The officers uttered a cry of joy.

“There is but one drawback,” said the prince.

“What is it, monseigneur?”

“That it would take a day to send our orders to the different towns, and we have but an hour.”

“And an hour is enough.”

“But who will instruct the fleet?”

“It is done.”

“By whom?”

“By me.  If these gentlemen had refused to give it to me, I should have bought it.”

“But Malines, Lier, Duffel?”

“I passed through Malines and Lier, and sent a sure agent to Duffel.  At eleven o’clock the French will be beaten; at one they will be in full retreat; at two Malines will open its dykes, Lier and Duffel their sluices, and the whole plain will become a furious ocean, which will drown houses, fields, woods, and villages, it is true, but at the same time will destroy the French so utterly, that not one will return to France.”

A silence of admiration and terror followed these words; then all at once the Flemings burst into applause.  William stepped forward, and, holding out his hand, said:  “Then, monseigneur, all is ready on our side?”

“All; and, stay—­I believe on the side of the French also.”

And he pointed to an officer who was entering.

“Gentlemen,” cried the officer, “we have just heard that the French are marching toward the city.”

“To arms!” cried the burgomaster.

“To arms!” cried all.

“One moment, gentlemen,” cried monseigneur; “I have to give one direction more important than all the rest.”

“Speak!” cried all.

“The French will be surprised; it will not be a combat, nor even a retreat, but a flight.  To pursue them you must be lightly armed.  No cuirasses, morbleu!  It is your cuirasses, in which you cannot move, which have made you lose all the battles you have lost.  No cuirasses, gentlemen.  We will meet again in the combat.  Meanwhile, go to the place of the Hotel de Ville, where you will find all your men in battle array.”

“Thanks, monseigneur,” said William; “you have saved Belgium and Holland.”

“Prince, you overwhelm me.”

“Will your highness consent to draw the sword against the French?” asked the prince.

“I will arrange as to fight against the Huguenots,” replied the unknown, with a smile which his more somber companion might have envied.

CHAPTER LXV.

French and Flemings.

At the moment when the members of the council left the Hotel de Ville, the officers went to put themselves at the head of their troops, and execute the orders they had received.  At the same time the artillery sounded.  This artillery surprised the French in their nocturnal march, by which they had hoped to surprise the town; but instead of stopping their advance, it only hastened it.  If they could not take the city by surprise, they might, as we have seen the king of Navarre do at Cahors, fill up the moats with fascines and burst open the gates with petards.