Die schwarze Galeere. English Page 5

was afraid to lie down. She wasunable to sleep for grief and anxiety, so why should she have gone to bed?It gradually became quite cold in her little room, but she scarcely seemedto feel the cold and did not put more coal on the tiny fire that wasburning in the grate. She put away her hand loom and covered her facewith her hands, leaning her head on her breast. She sat like this forquite some time till eventually she got up shivering to seek the shelterof her bed.

  She was bending down once more to check if the bolts on her door had beencorrectly adjusted when she heard something and held her breath.

  "Myga?" Someone was whispering through the door from outside.

  Myga's whole body trembled.

  "Oh my God!"

  "Myga?" The whispering came again through the keyhole.

  With a sudden cry the young woman drew aside the bolts and turned the keyin the lock. The door flew open and the very next moment a young man inthe officer's uniform of a regiment of mercenaries with Spanish markingson the shoulder was holding Myga in his arms.

  "Myga, oh Myga!"

  "Oh Jan, Jan, dearest Jan!"

  Tender kisses for the next few minutes took the place of words for bothof them. Then Jan Norris sank, completely exhausted apparently, onto thenearest chair and Myga now noticed for the first time the disarray of hersweetheart's apparel, noticed that he had lost his hat, that one of hischeeks was bleeding from a slight graze.

  "My God, what's happened, Jan? I'm trembling! Oh, you've been recklessagain--oh Jan, Jan, bad Jan!"

  "This time I came within a hair's breadth of being caught, Myga! Butdon't worry, sweetheart, they only nearly got me--I'd have been swingingfrom the hangman's noose by now if things hadn't passed off so well!"

  "Oh Jan, and you actually say that you love me! Do you really want tosave me from this town? Merciful God, you'll perish and so will I, andmy father's dead too. Good God! What's to become of me? Who'll protectme? Who'll help me?"

  "You're right, you're right, poor dear. And your father has died and nowI'm there to comfort you in your distress. But I had to cruise off thecoast of Dunkirk to send those pirates to the bottom--oh, it's hard, Myga,and yet I could do no other and I can do no other tonight either. Each ofus has to be prepared to give his life to uphold the sacred honour of thefatherland. Ah, Myga, Myga, love me just a little even though I am a badprovider. Your poor father, Michael..."

  "Leave my poor dead father out of this, Jan! He's alright where he is.He's at rest now and need no longer fear anyone. The dead are to be enviedin these bloody, fearsome times!"

  "Myga, don't talk that way. Your father's death was a great loss, but nowyou're my problem. Now you can go with me to Amsterdam, now nothing holdsyou back in this sad town of Antwerp. Myga, follow your heart, for happydays are just around the corner for us, my betrothed. Soon I'll be comingto fetch you--watch out--with an elegant wedding procession fit for aqueen. Perhaps they'll ring the bells and beat the drums, perhaps they'llmark the blissful hour with cannon-fire in which I take you away fromAntwerp. You will see if it's not true, what I am telling you now in thestrictest confidence."

  "What fantasies, Jan Norris! Tell me how all this is going to come about.No, don't tell me, as it's all sheer tomfoolery. Tell me about this dangeryou have just escaped from by the skin of your teeth. I won't be able toget it out of my head tonight and that's your fault, reckless madcap Jan."

