A light comes up on the right—Fort Liefkenhoek!
The cries of the Spanish sentries fall clearly and audibly on every ear on board the black galley and its accompanying convoy.
Each knife, each grappling hook is kept in readiness. The concealed fuses glimmer near the weapons. The hearts of these daring men are beating strongly.
"Keep good watch! Keep good watch!" can be heard echoing into the distance. A great danger lies behind these bold seamen now. Long live the luck of the sea beggars!
What's that shimmering on the right?
The lights of Dorf and Fort Callao.
What is flickering on the Brabant side of the river?
The lights of the village of Ordam.
How still it is now in this frightful place where the bridge of Alexander Farnese once stood, the engineering wonder of the century! What genius once shone here! What blood once flowed here!
On this spot Giovanni Baptista Plato and Barocci once worked. On this spot Gianibelli's fireship wreaked havoc and filled the air, the water and the surrounding countryside with ruins and mutilated bodies.