"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?"