Gysbert

“ Gysbert had hardly uttered this caution, when there was a sound of steps approaching the door. Immediately he began to toss his arms about, moan, mutter, and occasionally shriek in a muffled manner.
“Go away! Go away from me!” he raved. “Thou art not my sister! Why dost thou say thou art Jacqueline! I do not know thee! Thou art someone sent by that enemy of ours! Go away, go away, I tell thee!” Then the door was unbolted, a basket of food was thrust within, and a voice was heard calling above the racket of Gysbert’s pretended delirium:
“Juffrouw Jacqueline! Is thy brother very ill?” ”

“ Thou art a brave and thoughtful lad. What can I do for thee?”
“Your Worship, I have a request to make,” answered Gysbert promptly. “I wish to serve my city by becoming a ‘jumper.’”
“A jumper—thou! But thou art scarce fourteen years of age, if I judge rightly. It would be wicked to expose one so young to such dangers!” exclaimed the astonished burgomaster.
“Aye, your Worship, you have guessed my age correctly. But I am strong and agile, and know the walls and outlying districts well. Moreover, I have a plan that I trust will take me safely through the Spanish lines.” ”

“ Oh, Gysbert! can we do nothing about it! Surely God who led us to overhear this vile plot will show us the way to foil it!”
“I think He will!” said Gysbert reverently. “And anyhow, I am going to pray to-night that He show us some means of getting out of our prison and warning the city. Wilt thou too, Jacqueline!”
“I will indeed!” answered the girl. “And before we go to bed we will work long at the bars, for that seems our surest means of escape/’
“Only three days!” groaned Gysbert. “I would that it were as many times as far away. But in three days we can do much—if we work hard!” ”

“ Jacqueline and Gysbert could not but think of another scene in this same church only four months before,—but how different! There was no weeping now! All the new professors filed in and took their places in the chancel, looking very grand and imposing in their flowing robes and decorations.
“Look, look, Vrouw Voorhaas! there is father!” whispered Gysbert, pulling her sleeve. And the faithful woman, now quite recovered from her long illness, nodded and smiled approvingly. The impressive service continued, ending with the singing of the famous hymn,—“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God!” ”

“ Neither she nor Gysbert noticed the startled glance with which Vrouw Voorhaas raised her head at these words. Jacqueline continued:
“It seems to he all about medicine. Thou knowest how that subject interests me, Gysbert. I long, when I grow up to practice the healing art. I feel in some way as if the gift were in me.”
“Poof!” said the boy. “Women are not fashioned to be physicians,—they have other duties! Thou art mad, Jacqueline! Such business is not for thee!” ”

“ In a very few moments it would be abreast of them.
“I’ll have to swim for it,” said Gysbert. “It’s too far away to reach with the pole!” Hastily flinging oft some of his outer garments he plunged out of the window. He reached the spot opposite the window not an instant too soon; just as the stern of the boat swung by he grasped it and climbed clumsily aboard. But to Jacqueline’s surprise, he did not instantly grasp the oars and start to pull back. Instead he put his hands to his mouth, shouted, “No oars!” ”

“ I could live like a lord if I wished, but I scarcely touch it, saving only enough to keep life in me, else he would surely suspect. Thus have I passed the three weeks!” He ceased to speak, and for a while they sat silent, hoping, doubting, fearing for the future, yet rejoicing that they were at last together.
“But now thou must go to bed, Jacqueline,” said Gysbert at length. “Thou art wearied out and sleep will do thee good.” ”

“ The gate having been reached, it was opened but the smallest crack available by the guarding soldiers. The brewer from Utrecht squeezed his bulky form with difficulty through the narrow aperture, followed by the howls of the crowd. But Gysbert could contain himself no longer. Breaking away from his sister’s grasp, he rushed up to the remaining fugitive and shouted in his face:
“Shame on thee, Dirk Willumhoog, for a dog of a coward! Shame! shame!” The man turned on him with so savage a countenance that Jacqueline could not repress a frightened scream. ”

“ Hope,—even vague and indefinite hope,—lends wings to the soul and zest to the brain and hands. This faint glimmer that had been cast across the blackness of the two children’s prospects so filled their hearts with its brightness that they were almost gay, as they sawed away on the stout iron bars. They would have shouted and sung, had not that performance surely encouraged unwelcome attention in their direction.
That same night Gysbert removed the tiles and piece of plank from the hole he had dug in the flooring. ”

