Do not think, dear girls, that because you are girls you may not have as much courage as your brothers. I believe that quite as stout hearts beat beneath muslin frocks as under stuff jackets. When you have finished reading this book about your sisters, perhaps—if you do not already—you will agree with me, and think that it needs only occasion to call out the necessary courage. I have been asked which one of these heroines I think the most daring, but—oh dear—it would never do to have a favourite, would it? So I leave them to you, and that you will enjoy learning of their trials and triumphs is the wish of your friend,

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS

PAGE
The Robe of the Duchess[1]
The Princess Wins[53]
Defence of Castle Dangerous[96]
The Pearl Necklace[129]
Dicey Langston[220]
The Maid of Zaragoza[265]

ILLUSTRATIONS

“See, Clemence, a good omen. Look at the new moon”[Frontispiece]
FACING PAGE
“None looking on my stately Duchess would deem that she had but fifteen years”[48]
“On, for the love of the Daughter of Holland, and death to those that deny her!”[86]
“I have commanded this fort, Monsieur, during the absence of my father”[124]
“Coward, shoot now if you dare!”[260]
“What are you doing here, my girl?”[288]

DEEDS OF DARING

DONE BY GIRLS

The Robe of the Duchess
As told by Jehan, her Page in the Year of Grace 1392