2
OP. CALIF. LIBHAHY, LOS AHGELES
By permission of George II'. Roughton.
ANNKKK.
ANNEKE
A LITTLE DAME OF NEW NETHERLANDS
BY
ELIZABETH W. CHAMPNEY
AUTHOR OF "WITCH WINNIE," " WITCH WINNIE'S MYSTEBY,"
"PATIENCE," ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1900
COPYRIGHT, 1900
BY
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I. A VERY QUEER CHEESE 1
II. A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE 18
III. AT EEMBRANDT'S HOUSE 46
IV. EIVALS IN HONOR 68
V. UNDER FALSE COLORS 84
VI. THE BUBBLE BURSTS 105
VII. WITH THE BUCCANEERS AND THE MAROONERS . . . 117
VIII. ORANGE BOVEN 141
IX. PEARLS AND TEARS 155
X. THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 175
XI. AT RENSSELAERSWYCK 198
XII. THAT PEARL OF PEARLS A NOBLE LIFE 222
XIII. A CAVALIER OF KING CHARLES 246
XIV. FRANCE TAKES A HAND ... .278
111
21S86G5
Introduction.
THE author confesses at the outset that her story
is not true to the biography of the characters whose
names she has borrowed for her heroine and heroes.
A real Anneke lived long ago and was loved by
Kiliaen Yan Rensselaer and by William Nicoll ; but
they were born a few years too late to have had the
experiences related in the early part of this nar-
rative.
The historical events described are in their main
lines true to fact, and it has been the author's aim
to create a faithful presentment of the ambitions,
emotions, vicissitudes, struggles and victories which
might have come into the lives of noble-minded
men and women living at this period ; and in so do-
ing to show what were the influences in Holland
and in England which led to the founding of the
Colony of New Netherland and to its seizure by the
English.
CHAPTER I.
A VERY QUEER CHEESE.
He that can endure
To follow with allegiance a falling lord,
earns a place i' the story.
Shakespeare,
ILLIE NICOLL, Wil-
lie Nicoll, will you
give me your answer ?
Will you stay in your
burrow like a milk-
blooded rabbit, to be
killed by that ferret Cromwell, or
is it off with me to make your
fortune in the Spanish Main ?
Once for all will you answer me,
Willie Nicoll?"
" And once for all my answer
is no, Captain Morgan, no to both questions. I will
not stay at home to be caught by the Puritans, and
I will not accept your offer. England is no place
for a Royalist unless he is in the service of the
King, and since his Majesty has nothing for a boy
of seventeen to do, I'm back to finish my studies at
2 ANNEKE.
Leyden, and to fit myself to serve him to some pur-
pose by and by."
" Nonsense, lad, by the time you have graduated
the king will have no need of you. There will be
great changes in England in the next few years, or
I am no weather prophet and can't tell that there's
a storm coming when I see the clouds gathering.
Nobody knows what will be left standing when the
hurricane has passed. Better put off to sea, says I,
and then, when your cruise is ended, you'll know
what colors to run up as you sail into port."
The youth's cheeks flushed. " I shall display the
King's colors, no matter what happens, and fight
for him the more desperately the more he needs
me," Willie said, stoutly.
"Eight you are, and gallantly said. I only
spoke as I did to try your mettle, man, and what
better university could there be for an English
cavalier than the free wide sea ? What better col-
lege than a ship of war? I'll warrant that you
will be better fitted to serve his Majesty when I
have graduated you, with your sea chest full of
pearls from Margarita, and your share of Spanish
silver in the hold, your arm trained to cutlass fenc-
ing, and a decoration or two carved on your cheek,
than as a pale-faced student, with your pockets
empty of everything but a Dutch diploma. I tell
A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 3
you, too, "Willie Nicoll, that the African wench,
Mookinga, who keeps my cabin at Tortuga, was
with the Spaniards at Margarita. She was held as
a Youdoo witch by the negro pearl-divers. They
stole all the larger pearls and gave them to her to
keep for them. She alone knows where they are
buried. She heard in some way of the free negroes
of Jamaica, and slipped away in a crazy craft with
two other fugitives, to try to find them and rouse
them to make a descent on Margarita. "We came
across the sloop when her provisions were spent,
and Mookinga fell to my share. She was my cook
and housekeeper, while I was buccaneering at
Tortuga. I was kind to her, and one day she gave
me some great pearls which she had secreted in her
hair, and she promised to show me how I could
surprise the Spanish garrison at the fort at the
entrance of the harbor at Margarita, and what sig-
nals to show to make all the negroes of the island
rise and massacre the Spaniards. I am to set the
negroes free and clear out the Spaniards, and the
pearls are to be mine."