  "Not as reckless as you think, dearest!" said the young man with a smile."Otherwise the captain of the black galley would not be using Jan Norris'shead, heart, arms and legs as he is doing. There's something big afoot inthe town. We are about to perform a deed that the children of Antwerp willstill be singing about in a hundred years' time. I'm here to gather secretinformation, hence the disguise: the wide breeches of a German mercenaryrather than the trousers of a Zeeland boatman. Listen, Myga. I carriedout my orders on the quayside and learned that four of Spinola's galleyshave set out this morning to hunt down the black galley. Apart from that,I also found out that your father Michael has died and had a close look atthe last of the Genoese ships still at anchor here, the Andrea Doria, dueto the way in which it's been built and, in the meantime, it got dark.During the day I often stole glances up at your window, dearest, but didnot find the time to slip in to see you as all sorts of people were hardon my heels. So I thought I would wait till it went properly dark (Istill have the key to the house) and then turned nimbly into the alleysuntil the idea came to me, in front of a brightly-lit tavern door, thatI could spend the night in a tavern and take an opportunity to keep aneye on the doings of both locals and visitors (because of my orders, youknow!) Well, I went into this tavern, ordered a bottle of wine and satdown at a table, spreading my elbows as if the whole world belonged to meand only seeming to feel no compunction or anxiety over poor Myga, whosefather had died without me being there to comfort her. All around me wasa din such as there must have been at the building of the Tower of Babel.Germans, Burgundians, Spaniards, Italians and Dutchmen chattered, sworeand shouted, each in their own tongue, and all of them were drinking likefish. Every table and corner were taken up and there remained only twoempty places, next to me as it happened. Then two ill-mannered ruffiansturned up--I recognized both of them: one was the captain of the AndreaDoria, the other his lieutenant. They climbed over tables and benchesand sat down next to me. I gladly made room for them for their presencewas worth silver and gold to me and every word they uttered I assayed.I pretended, however, never to have laid eyes on them and drowsily laidmy head on both arms as if to shut out the world, but I had my earspricked up for listening. The two foreigners called out for wine and theyounger of the two, the lieutenant, put his arm round the serving wench'swaist. The other, however, looked mournful at this, as though it hadactually made him feel worse. I could have laughed at him, but, by thebrotherhood of the sea beggars, it was no laughing matter! Then theirbanter started and, to begin with, all the talk was of our intrepid deed,of the dance we had led them the previous night, of the journey to kingdomcome of the Immaculate Conception. I rejoiced much to hear this, but Isuddenly froze for they mentioned a familiar name. They started to talkabout you, Myga!"

  "About me?" cried the young woman. "God in heaven, the Italian captainspoke about me! Jan! Jan! Protect me from him! He frightens me!"

  "So the dog has set his snares to catch you!" shouted Jan in a hollowvoice and Myga hid her face upon her breast and nodded trembling.

  The young sea beggar gnashed his teeth and laughed grimly.

  "Revenge is a dish best served cold as that foreign rogue will shortlylearn. Be of good cheer, Myga. Am I not at your side and are therenot many of my boon companions to fall back on if need be? Poor dear,how you're trembling!"

  "Merciful heaven, Jan, I can't help myself. Do not these violent andarrogant foreigners rule over us? Who can stop them from having theirevil way with us? Take me with you, Jan, out into the night, here andnow!"

  Jan Norris held the livid and trembling girl in his arms and triedeverything he knew to reassure her. Once he had been moderatelysuccessful in this, he went on to relate his adventure in the GoldenLion.

  "My hair stood up on my head and all the blood rushed to my brain.But I had to control myself so that I wouldn't give myself away, andthat was hard work, but Jan Norris managed it and acted as if he didn'tunderstand a word of Italian. By Count Lumey, they were discussingwith each other a piece of knavery blacker than night, but I succeededin understanding everything they were saying. In the early hours ofmorning, the day after tomorrow, the Andrea Doria sets sail--her ordersto do so come straight from the admiral himself--and, because theopportunity is such a favourable one, their clever plan will come intooperation the night before. The untamed dove, Myga van Bergen, will becaptured by Antonio Valani with the help of Satan and lieutenant Leonedella Rota. This house will be pounced on, but so discreetly that noneighbour will be disturbed thereby, that no cock in the whole ofAntwerp will crow to reveal the dark deed. O
n to the galleon withMyga! What larks! Hoist up the anchor, boys, and off we go to huntdown the rebellious heretics, out into the open sea, for who can hearat sea the cries for help and the weeping of little Myga? Hell'steeth, and Jan Norris sits there in the Golden Lion unable to budge,holding in his hand his knife, unable to strike down these twowhispering rogues!"

  "Oh Jan, Jan, for the sake of our two mothers and our love, rescueme! Don't let me fall into their hands! Death would be a lessterrible fate than that!"

  "Calm down, Myga, calm down! There's plenty of time from now tillmidnight. Sitting round the fire in Amsterdam we'll remember