Page:The black tulip (IA 10892334.2209.emory.edu).pdf/258

 had not for one instant suspected of such a wicked action.

Then, to the sound of trumpets, the procession marched back without any change in its order, except that Boxtel was now dead, and that Cornelius and Rosa were walking triumphantly side by side, and hand in hand.

On their arriving at the Hotel de Ville, the Prince, pointing with his finger to the purse with the hundred thousand guilders, said to Cornelius,—

“It is difficult to say by whom this money is gained, by you or by Rosa; for if you have found the black tulip, she has nursed it, and brought it into flower. It would, therefore, be unjust to consider it as her dowry: it is the gift of the town of Haarlem to the tulip.”

Cornelius wondered what the Prince was driving at. The latter continued,—

“I give to Rosa the sum of a hundred thousand guilders, which she has fairly earned, and which she can offer to you. They are the reward of her love, her courage, and her honesty. As to you, sir,—thanks to Rosa again, who has furnished the proofs of your innocence—”

And, saying these words, the Prince banded to Cornelius that fly-leaf of the Bible, on which was written the letter of Cornelius De Witte, and in which the third sucker had been wrapped—

“As to you, it has come to light that you were imprisoned for a crime which you had not committed. This means, that you are not only free, but that your property will be restored to you; as the property of an innocent man cannot be confiscated. Cornelius Van Baerle, you are the godson of Cornelius De Witte, and the friend of his brother John. Remain worthy of the name you have received from one of them, and of the friendship you have enjoyed with the other. The two De Wittes, wrongly judged, and wrongly punished in a moment of popular error, were two great citizens, of whom Holland is now proud.”

The Prince, after these last words, which, contrary to