John Whitefoot had been present at all the events which had taken place that day, and, although he had quite agreed with his cousin that resistance would do no good to the cause, and would entail fearful sufferings on the besieged, he was carried away by the general enthusiasm, and shouted as loudly as any in reply to the exhortations of Murray.  The tanner was also present.  John was by his side, and saw that he was deeply moved by the speech, but he did not join in the acclamations.  When all was over, he laid his hand on John’s shoulder: 

“The die is cast, my boy.  I am glad that no act or voice of mine has had aught to do with bringing it about, and that the weight of what is to come will not rest upon my conscience.  But, now that it is decided, I shall not be one to draw back, but will do my share with what strength the Lord has given me.”

“May I join one of the regiments, too?” John asked.  “I am young, but I am as strong as many men.”

“It were better not, at present, John.  Before the end comes, every arm that can bear weapon may be needed, but, at present, there is no reason why you should do so.  Doubtless, plenty of work will be found for younger hands, besides absolute fighting, but I think not that there will be much fighting, save against famine.  Our walls are strong, and we have well-nigh forty pieces of cannon, while they say that James has but six pieces, and most of these are small.

“Methinks, then, that they will not even attempt to take the city by storm.  Why should they waste men in doing so, when they can starve us out?  It is famine we have to fight, in this sort of war.  I do not think that James has, in all Ireland, cannon sufficient to batter down our walls; but ten days will bring our provisions to an end.  It will be with us as with Leyden.  We have only to suffer and wait.  If it be God’s will, succour will come in time.  If not, we must even perish.”

With his spirits somewhat damped by his cousin’s view of the case, John returned with him to the house.  He would willingly enough have gone out, to fight against the besiegers, but the thought of the long slow agony of starvation was naturally terrible to a lad of good health and appetite.

The mob of Derry had shown good sense in the choice which they made of their governors.  Baker, indeed, who was a military man, was a mere cipher in the matter.  Walker was, in reality, the sole governor.  He was a man of energy and judgment, as well as enthusiastic and fanatical, and he at once gave evidence of his fitness for the post, and set himself diligently to work to establish order in the town.

He issued orders that all unable to bear arms, who wished to leave the town, could do so, while the able-bodied men, now formed into regiments, were assigned every man his place, and every regiment its quarter, on the walls.  No less than thirty thousand fugitives, exclusive of the garrison, were shut up in the walls of Derry, and the army which was besieging the town numbered twenty thousand.