章节正文
"Sir, it is Craeke."
"Craeke! the confidential servant of Mynheer John de Witt?
Good, let him wait."
"I cannot wait," said a voice in the lobby.
And at the same time forcing his way in, Craeke rushed into
the dry-room.
This abrupt entrance was such an infringement on the
established rules of the household of Cornelius van Baerle,
that the latter, at the sight of Craeke, almost convulsively
moved his hand which covered the bulbs, so that two of them
fell on the floor, one of them rolling under a small table,
and the other into the fireplace.
"Zounds!" said Cornelius, eagerly picking up his precious
bulbs, "what's the matter?"
"The matter, sir!" said Craeke, laying a paper on the large
table, on which the third bulb was lying, -- "the matter is,
that you are requested to read this paper without losing one
moment."
And Craeke, who thought he had remarked in the streets of
Dort symptoms of a tumult similar to that which he had
witnessed before his departure from the Hague, ran off
without even looking behind him.
"All right! all right! my dear Craeke," said Cornelius,
stretching his arm under the table for the bulb; "your paper
shall be read, indeed it shall."
Then, examining the bulb which he held in the hollow of his
hand, he said: "Well, here is one of them uninjured. That
confounded Craeke! thus to rush into my dry-room; let us now
look after the other."
And without laying down the bulb which he already held,
Baerle went to the fireplace, knelt down and stirred with
the tip of his finger the ashes, which fortunately were
quite cold.
He at once felt the other bulb.
"Well, here it is," he said; and, looking at it with almost
fatherly affection, he exclaimed, "Uninjured as the first!"
At this very instant, and whilst Cornelius, still on his
knees, was examining his pets, the door of the dry-room was
so violentlyshaken, and opened in such a brusque manner,
that Cornelius felt rising in his cheeks and his ears the
glow of that evil counsellor which is called wrath.
"Now, what is it again," he demanded; "are people going mad
here?"
"Oh, sir! sir!" cried the servant, rushing into the dry-room
with a much paler face and with a much more frightened mien
than Craeke had shown.
"Well!" asked Cornelius, foreboding some mischief from the
double breach of the strict rule of his house.
"Oh, sir, fly! fly quick!" cried the servant.
"Fly! and what for?"
"Sir, the house is full of the guards of the States."
"What do they want?"
"They want you."
"What for?"
"To arrest you."
"Arrest me? arrest me, do you say?"
"Yes, sir, and they are headed by a magistrate."
"What's the meaning of all this?" said Van Baerle, grasping
in his hands the two bulbs, and directing his terrified
glance towards the staircase.
"They are coming up! they are coming up!" cried the servant.
"Oh, my dear child, my worthy master!" cried the old
housekeeper, who now likewise made her appearance in the
dry-room, "take your gold, your jewelry, and fly, fly!"
"But how shall I make my escape, nurse?" said Van Baerle.
"Jump out of the window."
"Twenty-five feet from the ground!"
"But you will fall on six feet of soft soil!"
"Yes, but I should fall on my tulips."
"Never mind, jump out."
Cornelius took the third bulb, approached the window and
opened it, but seeing what havoc he would necessarily cause
in his borders, and, more than this, what a height he would
have to jump, he called out, "Never!" and fell back a step.
At this moment they saw across the banister of the staircase
the points of the halberds of the soldiers rising.
The housekeeper raised her hands to heaven.
As to Cornelius van Baerle, it must be stated to his honour,
not as a man, but as a tulip-fancier, his only thought was
for his inestimable bulbs.
Looking about for a paper in which to wrap them up, he
noticed the fly-leaf from the Bible, which Craeke had laid
upon the table, took it without in his confusion remembering
whence it came, folded in it the three bulbs, secreted them
in his bosom, and waited.
At this very moment the soldiers, preceded by a magistrate,
entered the room.
"Are you Dr. Cornelius van Baerle?" demanded the magistrate
(who, although knowing the young man very well, put his
question according to the forms of justice, which gave his
proceedings a much more dignified air).
"I am that person, Master van Spennen," answered Cornelius,
politely, to his judge, "and you know it very well."
"Then give up to us the seditious papers which you secrete
in your house."
