o his heels, thus hoping to gain his house, and
barricade himself in, by which means he would be in a condition to keep
possession of what he had stolen, or at least to make some terms ere he
restored it.

Mynheer Poots had need to run fast, and so he did, his thin legs bearing
his shrivelled form rapidly over the ground; but Philip, who, when he
witnessed the doctor's attempt to escape, was fully convinced that he
was the culprit, redoubled his exertions, and rapidly came up with the
chase. When within a hundred yards of his own door, Mynheer Poots heard
the bounding steps of Philip gain upon him, and he sprang and leaped in
his agony. Nearer and nearer still the step, until at last he heard the
very breathing of his pursuer; and Poots shrieked in his fear, like the
hare in the jaws of the greyhound. Philip was not a yard from him; his
arm was outstretched when the miscreant dropped down paralysed with
terror; and the impetus of Vanderdecken was so great, that he passed
over his body, tripped and after trying in vain to recover his
equilibrium, he fell and rolled over and over. This saved the little
doctor; it was like the double of a hare. In a second he was again on
his legs, and before Philip could rise and again exert his speed, Poots
had entered his door and bolted it within. Philip was, however,
determined to repossess the important treasure; and as he panted, he
cast his eyes around to see if any means offered for his forcing his
entrance into the house. But as the habitation of the doctor was
lonely, every precaution had been taken by him to render it secure
against robbery; the windows below were well barricaded and secured, and
those on the upper story were too high for any one to obtain admittance
by them.

We must here observe, that although Mynheer Poots was,--from his known
abilities, in good practice, his reputation as a hard-hearted, unfeeling
miser was well established. No one was ever permitted to enter his
threshold, nor, indeed, did any one feel inclined. He was as isolated
from his fellow-creatures as was his tenement, and was only to be seen
in the chamber of disease and death. What his establishment consisted
of no one knew. When he first settled in the neighbourhood, an old
decrepit woman occasionally answered the knocks given at the door by
those who required the doctor's services; but she had been buried some
time, and ever since all calls at the door had been answered by Mynheer