" Why did you not sail on this expedition instead
of returning to England ? "
" Because, "Willie, I was only one of a band of
buccaneers, with whom I would have had to divide
my booty if I had taken them into my confidence.
4 ANNEKE.
I came back to England to get the command of a
ship from King Charles, and to gather a company
of gentlemen adventurers of the right stamp with
his Majesty's permission to make war on the
Spaniards."
" Did you get your commission, Captain Morgan ? "
" No, Willie, his Majesty is in too great straits
just at present to involve himself with other powers
by granting his royal signature to any paper which
might plunge him into more hot water. We must
needs take the matter into our own hands, and sail
on the authority of our own broadswords. Harkee,
Willie, if there's no other way, I'll engage under
the Earl of Warwick with other gentlemen of the
right spirit, and when we receive our orders (for no
matter what port), we'll set the helm for the West
Indies. It will be easy enough to purchase a par-
don, from whichever party happens to be in power,
when we return with a lot of Spanish prizes. I'm
over to Holland now under sealed orders from the
King. I am to take command of a sloop that I shall
find at a harbor hereabouts, but what I'm to do I
know no more than you, Willie. It's the last time
that I shall set out under any orders but my own if
I can make up the crew I want."
"And have you told my father of this fine
scheme ? "
A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 5
" No, Willie, your father is a courtier of the old
school. It would be of no use to talk it over with
him ; but I've made you the offer in all good faith,
and I've shown my hand, rather more plainly than
is prudent, because I trust in your honor as a gen-
tleman. Now all I want to know is why will you
not take your schooling with me, since I am not
particular if you do serve the King if you ever see
your chance to do so ? "
" Because," cried the young man, not calculating
the effect of his words in his indignation, " because
I happen to have my chance now. There are more
ways of serving the King than you realize, Captain
Morgan, and since we are having a straight look
into each other's principles, I will say just this : I
am as fond of treasure as you are, and still more so
of adventure in the getting, but I've no fancy to
fight under a pirate's flag, Captain Morgan."
The Captain's face grew black and he lifted his
clenched fist but let it fall with an oath to his side.
"Nay, I love you too much, Willie Nicoll, to
quarrel with you because we have both blabbed
more than is good for us. So, you have found your
chance for serving the King have you ? Well, trust
me for keeping your secret, if you keep mine. This
sea air gives a man a rousing appetite, let us eat and
drink together here on deck, and then we will both
6 ANNEKE.
i
be better natured. Have you nothing in that
lunch-hamper which you have been nursing all the
way from London to share with an old friend,
Willie Nicoll?"
The young man started and changed color, but
unstrapped the hamper with alacrity. It contained
a variety of savory viands, and to these Willie
helped his companion with a liberal hand. It was
amazing to note how much the Captain ate. It was
as though he were provisioning for his contemplated
voyage to the Spanish Main, and as "Willie lifted
out one delicacy after another the captain peered
greedily into the hamper eager to ascertain what
was left. The young man made no attempt to
hinder him, and the gormandizing guest at last felt
both appetite and curiosity fully satisfied. There
was nothing remaining in the hamper but a round
cheese box.
" A little slice of cheese, Willie," coaxed the Cap-
tain, " just a little slice of cheese to top off with,
and then I'll share my 'baccy and brandy with you,
and thank ye kindly, Willie. It's been a luncheon
fit for a king."
" I think I'll not cut the cheese this afternoon,
Captain Morgan. I am saving that to remind me
of home for many a day to come," said Willie, re-
placing the half emptied preserve pots and bottle
A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 7
in the hamper, and fastening down the cover with
decision.
" As you please," replied the other surlily, " but
taking cheese to Holland is a bit like carrying coals
to New Castle, isn't it, Willie? You must have
plenty of it at Leyden."
" Not cheese like this," Willie replied airily, " this
is Stilton, old Stilton, and it will be riper still before
I cut it. Then I'll surprise some of my Dutch
mates."
" Just invite me in, Willie, when you open the
box," said Captain Morgan, " for I'm powerful fond
of cheese, and I've taken it into my head that this
is an uncommon rich one." And the Captain winked
knowingly as he took a gulp from his pocket-flask.
