After this, he added, in an undertone, yet loud enough for his words to be not altogether lost to those about him,-"And now, ye butchers, do your work!"
A savage yell, in which all the keen hatred and ferocious triumph rife in the precincts of the prison simultaneously burst forth, and accompanied the departure of the dragoons, as they were quietly filing off.
The Count tarried behind, facing to the last the infuriated populace, which advanced at the same rate as the Count retired.
John de Witt, therefore, had by no means exaggerated the danger, when, assisting his brother in getting up, he hurried his departure. Cornelius, leaning on the arm of the Ex-Grand Pensionary, descended the stairs which led to the courtyard. At the bottom of the staircase he found little Rosa, trembling all over.
"Oh, Mynheer John," she said, "what a misfortune!"
"What is it, my child?" asked De Witt.
"They say that they are gone to the Town-hall to fetch the order for Tilly's horse to withdraw."
"You do not say so!" replied John. "Indeed, my dear child, if the dragoons are off, we shall be in a very sad plight."
"I have some advice to give you," Rosa said, trembling even more violently than before.
"Well, let us hear what you have to say, my child. Why should not God speak by your mouth?"
"Now, then, Mynheer John, if I were in your place, I should not go out through the main street."
"And why so, as the dragoons of Tilly are still at their post?"
"Yes, but their order, as long as it is not revoked, enjoins them to stop before the prison."
"Undoubtedly."
"Have you got an order for them to accompany you out of the town?"
"We have not?"
"Well, then, in the very moment when you have passed the ranks of the dragoons you will fall into the hands of the people."
"But the burgher guard?"
"Alas! the burgher guard are the most enraged of all."
"What are we to do, then?"
"If I were in your place, Mynheer John," the young girl timidly continued, "I should leave by the postern, which leads into a deserted by-lane, whilst all the people are waiting in the High Street to see you come out by the principal entrance. From there I should try to reach the gate by which you intend to leave the town."