第 22 页

Thus envy urged Boxtel on with rapid steps in the career ofcrime.

Boxtel, as we have said, was alone with the tulip.

A common thief would have taken the pot under his arm, andcarried it off.

But Boxtel was not a common thief, and he reflected.

It was not yet certain, although very probable, that thetulip would flower black; if, therefore, he stole it now, henot only might be committing a useless crime, but also thetheft might be discovered in the time which must elapseuntil the flower should open.

He therefore -- as being in possession of the key, he mightenter Rosa's chamber whenever he liked -- thought it betterto wait and to take it either an hour before or afteropening, and to start on the instant to Haarlem, where thetulip would be before the judges of the committee before anyone else could put in a reclamation.

Should any one then reclaim it, Boxtel would in his turncharge him or her with theft.

This was a deep-laid scheme, and quite worthy of its author.

Thus, every evening during that delightful hour which thetwo lovers passed together at the grated window, Boxtelentered Rosa's chamber to watch the progress which the blacktulip had made towards flowering.

On the evening at which we have arrived he was going toenter according to custom; but the two lovers, as we haveseen, only exchanged a few words before Cornelius sent Rosaback to watch over the tulip.

Seeing Rosa enter her room ten minutes after she had leftit, Boxtel guessed that the tulip had opened, or was aboutto open.

During that night, therefore, the great blow was to bestruck. Boxtel presented himself before Gryphus with adouble supply of Genievre, that is to say, with a bottle ineach pocket.

Gryphus being once fuddled, Boxtel was very nearly master ofthe house.

At eleven o'clock Gryphus was dead drunk. At two in themorning Boxtel saw Rosa leaving the chamber; but evidentlyshe held in her arms something which she carried with greatcare.

He did not doubt that this was the black tulip which was inflower.

But what was she going to do with it? Would she set out thatinstant to Haarlem with it?

It was not possible that a young girl should undertake sucha journey alone during the night.

Was she only going to show the tulip to Cornelius? This wasmore likely.

He followed Rosa in his stocking feet, walking on tiptoe.

He saw her approach the grated window. He heard her callingCornelius. By the light of the dark lantern he saw the tulipopen, and black as the night in which he was hidden.

He heard the plan concerted between Cornelius and Rosa tosend a messenger to Haarlem. He saw the lips of the loversmeet, and then heard Cornelius send Rosa away.

He saw Rosa extinguish the light and return to her chamber.Ten minutes after, he saw her leave the room again, and lockit twice.

Boxtel, who saw all this whilst hiding himself on thelanding-place of the staircase above, descended step by stepfrom his story as Rosa descended from hers; so that, whenshe touched with her light foot the lowest step of thestaircase, Boxtel touched with a still lighter hand the lockof Rosa's chamber.

And in that hand, it must be understood, he held the falsekey which opened Rosa's door as easily as did the real one.

And this is why, in the beginning of the chapter, we saidthat the poor young people were in great need of theprotection of God.

Chapter 24

The Black Tulip changes Masters

Cornelius remained standing on the spot where Rosa had left him.He was quite overpowered with the weight of his twofold happiness.

Half an hour passed away. Already did the first rays of thesun enter through the iron grating of the prison, whenCornelius was suddenly startled at the noise of steps whichcame up the staircase, and of cries which approached nearerand nearer.

Almost at the same instant he saw before him the pale anddistracted face of Rosa.

He started, and turned pale with fright.

"Cornelius, Cornelius!" she screamed, gasping for breath.

"Good Heaven! what is it?" asked the prisoner.

"Cornelius! the tulip ---- "

"Well?"

"How shall I tell you?"

"Speak, speak, Rosa!"

"Some one has taken -- stolen it from us."

"Stolen -- taken?" said Cornelius.

"Yes," said Rosa, leaning against the door to supportherself; "yes, taken, stolen!"

And saying this, she felt her limbs failing her, and shefell on her knees.

"But how? Tell me, explain to me."

"Oh, it is not my fault, my friend."

Poor Rosa! she no longer dared to call him "My beloved one."

"You have then left it alone," said Cornelius, ruefully.

"One minute only, to instruct our messenger, who livesscarcely fifty yards off, on the banks of the Waal."

"And during that time, notwithstanding all my injunctions,you left the key behind, unfortunate child!"