“ Gysbert reminded her. “We must not forget that, or good Vrouw Voorhaas will never know whether he got back first or not. She cannot seem to remember one pigeon from another. Here, I will write it.” He drew from his pocket a tiny scrap of paper on which he hastily scrawled:—‘William of Orange’ brings greetings to Vrouw Voorhaas from Jacqueline and Gysbert.” ”

“ At first the Prince did not see him, but soon the renewed barking of his spaniel attracted his attention to the curious little figure standing by the bedside.
“Who art thou?” he queried feebly.
“Mynheer Prince,” faltered Gysbert, “I am only a boy from Leyden, but I have come to tell you that it is not true,—what you have been told concerning the city’s surrender. Leyden still holds out and will so continue till its last defender is slain!” The dullness of fever in the sick man’s eyes gave place to an actual sparkle. ”

“ Come thou aboard!” he called heartily. “Thou art a small lad but a clever one. Here, catch this plank!” In two minutes Gysbert, comfortably ensconced in the stern, had curled himself up to finish the morning nap, with which his early expedition had seriously interfered. In due time this easy-going vessel reached the Gate St. Catherine, the principal entrance to Delft, and Gysbert disembarking, thanked the good-natured captain for his assistance. ”

“ Pancras!” muttered Gysbert. “If that isn’t Dirk Willumhoog again! There’s mischief afoot!” Dropping his clothes he ran down the bank, slipped without noise into the water, and swam hurriedly in the direction of the retreating figure.
“If I keep behind him close and to the bank,” thought the boy, “I can watch him very well, and he’ll never suspect there is a soul around.” It did not take him long to catch up with the man he was pursuing. Most of the time he kept out of sight, but he rose occasionally far enough to poke his head over the edge of the canal and peep at his enemy. ”

“ A lazy boat with one big brown sail edged its way slowly along the canal in the direction of Delft.
“I might as well save my strength,” argued Gysbert to himself, “and what is more, I have time in quantities to spare. Hi!—Herr Captain, I pray you take me on your gallant bark!” The captain looked up from a sail he was mending, and scanned the boy from head to foot.
“I like thee not,” he answered. “Thou hast too much of the Spaniard about thee, little frog! Thine own two good feet can carry thee!” ”

“ They have probably been stranded there ever since.
“Surely, surely!” answered Gysbert. “And what is more, we ought to have a full view from our little window here, if they come by. For though we are a good distance from the canal, I think we could get a fine sight of a battle, if there is to be one. Oh, I hope there will be a battle!” In a frenzy of excitement, they kept at their work till darkness fell. ”

“ Joris Fruytiers was to join the rear of the flotilla and help to swell its numbers. Plainly it was no situation for Jacqueline, in the midst of these battle-thirsty Beggars of the Sea, and yet no safer place could be found for her at present. So it was decided that she should remain on board, but Gysbert’s head was full of another plan for himself:
“I must get into the city somehow! It would be horrible, with relief so near, to have that scoundrel, Dirk, lead in a Spanish regiment and bring about an untimely surrender,” he urged. ”

“ Not till I heard thee moan was I sure. He has some deep-laid scheme in getting possession of us two, but what it is I cannot imagine. However, thou must get rid of these wet things, sister. There is a little room adjoining this where thou canst sleep. It has evidently been arranged for that purpose. Take off thy dripping clothes and wrap thyself in the bed-coverings, and we will then tell each other all that has happened since we parted.
“Now,” said Gysbert, when his sister had arrayed herself in the warm bed-coverings, “I will begin by telling thee all about my journey to Rotterdam.” ”

“ Oh, if Gysbert were only here!”
Then the necessity for doing something, and that speedily, forced itself upon her. Deciding that she could leave the sick woman more easily now than later, she ran out at once to find Dr. de Witt. He accompanied her without an instant’s delay. When he reached the sick room he gave one keen glance at his patient, and then set about his work of relief, Jacqueline assisting him with the intelligence and skill perfected by much practice.
“Now,” said he finally, “thou must make up thy mind, Juffrouw Jacqueline, to one thing. ”

