival of your letter, when she insisted on returning 
 home to tell her parents the joyful news that 
 Etienne De Lancey was still alive. There is only 
 one chance : the Mohawks have sent out a war party 
 on the path of the retreating French, and it is hoped 
 that they may rescue the captives." 
 
 This hope faded with the return of the Indian 
 allies without the de Fontenays ; but those inter- 
 ested in their fate may learn of it in another vol-
 
 FRANCE TAKES A HAND. 313 
 
 ume. The present concerns itself only with the 
 story of Anneke. 
 
 Had the poem been written in his day, we might 
 imagine grey-haired William JS T icoll seated by her 
 side in their happy home on Shelter Island repeat- 
 ing to his faithful wife the lines with which this 
 story closes : 
 
 '' We are sitting by the window, yon and I, hand in hand, 
 While the hush of twilight's stealing o'er the peaceful laud. 
 We have had our joys and sorrows, we've had our pain and care, 
 But with love to smooth the way, they've not been hard to bear. 
 And my thoughts go wand'riug back to the day when first we met. 
 For we loved each other then, dear, as we both love yet." 
 
 THE END.
 
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