Argosy, Vol. 1 (December 9, 1882) — page 392: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE ARGOSY. VoL. XXIX. FEBRUARY, 1899. No. 3. THE CAPTAIN OF THE BURGHER GUARDS. BY JOHN P. RITTER. A story of the siege of Leyden by the Spaniards— The daring venture of Maurice Van Texel in making his way through the enemy’s lines— The Sea Beggars to the rescue, and the part played by the ocean in delivering Holland from the oppressor. (Complete in This Issue.) CHAPTER J.—THE EDICT. fb ARLY one morning in July, 1574, the citizens of Leyden were gathered in a jostling crowd before the town hall, gazing at a large printed bulle- tin, pasted on a wooden frame, that had just been attached to one of the col- umns of the portico. It was a throng such as could not have been found at that period in all Europe, save in a chartered city of the Netherlands. All social differences were, for the time being, cast aside. Rich burghers strove with poor weavers; men of rank, beribboned and perfumed, were pushed and hauled about by ragged artisans ; while, here and there, a bustling, boisterous housewife employed her lean elbows on the ribs of those within her reach, and cried out lustily for room and air. The faces of all were yellow, sunken, spectral, and their eyes gleamed with the fierce eagerness of famine, as they pressed forward ina struggling mass to reach the column upon which the bulletin was displayed. “An infamous edict, that!” exclaimed one in the front row of the crowd—a man apparently of some consequence, for he wore a doublet of velvet richly embroidered, and there were waving plumes in his cap. ‘“ And think ye we'll submit to it?’ muttered a gaunt creature at his elbow, accompanying the words with a savage oath. “Hardly. It would be far better to surrender the city to the Spaniards at once, than to hold out longer and perish. But can you read the printed mat- ter, my good fellow? ” “Nay; but I can shrewdly guess its meaning. Doubtless ’tis another law of our tyrannous burgomaster, by which he hopes to starve us further.” “You have guessed aright,” was the reply. Then, raising his voice above the sullen murmurs of the throng, he of the plumes and velvet cried: I GOHMGOOO YN CO