from Holland, and other combustibles which were to be used for the terrible explosion. They placed this house in charge of another plotter, named Robert Kay, a poor man, though a gentleman by birth, who took the solemn and fearful oath required of him.

CHAPTER II.

THE PLOT IN ITS PROGRESS.

T was on a dark December night in 1604 that the conspirators once more assembled in their house at Westminster. They were now seven in all; for they had enlisted John Wright's younger brother Christopher (administering the oath to him, of course), and he had become one of them.

As it was not thought advisable to make any show of the house being inhabited, at least by so many inmates, Catesby and the rest had previously secretly smuggled into it a good store of provisions, which would not spoil by long keeping. On these supplies they set to work manfully, with the tools they had before used, pickaxes, spades, crow-bars, and the like,— attempting to penetrate the foundation wall.

It was terribly hard work for them. They had not been used to handling pickaxes and spades and iron crows. Many a time, I dare say, they threw down. their tools almost in despair, and blew upon their heated, blistered palms to cool them; and nothing

but their fanaticism for what they called "the true faith," kept up their spirit for labour. You see, they could not employ working-men, for fear of being betrayed; and what made it more arduous and anxious to them was the necessity they were under of doing their work silently, and their fear lest, by some accident, their plot might all at once be discovered. To guard against this fear, one of their number always stood sentinel while the others wrought, to give warning when any man came near the place, when they immediately ceased till notice was given again that they might proceed.

To lighten their labours, the conspirators sometimes paused to talk about their future plans. As far as can be known, some of the subjects of their discussion or conversation, were these:

As the king and queen and prince Henry, their eldest son, were all expected to be present at the opening of the parliament, they were all, of course, to be blown up together. The king's second son (afterwards Charles the First) was, by reason of his tender age, expected to be absent. But he was not to escape; for Percy undertook to seize or assassinate him as soon as the blow was struck. There would then remain, of the royal family, the princess Elizabeth, a mere child, who was immediately to be proclaimed queen. In the meantime, horses and arms were to be provided for those who would be sure to join them.

There was another subject of discussion. In the parliament were many Roman Catholics-both lords and commoners, and it was not desired that any of these should perish in the general destruction-if it

could be helped. The question was, how they could be warned to escape without raising suspicion of the plot; and this was not easily answered.

They had longer to think of it than they expected; for while they were working hard to get through the wall, and making but little progress, with their probably clumsy tools, and their certainly unaccustomed and unskilful hands, they learned that the meeting of parliament was once more deferred for eight months, --so that it would not meet for the despatch of business till the 3rd of October.

This gave the conspirators another breathing-space, and time also for consideration. It would have been well for them if they had improved this opportunity by abandoning at once and for ever the evil design on which their hearts had been set. But this was furthest from their thoughts. The only, or chief, use they made of the long interval was to strengthen their cause by adding three other conspirators to their number. One of these was John Grant, "an accomplished but moody gentleman of Warwickshire, who possessed at Norbrook, between the towns of Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon, a large and strong mansion-house, walled round and moated, which seemed the best possible place for the reception of horses and ammunition. Lamentation and grief," we are told, "had been carried within those walls in Elizabeth's time; and Grant's melancholy had taken its rise from the persecution he had endured." If this is true, as probably it is, it only shows that it is unwise, as well as wicked, for any in power to punish those who differ from them for their religious opinions.

It is contrary to the will of God that any man should be persecuted; and "He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors," who, sooner or latter, find this out to their cost. It seems to us even more unnatural and irrational for Protestants to be persecutors, than it was for Papists to be so; because they claim the right of thinking and acting for themselves in matters of religion, which Papists never did. But even Protestants, as we learn from various histories, have been slow to learn the true, full meaning of Christ's own words," Render to Cæsar the things that be Cæsar's; and to God the things that are God's."

Another of the fresh conspirators was Robert Winter, an elder brother of the Thomas Winter already deep in the plot, and who was also related to John Grant by marriage-being his brother-in-law. The third accession to the plot was one Thomas Bates, the servant of Catesby, who was admitted into the confederacy because it was thought he had already partly suspected what was going on. There were now, therefore, ten persons in all engaged, each of whom, excepting Bates, would have been offended if he had not been reckoned a true gentleman.

They did not give themselves much respite from their labour; for in February (1605) they were at work again, as hard as ever, trying to pierce through the thick, hard stone wall, and thus undermine the Parliament Houses, often venting their displeasure, I dare say, against the old builders, who had long ago been dead and turned into dust, for making their work so strong.

And now I must tell you of a great fright those

misguided persons had while they were thus working away like common labourers. One day, when they were all thus engaged, excepting their trusty sentinel, they suddenly paused in their labour. For they heard, or fancied they heard, deep in the earth beneath the empty Parliament House, the stifled booming of a bell, sounding like a funeral toll.

They listened, and though the sound was not repeated the alarmed plotters dared not resume operations till they had obtained a supply of holy water, which they plentifully sprinkled on the wall and about the place where they were working. After this they heard no more of the bell, which confirmed them, no doubt, in their estimation of that singular mode of frightening away demons.

But though they were no more troubled by belltolling they had another and more earthly fright soon afterwards. One morning, while working in their mine, they heard a loud rumbling noise nearly over their heads. There could be no question that there was really a noise this time, and as any unusual sound is startling to even the most courageous and daring, when engaged in anything secret, dangerous, or unlawful, it is not to be wondered at that Catesby and his fellow-conspirators fancied that the noise they heard indicated the discovery of their design.

There was a pause, therefore, and a fear that they had been betrayed or otherwise found out. They were soon re-assured, however, for their trusty sentinel, Guido Fawkes, presently came down to them with the welcome intelligence that the noise was occasioned by a man named Bright, a coal merchant,