"No, no, no! this is what I cannot understand. The key wasnever out of my hands; I clinched it as if I were afraid itwould take wings."

"But how did it happen, then?"

"That's what I cannot make out. I had given the letter to mymessenger; he started before I left his house; I came home,and my door was locked, everything in my room was as I hadleft it, except the tulip, -- that was gone. Some one musthave had a key for my room, or have got a false one made onpurpose."

She was nearly choking with sobs, and was unable tocontinue.

Cornelius, immovable and full of consternation, heard almostwithout understanding, and only muttered, --

"Stolen, stolen, and I am lost!"

"O Cornelius, forgive me, forgive me, it will kill me!"

Seeing Rosa's distress, Cornelius seized the iron bars ofthe grating, and furiously shaking them, called out, --

"Rosa, Rosa, we have been robbed, it is true, but shall weallow ourselves to be dejected for all that? No, no; themisfortune is great, but it may perhaps be remedied. Rosa,we know the thief!"

"Alas! what can I say about it?"

"But I say that it is no one else but that infamous Jacob.Shall we allow him to carry to Haarlem the fruit of ourlabour, the fruit of our sleepless nights, the child of ourlove? Rosa, we must pursue, we must overtake him!"

"But how can we do all this, my friend, without letting myfather know we were in communication with each other? Howshould I, a poor girl, with so little knowledge of the worldand its ways, be able to attain this end, which perhaps youcould not attain yourself?"

"Rosa, Rosa, open this door to me, and you will see whetherI will not find the thief, -- whether I will not make himconfess his crime and beg for mercy."

"Alas!" cried Rosa, sobbing, "can I open the door for you?have I the keys? If I had had them, would not you have beenfree long ago?"

"Your father has them, -- your wicked father, who hasalready crushed the first bulb of my tulip. Oh, the wretch!he is an accomplice of Jacob!"

"Don't speak so loud, for Heaven's sake!"

"Oh, Rosa, if you don't open the door to me," Corneliuscried in his rage, "I shall force these bars, and killeverything I find in the prison."

"Be merciful, be merciful, my friend!"

"I tell you, Rosa, that I shall demolish this prison, stonefor stone!" and the unfortunate man, whose strength wasincreased tenfold by his rage, began to shake the door witha great noise, little heeding that the thunder of his voicewas re-echoing through the spiral staircase.

Rosa, in her fright, made vain attempts to check thisfurious outbreak.

"I tell you that I shall kill that infamous Gryphus?" roaredCornelius. "I tell you I shall shed his blood as he did thatof my black tulip."

The wretched prisoner began really to rave.

"Well, then, yes," said Rosa, all in a tremble. "Yes, yes,only be quiet. Yes, yes, I will take his keys, I will openthe door for you! Yes, only be quiet, my own dearCornelius."

She did not finish her speech, as a growl by her sideinterrupted her.

"My father!" cried Rosa.

"Gryphus!" roared Van Baerle. "Oh, you villain!"

Old Gryphus, in the midst of all the noise, had ascended thestaircase without being heard.

He rudely seized his daughter by the wrist.

"So you will take my keys?" he said, in a voice choked withrage. "Ah! this dastardly fellow, this monster, thisgallows-bird of a conspirator, is your own dear Cornelius,is he? Ah! Missy has communications with prisoners of state.Ah! won't I teach you -- won't I?"

Rosa clasped her hands in despair.

"Ah!" Gryphus continued, passing from the madness of angerto the cool irony of a man who has got the better of hisenemy, -- "Ah, you innocent tulip-fancier, you gentlescholar; you will kill me, and drink my blood! Very well!very well! And you have my daughter for an accomplice. Am I,forsooth, in a den of thieves, -- in a cave of brigands?Yes, but the Governor shall know all to-morrow, and hisHighness the Stadtholder the day after. We know the law, --we shall give a second edition of the Buytenhof, MasterScholar, and a good one this time. Yes, yes, just gnaw yourpaws like a bear in his cage, and you, my fine little lady,devour your dear Cornelius with your eyes. I tell you, mylambkins, you shall not much longer have the felicity ofconspiring together. Away with you, unnatural daughter! Andas to you, Master Scholar, we shall see each other again.Just be quiet, -- we shall."

