erading in the case, and that he really
stood in the presence of a man of worship; and so, without hesitation,
he doffed his cap, and courteously saluting the stranger, requested him
to be seated. The visitor waved his hand slightly, as if in
acknowledgment of the courtesy, but remained standing.

"I have the honour to see Minheer Vanderhausen of Rotterdam?" said
Gerard Douw.

"The same," was the laconic reply of his visitor.

"I understand your worship desires to speak with me," continued Douw,
"and I am here by appointment to wait your commands."

"Is that a man of trust?" said Vanderhausen, turning towards Schalken,
who stood at a little distance behind his master.

"Certainly," replied Gerard.

"Then let him take this box, and get the nearest jeweller or goldsmith
to value its contents, and let him return hither with a certificate of
the valuation."

At the same time, he placed a small case about nine inches square in the
hands of Gerard Douw, who was as much amazed at its weight as at the
strange abruptness with which it was handed to him. In accordance with
the wishes of the stranger, he delivered it into the hands of Schalken,
and repeating his direction, despatched him upon the mission.

Schalken disposed his precious charge securely beneath the folds of his
cloak, and rapidly traversing two or three narrow streets, he stopped at
a corner house, the lower part of which was then occupied by the shop of
a Jewish goldsmith. He entered the shop, and calling the little Hebrew
into the obscurity of its back recesses, he proceeded to lay before him
Vanderhausen's casket. On being examined by the light of a lamp, it
appeared entirely cased with lead, the outer surface of which was much
scraped and soiled, and nearly white with age. This having been
partially removed, there appeared beneath a box of some hard wood; which
also they forced open and after the removal of two or three folds of
linen, they discovered its contents to be a mass of golden ingots,
closely packed, and, as the Jew declared, of the most perfect quality.
Every ingot underwent the scrutiny of the little Jew, who seemed to feel
an epicurean delight in touching and testing these morsels of the
glorious metal; and each one of them was replaced in its berth with the
exclamation: "_Mein Gott_, how very perfect! not one grain of
alloy--beautiful, beautiful!" The task was at length finished, and the
Jew certified under his hand the value of the ingot