"Well, Mynheer Vanderdecken," commenced the unfeeling little man, "so
it's all over. I knew it would be so, and recollect you owe me now
another guilder, and you promised faithfully to pay me; altogether,
with the potion, it will be three guilders and a half--that is,
provided you return my phial." Philip, who at first waking was confused, gradually recovered his
senses during this address. "You shall have your three guilders and a half, and your phial to
boot, Mr Poots," replied he, as he rose from off the bed. "Yes, yes; I know you mean to pay me--if you can. But look you,
Mynheer Philip, it may be some time before you sell the cottage. You
may not find a customer. Now, I never wish to be hard upon people who
have no money, and I'll tell you what I'll do. There is a something
on your mother's neck. It is of no value, none at all, but to a good
Catholic. To help you in your strait, I will take that thing, and then
we shall be quits. You will have paid me, and there will be an end of
it." Philip listened calmly: he knew to what the little miser had
referred,--the relic on his mother's neck--that very relic upon which
his father swore the fatal oath. He felt that millions of guilders
would not have induced him to part with it. "Leave the house," answered he abruptly. "Leave it immediately. Your
money shall be paid." Now, Mynheer Poots, in the first place, knew that the setting of the
relic, which was in a square frame of pure gold, was worth much more
than the sum due to him: he also knew that a large price had been paid
for the relic itself, and as at that time such a relic was considered
very valuable, he had no doubt but that it would again fetch a
considerable sum. Tempted by the sight of it when he entered the
chamber of death, he had taken it from the neck of the corpse, and it
was then actually concealed in his bosom, so he replied--

"My offer is a good one, Mynheer Philip, and you had better take it. Of what use is such trash?" "I tell you, no," cried Philip, in a rage. "Well, then, you will let me have it in my possession till I am paid,
Mynheer Vanderdecken--that is but fair. I must not lose my money. When
you bring me my three guilders and a half and the phial, I will return
it to you." Philip's indignation was now without bounds. He seized Mynheer Poots
by the collar, and threw him out of the door. "Away immediately,"
cried he, "or by--"

There was no occasion for Philip to finish the imprecation. The doctor
had hastened away with such alarm, that he fell down half the steps
of the staircase, and was limping away across the bridge. He almost
wished that the relic had not been in his possession; but his sudden
retreat had prevented him, even if so inclined, from replacing it on
the corpse. The result of this conversation naturally turned Philip's thoughts to
the relic, and he went into his mother's room to take possession of
it. He opened the curtains--the corpse was laid out--he put forth his
hand to untie the black ribbon. It was not there. "Gone!" exclaimed
Philip. "They hardly would have removed it--never would--. It must
be that villain Poots--wretch; but I will have it, even if he has
swallowed it, though I tear him limb from limb!" Philip darted down the stairs, rushed out of the house, cleared the
moat at one bound, and without coat or hat, flew away in the direction
of the doctor's lonely residence. The neighbours saw him as he passed
them like the wind; they wondered, and they shook their heads. Mynheer
Poots was not more than half-way to his home, for he had hurt his
ankle. Apprehensive of what might possibly take place should his theft
be discovered, he occasionally looked behind him; at length, to his
horror, he beheld Philip Vanderdecken at a distance bounding on in
pursuit of him. Frightened almost out of his senses, the wretched
pilferer hardly knew how to act; to stop and surrender up the stolen
property was his first thought, but fear of Vanderdecken's violence
prevented him; so he decided on taking to 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
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 step 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 anyone 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 Poots in person, if he were at home, and if not,
there was no reply to the most importunate summons. It was then
surmised that the old man lived entirely by himself, being too
niggardly to pay for any assistance. This Philip also imagined; and as
soon as he had recovered his breath, he began to devise some scheme by
which he would be enabled not only to recover the stolen property, but
also to wreak a dire revenge. The door was strong, and not to be forced by any means which presented
themselves to the eye of Vanderdecken.