Through a dozen thunderously flaming gaps that no water might quench, the waves came roaring in upon the land....

Section 8

‘We had cursed our luck,’ says Barnet, ’that we could not get to our quarters at Alkmaar that night.  There, we were told, were provisions, tobacco, and everything for which we craved.  But the main canal from Zaandam and Amsterdam was hopelessly jammed with craft, and we were glad of a chance opening that enabled us to get out of the main column and lie up in a kind of little harbour very much neglected and weedgrown before a deserted house.  We broke into this and found some herrings in a barrel, a heap of cheeses, and stone bottles of gin in the cellar; and with this I cheered my starving men.  We made fires and toasted the cheese and grilled our herrings.  None of us had slept for nearly forty hours, and I determined to stay in this refuge until dawn and then if the traffic was still choked leave the barge and march the rest of the way into Alkmaar.

’This place we had got into was perhaps a hundred yards from the canal and underneath a little brick bridge we could see the flotilla still, and hear the voices of the soldiers.  Presently five or six other barges came through and lay up in the meer near by us, and with two of these, full of men of the Antrim regiment, I shared my find of provisions.  In return we got tobacco.  A large expanse of water spread to the westward of us and beyond were a cluster of roofs and one or two church towers.  The barge was rather cramped for so many men, and I let several squads, thirty or forty perhaps altogether, bivouac on the bank.  I did not let them go into the house on account of the furniture, and I left a note of indebtedness for the food we had taken.  We were particularly glad of our tobacco and fires, because of the numerous mosquitoes that rose about us.

’The gate of the house from which we had provisioned ourselves was adorned with the legend, Vreugde bij Vrede, “Joy with Peace,” and it bore every mark of the busy retirement of a comfort-loving proprietor.  I went along his garden, which was gay and delightful with big bushes of rose and sweet brier, to a quaint little summer-house, and there I sat and watched the men in groups cooking and squatting along the bank.  The sun was setting in a nearly cloudless sky.

’For the last two weeks I had been a wholly occupied man, intent only upon obeying the orders that came down to me.  All through this time I had been working to the very limit of my mental and physical faculties, and my only moments of rest had been devoted to snatches of sleep.  Now came this rare, unexpected interlude, and I could look detachedly upon what I was doing and feel something of its infinite wonderfulness.  I was irradiated with affection for the men of my company and with admiration at their cheerful acquiescence in the subordination and needs of our positions.  I watched their proceedings and heard their pleasant voices.  How willing