as
a cat pounces upon a mouse that tries to run from its corner," replied
his father. "While the mouse sits still the cat sits also and purrs;
when it moves----"

There was a silence in which Dirk, having fetched the will of Hendrik
Brant from a safe hiding place, where it had lain since it reached his
hands some months before, opened the seals and read it aloud.

It proved to be a very short document, under the terms of which Dirk van
Goorl and his heirs inherited all the property, real and personal, of
Hendrik Brant, upon trust, (1) to make such ample provision for his
daughter Elsa as might be needful or expedient; (2) to apply the
remainder of the money "for the defence of our country, the freedom of
religious Faith, and the destruction of the Spaniards in such fashion
and at such time or times as God should reveal to them, which," added
the will, "assuredly He will do."

Enclosed in this document was an inventory of the property that
constituted the treasure. At the head came an almost endless list of
jewels, all of them carefully scheduled. These were the first three
items:

"Item: The necklace of great pearls that I exchanged with the Emperor
Charles when he took a love for sapphires, enclosed in a watertight
copper box.

"Item: A coronet and stomacher of rubies mounted in my own gold work,
the best that ever I did, which three queens have coveted, and none was
rich enough to buy.

"Item: The great emerald that my father left me, the biggest known,
having magic signs of ancients engraved upon the back of it, and
enclosed in a chased case of gold."

Then came other long lists of precious stones, too numerous to mention,
but of less individual value, and after them this entry:

"Item: Four casks filled with gold coin (I know not the exact weight or
number)."

At the bottom of this schedule was written, "A very great treasure, the
greatest of all the Netherlands, a fruit of three generations of honest
trading and saving, converted by me for the most part into jewels, that
it may be easier to move. This is the prayer of me, Hendrik Brant, who
owns it for his life; that this gold may prove the earthly doom of any
Spaniard who tries to steal it, and as I write it comes into my mind
that God will grant this my petition. Amen. Amen. Amen! So say I,
Hendrik Brant, who stand at the Gate of Death."

All of this inventory Dirk read aloud, and when he had finished Lysbeth
gasped with amazement.

"Surely," she