"The Spanish woman hath cajoled thee!" some of them exclaimed with a curse.
"Or offered thee a bribe from the tyrant," cried others.
"We'll hang thee along with the prisoners if thou darest to turn against us," added Peter Balde spitefully.
"Hang me then, friends, an ye list," he said with a loud laugh, "but let me speak while ye get the gallows ready. Walloons," he added, turning to the prisoners who were regarding him with utter bewilderment, in which past terror still held sway, "ye are our kith and kin. Together we have groaned under the most execrable tyrant the world has even known. To-day I offer you the power to strike one blow at the tyrant--a blow from which he will never recover--a blow which will help you to win that which every Netherlander craves for: Liberty! Will ye help us to strike that blow and cover yourselves with glory?"
"Aye! aye!" came from the Walloons with one stupendous cry of hope and of relief.
"Will you fight with us?"
"Yes!"
"Die with us?"
"Yes!"
"For the freedom of the Netherlands?"