But in the midst of the second verse, a general emotion checked the volume of sound. One by one the voices failed, till at last the whole vast multitude broke down and wept like children, out of the great thankfulness for their deliverance. In their corner by a window, Gysbert openly sobbed with his head on his arm, and Jacqueline stood with the tears raining down her face, and the glad light of happiness in her eyes.
"Come," she said when the service was over. "We must hasten at once to Vrouw Voorhaas! I have sad misgivings that all is not well with her." They had, however, gone but a few steps when they heard a shout behind them, and turning they beheld Dr. Pieter de Witt beckoning to them and running as fast as he could come. Seizing Gysbert, he hugged him distractedly, and he squeezed Jacqueline's hand till she almost screamed aloud.
"You blessed, blessed children!" he shouted. "I never supposed I should see you again! Ah, this will indeed re-animate old Jan, and even Vrouw Voorhaas may—but come!" And he rushed them along so fast that Jacqueline could hardly find breath in which to ask after the sick woman.
"She is very, very low!" panted De Witt. "We hardly expect her to live through the day, but the sight of you two may make some difference,—I cannot tell! Hurry, hurry!" They reached Belfry Lane, stopped a moment to regain breath, and all three crept upstairs as softly as possible. The opened door revealed a strange sight to their astonished gaze. Jan stood huddled in a corner, eyes wide with amazement, apprehension, and doubt. Vrouw Voorhaas, withered and shrunken by her long illness, half sat up in her bed looking more like a ghost than a living being. But most astonishing of all, over her leaned a stranger, a tall, gaunt man clad in the uniform of the Beggars of the Sea. He bent over the woman, clasping her hand and questioning her anxiously in a low voice. Her face was lined with despair, and her words, though faint, were audible to the listeners at the door:
"Gone!—gone!—not here!—" Suddenly she raised her head and saw the newcomers. With a great happy cry she pointed to them:
"They are here! they are safe!—I have fulfilled my duty,—praise God!" and she fell back unconscious on the pillow.