into the
cart, but he followed the crowd and saw Doctor Morpurgo, no longer clad
in scarlet, but in plain dark cloth, mounted on a lean horse, riding
beside his cart. The negro was furiously urging the mule forward, but his
master seemed to have remained in full possession of the calmness
peculiar to him. His wares were of small value, and the Spaniards had no
reason to take his head and tongue, by which he gained more than he
needed.

Adrian followed him to the long row of booths in the wide street, and
there saw things, which put an end to his thoughtlessness and made him
realize, that the point in question now concerned serious, heart-rending
matters. He had still been able to laugh as he saw the ginger-bread
bakers and cotton-sellers fighting hand to hand, because in the first
fright they had tossed their packages of wares hap-hazard into each
other's open chests, and were now unable to separate their property; but
he felt sincerely sorry for the Delft crockery-dealer on the corner,
whose light booth had been demolished by a large wagon from Gouda, loaded
with bales, and who now stood beside her broken wares, by means of which
she supported herself and children, wringing her hands, while the driver,
taking no notice of her, urged on his horses with loud cracks of his
whip. A little girl, who had lost her parents and was being carried away
by a compassionate burgher woman, was weeping piteously. A poor
rope-dancer, who had been robbed by a thief in the crowd, of the little
tin box containing he pennies he had collected, was running about,
ringing his hands and looking for the watchman. A shoemaker was pounding
riding-boots and women's shoes in motley confusion into a wooden chest
with rope handles, while his wife, instead of helping him, tore her hair
and shrieked: "I told you so, you fool, you simpleton, you blockhead!
They'll come and rob us of everything."

At the entrance of the street that led past the Assendelft house to the
Leibfrau Bridge, several loaded wagons had become entangled, and the
drivers, instead of getting down and procuring help, struck at each other
in their terror, hitting the women and children seated among the bales.
Their cries and shrieks echoed a long distance, but were destined to be
drowned, for a dancing-bear had broken loose and was putting every one
near him to flight. The people, who were frightened by the beast, rushed
down the street, screaming and yelling, dragging with them oth