"He must be a Crusader," said Betty, "for he has a red cross on his white cloak, and armor underneath it."
"He's a king, too," said little Dick. "He's got a crown on. What's a Crusader, Auntie? And is he one?"
"The Crusaders lived about three hundred years later than Alfred and Charlemagne. In that time the Turks—yes, the same kind of Turks whom you have heard about as persecuting the poor little Armenian children—had come into possession of the Holy Land in Palestine. All the Christian countries wanted to drive them out, so that heathen might not be in possession of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher. So from France and Italy and Germany and England great armies went out to fight against the Saracens, as the Turks in Palestine were then called. And they wore red crosses on their cloaks to show that they were going on a holy war."
"Did they get the land back?" asked Francis.
"Why, no, silly," cried Alfred. "Don't you remember just last year General Allenby conquered Jerusalem, in the big war? The Turks had been there all that time. But wasn't that Crusader," nodding toward the rider disappearing in the distance, "somebody special?"
"Yes, indeed. You aren't the only boy here that has a king's name. This was a king with the same name as Dick—Richard of England, whom his people loved to call the Lion Hearted, because he was so brave. I could tell by the banner with the lion on it that floated above his head. There are lots of fine stories about King Richard. One tells how he was captured by an enemy on the way home from one of the Crusades and kept shut up in a tower for a year; and how he was found and rescued by a friend of his who was a sweet singer, and who went about singing a little song that the king loved, until at last he heard the king's voice sing in answer to him from the tower window. Then there's a story of how he came back to England in disguise, and kept his wicked brother John from stealing his throne. Some day you must read Sir Walter Scott's famous novel, 'Ivanhoe,' which tells all about the adventures of Richard in disguise."
A convenient gap in the procession had given Aunt Eleanor time to tell the children this much about King Richard; but now another group, a very soberly dressed company, too, claimed their attention. The central figure was not a king in armor this time, but a grave, determined looking man clad in black velvet, with a deep lace collar and a wide black hat and feather. The children at once demanded his name.
"I must look at my program to find out who he is," said their aunt. "Oh, yes; William of Orange. Both he and his little country, Holland, have a wonderful story. Five hundred years ago the lands that are now Belgium and Holland belonged to Spain. As time went on the Spanish king, Philip, oppressed them more and more cruelly, and wouldn't let them have any freedom at all, either in politics or religion. But they were a liberty-loving people, and toward the end of the sixteenth century they rose in rebellion against Spain. This stern-looking Hollander was their greatest leader. He was called William the Silent, because of an event early in his career. One day the French king, who was in league with Spain, and who thought Prince William was in sympathy with their side, betrayed to him all the details of a secret plot. William was filled with horror and very angry, but he kept perfectly still, and didn't even show by the movement of an eyelash that he was anything but friendly and interested. He was called 'silent', you see, not because he didn't talk much, but because he could keep a secret."
"And was that when Holland and Belgium got to be independent countries? And why aren't they all one country, then?"
"Oh, the part that is Holland won its independence then, though poor William was murdered before the fight was finished. It was one of the earliest of European republics. But the part that is Belgium came to terms with Spain after William's death, and wasn't a separate country till long after. You see, the Holland part was made up of people of the Protestant religion, while the Belgian part, like Spain, was Catholic."