"The seditious papers!" repeated Cornelius, quite dumfounded
at the imputation.
"Now don't look astonished, if you please."
"I vow to you, Master van Spennen, "Cornelius replied, "that
I am completely at a loss to understand what you want."
"Then I shall put you in the way, Doctor," said the judge;
"give up to us the papers which the traitor Cornelius de
Witt deposited with you in the month of January last."
A sudden light came into the mind of Cornelius.
"Halloa!" said Van Spennen, "you begin now to remember,
don't you?"
"Indeed I do, but you spoke of seditious papers, and I have
none of that sort."
"You deny it then?"
"Certainly I do."
The magistrate turned round and took a rapid survey of the
whole cabinet.
"Where is the apartment you call your dry-room?" he asked.
"The very same where you now are, Master van Spennen."
The magistrate cast a glance at a small note at the top of
his papers.
"All right," he said, like a man who is sure of his ground.
Then, turning round towards Cornelius, he continued, "Will
you give up those papers to me?"
"But I cannot, Master van Spennen; those papers do not
belong to me; they have been deposited with me as a trust,
and a trust is sacred."
"Dr. Cornelius," said the judge, "in the name of the States,
I order you to open this drawer, and to give up to me the
papers which it contains."
Saying this, the judge pointed with his finger to the third
drawer of the press, near the fireplace.
In this very drawer, indeed the papers deposited by the
Warden of the Dikes with his godson were lying; a proof that
the police had received very exact information.
"Ah! you will not," said Van Spennen, when he saw Cornelius
standing immovable and bewildered, "then I shall open the
drawer myself."
And, pulling out the drawer to its full length, the
magistrate at first alighted on about twenty bulbs,
carefully arranged and ticketed, and then on the paper
parcel, which had remained in exactly the same state as it
was when delivered by the unfortunate Cornelius de Witt to
his godson.
The magistrate broke the seals, tore off the envelope, cast
an eager glance on the first leaves which met his eye and
then exclaimed, in a terrible voice, --
"Well, justice has been rightly informed after all!"
"How," said Cornelius, "how is this?"
"Don't pretend to be ignorant, Mynheer van Baerle," answered
the magistrate. "Follow me."
"How's that! follow you?" cried the Doctor.
"Yes, sir, for in the name of the States I arrest you."
Arrests were not as yet made in the name of William of
Orange; he had not been Stadtholder long enough for that.
"Arrest me!" cried Cornelius; "but what have I done?"
"That's no affair of mine, Doctor; you will explain all that
before your judges."
"Where?"
"At the Hague."
Cornelius, in mute stupefaction, embraced his old nurse, who
was in a swoon; shook hands with his servants, who were
bathed in tears, and followed the magistrate, who put him in
a coach as a prisoner of state and had him driven at full
gallop to the Hague.
Chapter 8
An Invasion
The incident just related was, as the reader has guessed
before this, the diabolical work of Mynheer Isaac Boxtel.
It will be remembered that, with the help of his telescope,
not even the least detail of the private meeting between
Cornelius de Witt and Van Baerle had escaped him. He had,
indeed, heard nothing, but he had seen everything, and had
rightly concluded that the papers intrusted by the Warden to
the Doctor must have been of great importance, as he saw Van
Baerle so carefully secreting the parcel in the drawer where
he used to keep his most precious bulbs.
The upshot of all this was that when Boxtel, who watched the
course of political events much more attentively than his
neighbour Cornelius was used to do, heard the news of the
brothers De Witt being arrested on a charge of high treason
against the States, he thought within his heart that very
likely he needed only to say one word, and the godson would
be arrested as well as the godfather.
Yet, full of happiness as was Boxtel's heart at the chance,
he at first shrank with horror from the idea of informing
against a man whom this information might lead to the
scaffold.
But there is this terrible thing in evil thoughts, that evil
minds soon grow familiar with them.
Besides this, Mynheer Isaac Boxtel encouraged himself with
the following sophism: --
"Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, as he is charged with
high treason, and arrested.
"I, on the contrary, am a good citizen, as I am not charged
with anything in the world, as I am as free as the air of
heaven."
