200 Hans Brinker

«What! not cheer Vander Werf?” cried Ben, indignantly.
‘“¢One of the greatest chaps in history? Only think! Didn’t
he hold out against those murderous Spaniards for months and
months! There was
the town, surrounded
on all sides by the ene-
my, great black forts
sending fire and death
into the very heart of
the city, — but no sur-
render! Every man a
hero; women and chil-
dren, too, brave and
fierce as lions; pro-
visions giving out; the
very grass from be-
tween the paving-stones
gone, till people were
glad to eat horses and
cats and dogs and rats.
Then came the plague.
Hundreds dying in the
streets, but no surrender. Then, when they could bear no
more; when the people, brave as they were, crowded about
Van der Werf in the public square, begging him to give up, —
what did the noble old burgomaster say? ‘I have sworn to
defend this city ; and, with God’s help, J mean to do it! If
my body can satisfy your hunger, take it, and divide it among

 

VAN DER WERF.

ou, but expect no surrender so long as I am alive.’ Hurrah!
you,
>

hur —’
Ben was getting uproarious; Lambert playfully clapped his