Desperate efforts were made by the garrison to haul down the flag, but they all failed, and the Governor capitulated.  The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt was for claiming the fortress, but this Rooke would not have, and he promptly declared the Rock to be the possession of his august mistress, Queen Anne.  Those of the defenders who were prepared to take the oath of allegiance to Charles III were permitted to remain, the rest for the most part retired to St. Roque.

The handful of harum-scarum fellows who had scaled the heights and planted the flag before long found themselves facing the great Admiral Sir George Rooke himself, on his quarter-deck, Lieutenant Fieldsend and George Fairburn being of the party.  The admiral said a few words of commendation; few as they were, they were a full reward for all the efforts the little band had made.  Rooke kept the lieutenant behind for a moment.

“What do you propose to do now, Mr. Lieutenant?” he inquired, with much kindly condescension; “our work is about finished, and we are proceeding home.”

“By you leave, Sir George,” the young man replied, with flushed face, “I should like to join his Grace the Duke in the Netherlands, and so would the lad Fairburn.”

“Good,” said the Admiral, approvingly, “we will see what can be done when we reach Portsmouth.  I have heard something of the boy’s doings.  He will go far, if he is fortunate.”

Accordingly, when, after a great fight with the French fleet under the formidable Count of Toulouse, off Malaga, a doubtful affair, the English ships reached home, the lieutenant and George at once offered for service under the Duke, and were accepted.  They sailed away again, for the Netherlands, Fieldsend carrying in his pocket a few words of recommendation from Sir George to the commander-in-chief himself.

The year 1703 had been a sorry year for Marlborough.  In the winter he had lost his son, the Marquis of Blandford, a promising youth, a Cambridge student.  When the spring operations began, he had found himself hampered at every turn by the jealousies and oppositions of the Dutch rulers and their commanders.  In despair, Marlborough had marched up the Rhine and taken Bonn.  Meanwhile the French were striving to reach Vienna, there to attack the Emperor.  Returning, the Duke was all eager to attack the great port and stronghold of Antwerp, the capture of which would be a heavy blow to Louis.  He had, however, to content himself with seizing Huy, Limburg, and Guilders, a success more than counterbalanced by the defeat of the Emperor at Hochstaedt, by the French and Bavarians.  Disheartened and disgusted, Marlborough went home at the end of the summer, and it was only by the strong persuasion of Lord Godolphin, now at the helm of state, that he retained his command at all.  As a set-off against all these disappointments, there were two matters for rejoicing.  The alliance with Portugal has already been mentioned; now there came the accession to the Allies of Savoy, for the Duke of Savoy had quarrelled with Louis.