All Spain ratified the King's deed; "Egmont and St. Quentin" became the rallying cry of the nation, and the fame of the brave Hollander reached the farthest limits of the mighty empire over which Philip ruled. With royal generosity Philip bestowed rich rewards on the chieftains assembled in council that day. To Savoy princely rank and high office near his person, and to all others guerdons according to their rank. -------------- There was a great meeting in Egmont's tent that night. Thither came the English lords—Pembroke, Gray, and Clinton—and at the banquet-table sat Spanish and Flemish nobles of high degree, many of them bearing the traces of battle upon them, yet all were jubilant and triumphant. Behind the great chiefs stood their aides-de-camp, according to Spanish custom, and among these young warriors were Geoffrey, Ralph, and William. Ere the revelry had grown to its height and had become uproarious, Egmont's eye fell upon the three English youths and, with the generosity of his noble nature, he called them before him, inquired their name, and shook each by the hand. "You rode well to-day, my gallant young soldiers, and I saw you deal many a lusty blow for the honour of Spain and the Netherlands," he said. "I marked how you stood by the fallen Constable, and though two Spaniards, as I hear, claim the honour of his capture, you certainly rescued his body. You will not forget the day of St. Quentin: I will give you something whereby to remember it." Then he called his major-domo to him, and taking a huge gold goblet into his hand, he cried— "Fill this goblet with golden ducats." It was soon done, for King Philip had given him five thousand that day. "Take it, boys, and divide the money among you and toss for the cup! Well do you deserve it. England may be proud of her sons if they are all such as you!" What wonder that Almoral, Count Egmont, was the hero, the darling, almost the demi-god of those who served under his banner. This was the bright and glittering side of war. Alas! how little men recked of the desolation, death, despair and destruction it caused! How little thought they in Egmont's tent that night of the unburied dead whose cold bodies lay on the blood-stained battlefield of St. Quentin! How little of the broken hearts, the shattered hopes, the desolate homes in the fair regions of sunny France when the news of that fatal day should be borne to the humiliated but proud nation! -------------- The next day the Spanish camp resounded with the preparations for the renewed siege of St. Quentin. Fresh batteries were thrown up on all sides on which the artillery, captured from the French, was planted, and, ere many hours had passed, a furious cannonade burst forth upon the crumbling fortifications of the doomed city. Mines were planted, and galleries excavated almost to the very centre of St. Quentin.