Greedily the venal mercenaries caught at the glittering ransom, and promised to open the gates if all the articles of price which the women bore about them were forthwith delivered up. The bargain was soon concluded. Each one hastened to throw down whatever of value she had upon her, and the gates were opened amid a shout of gladness from the liberated multitude. Mothers took their children in their arms, sons supported their aged parents; and thus they streamed forth from the town, the men who carried the corpses of Breydel's family following them through the gate, which was immediately after closed upon the fugitives.
CHAPTER VIII
Jan Breydel and his seven hundred butchers had pitched their camp near the small town of Damme, in the immediate neighborhood of Bruges. Three thousand Guildsmen from the other companies had also voluntarily placed themselves under his command; so that he now found himself at the head of a force, not numerous indeed, but formidable from its fearless and devoted courage; for there was not a man among them whose heart was not possessed with the single thought of liberty and vengeance. The wood which the Dean had selected as the place of encampment was thickly crowded for a considerable space with huts and tents; and on the morning of the 18th of May, a little before De Chatillon's entry into Bruges, numberless fires were smoking in front of the lines. Few, however, of the Guildsmen were visible about the tents. Of women and children there were indeed enough; but it was only here and there that a single man showed himself, and he was evidently a sentinel on duty. At some little distance from the actual camp, behind the trees which spread their branches over the tents, was an open space free from trees and entirely unoccupied. From this quarter might be heard incessantly a confused murmur of voices, the monotony of which was ever and anon relieved by the sharp or heavy resound of workmen's implements. The hammers rang upon the anvils, and in the wood the largest trees came thundering down under the axes of the butchers. Here long wooden shafts were being rounded and smoothed and pointed with iron; there stood piles of pikes and **good-days" ready for use. Elsewhere the basketmakers were busily engaged in manufacturing frameworks for bucklers, which were then handed over to the tanners to be covered with ox-hides. The carpenters were at work upon the heavy siegeartillery of the day, especially catapults and other engines of assault. Jan Breydel ran about hither and thither, animating his comrades with words of encouragement. Occasionally he would himself take the ax in hand from one of his butchers; and then, as he hewed away to the astonishment of all that saw him, one of the largest trees would speedily fall under his vigorous blows.
On the left of this open space stood a magnificent tent of sky-blue cloth, with silver fringe. At its summit hung a shield, showing a black lion on a golden field, and thus denoting the abode of a member of the princely house of Flanders. Here it was that the Lady Matilda was for the present lodged, under the special protection of the Guilds, to which she had committed herself. Two ladies of the illustrious house of Renesse had left their home in Zeeland to attend upon her and bear her company; and in no respect did she want for anything. The most sumptuous appointments, the most costly apparel had been amply supplied for her use by the noble Zeelander. A party of butchers, axes in hand, stood on either side of the tent as bodyguard to the young countess. The Dean of the Clothworkers was pacing up and down before the entrance, apparently immersed in thought, with his eyes bent upon the earth. The guard looked on at him in silence; not a word was spoken among them, out of deep respect for the meditations of the man who was so great and noble in their eyes. The object of his thoughts was a plan for a general encampment. Hitherto, for the better convenience of provisioning, he had distributed the whole force into three divisions. The Butchers and the various Guilds were encamped at Damme, under the command of Breydel; Dean Lindens lay with two thousand Clothworkers at Sluys; and Deconinck himself, with two thousand men of the same Guild, at Ardenburg. But he was far from satisfied with this scattered disposition of the forces, and would gladly have seen the whole reunited into one corps before the arrival of Guy to take the supreme command. It was for this reason that he was now at Damme; and, his consulta tion with Breydel being concluded, he was waiting till he should be admitted to pay his respects to the daughter of his lord.
While he walked, thus meditating on his project, the portion of hanging that formed the door of the tent was drawn on one side, and Matilda stepped slowly forward over the carpet that was spread before it. Her countenance was pale, and expressive of much languor; her steps seemed to totter under her, and she leaned for support on the arm of the young Adelaide of Renesse, who accompanied her. Her dress was rich, but plain; for she had laid aside all ornament, and the only jewel she wore was the golden plate upon her breast, with the Black Lion of Flanders enameled on it.
Immediately on her appearance, Deconinck uncovered his head, and stood before her in an attitude of deep respect. A sweet smile lighted up the gloom with which the maiden's features were overcast; for it was with pleasure that she beheld the firm and faithful friend of her house and country,
