It was on the 31st of October that the king returned from his hunting expedition; and on the next day, he was shown the letter. And now, if I were writing an imaginary story, it would be easy to sketch a comical dramatic scene of the king's horror and affright when he first read the letter,-how he first turned pale at the suspicion of danger, and rolled his big eyes, and thrust out his slobbering tongue, which was much too large for his mouth,-and spluttered out words of astonishment and fear, in a broad north-country dialect, for James was a Scot, and, though king of England, never lost his native accent. It would be easy to fancy, also, how when his fear was a little abated, he began to talk more sensibly about the letter, and pointed out what he took to be its simple meaning, in which he came to a right conclusion:for though a very awkward man in person, and often very pedantic and ridiculous in action and language, King James was often shrewd and penetrating; so that, in the opinion of many, he merited the remark once made about him, that he was "the wisest fool in Europe."

Instead, however, of drawing a fancy word-picture of this scene, I shall content myself with saying that "according to the story generally received, it was James's wonderful sagacity and penetration that first discovered the meaning of the mysterious epistle,"— concluding that some sudden danger was preparing by gunpowder; and that it would be advisable, before the meeting of parliament, to inspect all the vaults under the House. "But it is proved, beyond a doubt, that both Cecil, the prime minister, and Suffolk, thẹ

lord chamberlain, had read the riddle several days previously, and had communicated it to several lords of the council before the subject was mentioned to the king. But as this was an opportunity of flattering James on the qualities in which he most prided himself, the courtly ministers proclaimed to the public that all the merit of the discovery was his."

At any rate the discovery was made, and plans were laid to frustrate the plot; though it was thought advisable that nothing should be done, and no alarm manifested till the night before the meeting of parliament.

T

CHAPTER V.

CONSTERNATION IN THE CONSPIRATORS' CAMP.

HE fact that Lord Mounteagle had received a warning letter, and had handed it over to the government, was soon known by the conspirators, it being communicated the very next day after to Thomas Winter by the person who had read it to his lordship at the supper-table. And this proves that, besides the actual plotters, there were others who not only knew or guessed that a great conspiracy was on foot, but also sympathised in the design of bringing back Popery as the established religion of England.

As soon as Winter heard of this letter, he went to his friend Catesby.

We have a traitor among us," said he, when he had given the alarming intelligence.

"If there be one it is Tresham. I have never been

easy since he was admitted into our company, though he is my relation," said the arch-conspirator.

Three days after this, Tresham returned to town, and received a message requesting him to meet his dear friends, Catesby and Thomas Winter, at their lone house on Enfield Chase. He obeyed the summons; and then, says the historian, "they directly charged Tresham with having written the letter to Mounteagle; and while they accused him, and he defended himself, they fixed their searching, eyes on his countenance. It was clear and firm; his voice faltered not; he swore the most solemn oaths that he was ignorant of the letter, and they let him go," -little thinking, probably, how narrowly he had escaped instant death by assassination.

The first thing Catesby and Winter did, on their return to London from Enfield Chase, was to send their friend Fawkes (who had not heard of the letter) to the fatal vault, to see if all were right there. On his presently reporting that he found all things just as they had been left, they "told him of the letter, and excused themselves for having placed him in such danger without a warning," which, to say the least of it, showed that they were more careful for their own safety than for his. He answered, however, with great composure, that it made no difference to him, that he should have gone all the same if he had known all. He also undertook to return to the vault or cellar, every day till the fifth of November; adding that by certain marks he had contrived, he was quite sure no one could enter without his knowledge.

Matters continued in this state without any fresh alarm until the third of the month, which was Sunday, when Lord Mounteagle's gentleman (who seems to have been their spy) warned the conspirators that "the king had seen the letter, and made great account of it. Upon this, Thomas Winter sought another interview with Tresham, and they met that same evening in Lincoln's Inn Walk. Tresham spoke like a man beside himself; and said that, to his certain knowledge, they were all lost men unless they saved themselves by instant flight. But these infatuated men would not flee, nor did Tresham himself either flee or seek concealment. Catesby, Winter, and all the rest, were now convinced that Tresham was in communication with Mounteagle, and perhaps with Cecil. Percy insisted that they ought to see what the following day (the last day of anxiety and doubt) would bring forth, before they thought of other measures." They could then escape, if escape were necessary, as a ship hired with Tresham's money then lay in the Thames, ready to slip her cable at a moment's notice. As to Guy Fawkes, who was one of the coolest and most daring of the whole party of conspirators, he declared that nothing should move him from his purpose; and, to prove his determination, he avowed that he would repair at once to the vault, and keep watch there all night.

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CHAPTER V.

THE DEFEAT OF THE PLOT.

F the fourteen conspirators, the greater number were in London. Sir Everard Digby, and one or two others, were, however, at his country-seat in Rutlandshire, where, according to his engagement, he had already collected, or was still collecting, as though for a grand hunting-party, such of his influential friends as, he believed, would be favourable to the carrying out of the plot, when the first blow had been struck; and, on the afternoon of the fourth of November, Catesby and John Wright left London to join them.

On this same Monday afternoon, while the conspirators were anxiously counting the hours which were yet to intervene before the striking of that first blow, the king's ministers of state were maturing their plans for the defeat of the plot, and the confusion and ruin of the plotters. I have told you that the council had thought proper that nothing should be openly done to interrupt "the devilish practice," as they called it, till the night before the proposed opening of Parliament. And when, on this afternoon, the lord-chamberlain and one or two attendants, went quietly to the House of Parliament, it was apparently only as an ordinary matter of course to see that all arrangements were properly made for the ceremonies of the coming day. Having passed some little time in this inspection, the chamberlain (the Earl of Suffolk) pretended to miss some articles of furniture which he thought,