第 14 页

It cost him two more months to catch a male bird; he thenshut them up together, and having about the beginning of theyear 1673 obtained some eggs from them, he released thefemale, which, leaving the male behind to hatch the eggs inher stead, flew joyously to Dort, with the note under herwing.

She returned in the evening. She had preserved the note.

Thus it went on for fifteen days, at first to thedisappointment, and then to the great grief, of Van Baerle.

On the sixteenth day, at last, she came back without it.

Van Baerle had addressed it to his nurse, the old Frisianwoman; and implored any charitable soul who might find it toconvey it to her as safely and as speedily as possible.

In this letter there was a little note enclosed for Rosa.

Van Baerle's nurse had received the letter in the followingway.

Leaving Dort, Mynheer Isaac Boxtel had abandoned, not onlyhis house, his servants, his observatory, and his telescope,but also his pigeons.

The servant, having been left without wages, first lived onhis little savings, and then on his master's pigeons.

Seeing this, the pigeons emigrated from the roof of IsaacBoxtel to that of Cornelius van Baerle.

The nurse was a kind-hearted woman, who could not livewithout something to love. She conceived an affection forthe pigeons which had thrown themselves on her hospitality;and when Boxtel's servant reclaimed them with culinaryintentions, having eaten the first fifteen already, and nowwishing to eat the other fifteen, she offered to buy themfrom him for a consideration of six stivers per head.

This being just double their value, the man was very glad toclose the bargain, and the nurse found herself in undisputedpossession of the pigeons of her master's envious neighbour.

In the course of their wanderings, these pigeons with othersvisited the Hague, Loewestein, and Rotterdam, seekingvariety, doubtless, in the flavour of their wheat orhempseed.

Chance, or rather God, for we can see the hand of God ineverything, had willed that Cornelius van Baerle shouldhappen to hit upon one of these very pigeons.

Therefore, if the envious wretch had not left Dort to followhis rival to the Hague in the first place, and then toGorcum or to Loewestein, -- for the two places are separatedonly by the confluence of the Waal and the Meuse, -- VanBaerle's letter would have fallen into his hands and not thenurse's: in which event the poor prisoner, like the raven ofthe Roman cobbler, would have thrown away his time, histrouble, and, instead of having to relate the series ofexciting events which are about to flow from beneath our penlike the varied hues of a many coloured tapestry, we shouldhave naught to describe but a weary waste of days, dull andmelancholy and gloomy as night's dark mantle.

The note, as we have said, had reached Van Baerle's nurse.

And also it came to pass, that one evening in the beginningof February, just when the stars were beginning to twinkle,Cornelius heard on the staircase of the little turret avoice which thrilled through him.

He put his hand on his heart, and listened.

It was the sweet harmonious voice of Rosa.

Let us confess it, Cornelius was not so stupefied withsurprise, or so beyond himself with joy, as he would havebeen but for the pigeon, which, in answer to his letter, hadbrought back hope to him under her empty wing; and, knowingRosa, he expected, if the note had ever reached her, to hearof her whom he loved, and also of his three darling bulbs.

He rose, listened once more, and bent forward towards thedoor.

Yes, they were indeed the accents which had fallen sosweetly on his heart at the Hague.

The question now was, whether Rosa, who had made the journeyfrom the Hague to Loewestein, and who -- Cornelius did notunderstand how -- had succeeded even in penetrating into theprison, would also be fortunate enough in penetrating to theprisoner himself.

Whilst Cornelius, debating this point within himself, wasbuilding all sorts of castles in the air, and was strugglingbetween hope and fear, the shutter of the grating in thedoor opened, and Rosa, beaming with joy, and beautiful inher pretty national costume -- but still more beautiful fromthe grief which for the last five months had blanched hercheeks -- pressed her little face against the wire gratingof the window, saying to him, --

"Oh, sir, sir! here I am!"

Cornelius stretched out his arms, and, looking to heaven,uttered a cry of joy, --

"Oh, Rosa, Rosa!"

"Hush! let us speak low: my father follows on my heels,"said the girl.

"Your father?"

"Yes, he is in the courtyard at the bottom of the staircase,receiving the instructions of the Governor; he willpresently come up."

"The instructions of the Governor?"

