[Illustration] Lysbeth A Tale Of The Dutch by H. Rider Haggard 1901 Contents DEDICATION AUTHOR’S NOTE BOOK THE FIRST THE SOWING CHAPTER I. THE WOLF AND THE BADGER CHAPTER II. SHE WHO BUYS—PAYS CHAPTER III. MONTALVO WINS A TRICK CHAPTER IV. THREE WAKINGS CHAPTER V. THE DREAM OF DIRK CHAPTER VI. THE BETROTHAL OF LYSBETH CHAPTER VII. HENDRIK BRANT HAS A VISITOR CHAPTER VIII. THE MARE’S STABLE BOOK THE SECOND THE RIPENING CHAPTER IX. ADRIAN, FOY, AND MARTIN THE RED CHAPTER X. ADRIAN GOES OUT HAWKING CHAPTER XI. ADRIAN RESCUES BEAUTY IN DISTRESS CHAPTER XII. THE SUMMONS CHAPTER XIII. MOTHER’S GIFTS ARE GOOD GIFTS CHAPTER XIV. SWORD SILENCE RECEIVES THE SECRET CHAPTER XV. SEÑOR RAMIRO CHAPTER XVI. THE MASTER CHAPTER XVII. BETROTHED CHAPTER XVIII. FOY SEES A VISION CHAPTER XIX. THE FRAY IN THE SHOT TOWER CHAPTER XX. IN THE GEVANGENHUIS CHAPTER XXI. HOW MARTIN TURNED COWARD CHAPTER XXII. A MEETING AND A PARTING BOOK THE THIRD THE HARVESTING CHAPTER XXIII. FATHER AND SON CHAPTER XXIV. MARTHA PREACHES A SERMON AND TELLS A SECRET CHAPTER XXV. THE RED MILL CHAPTER XXVI. THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE BRIDE CHAPTER XXVII. WHAT ELSA SAW IN THE MOONLIGHT CHAPTER XXVIII. ATONEMENT CHAPTER XXIX. ADRIAN COMES HOME AGAIN CHAPTER XXX. TWO SCENES DEDICATION _In token of the earnest reverence of a man of a later generation for his character, and for that life work whereof we inherit the fruits to-day, this tale of the times he shaped is dedicated to the memory of one of the greatest and most noble-hearted beings that the world has known; the immortal William, called the Silent, of Nassau._ AUTHOR’S NOTE There are, roughly, two ways of writing an historical romance—the first to choose some notable and leading characters of the time to be treated, and by the help of history attempt to picture them as they were; the other, to make a study of that time and history with the country in which it was enacted, and from it to deduce the necessary characters. In the case of “Lysbeth” the author has attempted this second method. By an example of the trials, adventures, and victories of a burgher family of the generation of Philip II. and William the Silent, he strives to set before readers of to-day something of the life of those who lived through perhaps the most fearful tyranny that the western world has known. How did they live, one wonders; how is it that they did not die of very terror, those of them who escaped the scaffold, the famine and the pestilence? This and another—Why were such things suffered to be?—seem problems worth consideration, especially by the young, who are so apt to take everything for granted, including their own religious freedom and personal security. How often, indeed, do any living folk give a grateful thought to the forefathers who won for us these advantages, and many others with them?