They had a very handsome uniform, and there had been no uncertainty or
dispute about it. Blue, with orange trimmings, carried the question
without one dissenting voice. Blue had been for centuries the colour of
opposition to tyranny. The Scotch Covenanters chose it because the Lord
ordered the children of Israel to wear a ribbon of blue that they might
"look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do
them; and seek not after their own heart and their own eyes, and be holy
unto their God." (Num. xv. 38.) Into their cities of refuge in Holland,
the Covenanters carried their sacred colour; and the Dutch Calvinists
soon blended the blue of their faith with the orange of their
patriotism. Very early in the American struggle, blue became the typical
colour of freedom; and when Van Heemskirk's men chose the blue and
orange for their uniform, they selected the colours which had already
been famous on many a battle-field of freedom.
Katherine and Lysbet had made the flag of the new regiment--an orange
flag, with a cluster of twelve blue stars above the word liberty. It
was Lysbet's hands that gave it to them. They stood in a body around the
open door of the Van Heemskirk house; and the pretty old lady kissed it,
and handed it with wet eyes to the colour-sergeant. Katherine stood by
Lysbet's side. They were both dressed as for a festival, and their faces
were full of tender love and lofty enthusiasm. To Joris and his men they
represented the womanhood dear to each individual heart. Lysbet's white
hair and white cap and pale-tinted face was "the mother's face;" and
Katherine, in her brilliant beauty, her smiles and tears, her shining
silks and glancing jewels, was the lovely substitute for many a precious
sister and many a darling lady-love. But few words were said. Lysbet and
Katherine could but stand and gaze as heads were bared, and the orange
folds flung to the wind, and the inspiring word liberty saluted with
bright, upturned faces and a ringing shout of welcome.
Such a lovely day it was--a perfect June day; doors and windows were
wide open; a fresh wind blowing, a hundred blended scents from the
garden were in the air; and there was a sunshine that warmed everything
to the core. If there were tears in the hearts of the women, they put
them back with smiles and hopeful words, and praises of the gallant men
who were to fight a noble fight under the banner their fingers had
fashioned.
It was to be the last evening at home for Joris and Bram and Hyde, and
Everything was done to make it a happy memory. The table was laid with the
best silver and china; all the dainties that the three men liked best were
prepared for them. The room was gay with flowers and blue and orange
ribbons, and bows of the same colours fluttered at Lysbet's breast and
on Katherine's shoulder. And as they went up and down the house, they
were both singing,--singing to keep love from weeping, and hope and
courage from failing; Lysbet's thin, sweet voice seeming like the shadow
of Katherine's clear, ringing tones,-"Oh, for the blue and the orange,
Oh, for the orange and the blue!
Orange for men that are free men,
Blue for men that are true.
Over the red of the tyrant,
Bloody and cruel in hue,
Fling out the banner of orange,
With pennant and border of blue.
Orange for men that are free men,
Blue for men that are true."