"Yes," said her mother; "it was settled by the Dutch as early as 1663, Lossing tells us, and at first called Wiltwyck--which means wild witch or Indian Witch--on account of the troubles between the settlers and the Indians. A redoubt was built by the Dutch on the bank of the creek near the old landing place, and they called the creek Redoubt Kill, or Creek. Now it is called Rondout--a corruption of Redoubt. Years later, near the close of the century, the population of the town was increased by a valuable addition from Europe--a colony of French Huguenots, who fled from that dreadful persecution begun in 1685 by Louis XIV.'s revocation of the Edict of Nantes." "What does that mean, grandma?" asked Neddie. "I will tell you sometime; perhaps while we are going up the river to-day," she answered in kindly tones. "I cannot do it now, for there is the breakfast bell." They were all seated upon the _Dolphin's_ deck very shortly after leaving the table, and in a few moments the yacht was steaming rapidly up the river. Then Neddie, going to his grandmother's side, claimed her promise to explain to him what was meant by an edict--particularly the one of which she had spoken. "An edict," she said, "is a public decree that things shall be so and so. The Edict of Nantes said that the persecution of the Protestants must stop and they be allowed to worship God as they deemed right; the revocation of that edict gave permission to the Romanists to begin persecution again. Therefore, to save their lives, the Protestants had to flee to other lands." "Where did they go, grandma?" asked Eric, who was listening with as keen an interest as Neddie himself. "A great many to England and Germany and some to this country. It was really a great loss to France, for they were industrious and skilful artisans--manufacturers of silk, jewelry, and glass." "I'm glad some of them did come here," said Eric. "The massacre of St. Bartholomew was before that, wasn't it, grandma?" "Yes; on the 26th of August, 1572; in that seventy thousand Protestants were butchered by the Papists in France, by the authority of the Pope and the king. From that time on, until 1598, there were terrible persecutions, stopped in that year by Henry IV.'s issue of the Edict of Nantes, allowing, as I have told you, Protestants to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences. That edict remained in force for nearly a century, but was revoked in 1685 by Louis XIV." "Then the Protestants moved away to escape being killed?" asked Eric. "Yes," replied Grandma Elsie, "and some of them came up this river and settled on its shores. They found it less hazardous to dwell beside the savage Indians than among the persecuting Papists." "So they came across the ocean and up this river and settled near Kingston, did they, grandma?" queried Eric. "They settled in the valley of Ulster and Orange counties," she answered. "And then they had good times, I hope," said Neddie.