wonder at the fortifications of the besieging army, so soon to be
superfluous, sliding, skating, waltzing on the ice, admiring jugglers,
dancing bears, puppet shows and merry-go-rounds, singing, and carousing
upon herrings, sausages, waffles, with mighty draughts of Flemish ale,
manifesting their exuberant joy that the thorn was nearly extracted from
the lion's paw, and awaiting with delight a blessed relief from that
operation. Never was a merrier Christmas morning in Flanders. There
should be an end now to the forays through the country of those red-
coated English pikemen, those hard-riding, hard-drinking troopers of
Germany and, Holland, with the French and Scotch arquebus men, and
terrible Zeeland sailors who had for years swept out of Ostend, at any
convenient opportunity, to harry the whole province. And great was the
joy in Flanders.

Meantime within the city a different scene was enacting. Those dignified
Spaniards--governor Serrano and Don Matteo Antonio--having slept off
their carouse, were prepared after breakfast next morning to resume the
interrupted negotiations. But affairs were now to take an unexpected
turn. In the night the wind had changed, and in the course of the
forenoon three Dutch vessels of war were descried in the offing, and soon
calmly sailed into the mouth of the Gullet. The news was at once brought
to Vere's headquarters. That general's plans had been crowned with
success even sooner than he expected. There was no further object in
continuing the comedy of negotiation, for the ships now arriving seemed
crowded with troops. Sir Francis accordingly threw off the mask, and
assuring his guests with extreme politeness that it had given him great
pleasure to make the acquaintance of such distinguished personages, he
thanked them cordially for their visit, but regretted that it would be no
longer in his power to entertain any propositions of a pacific nature.
The necessary reinforcements, which he had been so long expecting, had