"Listen to me, I'll try to tell you all in a few words. TheStadtholder has a country-house, one league distant fromLeyden, properly speaking a kind of large dairy, and myaunt, who was his nurse, has the management of it. As soonas I received your letter, which, alas! I could not readmyself, but which your housekeeper read to me, I hastened tomy aunt; there I remained until the Prince should come tothe dairy; and when he came, I asked him as a favour toallow my father to exchange his post at the prison of theHague with the jailer of the fortress of Loewestein. ThePrince could not have suspected my object; had he known it,he would have refused my request, but as it is he grantedit."

"And so you are here?"

"As you see."

"And thus I shall see you every day?"

"As often as I can manage it."

"Oh, Rosa, my beautiful Rosa, do you love me a little?"

"A little?" she said, "you make no great pretensions,Mynheer Cornelius."

Cornelius tenderly stretched out his hands towards her, butthey were only able to touch each other with the tips oftheir fingers through the wire grating.

"Here is my father," said she.

Rosa then abruptly drew back from the door, and ran to meetold Gryphus, who made his appearance at the top of thestaircase.

Chapter 15

The Little Grated Window

Gryphus was followed by the mastiff.

The turnkey took the animal round the jail, so that, ifneeds be, he might recognize the prisoners.

"Father," said Rosa, "here is the famous prison from whichMynheer Grotius escaped. You know Mynheer Grotius?"

"Oh, yes, that rogue Grotius, a friend of that villainBarneveldt, whom I saw executed when I was a child. Ah! soGrotius; and that's the chamber from which he escaped. Well,I'll answer for it that no one shall escape after him in mytime."

And thus opening the door, he began in the dark to talk tothe prisoner.

The dog, on his part, went up to the prisoner, and,growling, smelled about his legs just as though to ask himwhat right he had still to be alive, after having left theprison in the company of the Recorder and the executioner.

But the fair Rosa called him to her side.

"Well, my master," said Gryphus, holding up his lantern tothrow a little light around, "you see in me your new jailer.I am head turnkey, and have all the cells under my care. Iam not vicious, but I'm not to be trifled with, as far asdiscipline goes."

"My good Master Gryphus, I know you perfectly well," saidthe prisoner, approaching within the circle of light castaround by the lantern.

"Halloa! that's you, Mynheer van Baerle," said Gryphus."That's you; well, I declare, it's astonishing how people domeet."

"Oh, yes; and it's really a great pleasure to me, goodMaster Gryphus, to see that your arm is doing well, as youare able to hold your lantern with it."

Gryphus knitted his brow. "Now, that's just it," he said,"people always make blunders in politics. His Highness hasgranted you your life; I'm sure I should never have doneso."

"Don't say so," replied Cornelius; "why not?"

"Because you are the very man to conspire again. You learnedpeople have dealings with the devil."

"Nonsense, Master Gryphus. Are you dissatisfied with themanner in which I have set your arm, or with the price thatI asked you?" said Cornelius, laughing.

"On the contrary," growled the jailer, "you have set it onlytoo well. There is some witchcraft in this. After six weeks,I was able to use it as if nothing had happened, so much so,that the doctor of the Buytenhof, who knows his trade well,wanted to break it again, to set it in the regular way, andpromised me that I should have my blessed three months formy money before I should be able to move it."

"And you did not want that?"

"I said, 'Nay, as long as I can make the sign of the crosswith that arm' (Gryphus was a Roman Catholic), 'I laugh atthe devil.'"

"But if you laugh at the devil, Master Gryphus, you oughtwith so much more reason to laugh at learned people."

"Ah, learned people, learned people! Why, I would ratherhave to guard ten soldiers than one scholar. The soldierssmoke, guzzle, and get drunk; they are gentle as lambs ifyou only give them brandy or Moselle, but scholars, anddrink, smoke, and fuddle -- ah, yes, that's altogetherdifferent. They keep sober, spend nothing, and have theirheads always clear to make conspiracies. But I tell you, atthe very outset, it won't be such an easy matter for you toconspire. First of all, you will have no books, no paper,and no conjuring book. It's books that helped MynheerGrotius to get off."

"I assure you, Master Gryphus," replied Van Baerle, "that ifI have entertained the idea of escaping, I most decidedlyhave it no longer."

