By England's Aid; or, the Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604)Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
By England's Aid; or, the Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604)
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Historical fiction; Netherlands -- History -- Eighty Years' War, 1568-1648 -- Juvenile fiction
They went down to the landing place. Eight men and two women were
landed from the boat. These were the sole survivors of the crew.
"They are Spaniards," Boldero said. "I pity that poor girl. I
suppose the other woman is her servant."
The girl, who was about sixteen years of age, was very pale, and
had evidently been crying terribly. She did not seem to heed the
cries and threats with which the townspeople as usual assailed the
newly arrived captives, but kept her eyes fixed upon one of the
captives who walked before her.
"That is her father, no doubt," Geoffrey said. "It is probably her
last look at him. Come away, Stephen; I am awfully sorry we came
here. I shall not be able to get that girl's face out of my mind
for I don't know how long."
Without a word they went back to their hut. They had no particular
work that day. Geoffrey went restlessly in and out, sometimes pacing
along the strand, sometimes coming in and throwing himself on the
divan. Stephen Boldero went on quietly mending a net that had been
damaged the night before, saying nothing, but glancing occasionally
with an amused look at his companion's restless movements. Late in
the afternoon Geoffrey burst out suddenly: "Stephen, we must try
and rescue that girl somehow from her fate."
"I supposed that was what it was coming to," Boldero said quietly.
"Well, let me hear all about it. I know you have been thinking it
over ever since morning. What are your ideas?"
"I do not know that I have any ideas beyond getting her and her
father down to a boat and making off."
"Well, you certainly have not done much if you haven't got farther
than that," Stephen said drily. "Now, if you had spent the day
talking it over with me instead of wandering about like one out
of his mind, we should have got a great deal further than that by
this time. However, I have been thinking for you. I know what you
young fellows are. As soon as I saw that girl's face and looked
at you I was dead certain there was an end of peace and quietness,
and that you would be bent upon some plan of getting her off.
It did not need five minutes to show that I was right; and I have
been spending my time thinking, while you have thrown yours away
in fidgeting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account