"If, therefore, Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, -- of
which there can be no doubt, as he is charged with high
treason, and arrested, -- his accomplice, Cornelius van
Baerle, is no less a bad citizen than himself.
"And, as I am a good citizen, and as it is the duty of every
good citizen to inform against the bad ones, it is my duty
to inform against Cornelius van Baerle."
Specious as this mode of reasoning might sound, it would not
perhaps have taken so complete a hold of Boxtel, nor would
"Craeke! the confidential servant of Mynheer John de Witt?
Good, let him wait."
"I cannot wait," said a voice in the lobby.
And at the same time forcing his way in, Craeke rushed into
the dry-room.
This abrupt entrance was such an infringement on the
established rules of the household of Cornelius van Baerle,
that the latter, at the sight of Craeke, almost convulsively
moved his hand which covered the bulbs, so that two of them
fell on the floor, one of them rolling under a small table,
and the other into the fireplace.
"Zounds!" said Cornelius, eagerly picking up his precious
bulbs, "what's the matter?"
"The matter, sir!" said Craeke, laying a paper on the large
table, on which the third bulb was lying, -- "the matter is,
that you are requested to read this paper without losing one
moment."
And Craeke, who thought he had remarked in the streets of
Dort symptoms of a tumult similar to that which he had
witnessed before his departure from the Hague, ran off
without even looking behind him.
"All right! all right! my dear Craeke," said Cornelius,
stretching his arm under the table for the bulb; "your paper
shall be read, indeed it shall."
Then, examining the bulb which he held in the hollow of his
hand, he said: "Well, here is one of them uninjured. That
confounded Craeke! thus to rush into my dry-room; let us now
look after the other."
And without laying down the bulb which he already held,
Baerle went to the fireplace, knelt down and stirred with
the tip of his finger the ashes, which fortunately were
quite cold.
He at once felt the other bulb.
"Well, here it is," he said; and, looking at it with almost
fatherly affection, he exclaimed, "Uninjured as the first!"
At this very instant, and whilst Cornelius, still on his
knees, was examining his pets, the door of the dry-room was
so violentlyshaken, and opened in such a brusque manner,
that Cornelius felt rising in his cheeks and his ears the
glow of that evil counsellor which is called wrath.
"Now, what is it again," he demanded; "are people going mad
here?"
"Oh, sir! sir!" cried the servant, rushing into the dry-room
with a much paler face and with a much more frightened mien
than Craeke had shown.
"Well!" asked Cornelius, foreboding some mischief from the
double breach of the strict rule of his house.
"Oh, sir, fly! fly quick!" cried the servant.
"Fly! and what for?"
"Sir, the house is full of the guards of the States."
"What do they want?"
"They want you."
"What for?"
"To arrest you."
"Arrest me? arrest me, do you say?"
"Yes, sir, and they are headed by a magistrate."
"What's the meaning of all this?" said Van Baerle, grasping
in his hands the two bulbs, and directing his terrified
glance towards the staircase.
"They are coming up! they are coming up!" cried the servant.
"Oh, my dear child, my worthy master!" cried the old
housekeeper, who now likewise made her appearance in the
dry-room, "take your gold, your jewelry, and fly, fly!"
"But how shall I make my escape, nurse?" said Van Baerle.
"Jump out of the window."
"Twenty-five feet from the ground!"
"But you will fall on six feet of soft soil!"
"Yes, but I should fall on my tulips."
"Never mind, jump out."
Cornelius took the third bulb, approached the window and
opened it, but seeing what havoc he would necessarily cause
in his borders, and, more than this, what a height he would
have to jump, he called out, "Never!" and fell back a step.
At this moment they saw across the banister of the staircase
the points of the halberds of the soldiers rising.
The housekeeper raised her hands to heaven.
As to Cornelius van Baerle, it must be stated to his honour,
not as a man, but as a tulip-fancier, his only thought was
for his inestimable bulbs.
Looking about for a paper in which to wrap them up, he
noticed the fly-leaf from the Bible, which Craeke had laid
upon the table, took it without in his confusion remembering
whence it came, folded in it the three bulbs, secreted them
in his bosom, and waited.
At this very moment the soldiers, preceded by a magistrate,
entered the room.