"Well, well," said Gryphus, "just look sharp: that's what Ishall do also. But, for all that, I say his Highness hasmade a great mistake."

"Not to have cut off my head? thank you, Master Gryphus."

"Just so, look whether the Mynheer de Witt don't keep veryquiet now."

"That's very shocking what you say now, Master Gryphus,"cried Van Baerle, turning away his head to conceal hisdisgust. "You forget that one of those unfortunate gentlemenwas my friend, and the other my second father."

"Yes, but I also remember that the one, as well as theother, was a conspirator. And, moreover, I am speaking fromChristian charity."

"Oh, indeed! explain that a little to me, my good MasterGryphus. I do not quite understand it."

"Well, then, if you had remained on the block of MasterHarbruck ---- "

"What?"

"You would not suffer any longer; whereas, I will notdisguise it from you, I shall lead you a sad life of it."

"Thank you for the promise, Master Gryphus."

And whilst the prisoner smiled ironically at the old jailer,Rosa, from the outside, answered by a bright smile, whichcarried sweet consolation to the heart of Van Baerle.

Gryphus stepped towards the window.

It was still light enough to see, although indistinctly,through the gray haze of the evening, the vast expanse ofthe horizon.

"What view has one from here?" asked Gryphus.

"Why, a very fine and pleasant one," said Cornelius, lookingat Rosa.

"Yes, yes, too much of a view, too much."

And at this moment the two pigeons, scared by the sight andespecially by the voice of the stranger, left their nest,and disappeared, quite frightened in the evening mist.

"Halloa! what's this?" cried Gryphus.

"My pigeons," answered Cornelius.

"Your pigeons," cried the jailer, "your pigeons! has aprisoner anything of his own?"

"Why, then," said Cornelius, "the pigeons which a mercifulFather in Heaven has lent to me."

"So, here we have a breach of the rules already," repliedGryphus. "Pigeons! ah, young man, young man! I'll tell youone thing, that before to-morrow is over, your pigeons willboil in my pot."

"First of all you should catch them, Master Gryphus. Youwon't allow these pigeons to be mine! Well, I vow they areeven less yours than mine."

"Omittance is no acquittance," growled the jailer, "and Ishall certainly wring their necks before twenty-four hoursare over: you may be sure of that."

Whilst giving utterance to this ill-natured promise, Gryphusput his head out of the window to examine the nest. Thisgave Van Baerle time to run to the door, and squeeze thehand of Rosa, who whispered to him, --

"At nine o'clock this evening."

Gryphus, quite taken up with the desire of catching thepigeons next day, as he had promised he would do, saw andheard nothing of this short interlude; and, after havingclosed the window, he took the arm of his daughter, left thecell, turned the key twice, drew the bolts, and went off tomake the same kind promise to the other prisoners.

He had scarcely withdrawn, when Cornelius went to the doorto listen to the sound of his footsteps, and, as soon asthey had died away, he ran to the window, and completelydemolished the nest of the pigeons.

Rather than expose them to the tender mercies of hisbullying jailer, he drove away for ever those gentlemessengers to whom he owed the happiness of having seen Rosaagain.

This visit of the jailer, his brutal threats, and the gloomyprospect of the harshness with which, as he had beforeexperienced, Gryphus watched his prisoners, -- all this wasunable to extinguish in Cornelius the sweet thoughts, andespecially the sweet hope, which the presence of Rosa hadreawakened in his heart.

He waited eagerly to hear the clock of the tower ofLoewestein strike nine.

The last chime was still vibrating through the air, whenCornelius heard on the staircase the light step and therustle of the flowing dress of the fair Frisian maid, andsoon after a light appeared at the little grated window inthe door, on which the prisoner fixed his earnest gaze.

The shutter opened on the outside.

"Here I am," said Rosa, out of breath from running up thestairs, "here I am."

"Oh, my good Rosa."

"You are then glad to see me?"

"Can you ask? But how did you contrive to get here? tellme."

"Now listen to me. My father falls asleep every eveningalmost immediately after his supper; I then make him liedown, a little stupefied with his gin. Don't say anythingabout it, because, thanks to this nap, I shall be able tocome every evening and chat for an hour with you."