“ A meaning look, that passed between Ghysbrecht and Dierich, aided the brothers' comprehension. They changed colour, and lost all zeal for the business.
"No! no! we don't hate our brother. We won't get ourselves hanged to spite him," said Sybrandt; "that would be a fool's trick."
"Hanged?" cried Ghysbrecht. "Am I not the burgomaster? How can ye be hanged? I see how 'tis: ye fear to tackle one man, being two: hearts of hare, that ye are! O! why cannot I be young again? ”

“ The memory of the Pole's sphinxlike, sweetish face, and eyes that seemed to know so many secrets, always affected Gyp unpleasantly. She said quietly:
“Why do you like him, Gustav?”
“Like him? Oh, he is useful. A good judge of music, and—many things.”
“I think he is hateful.”
Fiorsen laughed.
“Hateful? Why hateful, my Gyp? He is a good friend. And he admires you—oh, he admires you very much! He has success with women. He always says, 'J'ai une technique merveilleuse pour seduire une femme.'”
Gyp laughed. ”

“ Had it not been for his man yonder, you had fairly spitted my friend the paladin. Ken you that?"
"How was I to know that he was going to run in?" said Gymbert, trying to bluster. "He crossed my horse, and it is his own fault if he was in the way of the spear."
"One would think that you had no knowledge of woodcraft," said Sighard, with high disdain. "Heard one ever of a mounted man coming in on a boar while a spear on foot was before him? Man, one needs eyes in the back of one's head if you are about."
Then he turned to the Mercian thane. ”

“ Nyssia made a sign for Gyges to come forth from his retreat; and laying her finger upon the breast of the victim, she directed upon her accomplice a look so humid, so lustrous, so weighty with languishment, so replete with intoxicating promise, that Gyges, maddened and fascinated, sprang from his hiding-place like the tiger from the summit of the rock where it has been couching, traversed the chamber at a bound, and plunged the Bactrian poniard up to the very hilt in the heart of the descendant of Hercules. The chastity of Nyssia was avenged, and the dream of Gyges accomplished. ”

“ The rigidity of an inflexible will betrayed itself in that ever-equal pressure as of a vice—a pressure which no hesitation of head or heart came to vary. Gyges, conquered, subjugated, crushed, yielded to that imperious traction, as though he were borne along by the mighty arm of Fate.
Alas! it was not thus he had wished to touch for the first time that fair royal hand, which had presented the poniard to him, and was leading him to murder, for it was Nyssia herself who had come for Gyges, to conceal him in the place of ambuscade. ”

“ Undoubtedly Gyges did not lack courage. Mounted upon his war-chariot, with quiver rattling upon his shoulder, and bow in hand, he would have defied the most valiant warriors; in the chase he would have attacked without fear the Calydon boar or the Nemean lion; but—explain the enigma as you will—he trembled at the idea of looking at a beautiful woman through a chink in a door. No one possesses every kind of courage. He felt likewise that he could not behold Nyssia with impunity. ”

“ Gyp rose.
“I feel the dew now, Dad. Can we walk on?”
They went along paths, so as not to wet her feet in her thin shoes. And they talked. The spell was over; the night again but a common London night; the park a space of parching grass and gravel; the people just clerks and shop-girls walking out.
VIII
Fiorsen's letters were the source of one long smile to Gyp. He missed her horribly; if only she were there!—and so forth—blended in the queerest way with the impression that he was enjoying himself uncommonly. ”

“ Now what were Nyssia's real thoughts? Had she, indeed, noticed Gyges at the time of her meeting with him near Bactria, and preserved some memory of the young captain in one of those secret recesses of the heart where even the most virtuous women always have something buried? Was the desire to avenge her modesty goaded by some other unacknowledged desire? And if Gyges had not been the handsomest young man in all Asia would she have evinced the same ardor in punishing Candaules for having outraged the sanctity of marriage? ”

“ And Gyp felt sorry, as at blight on a perfect flower. With a friendly nod, she turned away to Fiorsen, who was waiting to go up on to the platform. Was it at her or at the girl he had been looking? She smiled at him and slid away. In the corridor, Rosek, in attendance, said:
“Why not this evening? Come with Gustav to my rooms. She shall dance to us, and we will all have supper. She admires you, Madame Gyp. She will love to dance for you.” ”