"Are you Dr. Cornelius van Baerle?" demanded the magistrate
(who, although knowing the young man very well, put his
question according to the forms of justice, which gave his
proceedings a much more dignified air).
"I am that person, Master van Spennen," answered Cornelius,
politely, to his judge, "and you know it very well."
"Then give up to us the seditious papers which you secrete
in your house."
"The seditious papers!" repeated Cornelius, quite dumfounded
at the imputation.
"Now don't look astonished, if you please."
"I vow to you, Master van Spennen, "Cornelius replied, "that
I am completely at a loss to understand what you want."
"Then I shall put you in the way, Doctor," said the judge;
"give up to us the papers which the traitor Cornelius de
Witt deposited with you in the month of January last."
A sudden light came into the mind of Cornelius.
"Halloa!" said Van Spennen, "you begin now to remember,
don't you?"
"Indeed I do, but you spoke of seditious papers, and I have
none of that sort."
"You deny it then?"
"Certainly I do."
The magistrate turned round and took a rapid survey of the
whole cabinet.
"Where is the apartment you call your dry-room?" he asked.
"The very same where you now are, Master van Spennen."
The magistrate cast a glance at a small note at the top of
his papers.
"All right," he said, like a man who is sure of his ground.
Then, turning round towards Cornelius, he continued, "Will
you give up those papers to me?"
"But I cannot, Master van Spennen; those papers do not
belong to me; they have been deposited with me as a trust,
and a trust is sacred."
"Dr. Cornelius," said the judge, "in the name of the States,
I order you to open this drawer, and to give up to me the
papers which it contains."
Saying this, the judge pointed with his finger to the third
drawer of the press, near the fireplace.
In this very drawer, indeed the papers deposited by the
Warden of the Dikes with his godson were lying; a proof that
the police had received very exact information.
"Ah! you will not," said Van Spennen, when he saw Cornelius
standing immovable and bewildered, "then I shall open the
drawer myself."
And, pulling out the drawer to its full length, the
magistrate at first alighted on about twenty bulbs,
carefully arranged and ticketed, and then on the paper
parcel, which had remained in exactly the same state as it
was when delivered by the unfortunate Cornelius de Witt to
his godson.
The magistrate broke the seals, tore off the envelope, cast
an eager glance on the first leaves which met his eye and
then exclaimed, in a terrible voice, --
"Well, justice has been rightly informed after all!"
"How," said Cornelius, "how is this?"
"Don't pretend to be ignorant, Mynheer van Baerle," answered
the magistrate. "Follow me."
"How's that! follow you?" cried the Doctor.
"Yes, sir, for in the name of the States I arrest you."
Arrests were not as yet made in the name of William of
Orange; he had not been Stadtholder long enough for that.
"Arrest me!" cried Cornelius; "but what have I done?"
"That's no affair of mine, Doctor; you will explain all that
before your judges."
"Where?"
"At the Hague."
Cornelius, in mute stupefaction, embraced his old nurse, who
was in a swoon; shook hands with his servants, who were
bathed in tears, and followed the magistrate, who put him in
a coach as a prisoner of state and had him driven at full
gallop to the Hague.
Chapter 8
An Invasion
The incident just related was, as the reader has guessed
before this, the diabolical work of Mynheer Isaac Boxtel.
It will be remembered that, with the help of his telescope,
not even the least detail of the private meeting between
Cornelius de Witt and Van Baerle had escaped him. He had,
indeed, heard nothing, but he had seen everything, and had
rightly concluded that the papers intrusted by the Warden to
the Doctor must have been of great importance, as he saw Van
Baerle so carefully secreting the parcel in the drawer where
he used to keep his most precious bulbs.
The upshot of all this was that when Boxtel, who watched the
course of political events much more attentively than his
neighbour Cornelius was used to do, heard the news of the
brothers De Witt being arrested on a charge of high treason
against the States, he thought within his heart that very
likely he needed only to say one word, and the godson would
be arrested as well as the godfather.
Yet, full of happiness as was Boxtel's heart at the chance,
he at first shrank with horror from the idea of informing
against a man whom this information might lead to the
scaffold.
But there is this terrible thing in evil thoughts, that evil
minds soon grow familiar with them.
