Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1908-11-19

plague, said the tiny bulletin. But
with all the story of their desperate
plight, there cams never 4 word hint.
lug at surrender from the people Of
LeYden.
Then it was that William Of Orange
called the States together and, stand
| ing among that assembly of grave-facSd
men. be told the message that had just
cone to him There are women and
little children shut up within Lsydsn, =
he said. "Help they must have, and
there is but one way We can send it. >
There was note in his last words
that caused thrill to go through all
there.
"And that way, Stakeholder" ask
cd a gray. haired man.
For . second the man who was their
leader looked at them silently, great
pity in his eyes. Then through the
vast hall rang his reply my people,
we must break tha dikes +"
There came no answer for a mo.
ment. Those who listened understood.
They knew the hundreds OF lives al
ready laid down in the fruitless effort
to reach Lsydsn by land. They knew
that to send feet was the only hope,
and that the sending Of that feet
meant the utter ruin of Holland for
twenty miles inland-ths sweeping
away in a momenO Of the gathered
holdings of lifetime. They were not
hesitsting in that brief silence they
were only pondering-looking at the
idea from every point Of view. The
men of Holland always thought before
they acted. That was one reason no
earthly power had ever been found
that could stop them when once they
moved.
Better ruin the land than lose it,
said the old man. His home and farm
would be the first TO 60 wnen the wa
ter came.
Then through the vast assembly
rolled a shout like thunder, every
voice there joining in: Break the
dikss The power is thine, Stadthol-
derl Break the dikes !"
Before the setting of that day s sun
the great dikes we're broken at Schie-
dam and Delfshsven, the people in the
way having bsen told to seek safety.
And it should always be remembered
of the women Of Holland that when
the message came there was no hesita'
ton, no murmuring word. Quickly
they packed a few valuableS; then,
with their children in their arms and
driving the cattle before them, they
trudged off to the high towns where
safety lay.
At first the ocean did not appear to
understand just what was expected of
it. For ten centuries it had been
beaten out of Holland, and now it was
politely invited to enter and, that
there could be no mistake about it,
several huge orevasses were standing
Hospitality open
1t came at last, the terrible enemy
which this once was to act the part OF
a friend. With roar and rush, it
speedily spread INLAND for over twenty
miles, blotting out the richest farm
lands in all the Netherlands as though
they had never existed.
The Sp,niards looked out from their
si1ty-six forts one October morning,
rubbed their eyes, and then looked
again, a slow horror dswning on their
faces. They had lain down to rest in
the midst of green plain. no enemy
near save those starving men and Wo-
men shut within the walls Of Lsyden.
They awoke few hours later in the
midst of blue sea. which smiled and
dimpIsd in the autumn Sunlight as
though it had been tossing its white
caps against the walls of the city since
the beginning of time. And on this
smiling sea there were floating two
hundred Aat-bottomed boats as easily
as if it were the most common thing
in the world for an entire feet to be
airing itself twenty miles from the
ocean.
These boats were heavily loaded
with food for the starving people OF
Leyden, who were shouting wildly on
top Of their walls; aud on every avail
able spOt on the boats were the dread.
ed Water B.ggars, their grim faces
pesring down from even the AagPOls
wh.reon Aoated the orange, so beloved
by the men of Holland.
The battle that followed did not
last long. Perched sirilY in their tow.
ere, the spaDiards could make little
resistance, and in short while the
boats fiosted under the walls Of Ley