At the same time, he placed a small case about nine inches square in the
hands of Gerard Douw, who was as much amazed at its weight as at the
strange abruptness with which it was handed to him. In accordance with
the wishes of the stranger, he delivered it into the hands of Schalken,
and repeating his direction, despatched him upon the mission.

Schalken disposed his precious charge securely beneath the folds of his
cloak, and rapidly traversing two or three narrow streets, he stopped at
a corner house, the lower part of which was then occupied by the shop of
a Jewish goldsmith. He entered the shop, and calling the little Hebrew
into the obscurity of its back recesses, he proceeded to lay before him
Vanderhausen's casket. On being examined by the light of a lamp, it
appeared entirely cased with lead, the outer surface of which was much
scraped and soiled, and nearly white with age. This having been
partially removed, there appeared beneath a box of some hard wood; which
also they forced open and after the removal of two or three folds of
linen, they discovered its contents to be a mass of golden ingots,
closely packed, and, as the Jew declared, of the most perfect quality.
Every ingot underwent the scrutiny of the little Jew, who seemed to feel
an epicurean delight in touching and testing these morsels of the
glorious metal; and each one of them was replaced in its berth with the
exclamation: "_Mein Gott_, how very perfect! not one grain of
alloy--beautiful, beautiful!" The task was at length finished, and the
Jew certified under his hand the value of the ingots submitted to his
examination, to amount to many thousand rix-dollars. With the desired
document in his pocket, and the rich box of gold carefully pressed under
his arm, and concealed by his cloak, he retraced his way, and entering
the studio, found his master and the stranger in close conference.
Schalken had no sooner left the room, in order to execute the commission