Besides this, Mynheer Isaac Boxtel encouraged himself with
the following sophism: --
"Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, as he is charged with
high treason, and arrested.
"I, on the contrary, am a good citizen, as I am not charged
with anything in the world, as I am as free as the air of
heaven."
"If, therefore, Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, -- of
which there can be no doubt, as he is charged with high
treason, and arrested, -- his accomplice, Cornelius van
Baerle, is no less a bad citizen than himself.
"And, as I am a good citizen, and as it is the duty of every
good citizen to inform against the bad ones, it is my duty
to inform against Cornelius van Baerle."
Specious as this mode of reasoning might sound, it would not
perhaps have taken so complete a hold of Boxtel, nor would
- eagerly [´i:gəli]
ad.渴望地，急切地 (初中英语单词) - departure [di´pɑ:tʃə] n.离开，出发 (初中英语单词)
- affection [ə´fekʃən] n.友爱；慈爱 (初中英语单词)
- instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)
- shaken [´ʃeikən] shake的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- mischief [´mistʃif] n.伤害；故障；调皮 (初中英语单词)
- arrest [ə´rest] vt.逮捕 n.逮捕；停止 (初中英语单词)
- worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)
- likewise [´laikwaiz] ad.同样地；也，又 (初中英语单词)
- height [hait] n.高度；顶点；卓越 (初中英语单词)
- confusion [kən´fju:ʒən] n.混乱(状态)；骚乱 (初中英语单词)
- knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)
- traitor [´treitə] n.叛徒，卖国贼 (初中英语单词)
- survey [´sə:vei] vt.&n.俯瞰；审视；测量 (初中英语单词)
- apartment [ə´pɑ:tmənt] n.一套房间 (初中英语单词)
- drawer [drɔ:ə] n.抽屉 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- unfortunate [ʌn´fɔ:tʃunit] a.不幸的，运气差的 (初中英语单词)
- envelope [´envələup] n.信封，封皮 (初中英语单词)
- pretend [pri´tend] v.假装；借口；妄求 (初中英语单词)
- ignorant [´ignərənt] a.无知的，愚昧的 (初中英语单词)
- driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- incident [´insidənt] n.小事件；事变 (初中英语单词)
- parcel [´pɑ:sl] n.包裹；一批 vt.区分 (初中英语单词)
- charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
- horror [´hɔrə] n.恐怖；战栗 (初中英语单词)
- contrary [´kɔntrəri] a.相反的 n.相反 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- abrupt [ə´brʌpt] a.突然的；粗鲁的 (高中英语单词)
- tumult [´tju:mʌlt, ´tu:-] n.喧哗；激昂；烦乱 (高中英语单词)
- fireplace [´faiəpleis] n.壁炉，炉灶 (高中英语单词)
- fortunately [´fɔ:tʃənətli] ad.幸运地 (高中英语单词)
- whilst [wailst] conj.当...时候；虽然 (高中英语单词)
- violently [´vaiələntli] ad.强暴地；猛烈地 (高中英语单词)
- breach [bri:tʃ] n.&v.破坏；违犯 (高中英语单词)
- strict [strikt] a.严厉的；精确的 (高中英语单词)
- jewelry [´dʒu:əlri] n.珠宝(饰物) (高中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- necessarily [´nesisərili] ad.必定，必然地 (高中英语单词)
- housekeeper [´haus,ki:pə] n.主妇，女管家 (高中英语单词)
- dignified [´dignifaid] a.尊贵的 (高中英语单词)
- repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)
- related [ri´leitid] a.叙述的；有联系的 (高中英语单词)
- treason [´tri:zən] n.叛逆；不忠 (高中英语单词)
- reasoning [´ri:zəniŋ] n.推理，评理 a.推理的 (高中英语单词)
- confidential [,kɔnfi´denʃəl] a.极受信任的；心腹的 (英语四级单词)
- rightly [´raitli] ad.正义地；正确地 (英语四级单词)
- warden [´wɔ:dn] n.看守人；监护人 (英语四级单词)
- immovable [i´mu:vəbəl] a.不能移动的，固定的 (英语六级单词)
- shrank [ʃræŋk] shrink的过去式 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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