Rosa, beyond herself with terror and despair, kissed herhands to her friend; then, suddenly struck with a brightthought, she rushed toward the staircase, saying, --

"All is not yet lost, Cornelius. Rely on me, my Cornelius."

Her father followed her, growling.

As to poor Cornelius, he gradually loosened his hold of thebars, which his fingers still grasped convulsively. His headwas heavy, his eyes almost started from their sockets, andhe fell heavily on the floor of his cell, muttering, --

"Stolen! it has been stolen from me!"

During this time Boxtel had left the fortress by the doorwhich Rosa herself had opened. He carried the black tulipwrapped up in a cloak, and, throwing himself into a coach,which was waiting for him at Gorcum, he drove off, without,as may well be imagined, having informed his friend Gryphusof his sudden departure.

And now, as we have seen him enter his coach, we shall withthe consent of the reader, follow him to the end of hisjourney.

He proceeded but slowly, as the black tulip could not beartravelling post-haste.

But Boxtel, fearing that he might not arrive early enough,procured at Delft a box, lined all round with fresh moss, inwhich he packed the tulip. The flower was so lightly pressedupon all sides, with a supply of air from above, that thecoach could now travel full speed without any possibility ofinjury to the tulip.

He arrived next morning at Haarlem, fatigued but triumphant;and, to do away with every trace of the theft, hetransplanted the tulip, and, breaking the originalflower-pot, threw the pieces into the canal. After which hewrote the President of the Horticultural Society a letter,in which he announced to him that he had just arrived atHaarlem with a perfectly black tulip; and, with his flowerall safe, took up his quarters at a good hotel in the town,and there he waited.

Chapter 25

The President van Systens

Rosa, on leaving Cornelius, had fixed on her plan, which wasno other than to restore to Cornelius the stolen tulip, ornever to see him again.

She had seen the despair of the prisoner, and she knew thatit was derived from a double source, and that it wasincurable.

On the one hand, separation became inevitable, -- Gryphushaving at the same time surprised the secret of their loveand of their secret meetings.

On the other hand, all the hopes on the fulfilment of whichCornelius van Baerle had rested his ambition for the lastseven years were now crushed.

Rosa was one of those women who are dejected by trifles, butwho in great emergencies are supplied by the misfortuneitself with the energy for combating or with the resourcesfor remedying it.

She went to her room, and cast a last glance about her tosee whether she had not been mistaken, and whether the tulipwas not stowed away in some corner where it had escaped hernotice. But she sought in vain, the tulip was still missing;the tulip was indeed stolen.

Rosa made up a little parcel of things indispensable for ajourney; took her three hundred guilders, -- that is to say,all her fortune, -- fetched the third bulb from among herlace, where she had laid it up, and carefully hid it in herbosom; after which she locked her door twice to disguise herflight as long as possible, and, leaving the prison by thesame door which an hour before had let out Boxtel, she wentto a stable-keeper to hire a carriage.

The man had only a two-wheel chaise, and this was thevehicle which Boxtel had hired since last evening, and inwhich he was now driving along the road to Delft; for theroad from Loewestein to Haarlem, owing to the many canals,rivers, and rivulets intersecting the country, isexceedingly circuitous.

Not being able to procure a vehicle, Rosa was obliged totake a horse, with which the stable-keeper readily intrustedher, knowing her to be the daughter of the jailer of thefortress.

Rosa hoped to overtake her messenger, a kind-hearted andhonest lad, whom she would take with her, and who might atthe same time serve her as a guide and a protector.

And in fact she had not proceeded more than a league beforeshe saw him hastening along one of the side paths of a verypretty road by the river. Setting her horse off at a canter,she soon came up with him.

The honest lad was not aware of the important character ofhis message; nevertheless, he used as much speed as if hehad known it; and in less than an hour he had already gone aleague and a half.

Rosa took from him the note, which had now become useless,and explained to him what she wanted him to do for her. Theboatman placed himself entirely at her disposal, promisingto keep pace with the horse if Rosa would allow him to takehold of either the croup or the bridle of her horse. The twotravellers had been on their way for five hours, and mademore than eight leagues, and yet Gryphus had not the leastsuspicion of his daughter having left the fortress.

The jailer, who was of a very spiteful and crueldisposition, chuckled within himself at the idea of havingstruck such terror into his daughter's heart.