Douw heard nothing of his niece or her worshipful spouse. The interest
of the money, which was to have been demanded in quarterly sums, lay
unclaimed in his hands.

He began to grow extremely uneasy. Minheer Vanderhausen's direction in
Rotterdam he was fully possessed of; after some irresolution he finally
determined to journey thither--a trifling undertaking, and easily
accomplished--and thus to satisfy himself of the safety and comfort of
his ward, for whom he entertained an honest and strong affection. His
search was in vain, however; no one in Rotterdam had ever heard of
Minheer Vanderhausen. Gerard Douw left not a house in the _Boom-quay_
untried, but all in vain. No one could give him any information whatever
touching the object of his inquiry, and he was obliged to return to
Leyden nothing wiser and far more anxious, than when he had left it.

On his arrival he hastened to the establishment from which Vanderhausen
had hired the lumbering, though, considering the times, most luxurious
vehicle, which the bridal party had employed to convey them to
Rotterdam. From the driver of this machine he learned, that having
proceeded by slow stages, they had late in the evening approached
Rotterdam; but that before they entered the city, and while yet nearly a
mile from it, a small party of men, soberly clad, and after the old
fashion, with peaked beards and moustaches, standing in the centre of
the road, obstructed the further progress of the carriage. The driver
reined in his horses, much fearing, from the obscurity of the hour, and
the loneliness, of the road, that some mischief was intended. His fears
were, however, somewhat allayed by his observing that these strange men
carried a large litter, of an antique shape, and which they immediately
set down upon the pavement, whereupon the bridegroom, having opened the
coach-door from within, descended, and having assisted his bride to do