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We cannot take upon ourselves to say whether, through the almost imperceptible chink of the shutter, the young man witnessed the conclusion of this shocking scene; but at the very moment when they were hanging the two martyrs on the gibbet he passed through the terrible mob, which was too much absorbed in the task, so grateful to its taste, to take any notice of him, and thus he reached unobserved the Tol-Hek, which was still closed.
A momentary lull had therefore set in whilst the prison was empty, and Rosa availed herself of this favourable moment to come forth from her hiding place, which she also induced her father to leave. The prison was therefore completely deserted. Why should people remain in the jail whilst murder was going on at the Tol-Hek? Gryphus came forth trembling behind the courageous Rosa.
"Go! for Heaven's sake, go!" she said; "it seems they are going to force the gate." John de Witt hastily got in, sat himself down by the side of his brother, and, fastening the apron of the carriage, called out to the coachman, "To the Tol-Hek!" The Tol-Hek was the iron gate leading to the harbor of Schevening, in which a small vessel was waiting for the two brothers.
The three men then stopped, looking after the carriage, being however not yet quite sure as to whom it contained. The carriage in the meanwhile arrived at the Tol-Hek. "Open!" cried the coachman. "Open!" echoed the gatekeeper, from the threshold of his lodge; "it's all very well to say 'Open! but what am I to do it with?" "With the key, to be sure!" said the coachman. "With the key!
At this moment the roar of the multitude broke forth like thunder, for it was now quite certain that Cornelius de Witt was no longer in the prison. Cornelius and John, after driving along the pond, had taken the main street, which leads to the Tol-Hek, giving directions to the coachman to slacken his pace, in order not to excite any suspicion.
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