Nele, too, drank from a great golden tankard, and ruddy in the breath of the wind, played the shrill fife. And for all the cold, the Beggars ate and drank rejoicing on the deck.
XVIII
Suddenly the whole fleet perceived upon the bank a black troop among which torches shone and the gleaming of arms; then the torches were put out, and a great darkness reigned.
The admiral’s orders being sent round, the alarm was given on the ships, and all fires were quenched; sailors and soldiers lay flat on the decks, armed with axes. The gallant gunners, linstock in hand, watched by the guns loaded with bags of bullets and with chain shot. As soon as the admiral and the captains should call out “A hundred paces!”—which denoted the enemy’s distance, they were to fire from the bows, the poop, or the broadside, according to their position in the ice.
And Messire Worst’s voice was heard saying:
“Death to whoever speaks aloud!”
And the captains said after him:
“Death to whoever speaks aloud!”
The night was moonless, filled with stars.