The Captain's insinuation alarmed Willie, and he
had good cause for apprehension, although he was
really a student of Leyden university, having the
year before entered the school of engineering which
Prince Maurice founded. To all appearances he
was only a quiet youth deeply interested in his
studies, but in reality he was much more than this.
King Charles I. had trusty agents all over Europe,
and to Willie Nicoll, through a relative who was
groom of the bedchamber, were entrusted secret
errands of great importance, which could not be
transacted openly by the English ambassador.
8 ANN EKE.
When Governor Winthrop came from the New
England colony to solicit help from King Charles
for the building of a fort at the mouth of the Con-
necticut River a letter was sent through Willie to
Lion Gardiner, an English military engineer, who
had established himself at the town of Woreden in
Holland, and the negotiations were so well con-
ducted by Willie that Gardiner accepted the con-
struction and command of this fort, and removed
under the patronage of Lords Say and Brooke to
New England. The part played by Willie was a
delicate one, for it was important that no hint of
this transaction, which threatened the Dutch Colony
in America should be known in Holland.
Having accomplished this errand to the satisfac-
tion of his principals, others were entrusted to him,
in the conduct of which young Willie Nicoll dis-
played a tact beyond his years. In 1641 the second
year of his residence at Leyden he received a letter
summoning him home on account of the illness of his
mother. Seriously alarmed, for Willie was passion-
ately attached to his mother, he easily obtained
leave of absence on reporting the reason to the uni-
versity authorities, and hurried to London. What
was his relief on reaching home to find his mother
in perfect health, her illness being only a pretext
for his presence, which was required to fully under-
A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 9
stand a mission of more than ordinary importance
and danger. King Charles was entering upon the
last stage of his struggle to maintain his royal
authority, against that of Parliament. Already he
felt that he was playing a losing game, but there
were certain expedients to be tried before the stand-
ard was raised and a last desperate appeal was made
to arms.
First of all money was needed, to pay off the
royal troops, whose allegiance was wavering, and
in a hundred other ways to strengthen the totter-
ing throne. The Parliament would not vote the
funds of which the King was so deeply in need and
money from some quarter must be had.
The Stadtholder of the Netherlands, Prince
Frederick, had proposed in the name of his son,
Prince "William II. of Orange, for the hand of King
Charles' daughter, the Princess Mary. This alliance
at any other time would not have been considered,
for though William the Silent, the young man's
grandfather, was a nobler man than any of the race
of Stuarts, he lacked the prestige of royal birth.
But Prince Frederick, who shrewdly guessed the
King's necessities, had offered financial assistance
and the offer had been made at the most favorable
moment, for Charles was at his wits' end. The
Queen, Henrietta Maria, had decided to sell her
10 ANN EKE.
jewels, but this could not be effected openly as it
was important that Parliament should know noth-
ing of the King's attempts to raise money. The
jewels were too valuable to be presented for sale
in any city of Europe by a private individual with-
out exciting inquiry, and in this exigency Prince
Frederick had been applied to, and had agreed to
privately negotiate a loan upon them.
It was to convey these jewels to the Prince that
a secret and trusty messenger had been required,
and that Willie had been summoned.
It was easy for the Groom-of-the-Bedchamber to
receive the precious casket from the Queen, and to
convey it to the house occupied by Willie's father,
but even in the short walk in the dusk across
Whitehall gardens the circumstance of a Groom-of-
the-Bedchamber hastening along with a large parcel
under his arm was not unnoted by one of the sen-
tinels instructed to keep a sharp eye on the exits
and entrances of the palace. This sentinel followed
at a distance, noted what house the groom en-
tered, that the shutters were immediately closed
and that he came out in a few moments without
the parcel.
Later, when in Willie's presence the casket was
opened, he was dazzled by the magnificence and
oppressed by the responsibility of the trust confided
A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 11
to him. The principal object in the casket was a
small coronet made for the Queen in France and a
part of her bridal trousseau. The casket was of
considerable size and much thought was bestowed
by Willie's father as to how best to conceal it. At
last it was decided to wrap it in tinfoil and hide it
within the excavated rind of a Stilton cheese. The
cheese box was in turn packed at the bottom of a
luncheon hamper under two roasted partridges, a
bottle of port and several pots of jam. This lunch-
eon hamper it will be well understood was the ob-
ject of great solicitude to Willie in his journey.
