The voyage was drawing to an end. Ostend and Dunkirk had been passed, and as evening fell Calais came in sight.
At eight o'clock the ship dropped her anchor in front of the town, firing a salute in honour of the flag of St. George, which floated on the bastion. Then a boat was lowered, and, ere taking their departure, the Englishmen took an affectionate farewell of their new friend.
"We shall meet again," said Gonzaga.
"At Herstmonceux, I hope," replied Geoffrey, as they shook hands once more.
Half-an-hour later the young men were in Calais, and the Santa Trinadad pursued her journey to Spain, whither she was bound.
CHAPTER XV
CALAIS
Calais was a petty fishing village in the tenth century, and its first appearance in the annals of history was when Baldwin the Fourth, Count of Flanders, took it under his fostering care and its earliest fortifications were built.
Perceiving its natural advantages, Philip of France, Count of Boulogne, took serious steps for its defence. A citadel was built, forts were erected, a lofty watch-tower was constructed on the bastion fronting the sea, which for centuries was the chief light-house of Calais. The town was encircled by strong walls, deep moats were constructed, every art known to the engineers of that age was employed, and the town was thought to be impregnable.
King Edward the Third captured it after the great battle of Crécy, and it took that warlike monarch eleven months ere he became master of the town, chiefly aided by the grim necessities of famine. It became an English town, and for two hundred years it had resisted the repeated efforts of France to reconquer it. The English rebuilt the cathedral of Notre Dame, whose lofty tower served as a landmark for sailors. When the sovereigns of England and France met on the "Field of the Cloth of Gold," much money was spent on the town by the English.