The incident just related was, as the reader has guessedbefore 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 betweenCornelius de Witt and Van Baerle had escaped him. He had,indeed, heard nothing, but he had seen everything, and hadrightly concluded that the papers intrusted by the Warden tothe Doctor must have been of great importance, as he saw VanBaerle so carefully secreting the parcel in the drawer wherehe used to keep his most precious bulbs.

　　The upshot of all this was that when Boxtel, who watched thecourse of political events much more attentively than hisneighbour Cornelius was used to do, heard the news of thebrothers De Witt being arrested on a charge of high treasonagainst the States, he thought within his heart that verylikely he needed only to say one word, and the godson wouldbe 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 informingagainst a man whom this information might lead to thescaffold.

　　But there is this terrible thing in evil thoughts, that evilminds soon grow familiar with them.

　　Besides this, Mynheer Isaac Boxtel encouraged himself withthe following sophism: --"Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, as he is charged withhigh treason, and arrested.

　　"I, on the contrary, am a good citizen, as I am not chargedwith anything in the world, as I am as free as the air ofheaven.""If, therefore, Cornelius de Witt is a bad citizen, -- ofwhich there can be no doubt, as he is charged with hightreason, and arrested, -- his accomplice, Cornelius vanBaerle, is no less a bad citizen than himself.

　　"And, as I am a good citizen, and as it is the duty of everygood citizen to inform against the bad ones, it is my dutyto inform against Cornelius van Baerle."Specious as this mode of reasoning might sound, it would notperhaps have taken so complete a hold of Boxtel, nor wouldhe perhaps have yielded to the mere desire of vengeancewhich was gnawing at his heart, had not the demon of envybeen joined with that of cupidity.

　　Boxtel was quite aware of the progress which Van Baerle hadmade towards producing the grand black tulip.

　　Dr. Cornelius, notwithstanding all his modesty, had not beenable to hide from his most intimate friends that he was allbut certain to win, in the year of grace 1673, the prize ofa hundred thousand guilders offered by the HorticulturalSociety of Haarlem.

　　It was just this certainty of Cornelius van Baerle thatcaused the fever which raged in the heart of Isaac Boxtel.

　　If Cornelius should be arrested there would necessarily be agreat upset in his house, and during the night after hisarrest no one would think of keeping watch over the tulipsin his garden.

　　Now in that night Boxtel would climb over the wall and, ashe knew the position of the bulb which was to produce thegrand black tulip, he would filch it; and instead offlowering for Cornelius, it would flower for him, Isaac; healso, instead of Van Baerle, would have the prize of ahundred thousand guilders, not to speak of the sublimehonour of calling the new flower Tulipa nigra Boxtellensis,-- a result which would satisfy not only his vengeance, butalso his cupidity and his ambition.

　　Awake, he thought of nothing but the grand black tulip;asleep, he dreamed of it.

　　At last, on the 19th of August, about two o'clock in theafternoon, the temptation grew so strong, that Mynheer Isaacwas no longer able to resist it.

　　Accordingly, he wrote an anonymous information, the minuteexactness of which made up for its want of authenticity, andposted his letter.

　　Never did a venomous paper, slipped into the jaws of thebronze lions at Venice, produce a more prompt and terribleeffect.

　　On the same evening the letter reached the principalmagistrate, who without a moment's delay convoked hiscolleagues early for the next morning. On the followingmorning, therefore, they assembled, and decided on VanBaerle's arrest, placing the order for its execution in thehands of Master van Spennen, who, as we have seen, performedhis duty like a true Hollander, and who arrested the Doctorat the very hour when the Orange party at the Hague wereroasting the bleeding shreds of flesh torn from the corpsesof Cornelius and John de Witt.

　　But, whether from a feeling of shame or from cravenweakness, Isaac Boxtel did not venture that day to point histelescope either at the garden, or at the laboratory, or atthe dry-room.

　　He knew too well what was about to happen in the house ofthe poor doctor to feel any desire to look into it. He didnot even get up when his only servant -- who envied the lotof the servants of Cornelius just as bitterly as Boxtel didthat of their master -- entered his bedroom. He said to theman, --"I shall not get up to-day, I am ill."About nine o'clock he heard a great noise in the streetwhich made him tremble, at this moment he was paler than areal invalid, and shook more violently than a man in theheight of fever.

　　His servant entered the room; Boxtel hid himself under thecounterpane.

　　"Oh, sir!" cried the servant, not without some inkling that,whilst deploring the mishap which had befallen Van Baerle,he was announcing agreeable news to his master, -- "oh, sir!

　　you do not know, then, what is happening at this moment?""How can I know it?" answered Boxtel, with an almostunintelligible voice.

　　"Well, Mynheer Boxtel, at this moment your neighbourCornelius van Baerle is arrested for high treason.""Nonsense!" Boxtel muttered, with a faltering voice; "thething is impossible.""Faith, sir, at any rate that's what people say; and,besides, I have seen Judge van Spennen with the archersentering the house.""Well, if you have seen it with your own eyes, that's adifferent case altogether.""At all events," said the servant, "I shall go and inquireonce more. Be you quiet, sir, I shall let you know all aboutit."Boxtel contented himself with signifying his approval of thezeal of his servant by dumb show.

　　The man went out, and returned in half an hour.

　　"Oh, sir, all that I told you is indeed quite true.""How so?""Mynheer van Baerle is arrested, and has been put into acarriage, and they are driving him to the Hague.""To the Hague!""Yes, to the Hague, and if what people say is true, it won'tdo him much good.""And what do they say?" Boxtel asked.

　　"Faith, sir, they say -- but it is no............