When the driver of the stagecoach insisted that it
should be placed outside, Willie took his seat on
top with the precious hamper between his legs,
sticking to his post through a driving rain and
never relinquishing his hold of the hamper, until
he boarded the ship that was to take him across the
German ocean. It was on the deck of this ship
that he had met with Captain Morgan, an old
friend of his father's, and that the conversation had
taken place with which this chapter opens.
The Captain grew more and more good-natured
and confidential as the strong waters with which he
had refreshed himself began to take effect.
" Harkee, Willie," he said, " I like you, and I don't
mind giving you a warning. You are watched,
12 ANNEKE.
Willie. There's an officer on board this ship with
a warrant for your arrest in his pocket."
"Arrest," exclaimed the young man, "and on
what charge ? "
"Kobbery, Willie. Some rogues have made a
great haul. One of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting
discovered yesterday that some of her most valuable
jewels are missing. The Queen vowed she had done
nothing with them, but was not inclined to have
any search made. The lady's husband, however,
reported the matter, and the police have it in
hand."
" But what have I to do with all this ? " asked
Willie.
" Simply this, my lad. One of the sentinels on
being questioned reported that he had followed a
man carrying a parcel from the private entrance of
the queen's apartments to your father's house night
before last."
" Richard Nicolls, whose duties as groom of the
bedchamber kept him late at the palace last night
dropped in to see me. He may have been the man
whom the sentinel saw."
" That is what I said, Willie. What more nat-
ural than that your cousin should wish to greet
you. You are clever not to deny that it was he for
the sentinel was sure of his identity ; but the parcel,
A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 13
what explanation have you as to what was in the
parcel ? "
" As to that, I am sure I can't tell."
" Nobody wants you to tell, Willie. I'm just go-
ing to suppose a case, and it's a supposition that may
have occurred to them that's tracing up this theft.
Your cousin's honesty is undoubted, Willie. Every
one knows he's devoted to the King and Queen, but
now supposing that the Queen wanted him to do an
errand for her with these jewels. We won't pre-
tend to guess what the errand was. They were her
own property, it is her own business, and no busi-
ness of Parliament's, is it ? But suppose the husband
of the Queen's lady-in-waiting is a member of Parlia-
ment, and that Parliament has a nasty curiosity
about everything that the King and Queen are do-
ing nowadays, why of course it would be your
cousin's duty to help the Queen circumvent Parlia-
ment, wouldn't it? Then suppose that the Queen
wanted those jewels carried to foreign parts and
you happened home in the nick of time and were
returning to your college duties, what more natural
to suppose than that you might do the Queen a
favor by taking them along with you. Eh !
Willie ! "
The young man shrugged his shoulders. "The
only baggage that I have brought with me," he
14 ANN EKE.
said, nonchalantly, "is a handbag and mandolin,
which I left in the Captain's cabin. They are at
liberty to search them."
" So glad, my lad, that they have your permission,
for they have done it. They were a-going through
'em when I fitted my eye to the keyhole, just be-
fore I came on deck ; and they are going to relieve
you of this here hamper just as soon as you start to
go ashore. So I don't feel any compunctions at
having consumed so much of your food, Willie."
" Are you sure of this ? " the young man asked
quite startled.
" Just you go below and take a look at your traps,
and see whether I'm right," replied the Captain.
" I'll walk along with you, so that they shan't
snatch your hamper from you, and I'll lean against
the cabin door, careless like, while you overhaul
your belongings."
It took but a moment for Willie to ascertain that
the Captain was right. His bag had been thoroughly
ransacked, and the front of his mandolin had been
sliced from the back, to ascertain whether anything
were concealed within. This gave Willie an idea,
and whipping the casket out of its hiding-place, he
placed it within the broken mandolin, tying the in-
strument together with a piece of dark cord, and
slinging it across his breast by its ribbon. Then,
A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 15
feeling that he must not encumber himself with un-
necessary luggage, he left his bag in the cabin, and
came out, carrying conspicuously the hamper with
which he had entered. He handed it to the Cap-
tain, saying meaningly " If you really want to do
me a favor I beg you to carry this hamper on shore
at Delf shaven, and leave it with the landlady of the
Jolly Mermaid, where I will call for it."
"Now, "Willie, aren't you asking a little too
much?" the captain replied in an injured tone.
