So sped the early
standard bearers of that ferocious liberty which had sprung from the
fires in which all else for which men cherish their fatherland had
been consumed. So swept that resolute but fantastic band along the
placid estuaries of Zeeland, waking the stagnant waters with their
wild beggar songs and cries of vengeance.
"That vengeance found soon a distinguished object. Pacheco, the
chief engineer of Alva, who had accompanied the Duke in his march
from Italy, who had since earned a world-wide reputation as the
architect of the Antwerp citadel, had been just despatched in haste
to Flushing to complete the fortress whose construction had been
so long delayed. Too late for his work, too soon for his safety,
the ill-fated engineer had arrived almost at the same moment with
Treslong and his crew. He had stepped on shore, entirely ignorant of
all which had transpired, expecting to be treated with the respect
due to the chief commandant of the place, and to an officer high in
the confidence of the Governor-general. He found himself surrounded by
an indignant and threatening mob. The unfortunate Italian understood
not a word of the opprobrious language addressed to him, but he easily
comprehended that the authority of the Duke was overthrown.
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