60 THE LAND OF PLUUK

already famous warriors to fight his battles and strike
terror to the hearts of his foes.

The Batavian cavalry could swim across wide and deep
rivers without breaking their ranks, and their infantry
were excelled by none in drill, in archery, and in wonderful
powers cf endurance. They had fought too long with the
elements in holding their “Good Meadow” to be dismayed
in battle by any amount of danger and fatigue.

The Romans called them “ friends,” but the Batavians
soon discovered that they were being used merely as a
cat’s-paw. After a while, as cat’s-paws will, they turned
and scratched. A contest, stubborn and tedious, between
the Romans and Batavians followed. At length both par-
ties were glad to make terms of peace, which prevailed,
with few interruptions, until the decline of the Roman
Empire.

After that, hordes of barbarians overran Europe; and
Holland, with the rest, had a hard time of it. Man to
man, the Batavian could hold his own against any mortal
foe, but he could not always be proof against numbers.
The “Good Meadow,” grown larger and more valuable,
was conquered and held by several of the “big-boy ” sav-
age tribes, in turn, but not until Batavian pluck stood
recorded in many a fearful tale passed from generation
to generation.

Later, each of the surrounding nations, as it grew more
powerful, tried to wrest Holland from the holders of her
soil, Some succeeded for a time, some failed ; but always,
and every time, the Dutch gathered their strength for
the contest and went not to battle, but to war. As, in later