" That hamper has been a pretty noticeable object
all the way down from London."
" There is nothing in it of any value, I assure
you," said Willie. " You know yourself that you
already carry the greater part of its former con-
tents."
"All but the cheese, "Willie. You haven't left
the cheese in the hamper, have you ? "
" It is there fast enough, but I assure you that it
does not contain what you think it does."
" Of course not. It was only a supposititious
case, Willie. But supposing that the jewels we
were speaking about were concealed in that cheese.
Why then it would be a handy thing to have a
trusty friend like me take 'em in charge for you at
a ticklish time like this. For you know, Willie, that
if you should be arrested, and if so be they were
16 ANNEKE.
found upon you, and you were taken back to Lon-
don why the Queen wouldn't acknowledge she
sent 'em to foreign parts by you Oh ! no, Willie,
the Queen wouldn't help you out, for Parliament
would say that the jewels are the property of Eng-
land most likely, and that the Queen had no right
to send them out of the country. The Queen would
just stick to what she has said already, that she
didn't know what had become of them. She's dis-
owned you, Willie. She's declared they're stolen,
and she can't go back on her word. More luck to
you"
" What do you mean ? " the young man asked, for
there was a subtle insinuation in Morgan's tone.
" She's declared they're stolen, hasn't she ? We'll
make her words true. Skip with them, Willie, and
I'll help you. Will meet on the deck of my sloop
and go shares with the cheese." They were stand-
ing under the shelter of the sail and Captain Mor-
gan, opening the hamper took out the cheese box,
and tied his great silk handerchief about it.
" There goes the hamper overboard," he said, " I
may have to cut for it when we land, and I may as
well carr}' no unnecessary ballast. Why, here we
are now ! Well, this has been a short voyage and a
pleasant one. I'll let you know where to find me,
Willie. We'd better separate as we go ashore."
A VERY QUEER CHEESE. 17
"Willie thought so too, for he had been aware
that a stranger in a Puritan hat and cloak, who was
seated on the capstan with his back to them, al-
though apparently absorbed in reading, had observed
the transfer of the cheese box from a small mirror
which lay between the leaves of his book. This in-
dividual was presently joined by another of the
same complexion, and the two stood on either side
of the gangway as the passengers disembarked.
As Willie stepped on the plank, Captain Morgan
pushed by him and leaping on shore, started off at a
run. At the same moment a chill shot down Willie's
spinal column, as he felt the hand of one of the
officers on his shoulder. But the other cried ex-
citedly, " Not this fellow, the other. Catch the man
with the cheese ! " So saying he was off after Morgan
as fast as his legs could carry him. The man who
held Willie whirled him around, and seeing that he
carried nothing but his mandolin which had been
but lately investigated, pushed him aside and ran
after his companion.
Willie lost no time in watching the chase, but
hurrying to a posting-house with which he was
familiar secured a horse to take him to Leyden, as
it was necessary for him to keep up his character of
a student of the university.
CHAPTER II.
A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.
Ever and anon,
Came patient camels laden heavily
With sacks they poured down, kneeling at his feet,
With garnets, or red rubies, from the hills,
Filled to the brim. Then Azron would out-pour
The glittering heap, sifting them carelessly,
Choosing now here, now there, from all the heaps,
Maybe a dozen exquisite bright gems.
Or again, some day
A lonely diver with a single pearl
Brought it to Azron. Azron paid and smiled
Undaunted by the cost of pricelessness.
Alice Wellington Rollins.
HERE was no doubt
in Willie's mind that
if the jewels had real-
ly been committed
to Captain Morgan's
keeping, neither the
Queen nor he would ever have
seen them again. By his own
showing Morgan was a pre-
cious rascal, and Willie chuck-
led to himself at the trick he
had played upon him, as he
rode with his precious mandolin swinging at his side.
18
A PEARL OF GEE AT PRICE. 19
He had bought a pot of glue at Delf shaven and had
paused in the first copse to mend the mandolin, per-
forming the task so neatly that when it was dry no
one would have imagined, save for its weight that
it was the depository of the Queen's casket, while it
was a far less suspicious object to carry about with
him than a Stilton cheese.
The usual residence at the Hague of the Stadt-
holders was the Binnenhof, but Willie knew that
Prince Frederick was not at the palace, for he had
been instructed to meet him in Amsterdam, and he