"I trust not," one of the burghers said, earnestly, "for Sluys might well be the landing point for an English expedition, and then the first brunt of the war would fall upon us."

"I say not that there is much chance of such a thing," Van Voorden said; "I was but mentioning the complication that might arise if Ghent is able to prolong the struggle."

On the following morning the party started from Sluys. They made a good show, for Van Voorden had the evening before engaged two mounted men, well-armed, to ride with the young knights as men-at-arms. Behind the merchant and his party came the two maids and the four retainers who had accompanied them from England. These carried swords and daggers, but no defensive armour. Behind were the two English men-at-arms and the two freshly taken on, all wearing breast-and back-pieces and steel caps. They tarried but a day or two at Bruges, Van Voorden finding that among the burgesses the trade animosity against Ghent overpowered any feeling of patriotism, and moreover it was felt that the success of that town would give such encouragement to the democracy elsewhere that every city would become the scene of riot and civil strife.